Lorenzana tells Duterte: US troops in Mindanao are safe 3

From GMA News (Oct 7): Lorenzana tells Duterte: US troops in Mindanao are safe 3

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday said the small number of US troops in Mindanao, whom President Rodrigo Duterte wants to leave, are not in danger and can protect themselves against terrorist attacks.

Speaking before foreign correspondents at a briefing, Lorenzana said he explained to the President that the U.S. special forces are safely housed in the Philippine military’s Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City.

“I clarified that with him and I told him that the US troops are not in danger because there are just very few of them, just about 107 people, who are actually housed in Camp Navarro in Calarian in Zamboanga City,” Lorenza told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

“All they do is operate their drones and some intelligence equipment to help our troops in the south and I told him they are not in danger of being harmed by any terrorist. At same time they are actually combatants, they are not civilians so they can protect themselves,” he added.

Duterte, who has issued hostile remarks against the US government following its criticisms of his bloody crackdown against illegal drugs and perceived human rights violations, last month said US forces, which has a temporary presence in Zamboanga, should leave because they could become a target of Islamic militants.

Later on, Duterte, according to Lorenzana, said he does not want the Americans to leave immediately “but maybe in the future.”

Lorenzana said such policy coincides with the Philippine military's plan for the US forces to stay until such time the Philippines has upgraded its intelligence capabilities and equipment in the South.

“In the meantime, US forces are being used to provide us some intelligence information like the product of their drone that are flying over Basilan, Sulu and in central Mindanao. When we acquire our own drones in the near future then we can go without the help of the Americans in the south,” he said.

The small group of military experts in Southern Philippines provides counter-terrorism training and advice to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Foreign troops are barred by the Constitution to engage in combat mission in the country.

In 2015, Washington scaled down the number of its rotating troop presence in Mindanao, 13 years since the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines or JSOTF-P was activated.

Under the JSOTF-P, around 500 US soldiers were deployed in the south on a rotation basis.

US and Philippine military cooperation in Mindanao has led to the capture and death of top leaders of the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and other foreign terrorists.

The ASG, which is included in the US government’s foreign terrorist organization list, has claimed responsibility for several terror attacks in the country and is notorious for kidnapping foreigners in exchange for huge ransom or beheading them if there is no payoff.

Washington maintained that American troops are not involved in combat operations, but said they can retaliate if attacked.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/584199/news/nation/lorenzana-tells-duterte-us-troops-in-mindanao-are-safe