Battle of definitions mars VFA bicam hearing

What exactly constitutes a "combat operation"? This was the question everyone tried to answer during Thursday’s bicameral hearing on the controversial Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). The hearing was conducted a day after a Navy official bared that US soldiers stationed in Mindanao had joined their Filipino counterparts in combat operations against lawless groups, which is a stark violation of the Philippine Constitution. Navy Lt. Senior Grade Nancy Gadian, however, admitted before the Congressional Oversight Committee on the VFA that she did not personally saw US troops in action in Mindanao. She said the information was just relayed to her by members of the mutinous Magdalo group. She however said she saw US troops go with Filipino soldiers aboard military vehicles to "objective areas" where combat operations were conducted. Gadian, the whistle-blower in the alleged misuse of P42 million funds intended for the joint RP-US Balikatan exercises, was formerly assigned at the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom). Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, co-chairman of oversight committee, said riding along with Filipino military troops does not necessarily mean American soldiers are also involved in actual operations. To Santiago's comment, Gadian said, "But I don't see why American soldiers would be going along just to watch Filipino soldiers." Junk VFA Santiago had called for the junking of the VFA amid reports that US troops had not only participated in combat operations in Mindanao but also established some bases there. The VFA, ratified by the Philippine Senate on May 27, 1999, disallows US troops from engaging in combat operations except for self-defense. Undersecretary Edilberto Adan, head of the Presidential Commission on the VFA (VFACom), maintained during the hearing that US soldiers do not engage in combat operations in Mindanao. Adan defined a combat operation as "directly engaging the enemy." He said he has never seen US troops joining combat operations in his many visits to the region. "They are only there to advise, assist, and train. They cannot initiate operations on their own. They take orders from the local (Armed Forces of the Philippines) commander," he said. [See: Palace says no to abrogation of VFA] Earlier, the Citizens' Peace Watch said that its fact-finding mission in Zamboanga and Sulu last February 18 to 21, 2008 proved that the US had installed military bases in the Philippines and that American troops have been involved in actual combat operations. Espionage Even if Adan's definition of "combat operation" were to be used, the US military forces are not yet off the hook, according to University of the Philippines (UP) Law professor Merlin Magallona. According to Magallona, who was invited as a resource person, US troops could have still violated the VFA for conducting another "form" of combat operations. He said engaging in military surveillance operations is still part of warfare and therefore falls under "combat operations." "I think so (there was a violation) considering that the concept of war has been pre-defined by the United States to include unconventional warfare. So espionage will certainly be part of war and an act of combat even under the conventional definition of combat," he said. Magallona said wars always necessitate "knowing your enemy." “And espionage is simply knowing your enemy," he said. "This (surveillance) will be in violation of the terms and agreement as well as the spirits of the Constitution," Magallona added. A US military spy plane was reported to have crashed in North Cotabato on October 18 last year. The crash was apparently kept secret until a Mindanao-based online site, Minda News, reported the incident. - GMANews.TV