US SOLDIERS APOLOGIZE FOR CLOSING SULU HOSPITAL
US soldiers apologize for closing Sulu hospital
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — US soldiers in Sulu have apologized
for ordering health officials to shut down the government-run hospital
in Panamao town during night time, Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said
Monday.
Earlier, Dr. Silak Lakkian, chief of the Panamao district hospital,
said US forces led by a Master Sergeant Ronburg have threatened to
shoot anybody seen at the hospital premises after 6 p.m.
"I take back those words and I am apologizing, it’s unfortunate but
it was not really the real intention. Our real intention was to protect
the people but reception (how locals took the order), we were just
misunderstood," Tan quoted Major Eric Walker as saying during a "face
to face confrontation" with Lakkian on Sunday morning.
Walker is commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) Sulu Forward Base based in Camp Teodulo Bautista in Jolo.
Tan said he set the meeting — attended also by other government
officials — after the incident, which was reported by the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, reached him.
The Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, reported on the
November 30 closure order issued to Lakkian and staffers of the Panamao
district hospital but US officials denied there was such an order.
"I didn’t know how factual all that was and where you are getting
that information and I just wondered who your sources were," Lieutenant
Commander Melissa Scheurmann, public affairs officer of the Joint
Special Operation Task Force Philippines (JSOTFP) based here, said
Monday.
Scheurmann denied having a Ronburg in their list of US personnel in Sulu.
"I don’t know specifically who that is (Ronburg) it’s almost a
blunder at that point and I don’t know who gave you that name and how
you got that name," she said.
Tan, who told the Inquirer by phone that he considered the order
rude, confirmed that Ronburg is one of the five US servicemen assigned
in Panamao.
"We should not let it pass," he said.
Tan said during the meeting, he told Walker and two other American
military officials that they are not authorized to impose rules in Sulu.
"You don’t have the right to impose (rules) to any of our personnel
here, you don’t have any authority and if you have anything to impart,
inform the AFP and the AFP will deal with us," he said.
Tan said during the meeting, Walker insisted that there was a simple
misunderstanding between the hospital staffers and the US personnel.
He said Walker explained to Lakkian that the intention to shut down
the hospitala’s operation after 6 p.m. was for the protection of the
hospital workers.
"He said the military was then on red alert. But they did not
specify up to when the hospital should cease operating at night. When
the red alert status was lifted, the hospital staff was not properly
informed," Tan said.
"And the reception was not that good on the part of the hospital
staff kasi yung pagkakasabi was ‘we are going to shoot anybody who
comes after 6 p.m.,’" Tan added.
Lakkian said it was easy for US forces to shoot just anybody after 6 p.m. because the hospital was adjacent to their camp.
Tan said during the meeting, Walker gave assurance that the hospital can resume full operation starting Monday.
But for others, a simple apology was not enough.
Akbayan Representative Etta Rosales said a diplomatic protest is in
order because of the "outright intrusion of these foreign soldiers into
our internal affairs."
Rosales said while US Ambassador Kristie Kenney is known for her
goodwill, some of her countrymen are committing violations that are
"inhuman in nature."
She said she will write a letter, urging the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to file a diplomatic protest.
Millete Mendoza, formerly of Tabang Mindanaw and a volunteer
humanitarian worker in Sulu, also joined Rosales’ call for a diplomatic
protest.
"We should file a diplomatic protest, this issue should not be
allowed to die, we must all condemn it on the grounds of humanitarian
and sovereignty," Mendoza said.
Dr. Manar Saliddin, chair of the Jaga (Watch) Human Rights group in Basilan, said the incident should also be investigated.
"It’s a blatant violation of our rights as medical personnel, we are
here to serve the people anytime of the day, this must be protested by
all legal means locally and abroad," Saliddin, a dentist by profession,
said.
Edgar Araojo, a political science professor at the Western Mindanao
State University here, said the actuation of the American forces was
like "witnessing the timeless truism of the cliché that he who rides a
tiger ends up as its lunch."
