Esperon denies US air strikes in 2006
Former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Monday said the United States did not conduct any air strikes in the Philippines during his term as military chief in 2006.
Esperon, who served as chief of staff of thenPresident Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo from July 2006 to May 2008, said US forces only conducted surveillance flights over Philippine territory to provide technical assistance to Filipino soldiers during his incumbency.
“Meron tayong mga pinapalipad diyan na para sa pero surveillance hindi ‘ yun ng
attack drones,” he told reporters in a phone interview.
Esperon issued his remarks after a New York Times article, published on July 6, claimed the US conducted at least one drone strike in Mindanao.
The article said a US unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, fired a “barrage of Hellfire missiles” in the “jungles of the Philippines” in an attempt to kill Indonesian Umar Patek, who is linked to the 2002 Bali bombings.
The strike failed to kill Patek. He was recently convicted by an Indonesian court to 20 years for his role in the Bali Bombings.
The article, written by Mark Mazzetti, cited as sources “three former and current intelligence officials.” The officials were not identified in the article.
The New York Times article said that the drone strike was reported as a “Philippine military operation”.
But Esperon maintained that the US drone strikes could never have happened in 2006, stressing that the military under his command was well aware that American forces could not participate in combat operations on Philippine soil.