PH won't send troops to join US-led coalition in fight vs Islamic State - DFA

From InterAksyon (Sep 18): PH won't send troops to join US-led coalition in fight vs Islamic State - DFA

The Philippines will not send soldiers to the United States-led international coalition being formed to fight the jihadist Islamic State that has struck terror with its videos of beheading of two American journalists and one British aid worker.

"With regard to the international coalition that is being formed, the Philippines, being a responsible member of the international community, will consider ways we can contribute to this effort without necessarily sending ground troops to the area," Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said in a press conference Thursday.

This, even as 100 Muslim Filipinos have reportedly been recruited to IS and have gone to IS-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq for military training. Two Filipinos allegedly died fighting alongside IS fighters March this year.

Even before the fiasco over the Filipino peacekeepers for the United Nations in Golan Heights, the Philippines has already expressed the possibility that it would stop sending troops to international peacekeeping missions.

Following United States President Barack Obama’s call for allies and partners to fight the growing IS, some countries, notably Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Great Britain have expressed support for the creation of an armed international coalition similar to the one that fought the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Already, the US has conducted air strikes against IS positions in Iraq, with the Pentagon hinting at sending troops on the ground.

DFA confidential memo

On the "confidential memo" issued by the DFA on March 20 this, Jose said the report of two Filipinos dying alongside the IS fighters "remains unverified and unconfirmed up to this day."

According to memo, the Philippine embassy in Damascus received information from the Syrian government that two Filipinos were killed while fighting with the anti-government forces. 

Jose said the embassy was never able to confirm the report of the Syrian government and did not see the remains of the deceased Filipinos.

In these cases of intelligence issues, the DFA defers to the military, the DFA spokesman said, reiterating that the Philippines should be able to counter the "sophistication" of the IS recruitment process.

"We should be able to find ways to counter that. We'll find ways," he said.

Tracking the departure and arrival of Filipinos would be difficult, Jose admitted, but "we should be working with other agencies, including immigration and intelligence, to find how we can track and possibly plug this loophole."

Jose noted that Filipinos are not singled out for the IS recruitment.

News reports indicate that Americans, Britons, and other Westerners have been recruited into the jihadist group.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/95667/ph-wont-send-troops-to-join-us-led-coalition-in-fight-vs-islamic-state---dfa