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The Congressional oversight joint committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) has found no evidence to support allegations that United States is maintaining military bases in Mindanao.

 

"We found out that the allegations hurled against the American troops in Mindanao are baseless and unsubstantiated," Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, co-chairman of joint Legislative Oversight on the Visiting Forces Agreement (LOVFA) said.

 

Biazon made the statement after finishing ocular inspections of military facilities around Mindanao. The senator was accompanied by LOVFA co-chairman Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco and other members of the House of Representatives.

 

Joining the senator's group were Defense Undersecretary Edilberto Adan, Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat and Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga. 

 

"They cannot prove their allegations... We did not find a US military base," Biazon said, referring to the Citizens Peace Watch, which recently released a fact-finding mission result that claims the US military is maintaining a base in Mindanao.

 

Among the camps visited by the LOVFA members were the Edwin Andrews Air Base, a Philippine Army camp in Malagutay district in Zamboanga City, and the entire Western Mindanao Command and Naval station in Upper Calarian.

 

Biazon said that what LOVFA members found were US military facilities built within the existing rules and regulations of the VFA.

 

"It does not constitute a violation of the VFA neither it violates the constitution," he said.

 

The Citizens Peace Watch said that its fact-finding members discovered the US military has bases and that its troops are involved in actual combat operations against insurgents and terrorist groups in the south.

 

The group also said that the US humanitarian missions in Mindanao are "mere cover for military operations that do not benefit the local population."

 

Biazon, however, said the LOVFA members could not find any proof on the Citizen Peace Watch's allegation. He said US military troops in Mindanao are actually involved in humanitarian missions in Mindanao.

 

The senator said the humanitarian missions involving the US military troops are part of the VFA, which allows American and Filipino soldiers to conduct joint military exercises. With a report from Queenie Casimiro, ABS-CBN Zamboanga