NPA Negros propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines Website (Aug 18): Victories in Armed Struggle in Negros
Juanito Magbanua, Spokesperson NPA-Negros Island (Apolinario Gatmaitan Command)
18 August 2017
Press Release
The Negros NPA Regional Operational Command launched a total of 17 armed actions since late January this year which netted for the people’s army 10 high-powered rifles, 15 short arms and assorted ammunition and other military materiel. These were carried out through the five guerrilla fronts in the the island.
Ka Juanito Magbanua, spokesperson of the NPA Apolinario Gatmaitan Regional Operational Command said the most significant was the ambush last July 21 in barangay Magsaysay, Guihulngan City, which finally punished C/Supt. Arnel Arpon, five other policemen and a Cafgu militiaman.
“This tactical offensive was long overdue in the face of the revolutionary masses’ clamor to punish the fascist PNP unit in Guihulngan who, for years, have been committing extra-judicial killings against ordinary civilians, aside from protecting drug lords and criminal gangs while being guns-for-hire themselves,” he added.
During the last six months, the NPA also successfully implemented punitive measures against fourteen land-grabbers, criminal elements and intelligence assets of the 303rd Brigade responsible, just this year, for a host of human rights violations and anti-peasant activities, including the salvaging of four legal activist-leaders. Their punishment hit at the capability of the AFP/PNP to inflict further harm upon the people’s lives, rights and livelihood within and outside the guerrilla areas in the island.
The enemy also suffered further damage in the three defensive actions so far this year, with the 62nd IB losing two of its men in June 22 at barangay Cambayobo, Calatrava town, and the 79th IB four of its own in June 30 at barangay Binobohan, Guihulngan City.
In all these offensive and defensive actions, the people’s army had only one fighter slightly wounded.
Ka Juanito Magbanua said “these demonstrate the NPA’s increasing capability in launching armed struggle that is integrated with agrarian revolution and base building; nevertheless, we must constantly improve ourselves as the US-Duterte regime strips itself of all progressive trappings and intensifies its brutal reactionary war against the armed revolutionary movement.”
In this regard, the NPA Regional Operational Command also conducted two politico-military trainings during the last six months aimed at improving the fighting skill, political capability, combat discipline and revolutionary militance of NPA commanders and fighters. The first was the 40-day Basic Politico-Military Course-Instructors Training, which had 27 graduates. The second was the 50-day Basic Politico-Military Course, with 67 graduates. At least 80% of the trainees were aged 18-30, while around 15% were of petty-bourgeois class origin.
Ka Juanito Magbanua said these trainings provide added impetus for Red commanders and fighters to better implement the Party’s three-year program aimed at, among others, building more and bigger NPA formations at all levels, intensifying armed tactical offensives to seize arms and other military equipment mainly from the AFP/PNP, and waging an extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare based on an ever-widening and ever-deepening mass base.
The trainings were the first held since 2008, when Negros became one of the national priority targets for sustained counterrevolutionary campaigns under Oplans Bantay Laya 2 and Bayanihan. The people’s army in the island had to make do with politico-military crash courses in the face of sustained search-and-destroy operations of the enemy until 2013, while prioritizing rebuilding work of the revolutionary mass base thereafter.
As the fourth major island in the country and the second in the Visayas, it is necessary for the armed revolutionary movement in Negros to overcome its weaknesses and rectify its errors in order to help frustrate the US-Duterte regime’s Oplan Kapayapaan and contribute in the national development of the strategic defensive of the people’s war towards a new and higher stage, Ka Juanito Magbanua concluded.
NPA-Southern Tagalog propaganda statement poste do the Communist Party of the Philippines Website (Aug 17): Patio ang karahasan ng DSSP Kapayapaan sa Timog Katagalugan
Mariing kinukondena ng Melito Glor Command – New People’s Army Southern Tagalog ang walang habas na militarisasyon ng AFP-PNP (Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police) sa ilalim ng DSSP Kapayapaan ng rehimeng US-Duterte. Tahasang niyuyurakan ng rehimen ang karapatang tao ng mamamayan sa Timog Katagalugan sa walang habas na militarisasyon sa kanayunan sa ilalim ng DSSP Kapayapaan gamit ang iba’t ibang tabing tulad ng “gera kontra terorismo” at “gera laban sa droga”.
