5 US soldiers moved out of Isabela City after brawl

MANILA, Philippines - Five US servicemen have been moved out of Basilan’s capital following a brawl that marred a concert at a Philippine Marine camp last July 3 in Isabela City. 

United States Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. said the brawl was an “unfortunate incident” and should not have happened.

Thomas insisted “no one was molested” in the incident, contrary to earlier reports reaching Manila.

He told The STAR that the US embassy had looked into the alleged rowdy behavior of the five US servicemen.

“Our soldiers are not supposed to be going to bars because these are usual places of trouble,” Thomas pointed out. “So that should not have happened.”

He said the incident took place barely a week after the new commander of the US Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P), Col. Robert Gusentine, took over from Col. William Coultrup.

He said the new JSOTF-P commander has reported to him that some parts of the alleged incident did not actually happen, in particular, about the female lead singer of the band who was supposedly “molested” by one of the servicemen.

“No one was molested during the incident,” Thomas clarified.

Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said the commander of the JSOTF-P transferred the five US soldiers after the incident at the headquarters of the 1st Marine Brigade in Tabiawan, Basilan.

Marine sources identified the US soldiers as Army S/Sgt. Mathew Blanchard, Sgt. Thomas Patterson and Cpl. Brian Nguyen of the Marines, and Petty Officer 2 Eric Snatch and Petty Officer Devin Fitzgerald of the Navy.

Regarding a separate incident involving other US soldiers allegedly disrespecting the Philippine flag during flag-raising ceremonies in Zamboanga City, Thomas pointed out that the truck driver was a Filipino.

“We (Americans) always respect the Philippine flag-raising ceremonies,” Thomas said.

But he noted that as part of rules of military engagement in hot spots such as Mindanao, US troops on moving vehicles do not stop for anything as a precautionary measure against potential ambush.

The US ambassador talked about the two incidents during an interview at a welcome reception in his honor at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel last Thursday hosted by Fortune Ledesma and Agnes Huibonhua, honorary consuls of Monaco and Gambia, respectively.

The incident reportedly started when the five servicemen turned unruly and took over a local band that was playing at the concert to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the 1st Marine Brigade.

Reports said the five servicemen were investigated for violation of the Articles of War and rowdy behavior in the concert that was sponsored by Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Abdulmajid Anwar.

One of the five US soldiers allegedly engaged in a heated argument with a Filipino Marine officer who tried to pacify the apparently drunk US servicemen.

Dolorfino said a report of the investigation of the incident was submitted to the US embassy.

“The investigators have pinpointed those who were at fault,” Dolorfino said.

The public affairs official of the JSOTF-P could not be reached for comment.

Military officials in Zamboanga said the incident in Basilan was one of four complaints forwarded to the commander of the JSOTF-P based in the city.

US embassy deputy spokesperson Wossie Mazengia said the JSOTF-P began a careful review after receiving a letter from Westmincom about a verbal altercation between a Philippine military officer and a US serviceman.

She said the results of the review would be shared with Westmincom and the AFP.

“We regret this unfortunate disagreement between the two individuals. JSOTF-P has taken corrective action to ensure unfortunate events like this do not occur again. The US troops involved in the incident have been removed from Isabela City,” Mazengia said in a telephone interview.

As part of the JSOTF-P’s review, she said the service members were moved to another location in Basilan or recalled to Zamboanga.

All US service members within JSOTF-P have been reminded of the importance of professionalism and respect for the host country.

“As guests in this country, we fully respect the government of the Philippines, the Philippine Armed Forces and the people of the Philippines,” Mazengia added. — With Pia Lee-Brago