Left Flank

Mindanao is The Philippines' Kosovo. Manila favors regional stability over self-determination. The Kosovar declaration comes amid Mindanese protests against Operation Balikatan, a joint RP-US exercise that has reached the "humanitarian" stage.

"Considering the existing sensibilities in the region, continued dialogue should be encouraged among all the parties concerned to ensure regional stability," Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said in a statement.

He said the government "would prefer a settlement of the issue...taking into account the internationally accepted principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The country is concerned about its own Muslim separatist movement in Mindanao, where the government is in talks with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front on granting significant autonomy to Muslims.

On Monday, 3,000 local residents, led by national legislators, protested the exercises.

Rebutting the government's claim that the holding of the «Balikatan» exercises was in accordance with the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Ocampo said the document did not allow for successive military exercises.

«Continued or successive joint military exercises violate the Constitution and even the provisions of VFA. And as we see now, these are not even joint exercises but a one-sided conduct of civic actions by American troops,» he said.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division, shrugged off the accusations, saying the exercises would focus on medical and dental missions, engineering works involving road openings, and school building construction in poor communities.

«We assure them there will be no combat exercises,» Ando said.

Ocampo and Maza lambasted the government for allowing American troops to conduct civic missions in the country.

«Why use uniformed military troops from the United States to conduct these civil and engineering works when it should be the government doing this? If the United States wants to help, it can provide the funds, but it should be Filipinos, not US troops, who should build the bridges and schools,» Ocampo said.

Maza said the humanitarian missions evoked by the US government was just a cover. «These are just an excuse to allow US troops to enter our communities and pursue their real agenda of justifying their war against terrorism,» she said.

Another group of Mindanese legislators is miffed about being left out of the loop.

«Tradition has it that elders and datus are duly consulted on matters of general interest to the populace. This has not been so in this instance as the impending exercise came unannounced, no consultation or prior information dissemination.»

Yet, according to Roger Montana Balanza, assassinations continue and are expected to increase.