MANILA, 31 August 2003 — US President George W. Bush’s visit to the Philippines in October will go ahead despite fresh fears of another destabilization attempt against the government, the US ambassador in Manila said.
Ambassador Francis Ricciardone was speaking just hours after Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes resigned warning that a well-funded plot still existed to bring down the government a month after a failed mutiny by junior officers and soldiers.
“We’re planning as normal for a very nice visit here (by Bush) and the reason for it is to show our support for the Philippines and its president and people,” Ricciardone told reporters late on Friday.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been a staunch supporter of the US war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. In turn US troops have been training Philippine troops in counter-terrorism to help combat local rebels suspected of links to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Ricciardone, who said he was going to Washington next week to prepare for the Bush visit, also brushed aside talk that the United States was backing Arroyo to stand again for the presidency next year.
The country holds national elections next May and, although President Arroyo has said she would not stand again, many expect her to change her mind, backed by opinion polls that show public support for her is rising.
“We respect the president who has carried this country forward. That said, it is not for the United States to say who should or should not run here,” Ricciardone said.
Yesterday, the commander of the United States Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, visited the southern Philippines, inspecting US forces training Filipino soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare.
Hagee arrived at the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City on a private jet shortly before 10 a.m. and was met by Philippine Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Claudio Estalilia and Brig. Gen. Rodulfo Diaz.
He later met with Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat and then spoke to US military officials, led by army Col. Alan Walker, commander of US forces deployed in Mindanao.
Philippine military spokesman Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua said the US official inspected troops training Filipino soldiers.
“He inspected the US troops and was briefed by American military officials about the progress of the security assistance training,” Pascua told reporters in Southern Command.
The training, dubbed as RP-US Project Bayanihan (Helping Hand), started in in Zamboanga in February and would last until December.
More than 900 Philippine soldiers have graduated from anti-terrorism training in Zamboanga City, where about 500 American troops are currently deployed.
