June 23, 2002, The Philippine Star, GMA wants wider Balikatan, by Marichu Villanueva,

June 23, 2002, The Philippine Star, GMA wants wider Balikatan, by Marichu Villanueva, 

A day after Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya was killed, President Arroyo said she would seek a wider deployment of US troops in the country for the next Balikatan military exercise. 

Mrs. Arroyo and US President George W. Bush were scheduled to speak by telephone late last night. 

Meanwhile, President Arroyo vowed no let-up in the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, reiterating her order to Filipino soldiers to crush the rebel group down to its last member. 

The President conceded that the 1,000 US troops, who are training and advising Philippine soldiers in their campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, had played a significant role in locating Sabaya who was slain together with two of his followers in Sulu Sea on Friday. 

She said the US troops were also instrumental in the June 7 rescue of US missionary Gracia Burnham. However, Gracia’s husband, Martin, and nurse Edibora Yap were killed in the operation. 

Mrs. Arroyo said that "as a result of the clamor from people all over the country, this time the Balikatan will be more geographically spread out, unlike this Balikatan, which upon my request, had been concentrated in Basilan," the President said. 

Mrs. Arroyo made the announcement digressing from a prepared speech at the second Mindanao Budget Summit held yesterday at a hotel in Mandaluyong City. 

The 1,000 US troops began in mid-January a six-month mission to assist the badly undertrained and under-equipped Philippine soldiers to crush the Abu Sayyaf. It was the first deployment of the US anti-terror war outside of the campaign in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. 

"We would not be able to get (Abu) Sabaya or even rescue Gracia if we had not been able to avail (ourselves) of the modern facilities of the US forces," Mrs. Arroyo said. 

She said she hoped the next operation would be more spread out and not limited to areas where the Abu Sayyaf is active, such as in the South. She did not elaborate. 

The Philippine military will also request that some 300 US military engineers, working on infrastructure projects in the Abu Sayyaf-stronghold of Basilan, be allowed to stay beyond July 31 to complete their projects, the President said. 

These projects include the renovation of an abandoned airstrip and the construction of a crucial road in Basilan which will allow for faster deployment of troops and equipment into rebel areas. 

Mrs. Arroyo said the timing as well as other details of the next Balikatan will be hammered out between Armed Forces chief Gen. Roy Cimatu and Adm. Thomas Fargo, the US commander in the Pacific during a meeting of the Mutual Defense Board next Thursday in Hawaii. 

The President said she hoped the mechanics of the next Balikatan will be worked out by next Thursday. 

She said she expected to discuss the matter with President Bush during their telephone conversation. 

With the aid of US equipment and facilities, President Arroyo said military would continue with Operation Daybreak to annihilate the Abu Sayyaf bandits. She said that the government’s campaign against terrorist groups will continue despite the death of Sabaya. 

"We shall upgrade the high quality of soldiering we already have ... We shall modernize equipment and facilities," she said. 

On Friday, Mrs. Arroyo received official words from US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone that the US government wants to congratulate her for the latest success in the local anti-terror campaign. 

The President disclosed that she has already instructed Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Cimatu "to make sure that it (Basilan road) goes down the line" and that it would not be left uncompleted by the US Seabees. 

"Before July 31, or maybe on July 31, we will inaugurate the Basilan airport that the Seabees upgraded before the (US) Special Forces go," she said. 

The President emphasized that the socio-economic results of the current Balikatan were the fruits of her administration’s twin-pronged fight against poverty and terrorism. 

Emerging after a meeting with the President, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said yesterday, that the next Balikatan exercise will be scheduled "immediately" with two US trainors to be assigned at company-level. 

Mrs. Arroyo lined up yesterday the next targets of the military in its campaign to crush the Abu Sayyaf. 

The President ordered troops to get Khadaffy Janjalani and three other senior leaders of the group and that they must put an end to the reign of terror by the Abu Sayyaf. She said she wants to see the fall of Janjalani, Abu Sulaiman, Isnilon Hapilon, and Hamsi Raji Sali. 

"I would not stop until there is a man standing among the Abu Sayyaf. I would not stop until we restore the peace in Sulu, Basilan, and Mindanao," she vowed. 

"Our fight against terrorism is not yet over. We still need to do a lot of things for the peace of Mindanao and other parts of our country," she said.