ZAMBOANGA CITY, 7 September 2003 — US Army chief of staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker arrived here in the southern Philippines yesterday to inspect American forces training Filipino troops in anti-terrorism warfare, a local military official said.
Schoomaker also met Lt. General Roy Kyamko, chief of military forces in the Southern Philippines.
Kyamko said Schoomaker — the second ranking military officer to visit Philippines, next to US Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee — promised to support the country in the war against terror.
He said the “US general was happy about our continued campaign against the terrorists,” in reference to the Abu Sayyaf bandits, the Al Qaeda-linked local group that gained international prominence for kidnapping mostly foreigners vacationing in southern Philippines. Like Hagee who visited US troops in Zamboanga, Schoomaker watched them train their local counterparts in counter-terrorism techniques.
The US government sent the troops to help the Philippine military track down the local terrorists in the mountains, but the Philippine Constitution prohibits the Americans from engaging in combat.
American soldiers can only give technical advise, on the other hand, and provide them with the needed equipment to go after the rebels who have been wreaking havoc in southern Philippines.
