Army to recruit more IPs in Eastern and Southern Mindanao

From the Manila Bulletin (Jan 8): Army to recruit more IPs in Eastern and Southern Mindanao

The 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army bared its plan to recruit more members of the Indigenous Peoples or Lumads in Eastern and Southern regions of Mindanao to become regular members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Colonel Benjamin Madrigal, commander of the 701st Brigade in Davao region said the lumads who will serve as regular forces of the army are vital in the protection of the ancestral domains and the indigenous cultural communities in the region.

LUMAD RECRUITMENT—Photo shows Lt. Col. Llewellyn Binasoy (left), commander of the civil-military operations of the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Mindanao announcing the plan to recruit and train members of the Indigenous Peoples or “Lumads” to become regular members of the army. With him in photo are (from left): Supt. Antonio Rivera, spokesperson of PNP-11; Col. Benjamin Madrigal, commander of the 701st Brigade; and PSI Milgrace Driz of the information office of the Davao City police. (Alexander D. Lopez)

“The recruitment will be for regular forces of the army, not as militiamen, and they will primarily be assigned in their ancestral domains,” Madrigal told reporters here on Wednesdayduring the regular AFP-PNP press conference at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Madrigal added that as regular members of the AFP, they may be assigned to other areas as part of their tour of duty but primarily, the lumad regulars will be tasked to secure their respective communities and domains.

About 5 percent of the total army recruitment for this year will be allocated to members of the cultural communities nationwide, he added.

Lt. Col. Llewellyn Binasoy, commander of the civil-military operations of 10th Infantry Division also said that the planned recruitment is in line with the results of the consultations that the army conducted with various cultural communities in the region.

In the said consultations, Binasoy said that majority of IP leaders had seen the importance of the presence of the army in their communities.

IP leaders also urged the army to recruit and train qualified lumads to become regular soldiers to be assigned to protect their ancestral domains.

Binasoy added that 10th ID commander Major General Eduardo Año will communicate with the higher headquarters of the AFP and ask for the possibility that the target 5 percent recruitment allotted for lumads nationwide will be concentrated in the 10th ID area of coverage.

http://www.mb.com.ph/army-to-recruit-more-ips-in-eastern-and-southern-mindanao/