Laganap ito sa Palawan, Mindoro, Batangas, Quezon at Rizal kung saan pawang mga sibilyan ang target ng pananakot, panghuhuli, sapilitang interogasyon, intimidasyon at mga pagpatay sa layuning ihiwalay ang NPA sa mamamayan. Sa bawat pagkatalo ng AFP-PNP sa kamay ng NPA, mga sibilyan ang kanilang nilalapastangan at pinahihirapan.
Sa Palawan, ang buong pamilya ni Chieftain Polog, katutubo sa So. Marinsyawon, Brgy. Bonobono, Bataraza, ay hinuli, maging ang mga buntis na asawa, at dinala sa kampo. Binugbog ang mga kalalakihan habang iniinteroga sa kampo. Si Chieftain Polog naman ay inihulog sa truck at pinalabas na nagtangakang tumakas. Kasalukuyan siyang nasa ospital.
Samantala, sa North Palawan, hinuli at ikinulong ang mag-asawang Labaho at dalawa pang kasamahang mangingisda dahil sa mariin nilang pagtutol sa PCSD AO#5. Sinampahan sila ng gawa-gawang kaso habang pinalalabas na mga myembro ng NPA.
Pinalalabas ring may naganap na labanan noong July 27 sa pagitan ng mga nag-ooperasyong marines at NPA upang bigyan katwiran ang military operations sa buong Palawan na naghahasik ng takot sa buong mamamayan sa lalawigan.
Sa Mindoro at Batangas naman, nagpapatuloy ang ginagawang panghaharas sa mga mamamayang nakikibaka para sa kanilang kabuhayan. Patuloy ang karahasan, pananakot at pagpapalayas sa Hacienda Almeda sa Sta. Cruz at Mamburao, Mindoro Occidental, Hacienda Roxas at Hacienda Looc sa Nasugbu, Batangas, Brgy. Coral ni Lopez, Calaca, Batangas, at Brgy. Patungan, Maragondon, Cavite.
Sa Quezon, walang tigil ang operasyon ng 85th IB sa buong Bondoc Peninsula at sa mga bayan ng Mauban, Lucban at Gen. Nakar. Patuloy rin ang kanilang operasyong psywar, pananakot at intimidasyon sa mamamayan ng Quezon. Sa layuning itigil ang paglaban ng mga magsasaka sa Hacienda Uy, sinampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso si Roldan Tayactac, lider-magsasaka at 21 pang mga magsasaka na nakikibaka para sa kanilang karapatan sa lupa.
Samantala, pinatay si Burgos Idaño sa Sitio Umagos, Brgy. Camflora, San Andres upang takutin ang mga magsasakang lumalaban para sa kanilang karapatan sa lupa sa pastuhan ng isang panginoong maylupa sa lugar. Noong Hulyo 30 naman, pinatay si Edgar Tabien, isang empleyado ng munisipyo at caretaker ng sementeryo sa Brgy. Magisian, Lopez. Kilala si Tabien bilang alyado ng mga magsasaka sa Lopez na nagsusulong ng kanilang pakikibaka sa lupa.
Sa Rizal, tuluy-tuloy ang isinasagawang military operations sa mga komunidad ng Dumagat. Hinuhuli at tinatakot ang mga katutubong Dumagat. Pilit silang pinasasama sa mga combat operations at sinasaktan ang hindi sasama.
