500 bullet-proof vests received

The defence department received 500 armoured vests from the U.S. military, which will be used by soldiers for a year while undergoing training to fight terrorism in the south and northern Luzon.

"This body armour will go a long way in helping our armed forces fight better," said Defence Chief Angelo Reyes, adding that the vests are the "first tangible result of the implementation of the Philippine-U.S. mutual logistics support agreement (MLSA) after its signing last November".

The government will pay $5,000 (P 265,000) for the use and processing cost that the U.S. government incurred in transporting the vests from South Korea. The vests cost an estimated $50,000 and will be returned after a year, said Reyes. They will be used by soldiers while undergoing training on counter-terrorism with their U.S. counterparts.

"If we want them, we could offer to buy them in exchange for goods and services," said defence public information chief Ros Manlangit, adding that the government wanted to test the vests before deciding whether to buy them or not. If the vests were lost or damaged, the government would have to pay for them.

The vests will be temporarily stored at the army logistics command in camp Aguinaldo before being shipped to Mindanao. They were transported from a U.S. army facility in South Korea aboard a South Korean C-130 cargo plane, a service provided by the South Korean government in support of U.S. armed forces missions there.

Present at the turnover ceremony were U.S. Charge d' Affaires, Joseph Mussomeli and representatives of the U.S. Pacific command and U.S. army in the Pacific from Hawaii.

Maj. Gen. Cicero Castellano, armed forces deputy chief of logistics, explained that the government is "trying to prove that the MLSA is an effective facility to procure (defence items) for the use of our troops."

He said the vests are partly "in line with the thrusts of the modernisation programmes of our armed forces".

The Philippines has allowed U.S. forces to source logistics and base equipment in exchange for modern equipment from the U.S., analysts said.

The U.S. and the Philippines said the joint defence exercises will improve the capabilities of the poorly-equipped armed forces of the Philippines, which have had only limited success in fighting insurgent groups, including the hostage-taking Abu Sayyaf in the south.

Earlier, Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, deputy chief of staff for education and training, said the government has been allowing U.S. troops to set up training facilities because Japan and Thailand recently restricted movements of foreign troops in their areas.

Meanwhile, the 12-man advance team of the U.S. special forces held preliminary meetings with the military leaders at the southern command in Zamboanga City in preparation for joint training with 18 companies of infantry in the second week of February.

Capt. Steve Wollman, spokesman of the special operations task force, has identified the areas for the training of four light infantry battalions.

Earlier, the military identified two training sites – Camp Arturo Enrile in Malagutay village, the huge mountain terrain of the Zamboanga economic and freeport zone in San Ramon village.

About 272 U.S. soldiers will arrive for wargames to be held in the former U.S. airbase and parts of northern suburban Bulacan on Monday. About 221 Filipino soldiers will join the U.S. soldiers in the "Balance Piston" air and land exercises, which will start in June.

The U.S.-Philippine soldiers will have to undertake eight other wargames, called Cooperation Afloat and Readiness Alert Training (CARAT).

Amado Valdez, executive director of the presidential commission on the visiting forces agreement, said the government has reiterated its call to the U.S. Congress to consider military assistance to the armed forces of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, leftist and nationalist groups said the Philippines would be dragged into international conflict because of its strong pro-U.S. stance.

Congressman Crispin Beltran asked the government to deny the request of the United States for the use of 2,000 hectares of territory as a site for exercises.

"The very presence of U.S. troops in the poverty-stricken areas where they're deployed signals an increase in the incidence of prostitution," Beltran said and added the prolonged stay of U.S. troops and their equipment in the country has also upset the ecological balance in places where their facilities have been set up.

President Gloria Arroyo was the first among Asian leaders to declare her support for the U.S.-led war on terror after the attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001.