‘DND, AFP have free hand to seek US help’

A U.S. P3 Orion surveillance plane flies over Marawi city, southern Philippines as Philippine Air Force helicopters and bombers continue air strikes on Friday, June 9, 2017. It’s unclear how many people remain trapped in Marawi as government troops battle Muslim militants led by the so-called “Maute” group but army officers have put the figure this week at anywhere from 150 to 1,000. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

President Duterte has allowed his top security officials to decide whether to enlist US military support in crushing Islamic State-inspired local terrorists who have seized Marawi City, a military official said on Sunday.

And they apparently have asked the United States for help, as a US surveillance plane has been seen flying over the city while government forces assault positions held by gunmen from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf terror groups.

“The Commander in Chief gave the Department of Defense (DND)/military a free hand,” Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the Inquirer when asked about reports that the United States was providing technical assistance to government troops battling the terrorists in Marawi.

A self-styled socialist, Mr. Duterte has upended Philippine foreign policy since becoming President last year, loosening security ties with the United States and making overtures to China and Russia.

Running what he calls independent foreign policy, he has scaled down joint exercises between Philippine and US troops and spoken of removing American forces from Mindanao, where the US military has a small contingency of advisers training Philippine troops in counterterrorism.

On Friday, however, as the AFP took its biggest single-day battlefield loss in Marawi, a US P-3 Orion spy plane was seen flying over the city.

The US Embassy in Manila also confirmed that US troops were helping the AFP fight the terrorists on the request of the Philippine government.

Speaking in Cagayan de Oro City on Sunday, Mr. Duterte did not know that US troops were helping the military fight the terrorists.

“I’m not aware of that, but under martial law I gave the power to the defense department,” he said.

Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera, a spokesperson for the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, confirmed the US assistance but said no American troops were involved in combat.

Herrera said the US role was limited to providing intelligence to the Philippine military.

“They have always been there with us,” National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., a former military chief, said on Sunday when asked about the US assistance.

Malacañang said the Philippines was open to assistance not only from the United States but also from other countries in fighting the terrorists.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the fight against terrorism was a global concern.

“The fight against terrorism … is not [the concern of only] the Philippines or the United States but [also the] concern of many nations around the world,” Abella said.

He said the US military’s support in Marawi was limited to “technical assistance” and this was covered by protocols under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States.

Abella said the US support did not involve boots on the ground, “a matter prohibited by law.”

The US presence in Marawi indicates a softening of Mr. Duterte’s policy on the United States, according to security analyst Chester Cabalza.

“[W]e cannot get rid of the US military prowess on counterterrorism since both countries are confronted with such security threats,” Cabalza said.

Cabalza said the United States remained the Philippines’ ally dealing with the country’s internal security threats by providing “sophisticated technical support” to the AFP. —WITH REPORTS FROM PHILIP C. TUBEZA, ALLAN NAWAL, FRINSTON LIM