Marines to Misamis Or.

From Malaya (Apr 24): Marines to Misamis Or.

Two battalions pitted vs. 70 NPAs

A BATTALION of Marines is being deployed to Misamis Oriental in the wake of last Saturday’s ambush of the convoy of Gingoog City Mayor Ruth Guingona, wife of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and mother of Sen. Teofisto Guingona III.

The deployment followed the call of Sen. Teofisto Guingona Jr. for increased police and military presence in the province after the ambush staged by the New People’s Army, which left two bodyguards of the mayor dead.

The Marines will be in addition to the Army’s 58th Infantry Battalion which is currently deployed in the province.

A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the usual operational setup is “one on one,” or one battalion (about 500 men) per province. The exception is in high-risk areas like Maguindanao, Sulu and Basilan where several battalions are deployed to address threats which include the Abu Sayyaf.

In Misamis Oriental, the only threat group is the NPA, and only about 60 to 70 NPA rebels are operating there, the official said.

The deployment of the additional forces was apparently decided on by the military hierarchy on the request of Senator Guingona who belongs to President Aquino’s Liberal Party. “That would be the reason,” he said.

Senator Guingona has also asked the Commission on Elections to place the province in its list of election hot spots. His request has also been granted.

Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said, “We already placed it as an area of immediate concern…That is a big deal already since it is the second stage.”

Based on PNP guidelines, there are four degrees of concern this election -- area of concern, area of immediate concern, area of great concern, and those needed to be placed under Comelec control.

“This is really a matter of the police and military. We just got involved a little since it involved a mayor,” Brillantes also said.

Guingona said Monday Brillantes had committed to consider the province an election hot spot.

The Marine battalion is arriving today or tomorrow in Misamis Oriental, according to Maj. Leo Bongosia, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division. It will be placed under the operational control of the 4th ID.

He said the battalion is coming from Metro Manila, and part of the unit already arrived in Butuan City yesterday morning. He said the troops are undergoing orientation before their actual deployment.

The headquarters of the Marine Corps is based in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City where the 3rd Marine Battalion recently underwent mandatory retraining and refurbishing.

Bongosia said 4th ID commander Maj. Gen. Nestor Añonuevo described the deployment of the Marines as a “big boost to the present troops (in the province) in the conduct of security operations.”

He said there are few soldiers in the province, resulting in gaps in the operations, “so we have to fill in that gap.”

Bongosia said the deployment of the Marines is in compliance with a directive issued by higher headquarters Monday night. He said the plan was discussed right after the ambush of Guingona’s convoy.

He said the Marines would help secure the elections and the communities, and “perhaps negate any hostile plan of the NPA or any armed group that may (sow violence) in the elections.”

Senator Guingona has raised the issue of “checkpoints” being set up by the NPA, and asked why the military is “allowing” the practice.

In a statement issued Sunday, an NPA spokesman said the mayor’s convoy ignored an NPA “checkpoint” and fired at NPA rebels manning it.

Maj. Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz, newly installed chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said what the NPA put up was a “roadblock” and not a “checkpoint.”

He said a checkpoint is put up by the military and the police who flag down and check commuters passing by, and with no specific target.

“What the NPAs did was a deliberate roadblock. These (roadblocks) are designed to harass or ambush certain targets, whether politicians or military. They know who are passing in a certain area at a certain time so they put up the roadblock,” he said.

Cruz said the rebels apparently knew that Mayor Guingona went to the interior part of the city so they put up the roadblock. “They know that she is going to pass again that area so they waited for her (at the roadblock),” he said.

Asked how the military would prevent such moves by the rebels, Cruz said politicians should inform the military when going to certain areas “so that we will provide area security and route security in the area where they will pass.”

Brillantes said the Comelec believes the NPA should not be allowed to set up checkpoints.

“Even if it is not the elections, the NPA should not have checkpoints,” he said.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/news/nation/29482-marines-to-misamis-or