IT usually takes accidents and other unforeseen events to uncover things that government officials, particularly the Department of National Defense, by their silence, are tacitly hiding from the people.
A case in point is the tragic crash of a private plane in Barangay Malatimon, Ampatuan town, Maguindanao last February 6. The accident killed four people, including Sgt. Jacob Durham of California. Durham was a trained electronic intelligence/electromagnetic warfare analyst assigned to the 1st Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
The US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) said in a statement that the Raytheon Beechcraft King Air 300 aircraft, bearing tail number N349CA, was on a routine mission in support of US-Philippine security cooperation activities. The command said the plane was providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support when it crashed, killing Durham and three defense contractors.
`… what is the emergency situation in Maguindanao del Sur that neither PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil or his boss, Interior Secretary Juanito Remulla, and Defense Secretary Teodoro are seemingly unaware of?’
A plane crash within Philippine territory should be a matter for Filipino authorities to handle, but why is the US military the one issuing statements, explanations, and doing the probe? The Command said the surveillance and reconnaissance operation was requested by our own DND but Secretary Gibo Teodoro’s silence tends to point to the truth that the Philippine military was clueless about this particular US mission.
What local authorities could say was limited to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) announcement that the ill-fated plane took off from Cebu and was en route to Cotabato City for an aerial survey when it crashed.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) was onsite to provide security as a CH-47 Chinook helicopter landed near the crash site, and American rescuers recovered the cadavers.
The rescuers were part of a team of US military men based in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division. They are reportedly helping capacitate Filipino counterparts on counterterrorism and other security operations.
Nobody noticed this, except for a few leftist members of the House of Representatives, but Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat is not a military site on the list of agreed PH bases to be used by the US military under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Why are US marines stationed in Datu Odin Sinsuat? Teodoro and President Marcos Jr have something to explain here.
There were five original EDCA sites — Cesar Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation, Lumbia Air Base, Antonio Bautista Air Base and Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base. This was increased to nine with the concession by President Marcos Jr. of the following four sites: Naval Base Camilo Osias in Santa Ana, Cagayan; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; Balabac Island in Palawan; and Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan.
The plot thickened when Washington-based Metrea, identifying itself as a leading provider of effects-as-a-service to national security partners, confirmed in a statement that it is the owner of the plane and that its personnel were among the victims of the crash.
“Metrea is currently responding to an emergency situation in Maguindanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines,” the defense contractor said.
May we ask then, what is the emergency situation in Maguindanao del Sur that neither PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil or his boss, Interior Secretary Juanito Remulla, and Defense Secretary Teodoro are seemingly unaware of?
