US troops to build P6-M classrooms in Tarlac town

CAPAS, Tarlac — US soldiers participating in this year’s joint military exercises with Filipino troops will help build classrooms, day care and health centers costing P6 million in four villages here, considered the birthplace of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Mayor Rey Catacutan said he proposed last Friday that the facilities be built in Barangays Patling, Bueno, Manlapig and Sta. Juliana, all within the Crow Valley area.

US troops, who arrived in the country early this month for the ongoing military exercises, dubbed Agrex, will construct at least four classrooms, one day care and one health center in each village, Catacutan said.

Construction work on the classrooms and other facilities will begin early October, Catacutan said.

Crow Valley used to be a shooting and gunnery range of the US 13th Air Force when it was based at the former US Clark air base in Pampanga, which is now an economic zone and an international airport. Also in Crow Valley is the former US naval radio transmission facility.

Clark, along with Subic naval base in Zambales, was closed in 1992 after the Senate rejected a treaty extending their leases.

Crow Valley is now under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Bases Conversion Development Authority.

The Agrex maneuvers, which coincides with the coming Oct. 18 visit of US President George W. Bush, commenced Sept. 19 at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, and in Ternate, Cavite.

But authorities have said the exercises is not part of security preparations for Bush’s eight-hour stopover in the country.

The maneuvers are "designed to better train Philippine and US air, ground and naval forces to handle any contingency, emergency or disaster which may arise throughout the Asia-Pacific region," authorities said.

The construction of classrooms, day care and health centers here is part of "human civil assistance" that is meant to "enhance inter-operability between Philippine and US forces," they explained.

The facilities will also benefit neighboring villages, Catacutan said. The four villages often serve as temporary evacuation centers of neighboring communities during typhoons and floods, he said.

This town is the birthplace of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which was established in Barangay Sta. Rita here on March 29, 1969 by a handful of student radicals led by Jose Ma. Sison and Bernabe Buscayno.

Last year, Washington tagged the CPP and NPA as "foreign terrorist organizations," while Sison, who lives in the Netherlands, was declared a "terrorist threat" by the European Union.

The CPP protested the terrorist tag, saying it is a legitimate revolutionary organization, and that it will not resume peace talks unless the designation is lifted.

The Arroyo administration suspended peace talks in 2001 after the guerrillas assassinated two congressmen.

Defense ties between Manila and Washington became closer after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

The Philippines and the United States have worked together in fighting both local and foreign Muslim extremists allegedly linked to such groups as Jemaah Islamiyah and the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Regional security and the US-led global campaign against terrorism are expected to top the discussion agenda between Bush and President Arroyo.

Bush is scheduled to make an eight-hour stopover in Manila on October 18 in what is largely seen as a gesture of thanks to Mrs. Arroyo for her staunch support in the US-led war on terror.

Bush’s visit will go "beyond mere concerns over terrorism," and will advance mutual interests in the region, Mrs. Arroyo said.