Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.
Lead Philippines: Can't believe this is still happening in the country. If the government does nothing, I won't be...
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hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
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meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
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Why is a U.S. base construction unit spending P650 million in Mindanao?

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | August 21, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Filed under: In the News, i Report Features

THE issue of U.S. involvement in the war on terror being waged in the Philippines has again surfaced with sightings of “heavily-armed U.S. Special Forces” in Mindanao as government troops began military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan.

While not denying the presence of American soldiers, the government has claimed that they are not engaged in combat operations and are only helping Philippine armed forces in intelligence-gathering.

Early this year, the PCIJ reported on the U.S. troops’ “unconventional presence” in Mindanao. Again noting the questionable presence of a U.S. base construction unit pouring $14.4 million into the region, PCIJ contributor Herbert Docena has filed this latest report:

AS the controversy regarding the actions of U.S. military troops in southern Mindanao snowballs, Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based international research institute that has been monitoring U.S. military actions in the country, raises another question: What is a U.S. base construction unit spending $14.4 million (or about P650 million) for in Mindanao?

In a little-reported development that has come to the attention of the institute, the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) had on June 6, 2007, awarded a six-month $14.4 million contract to a certain “Global Contingency Services LLC” of Irving, Texas for “operations support” for the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P).

According to its own website, the NAVFAC is the unit within the U.S.military that is in charge of providing the U.S. Navy with “operating, support, and training bases.” It “manages the planning, design, and construction and provides public works support for U.S. Naval shore installations around the world.” Among its business lines are “bases development” and “contingency engineering.”

The JSOTF-P is the unit established by the U.S. Special Operations Command that has been stationed in the southern Philippines since 2002 and which Focus on the Global South believes has established a new kind of U.S. basing in the country.

According to the announcement by the Pentagon, the contract awarded to Global Contingency Services LLC includes “all labor, supervision, management, tools, materials, equipment, facilities, transportation, incidental engineering, and other items necessary to provide facilities support services.”

Global Contingency Services LLC is a partnership between DynCorp International, Parsons Global Service, and PWC Logistics. The $14.4-million contract is actually part of a bigger $450-million five-year contract for Global Contingency Services to “provide a full range of world-wide contingency and disaster-response services, including humanitarian assistance and interim or transitional base-positioning support services.”

According to DynCorp’s website, this will include “facility operations and maintenance; air operations; port operations; health care; supply and warehouse in; galley; housing support; emergency services; security, fire,and rescue; vehicle equipment; and incidental construction.”

Contingency Responses Services LLC describes its work as encompassing “operating forces support,” “community support,”and “basing support.”

According to the Defense Industry Daily publication, the contract also includes “morale, welfare, and recreation support.”

The specific contract for the JSOTF-P work is expected to be completed in January 2008 but other contracts may follow as part of the $450-million package.

Research by Focus on the Global South reveals that the JSOTF-P has not only been involved in the Philippine military’s operations in the south. It also represents what it calls the “new kind of more austere, more low-profile kind of overseas presence that the U.S. has been striving to introduce as part of its comprehensive restructuring of its forward deployment.”

U.S. troops themselves refer to their facility in Sulu as “Advance Operating Base 920,” and describe their mission as “unconventional warfare” and “counterinsurgency.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 and is filed under In the News, i Report Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 people have left comments

<p>Regarding the article U.S. Troops Unconventional Presence, you hit it right on the head regarding the troop presence. You should be concerned.</p>
<p>As an American, I totally agreed with the closings of Subic and Clark. But I’m not convinced the current troop presence is leading to anything greater or permanent. However, I agree the situation should be followed closely. Americans were dishonest once before and look what happened. So I don’t think your country should trust us. But legally, your government can tell the Americans to leave at any time and there is no way around that. For the time being, let’s just make sure that doesn’t change. In the meantime, please take full advantage of the troops and their dollars. When it comes to militaries, there will always be some level of collateral damage (Nicole), but if the greater good is being served, so be it. Like it or not, the Philippines is still too closely connected to the United States to break away 100%. That’s the sad reality of it all.</p>

Glenn Nash wrote on August 18, 2007 - 9:32 pm | Visit Link

[...] Why is a US base construction unit spending P650 million in Mindanao?Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Philippines - 18 minutesGlobal Contingency Services LLC is a partnership between DynCorp International, Parsons Global Service, and PWC Logistics. The $14.4-million contract is … [...]

Business Blog » Why is a US base construction unit spending P650 million in Mindanao? - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism wrote on August 21, 2007 - 9:30 pm | Visit Link

With the Senate focused on the revived Hello Garci brouhaha, it may take a while before legislators with a nationalis stripe to take notice of the nascent US military base down south, but one doen’st need to be an Juan Einstein to recognize the so-called support facilities for what they are.The global process of business process outsourcing a.k.a. BPO has simply been turned by the American military establishment as military forward deployment outsourcing, let’s dub this MFDO, with the Philippines being a willing ‘ousourcer’ of its own military facilies to Uncle Sam.

DingGagelonia wrote on August 29, 2007 - 11:35 am | Visit Link