CLARK FREEPORT — Some 100 military personnel from the US and Philippines Marines, as well as a contingent from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force have been engaging in war exercises at Crow Valley north of the freeport in Capas, Tarlac and other parts of the country, amid the resentment of Aeta leaders affected by the drills.
The joint exercises, dubbed “Kaagapay ng mga Mandirigma ng Dagat” (Kamandag 3), started last Oct. 9 and would last up to Oct. 18.
“These war games sponsored by the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are nothing but burden to us farmers. We kicked out the US military base in 1992 but foreign troopers still come and go. They have made a permanent playground of our agricultural lands and communities of local farmers and indigenous folk,” said Joseph Canlas, vice chair of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and leader of the Alyansang Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luson (AMGL).
“Our land is not your playground and we are not your practice targets,” KMP said “in behalf of farmers of Central Luzon.”
The third annual Kamandag 3 war games are being held not only in Crow Valley but also in other areas in Luzon, reportedly focusing on counterterrorism, search-and-rescue, and mass casualty disaster response.
The said war games are allegedly aimed at sharpening the capabilities of the Filipino troops in amphibious assault operations.
Other drills under Kamandag 3 include low-altitude air defense operations and territorial defense missions, using tactical training systems to practice targeting and engaging enemy aircraft, enabling pilots to react to simulated live threats.
Canlas said residents in the Crow Valley area have “complained that drones, helicopters and military aircraft are constantly buzzing across Crow Valley and disturbing the indigenous communities.”
Aleli Santos of the Abelling Aeta tribe, a resident of Sta. Juliana in Capas, described the airborne vehicles as “steel dragonflies that trigger fear among us.”
He said Aeta elders have also expressed fear of stray bullets hitting Aeta folk in areas near the Crow Valley war venue.
Canlas noted that “months before the war games started, the Philippine Air Force imposed strict policies inside the Col. Ernesto Rabina Airbase (CERAB) which stands on 17,847 hectares of ancestral lands of Aeta communities in Capas, Tarlac. An estimate of 3,000 families of farmers, mostly Aetas, are residing inside CERAB.”
Other Kamandag 3 exercises are also being held in Cavite, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, and Palawan.