Kaugnay nito, nananawagan ang Melito Glor Command sa lahat ng yunit ng NPA sa rehiyon na maglunsad ng mga opensibang militar bilang bahagi ng pagtatanggol sa buhay at ari-arian ng mamamayan ng Timog Katagalugan. Dapat pagbayarin ang AFP-PNP sa kanilang mga krimen sa mamamayan. Nanawagan din ang MGC sa mamamayan na i-ulat sa alinmang himpilan ng NPA ang iba’t ibang atrosidad ng AFP-PNP upang bigyang hustisya ang mga biktima ng DSSP Kapayapaan at iba pang atake sa mamamayan ng rehimeng US-Duterte.###
From Lawfare (Aug 18): Water Wars: a “Suspicious” Flotilla that May “Not Mean Anything”
Some Philippine Leaders Herald a New Era of Cooperation with China, while Others Warn of a Buildup of Chinese Naval and Civilian Vessels near Philippine territory
Satellite photograph showing Chinese ships near Thitu (Pag-asa) Island (Photo: AMTI)
The week began with signs that the détente between the Philippines and China was coming along smoothly. Philippine Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana told a congressional hearing on Monday that China had promised to stop occupying new features in the South China Sea and to stop building new installations in the Scarborough Shoal. According to Lorenzana, the two countries had reached a “modus vivendi,” or a “way of getting along,” in the South China Sea that would involve an end of China’s building projects.
The next day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told the Philippine House of Representatives that the government is considering working with China to develop petroleum resources in the disputed waters between the two countries. Cayetano said that the project, if confirmed, would not cede any Philippine territory or sovereignty to China – perhaps a response to earlier remarks by Senior Justice Antonio Carpio that an oil and gas joint venture in Philippine territory would endanger the country’s sovereignty. “I will assure you, any legal framework will conform with local laws and the Constitution,” Cayetano said.
But the very same day, Congressman Gary Alejano reported that a number of Chinese PLA Navy ships had been deployed near Thitu, or Pag-asa, Island, a large island in the Spratly Islands that the Philippines occupy. According to Alejano’s “military sources,” a pair of Chinese frigates, a coast guard ship, and some fishing ships affiliated with China’s maritime militia were located a few miles north of Thitu Island. In a press conference, the Congressman described the ships as “suspicious,” and said: “I call on the Philippine government officials to be transparent in what is happening in the West Philippine Sea. We must assert our rights in the midst of talks with China.”
On Wednesday, Secretary Cayetano responded to Congressman Alejano’s report: he could not confirm the presence of the Chinese ships, but added that “[t]he presence of ships alone does not mean anything…the situation in the area is very stable.” Cayetano said that China was not an enemy and should not be treated as such. “It’s good we have people like Congressman Alejano who reminds us to monitor the situation,” he said. “But there’s a thin line between informing us and stirring up the situation.” Responding to Cayetano’s remarks, Alejano expressed dissatisfaction with Cayetano for “brushing aside the unusual and suspicious presence of several huge military and Chinese ships…in the vicinity of our largest island.”
Though neither Lorenzana or Cayetano confirmed the presence of the ships, Alejano released photographs of what he claimed were Chinese ships operating near Thitu Island. The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) released satellite images that seem to indicate that Chinese naval and civilian waters were indeed present in the area. According to AMTI’s report, “On that day, there were nine Chinese fishing ships and two naval/law enforcement vessels visible near Thitu…with others possibly under cloud cover. It is impossible to know if any of those ships might be affiliated with the maritime militia, but at least two appear to be actively fishing…” The report added that the flotilla’s presence was “highly provocative” and speculated that Beijing might have intended to “dissuade Manila from planned construction on Thitu.”
In Other News… United States On Monday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford arrived in Beijing for talks with top Chinese military leaders. At the opening of the dialogue, Gen. Dunford said that the two sides intended to discuss “difficult issues where we will not necessarily have the same perspective,” but that they “shared a commitment to work through these difficulties.”
