Sulu Sultan to lead pro-Balikatan rally

Sulu and North Borneo Sultan Sharif Pulalun

THE influential Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun, will lead a rally on Saturday in Jolo town to prove to the world that his province supports the RP-US joint military exercises, which will formally start on February 20 simultaneously on the islands of Sulu, Luzon, and Cebu.

In a press statement, the Sultan announced that he would hold a rally in the capital town of Sulu together with his followers and several groups who welcome the joint anti-terrorism military exercises in the province.

“We call on our people to support the Balikatan humanitarian project in our province. Let us welcome our American visitors with open arms,” Sultan Pulalon said.

Contrary to what other people in Sulu have claimed that Balikatan would only worsen the critical situation in the province, the Sultan believes the joint exercise would do good than harm.

He continued to praise the coming of the US troops in Sulu. “There is nothing wrong with the presence of Americans in our province because they are here to help poor families, especially those who have no access to basic services such as health and education.

This year’s Balikatan exercise will be structured to further develop the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in crisis action planning, enhancing its ability to effectively conduct counter terrorism operations, and promote interoperability between two participating countries.

It will provide humanitarian and civic assistance, which will improve RP-US military civic action cooperation, and train civil-military personnel to work together with a focus on civic assistance.

Approximately 250 US personnel will participate in the joint multiple medical, dental, veterinary and engineering civic action projects as part of “Project Bayanihan.”

But the Suara Bangsamoro Partylist and the Union of Muslims for Morality & Truth insisted that US forces used humanitarian missions as an alibi to rationalize their presence in the province.

“Their presence might provoke more tension in a province already wracked by violence and poverty,” Cocoy Tulawie, councilor of Jolo town and vice president of the group Suara Bangsamoro, said in a press statement.

“The Moro people have been witnesses to the direct and active participation of US soldiers in last year’s military offensives in their communities, despite the US official’s assurances that they were merely doing socio-civic actions in the communities.”

“It is ironic that it is the heavily armed US soldiers who will hand out the sewing machines and hospital equipment and construct infrastructures in our communities, knowing that these same people are the ones who trained to kill all those who looked like Bin Laden, their trained terrorist-turned-enemy.” (ZS)