The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday
strongly denied allegations from rebels stating that the SOMO was not
implemented by front-line military units.
"That is utterly false and misleading. We are issuing
this statement because doubt is cast on the credibility of the AFP to implement
lawful orders. And we have on record pullout of AFP units from combat
operations," AFP public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said.
SOMO is short for
"suspension-of-military-operation".
Arevalo said AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya has full
control over all its subordinate unit commanders, who follow instructions and
directives to the letter.
Hence, it is pure conjecture to say otherwise, he added.
"As soon as the directive declaring the SOMO was signed
by AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya in the evening of July 25, it was
communicated to all units in the field forthwith through all available means of
communications including radio," he said.
Arevalo noted that the orders led to the July 29 pullout of
the 2nd Special Forces Battalion, Scout Ranger outfits and other combat units
attached to the 4th Infantry Division from their positions.
"The (CPP-NPA-NDF) should not pin the blame on the AFP
for the resumption of combat operations against them or resort to squid tactic
to cover their inability to manifest good faith or perform unequivocal acts for
the ceasefire to prosper," he said.
"We believe that if such failure is not an issue of
sincerity, then it is an issue of their inability or loss of control of the NPA
units in the front line that attacks and ambuscades were perpetrated against
AFP personnel complying with the SOMO," Arevalo stressed.
The AFP official said the rebels twisted the story because
they could not afford the embarrassment of not being able to control their
people on the ground, unlike the control that the AFP has over its troops in
the farthest deployment.
"These notwithstanding, the AFP firmly believes in the
primacy of peace; unequivocally supports the CinC (Commander in Chief) in his
peace and development initiatives; and will abide by his instructions," he
said.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte declared the unilateral
ceasefire against the rebels during his first State-of-the-Nation Address last
July 25, in line with achieving the government’s goal of final and lasting
peace. The AFP SOMO followed shortly afterwards.
The Chief Executive however ordered the lifting of the
unilateral ceasefire after the 5 p.m. Saturday ultimatum he gave lapsed without
reciprocation from the rebels.
“Correspondingly, I am ordering the Armed Forces of the
Philippines and the Philippine National Police to also withdraw the operational
guidelines they issued in pursuance to that ceasefire declaration,” Duterte
said.
Prior to the deadline, the President demanded an explanation
from the rebels regarding their July 27 attack against militia units in
Kapalong, Davao del Norte, which killed one and wounded four others.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=909786
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