On Tuesday, Gen. Dunford met with PLA Gen. Fang Fenghui to sign an agreement announcing a new communication mechanism between the two militaries. According to U.S. Joint Staff officials, the agreement would “enable us to communicate to reduce the risk of miscalculation” and to mitigate potential crises. The two sides agreed to work together to develop the framework, with the first meeting scheduled for November. Few details were released about how the mechanism would work or when it would be used, but both sides spoke of the need to develop trust and openness. Gen. Dunford said that crisis communications between the United States and China is critical, but that avoiding miscommunication was “the minimum standard.” Rather than simply working to avert a crisis, he said, “We should also try to see areas to cooperate.” Gen. Fang agreed, stating that the American and Chinese armies could work together to cooperate as partners.
Japan
Meanwhile, the United States was deepening its military ties with Japan as well. The two countries commenced a series of joint military operations on and around the Japanese island of Hokkaido on August 10. On Tuesday, the two countries’ air forces conducted drills near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which Japan occupies but China and Taiwan claim. In a statement, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces said, “These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.”
Vietnam
The Deepsea Metro I, a drilling ship contracted by Vietnam’s PetroVietnam and the Spanish firm Repsol to drill for oil in disputed waters claimed by China, arrived near the Malaysian port of Labuan on Monday. The ship was last reported at the drilling site on July 30. Vietnam canceled its plans to explore for petroleum in the disputed waters under intense pressure from China. Gregory Polling, the director of the AMTI, argued that the departure of the drilling ship signaled that Vietnam was unable to stand up to China without support from the United States or the regional powers of the South China Sea.
Taiwan
Taiwan placed its military on high alert after the Chinese air force conducted operations around – and sometimes within – Taiwan’s air defense identification zone over the weekend and on Monday. Taiwanese Defense Ministry Spokesman Chen Chung-ji stated, “Our air force and navy will stay on high alert to prevent them from intruding upon our territorial waters or airspace or even engaging in hostility.” The drills included bombers and surveillance aircraft and marked the eighth time that Chinese military aircraft have trained near Taiwan since July.
Analysis, Commentary, and Additional Information
Mark Valencia argues in the South China Morning Post that China and the United States should develop guidelines for naval operations off of each other’s’ shores. According to Valencia, the two sides have reached a sort of settled pattern in which the United States conducts Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in Chinese-claimed waters, and Beijing expresses disapproval. However, he says, this status quo is not stable. For example, if China tried to interfere with the American patrols, or if Japanese naval forces joined the U.S. Navy’s FONOPs, a conflict could easily break out. To avoid this outcome, Valencia argues that the two sides should work together to establish norms and rules governing how their navies will operate in contested waters.
Writing in The Diplomat, Tuan N. Pham claims that China’s aggressive naval and air operations in the South China Sea are increasingly at odds with its own interpretations of international maritime law. He points out that Beijing regularly claims that intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights conducted by the United States and other countries in China’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are unlawful, while the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) increasingly conducts similar operations in other countries’ EEZs. Pham predicts that “[a]s the PLAN continues to operate in distant waters and in proximity to other nations’ coastlines, Beijing may have no choice but to eventually address the inconsistency between policy and operations — and either pragmatically adjust its standing policy or continue to assert its untenable authority to regulate military activities in its EEZ. The former is more likely, while the latter carries more risks in terms of the legal validity of its own maritime sovereignty claims, international credibility, and world standing.”
Robert Manning of the Atlantic Council and James Przystup of the National Defense University argue in Foreign Policy that American politicians and commentators overstate the importance of the South China Sea to America’s national interests. They argue that America’s interests in the South China Sea have always been limited to freedom of navigation and freedom of maritime commerce.On the other hand, “Beijing’s interest in the South China Sea is political and strategic in nature,” key to both the legitimacy of the Communist Party and China’s overall security. Manning and Przystup conclude that the United States should acknowledge that, due to this “asymmetry of respective Chinese and U.S. geopolitical interests,” it must accept a larger Chinese role in the South China Sea.
