US-RP military exercises to go ahead
Balikatan, the largest joint military exercises between American and Filipino troops held in the Philippines each year and involving as many as 5,000 American soldiers, will push through although perhaps not in February as scheduled, US Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said.
The announcement of the resumption comes less than two weeks after the cancellation on December 22 and four days after convicted US marine Daniel Smith was transferred from the Makati city jail to the US Embassy. "It may be held in February or not, but it will go forward. We leave it up to both the US and Philippine militaries to work out the details," Lussenhop said of the decision to proceed with the war games. "[The decision] was made in the last day or two," he added. Asked to comment on the charges filed in court seeking Smith's arrest, Lussenhop said he would leave it to Philippine authorities to talk about the legalities of the transfer. "Both [parties] are now in compliance with the Visiting Forces Agreement," he added. The US Embassy spokesman also said that interior and local government undersecretary Marius Corpus visited Smith on January 2 in his detention cell at the embassy. He refused to comment on the visit of Smith's parents, citing privacy concerns. Foreign affairs spokesman Eduardo Malaya confirmed the resumption of the Balikatan exercises. "The US military authorities and the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] will make a simultaneous announcement when and where within this week or early next week," he said. Asked if this meant that US-Philippines diplomatic ties were restored to its previous status before Smith's custody was transferred to the US, Malaya refused to comment. The United States had cancelled its annual joint military exercises with the Philippines due to the continued detention of Smith, who was convicted of rape.
Philippine Daily Inquirer Asia News Network
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