JOLO, Philippines, 30 December 2007 — Philippine authorities have began an investigation into disturbing reports that US troops deployed in the southern province of Sulu have been preventing health workers from operating a district hospital during nighttime.
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said he was looking into complaints that American soldiers led by a M. Sgt. Ronburg barged into the Panamao District Hospital on Nov. 30 and told the chief nurse to close it at night.
Dr. Silak Lakkian, the hospital chief, said she was really surprised by the order. “I thought these Americans are here for humanitarian purposes. Our hospital caters to all the indigents in the town who cannot afford the transportation expense to the Sulu Provincial Hospital,” she said.
Panamao is 45 km away from the provincial hospital, which is located in Jolo town. Jolo, the provincial capital, and Panamao are among several towns in Sulu’s main island of Jolo.
Lakkian said they found that the American soldiers were serious when hospital staff tried to turn on the generator set on the evening of Dec. 2.
She said she immediately got a call from Ronburg asking her to turn off the generator. Lakkian said in the morning, she immediately went to Panamao Mayor Abdugafur Abdurajak “because I could not bear it anymore.” As of Friday evening, the hospital remained closed during night as staffers were afraid to go against the order, according to Lakkian.
Gov. Tan said he has talked to Maj. Gen. Reuben Rafael, commander of Philippine military forces in the province, about the matter. “US troops have no authority to impose on us,” Tan told Arab News.
Rafael said in a separate interview that he was looking the complaint, which is feared to further alienate Sulu residents wary of the heavy military presence in their towns. US troops have been in Sulu province in the last four years to advice Filipino forces in fighting terrorism.
Hadja Jainab Abdulmajid, Sulu provincial disaster coordinator, said an American official based in Zamboanga City phoned him to ask about the validity of the Panamao incident and that he told the caller to investigate. “We also heard several disturbing reports from Panamao but I cannot easily issue any statement until I see it for myself,” Abdulmajid said.
Local villagers and some Filipino troops also have complained about the alleged arrogance of US soldiers in Sulu. Some American soldiers have allegedly treated Filipino soldiers like vassals.
US troops were also reportedly preventing curious Muslim villagers to go near them in public places, as though the locals were terrorists. Sulu’s Tausug natives never forget the slaughter of 800 Muslim villagers, including innocent women and children, during the Moro resistance in March 1906, in what has become known as the First Battle of Bud (Mount) Dajo.
Filipino journalists have also complained of being harassed by US troops covering joint RP-US military war games in Zamboanga City and Sulu. In some occasions, journalists were detained and their cameras of those who took photos and videos of the soldiers were confiscated. (With a report from Inquirer News Service)
