The Yanks are coming (should we add: Again?)

It’s confirmed that 2,600 to 2,700 more United States military servicemen will be arriving before April 22. I repeat, servicemen. I’ll have to tack on to this that the term "servicemen" is irreplaceable even in these gender-oversensitive times, since "service-persons" doesn’t seem right, and "service personnel" would make the influx seem more civilian than military. Finally, to invoke the word "service-women" would make things sound too eerily like the "comfort women" who were the victims of Japanese wartime exploitation and abuse.

The prospect of 2,600 or more Americans coming to participate in Balikatan 02-02, the "regular annual" joint exercises with our Philippine Armed Forces has, of course, alarmed the usual Leftists, the paranoid, and, naturally, the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) and their front agency, the National Democratic Front (NDF). There will be demonstrations and protests. They’ll spit on, stamp on, and burn the American flag. They’ll tar President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a "puppet" or an "Am-girl" (the female equivalent of their usual curse, "Amboy").

Are the Yanks coming – again – to regain their former military bases and take over the country? Who’d want to take over this country? Susmariosep, any foreign power wishing to colonize or re-colonize this budding narco-state of ours can only be daft. We’ve just admitted 1,206 new lawyers to the Philippine Bar! (The other 1,643 aspirants flunked, and some people I know are tempted to exclaim, "Thank goodness!")

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The coming joint exercises in Central Luzon and Cavite have been tagged "02-02" to distinguish that Balikatan from the exercises now ongoing in Basilan and Zamboanga which are identified as Balikatan 02-01, or Kalayaan Aguila ("Freedom Eagle").

The headquarters of the coming Balikatan will be Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija, and the participants will be the army, navy, and components of the air force. Civilian-military relations will also be underscored in the exercises as well as amphibious operations and landings to be conducted in Ternate, Cavite.

From what we’ve been told, the first American units (from Okinawa, mainland Japan, and Guam) will begin arriving within two weeks, with the full complement expected to be in place before the exercises are launched on April 22.

US officers from CINCPAC, the headquarters in Hawaii of the Commander-in-chief of US forces in the Pacific, are already here to hammer out the final details with our Department of National Defense (DND) and our military. In fact, discussions have been taking place between the "advance party" of the Americans and our side for the past few weeks.

Will there be a clash between this larger complement of US troops and the NPA?

Already, the NPA is saying that this is the sinister purpose of this "new" Balikatan. (Just listen to the usual spokesman and media suki, "Ka Roger" of the Melito Glor Command, who was quick to go on radio-TV to warn of this threat.)

Brig. Gen. Edilberto "Eddie" Adan, the commanding general of the Civil Relations Service and Armed Forces spokesman, said that, certainly, the coming Balikatan in Central Luzon was mapped out with no such intention. But a caveat: Remember that in war – as in politics – the first denial is the first confirmation.

So what if the NPAs "attack" the Filipino and American contingents participating in 02-02? When you’re engaged in "war games", the more the merrier. We’re dealing with guys who chose the profession of war here, and warriors aren’t programmed to be pussycats.

And let’s cut out that nonsense advanced by those who bleat that the presence of American troops would only "provoke" the NPA. The NPA are already making war on us, so what the heck – a few American guns added to our firepower won’t hurt.

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The four crude "bombs" found in Makati and in two stations of the MetroStar Rail Transit (MRT) may not have been impressive in construction, and the self-announced would-be "bombers", the "Indigenous People’s Federal State Army," an unknown bunch, but our policemen shouldn’t relax their guard. Those rudimentary explosive devices might have been planted simply to test our reactions.

The next time around, the bombers might be in dead earnest – and utilize more sophisticated explosives and triggering devices as well.

It’s already been established that an international Islamic terrorist group – in cooperation with elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – were responsible for the December 30, 2000, "Rizal Day" bombings of an LRT train, a passenger bus, and two other targets, which resulted in 22 dead and the wounding of dozens. Terrorists have demonstrated that they can strike anywhere.

