the u.s. “war on terror” in mindanao and our national sovereignty

my friend sent me a report from his recent peacebuilding mission trip. here are the highlights of his experience:

:: the armed forces of the philippines (afp) operations to flush out the abu sayyaf group (asg), begun in late july, have displaced 1500 people in the gindalungan area of maguindanao province in central mindanao. this displacement comes at a particularly unfortunate time when crops in the area are ripe and ready for harvest. a call was issued by the bantay ceasefire group to investigate the situation and assist with crop harvest as a show of solidarity with the people there. i have been on many bantay ceasefire missions which investigate how the 2001 signed agreement between the moro islamic liberation front (milf) and the government of the republic of the philippines (grp) is holding up. this mission was particularly challenging because it was going, not into an area where the principled milf was operating,
but where the outlaw asg is allegedly hiding. the asg is known for their kidnapping, beheading and terrorizing of local populations.

:: since the asg is on the u.s. terror list, it was not surprising that signs of an american military presence were also evident. a p-3 orion reconnaissance plane circled at about 20,000 feet all morning over this area. we found an abandon military bivouac encampment and discarded u.s. issued mre (meals ready to eat) packs. residents report seeing big foreign soldiers among the filipino troops giving rise to suspicions that direct u.s. military help is being given to this military operation. if u.s. troops are directly involved in this combat operation, then this would contravene the philippine constitution.

this u.s. “war on terror” seems to be terrorizing the people it intends to protect? i also wonder if the so-called “national sovereignty of the philippines” is real in these times when the americans impose their power on small nations like ours? or, are we merely an outpost of the united states empire in southeast asia?

through these questions, my position to resist the use of violence at all cost—as i seek to get involved in resolving conflicts—is strengthened.