LEFTIST lawmakers filed a resolution Monday seeking a congressional investigation into the participation of US military personnel in operations against the Maute group terrorists in Marawi City.
The group, led by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, filed House Resolution 1075 asking the committees on foreign affairs and on national defense to verify what Molly Koscina, spokesperson of the US Embassy in Manila, confirmed that the US was involved in the Marawi operations following news reports of a US P-3 Orion surveillance plane flying over Marawi.
The media also circulated photos showing US special forces with surveillance drones inside the military headquarters in Marawi.
Zarate siad Koscina had said it was the Philippines that asked for US assistance in Marawi, but that President Rodrigo Duterte did not even know about the American involvement.
“It is very alarming that the commander in chief himself does not know that his military and security officials like Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Eduardo Año have already asked assistance from a country that he has continually hit as a hypocrite and is only looking out for its own self-interest,” Zarate said.
He said Congress needs to dig deeper into the role of the United States government and the Central Intelligence Agency in the reported activities and the “merger” of the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups, which he said was created by the Americans.