Yesterday, in Lima, Peru, a big bomb devastated the area surrounding the US Embassy there – coinciding (and certainly it’s no coincidence) with the impending visit to that capital of US President George W. Bush this weekend. In Israel, during last Wednesday’s rush hour, a Palestinian suicide-bomber boarded a packed bus, then blew himself up, killing himself, four Israeli soldiers, and three other passengers – even as Israeli negotiators and representatives of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were tentatively discussing a "ceasefire" under the prodding of American peace envoy Anthony Zinni.

Let’s not forget that the major suspect arrested a few weeks ago in Manila and Mindanao, and found linked to the al-Qaeda secret network in Asia, the Jemaah Islamiah, were Palestinians, Jordanians and Indonesians. Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, the head of that militant group is based in Solo (Surakarta), Central Java.

Ba’asyir denies his al-Qaeda ties, but he’s the guru of the Rizal Day "bomber", Indonesian suspect Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, code-named "Mike", who was also identified by Singapore authorities as planning attacks in that neighboring city-state.

The Indonesians, with their overwhelmingly Muslim population, have been reluctant to crack down on militants in their archipelago, but even they are surely worried. In mid-February, for example, Indonesian cops nabbed two Muslim foreigners (one carrying an Algerian passport, the other a Kuwaiti) in the Moluccas. They were suspected of being the brains and the organizers behind the Muslim vigilante attacks on Christians there, spearheaded more recently by Laskar Jihad, which have resulted in 5,000 dead. An Egyptian bearing a Pakistani passport was also arrested last January in Jakarta, and found to be an operative of al-Qaeda.

In short, old Osama’s agents are everywhere. And why not? Just look at the 300 prisoners now languishing in "Camp X-Ray", the US Naval Base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The 300 detainees, seized in Afghanistan and flown in shackles to Guantanamo for interrogation and investigation, represent 33 nationalities.

Perhaps one reason our Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is embarrassingly short of passports to issue is the possibility that thousands of blank passports may have "disappeared." The DFA is resentfully denying the very idea, and trying to blame the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for late printing and delivery (a charge that the BSP also angrily denies).

All that buck-passing may be obfuscation. Even during the stewardship of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo "Jun" Siazon who served in both the Ramos and Estrada administrations, blank passports (like those stolen from the DFA consular branch in Isabela, Northern Luzon) mysteriously vanished by the box. Even Fathur al-Ghozi has two Philippine passports, if you’ll recall, aside from his other documents.

I wouldn’t be surprised if bin Laden’s terrorists and agents have Philippine passports tucked away in their travel kits today. It seems to be one of the easiest to acquire, unless, of course, you’re one of those pathetic and frustrated thousands legitimately queuing up to secure a passport at our consular offices.

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If any proof is needed that the Kuratong Baleleng gang based in Ozamiz City (Misamis Occidental) is once again actively operating in Metro Manila, just check out the armed robbery which took place last Monday in Quezon City. On March 18, ten men brandishing high-powered firearms barged into the "Greenwich Pizza" in Fairview, Q.C., and made off with the cash stored in the till, including that establishment’s collections over the past four days.

In that caper, the ruthless gangsters gunned down a policeman, SPO4 Balbino Dipasupil, and Rolly Balena.

Two days later (on Wednesday), the ten robbers were seen "celebrating" in Ozamiz City!

The head of that group is even well-known about town: His name is Sonny "A."

The truth is that a 21-man Kuratong Baleleng contingent is behind a string of hold-ups recently in our fair metropolis. Then there’s a "hit squad" composed of another 21 who arrived here from Ozamiz less than two weeks ago to hunt for a congressman they suspect of having had a hand in the recent assassination of one of their chieftains, from the ruling K.B. family. (He told me he’s innocent and had nothing to do with it.)

Sanamagan. While we’re obsessed with our political fun and games, criminal syndicates like the K.B. flourish. Goons stalk our neighborhoods. Gunmen shoot people down like dogs. Kidnappers insolently snatch victims. Let’s get back to reality, and go after the real enemies of the people.

It’s a fact of life in every country, surely in ours as well, that street crime and any violent invasion of the privacy of the home are the most painful crimes, not grand larceny. For those are what strike our citizens and peaceful folk in their private personas. They hit you in your gut – which is why they are the most important "gut issues."