Wesmincom chief gives morale boost in military camp visits

From the Daily Tribune (Nov 30): Wesmincom chief gives morale boost in military camp visits

As part of the sustained efforts against enemies of the state in Western Mindanao, the commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) is now doing the rounds to various camps in the region to boost the morale of the troops and personnally issue his guidance.

Maj. Gen. Mayoralgo de la Cruz, commander of Wesmincom, has started visiting brigade headquarters in Western Mindanao, meeting with military commanders up to battalion, upon his assumption last week.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman for Wesmincom, said that De la Cruz’s visit to military camps was meant to boost the morale of the troops amid the intensified law enforcement operations against lawless elements, particularly the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.

“General De la Cruz wants to personally relay to our troops the directive of the Commander-in-Chief President Aquino for the military to conduct relentless operations against lawless elements,” Tan said.

“The troop visits are also aimed at ensuring that the requirements of our operating units are met,” he added.

According to Tan, Wesmincom troops have been conducting intensified combat operations against the Abu Sayyaf group and other lawless elements in the area.

“The standing order from the Commander in Chief and the AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri is to conduct relentless opertions against lawless groups,” Tan said.

Yesterday, Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, commander of Joint Task Group Sulu, announced the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf terrorist while confined at a local hospital in Jolo.

Nabbed was Kadaffy Kamsa, who is under the ASG band of Alhabsy Misaya tagged in the kidnapping and beheading of Malaysian Bernard Then.

Arrojado said that two other ASG members evaded arrest.

Kamsa, Arrojado said, was confined after suffering injuries during a vehicular accident.

Less than a week after De la Cruz assumed office as Wesmincom chief, Marine forces in Sultan Kudarat engaged a group of self-proclaimed terrorists identifying themselves with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS, killing eight members of the so-called Ansar al-Khalifa Philippines in Palimbang town.

One of those killed was Indonesian Abu Fattuh, raising suspicion that the group was a terror cell.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/wesmincom-chief-gives-morale-boost-in-military-camp-visits