U.S.
forces have teamed up with the Philippines’ military to combat
terrorist groups in the country, ostensibly to bring about peace. But
numerous human rights violations have sprung up in their wake and
some believe that the U.S.’ ultimate goal may be to oust President
Rodrigo Duterte.
by
Joe Catron
Part
2 - Philippine military “…the most reactionary and pro-U.S.
government institution…”
The GRP, led
by President Rodrigo Duterte, did not invite the U.S. presence in
Marawi. In fact, Duterte had ejected U.S. special forces from the
same region nine months earlier. Their return apparently came at the
invitation of the AFP.
Speaking at
a press conference in the city of Cagayan de Oro on June 12 – one
day after U.S. participation in the battle began – Duterte said he
had “never approached America” for assistance and “not
aware of that until they arrived,” adding “our soldiers
are pro-American, that I cannot deny.”
The AFP’s
founding by the U.S., as well as the decades of training and other
assistance it has received from America, make it uniquely
pro-American in a country where Duterte’s anti-U.S. broadsides have
won broad public approval.
“The
AFP is the most reactionary and pro-U.S. government institution in
the Philippines,” Ellorin said. “It was established in the
early 20th century during the U.S. colonial period by the U.S.
colonial government as the Philippine Constabulary, whose purpose was
and remains to maintain U.S. control over the country and suppress
anti-colonial rebellion.”
Many are
worried about the fresh support that the AFP is receiving from the
U.S., as well as its apparent ability to create its own foreign
policy independent of the GRP.
“U.S.
intervention has emboldened a Philippine military that is notorious
for its human rights record,” said human rights attorney Azadeh
Shahshahani, a member of the global council of the International
Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.
“The
aerial bombing is hurting civilians more than Maute, and we have also
heard reports from a humanitarian fact-finding mission that civilians
were hurt by artillery shelling directly from a military camp
occupied by the U.S.,” Shahshahani said.
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