Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff
Gregorio Pio Catapang on Wednesday expressed confidence that the whole country
wll be declared peaceful and ready for development before the year.
He made this statement after noting that the AFP, upon
assessment, was able to address the challenges posed by the New People's Army,
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf Group, and Rogue Moro
(National) Liberation Front Elements.
"We are doing alright," the AFP chief stressed.
Aside from this, Catapang also said that the military also
has many successes in addressing possible threats posed by foreign terror
groups.
But due to security reasons, he refused to comment on what
strategies the military employed in dealing with the above-mentioned threats.
Greatly aiding the AFP in its security endeavor are the
ongoing normalization talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the
negotiations concerning the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
As this develops, AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla
said all military units have good outputs in regards to internal security
operations.
All objectives considering insurgents and terrorist threats
have been reached.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=723092
The objective of declaring all Philippine provinces as "development ready" will be an uphill struggle. The provinces of Sulu and Basilan, where the so-called Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf Group and the more secular Moro National Liberation Front-Misuari Breakaway Group operate, will be especially difficult to pacify. Maoist NPA elements in several other provinces such as Surigao del Norte, Compostela Valley, and North Cotabato have proven to be quite resilient.
ReplyDeleteI believe that as of early January 2015, 42 provinces had been declared by government authorities as "peaceful and ready for further development" with the remaining 28 provinces being characterized as problematic with regard to insurgent influence. The pacification of 28 provinces in one year would seem to be a tall order.