AFP eyeing reinforcements to Sulu as Abu Sayyaf cuts power to Talipao

From InterAksyon (Nov 16): AFP eyeing reinforcements to Sulu as Abu Sayyaf cuts power to Talipao

(UPDATE - 5:38 p.m.) The military might send reinforcements to Sulu province to beef up government forces pursuing the Abu Sayyaf following Friday’s deadly clash, which left scores of soldiers and extremists dead or wounded, Armed Forces chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said on Sunday.

The disclosure came as Colonel Allan Arrojado, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said the Abu Sayyaf has cut off power to Talipao town, where Friday’s five-hour battle, happened.

"Pinag-aaralan pa namin (kung) dagdagan pa namin 'yung puwersa namin kung kinakalingan (the necessity of beefing up our forces)," Catapang said in a chance interview in Camp Aguinaldo following a visit to United Nations peacekeepers quarantined on Caballo Island.

Catapang said they had been considering sending reinforcements even before Friday's clash as part of the military's "graduated response" to the Abu Sayyaf but hinted this has become more likely "ngayong napatunayan natin na talagang may puwersa pa sila diyan (now that we have proven they still maintain a substantial force there) ... so we will be able to contain them."

"Well, malakas sila pero mas malakas 'yung Armed Forces (they are strong but the Armed Forces is stronger) so we will have to continue to pressure (the Abu Sayyaf) kasi 'yun ang order sa atin ng ating (because that is the order of our) hierarchy, to defeat the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, in Sulu, in Zamboanga, in Tawi-Tawi," he added.

Arrojado said the local electric cooperative “gave us information that their line going to Talipao was cut off by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. Binabaril nila ‘yung mga transformer, walang ilaw hanggang ngayon ‘yung Talipao area (They shot out the transformers, there is no power in the Talipao area until now).”

"The terrorists were asking for P100,000 a month as protection money (but) the cooperative manager refused to give," he added.

Arrojado said the power utility gave the information to civil-military operations personnel who reached out to stakeholders in Talipao after the fighting died down.
The military officer also updated the toll from Friday’s clashes, disclosing that the Abu Sayyaf had suffered more than 30 casualties, including 10 fatalities.

"In our monitoring they (Abu Sayyaf) had more than 30 casualties but we've only identified 10 of the killed and they had 18 wounded," Arrojado said.

The Army Scout Rangers who engaged more than 300 Abu Sayyaf gunmen for five hours in Barangay Bud Bongao, on the boundary of Talipao and Patikul towns, suffered five dead and 26 wounded.

Arrojado said they have continued to track down the Abu Sayyaf since the clash and said chances were good of catching up with the extremists because "marami silang wounded na kasama (they have many wounded companions)."

"Nagpapahinga din sila so marami nang sighting kung saan then 'yun, ginagawan namin ng plan para matumbok namin, inaasahan naming matumbok sila (They are resting too so there have been many sightings of where they are, and we are drawing up plans to pin them down, we are hoping to pin them down)," Arrojado said. "We've to plan and execute this two to three steps ahead against the enemy."

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/99319/afp-eyeing-reinforcements-to-sulu-as-abu-sayyaf-cuts-power-to-talipao