More soldiers to be deployed in Sulu, Basilan

From Malaya Business Insight (Nov 23): More soldiers to be deployed in Sulu, Basilan

PRESIDENT Aquino’s recent order for an intensified campaign against the Abu Sayyaf means deployment of more soldiers in Sulu and Basilan where the bandit group is operating, a military source said yesterday.

 

“With the President’s order, it is expected that there will be more forces to be deployed (in Abu Sayyaf areas). This may include additional troops…There might also be a shifting (of strategy),” the source said without elaborating.

 

The order was issued after the beheading of a Malaysian hostage in Sulu last week while Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted by Manila. Razak said the beheading was a “savage and barbaric act” and called on Philippine authorities to take action.

AFP spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said the military leadership is confident that Maj. Gen. Mayoraldo dela Cruz, new chief of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, would come out with “good results” in the renewed campaign against Abu Sayyaf group.

 

Padilla said AFP chief Gen. Hernando Iriberri was in Zamboanga City last Saturday to preside over the assumption of Dela Cruz as the new Wesmincom chief, replacing Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero who is retiring on Tuesday, and to “personally convey to the ground commanders the specific instruction of the President.”

Dela Cruz, a classmate of Iriberri at the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983, was last assigned as commander of the Light Armor Division in Tarlac. He also served as chief of staff of the division, and commanded the 1st Mechanized Brigade that battled forces of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and other threat groups in Maguindanao in 2012.

The Abu Sayyaf beheaded Bernard Then in Indanan, Sulu on Tuesday last week after his family reportedly failed to pay ransom. Then was kidnapped from a resort in Sabah, Malaysia last May together with another Malaysian, Thien Nyuk Fun. The two were then brought to the Abu Sayyaf’s bailiwick in Sulu. Fun was released last November 9 reportedly after paying ransom.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/more-soldiers-be-deployed-sulu-basilan