The US cancelled next year's war games as punishment to PI for not turning the rapist over to the embassy. RP-U.S. War Games Cancelled Due To Smith CustodyDecember 23, 2006 3:45 p.m. EST
Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The U.S. Pacific Command chief canceled the annual RP-US war games this year. The action came after the Makati Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals refused to hand over an American soldier convicted of raping a Filipino woman to U.S. custody.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005947007And the Arroyo administration caved in, as expected.U.S. cancels Philippine war games over rape spat2006/12/23 MANILA, Reuters
The United States said on Friday it was pulling the plug on annual joint military exercises with the Philippines next year in an escalating dispute over custody of a U.S. Marine convicted of raping a local woman.
The case of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith has become a major headache for the Philippine government, which agrees with Washington that under the terms of a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) he should remain in U.S. custody while he appeals.
But a local court has defied the government and sent the 21-year-old to a Manila jail, jeopardizing the Philippines' close security alliance with its former colonial master.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/asiapacific/20061223/98260.htmBut maybe their attitude is changing. They need the US for the technology. But it's not just one-way.Thursday, December 28, 2006
AFP to US troops: You’ll miss us, tooThe Philippines may need US war technology but the scuttling of the joint Balikatan war games will cost American troops’ valuable training on fighting guerrilla armies.
“The
training is symbiotic,” the Armed Forces public information chief, Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, reminded the US government on Wednesday.
“They learn from us, like guerrilla warfare. Of course, there’s loss of training opportunity for them,” Bacarro told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/dec/28/yehey/top_stories/20061228top2.html
So now they're looking for other partners.
Palace looks beyond US for military aid, training
By Joyce Pangco Pañares
MALACAÑANG wants the defense department to pursue military exercises with other countries to reduce the country’s dependence on the United States for military aid and training.
The order to seek new agreements comes on the heels of Washington’s suspension of the Balikatan joint military exercises for next year after it failed to gain custody of convicted rapist US marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith.
“The President is really not happy that Balikatan has been cancelled and that the US government is taking the executive to task on the matter of custody when they are aware that there is a separation of powers in a democracy,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
“People can call it whatever they want—pressure or something else—but they know the executive cannot just order the courts,” he said.
He announced that the defense department was already negotiating an agreement with Australia to allow its troops to hold anti-terrorism drills in Mindanao.
Before resigning last month, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said the war games agreement with Australia could be used as a template for similar defense arrangements with Southeast Asian states such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news3_dec28_2006