[Water Wars is our weekly roundup of the latest news, analysis, and opinions related to ongoing tensions in the South and East China Seas. Please email Sarah Grant with breaking news, relevant documents, or corrections]
From The Maritime Executive (Aug 18): China Raises Temperature Again in Spratly Islands
Thitu Island and outlying reefs (file image from Landsat 7 / NASA)
Something significant is happening in the South China Sea. Philippine media has reported that, over the past week, a flotilla of Chinese fishing vessels, accompanied by PLA Navy frigates and Chinese Coast Guard vessels, have maintained a presence very close to Thitu (which Manila calls 'Pagasa'), the largest feature occupied by the Philippines in the Spratly Islands.
While none of the territorial claimants to the Spratly Islands have formalised claims to territorial seas from the features they occupy, a close-in naval and paramilitary presence of this nature is still highly provocative, and totally at variance with China's official narrative that the South China Sea is enjoying a period of relative tranquility following the recent adoption of a framework Code of Conduct between Beijing and ASEAN.
According to a timeline published by GMA News, the Chinese vessels began arriving on 11 August. Since 15 August at least one PLA warship has conducted shipboard helicopter overflights of a number of sand bars immediately to the west of Thitu. Thitu is situated just over 12 nautical miles away from Subi Reef. Subi is now host to one of seven artificial bases built up by China since 2013, but in its natural state is a submerged feature at low tide and therefore incapable of generating its own territorial sea.
The Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), based at the Washington think tank CSIS, has posted an analysis of the situation, including satellite photographs. Philippine parliamentarian Gary Alejano has released similar photographs, and has alleged that 'the Chinese may have a sinister plan to occupy sandbars just west of Pagasa that belong to us.' He also told GMA news that 'a Philippine government ship from BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) was prevented by Chinese fishing vessels from going near our sandbars located generally west of Pagasa Island, around two to seven miles away'.
One plausible (though hardly reassuring) interpretation of the Chinese activity, offered by AMTI, is that Beijing is engaging in a coercive demonstration around Thitu in order to dissuade the Philippine authorities from carrying out long-planned repairs and extensive infrastructure upgrades. Thitu is the site of the only runway among the Philippine-occupied features in the Spratlys, but it is in poor condition.
However, there remains a possibility that China is preparing to blockade or even to land on one or more of the unoccupied sand bars to which Alejano refers. If it is indeed the case that a BFAR vessel has been turned away by Chinese vessels, that would suggest a similar modus operandi to the seizure of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, which triggered sustained tensions between Manila and Beijing as well as prompting questions about the effectiveness of US policy in the South China Sea.
One of the sand bars in question is Sandy Cay, which came to prominence in the aftermath of the first US Navy freedom of navigation operation in the area, conducted by the USS Lassen, in the vicinity of Subi Reef and other nearby features, in October 2015.
As I flagged in a post back then, one potential inadvertent consequence of the US emphasis on 'innocent passage' for that initial FONOP was to shine a strategic spotlight on Sandy Cay as an unoccupied high-water feature that could hold the key to legal title over Subi Reef. Subi cannot generate its own territorial sea, but it has the potential to 'bump out' out a territorial sea claimed from Sandy Cay, because the distance between them (unlike Thitu) is less than 12 nautical miles. Beijing is certain to have taken note of this.
China’s ongoing maritime activity around Thitu is worrisome in its own right because it is coercive in nature. However, if the objective of the operation is to occupy Sandy Cay, that would mean a significant escalation in tension in the South China Sea. Asia has acquired yet another flashpoint it could well do without. Moreover, it appears to be one that China has deliberately picked at a time and location of its choosing. [Dr Euan Graham is Director, International Security Program at the Lowy Institute. Euan has been a close observer of East Asian security affairs for more than twenty years, in academia, the private sector, and for the British Government. Euan joined the Institute from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore where he was a Senior Fellow specialising in maritime issues. Prior to this he was a research analyst in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and served as Chargé d’Affaires at the British Embassy in Pyongyang.
This article appears courtesy of the Lowy Interpreter, and it may be found in its original form here.
From GMA News (Aug 20): Armed group attacks military camp near Marawi City
An armed group attacked a military detachment near Marawi City early on Sunday, a radio report said.
Reporting from Marawi City, dzBB's Benjie Liwanag said that the detachment of the 55th Infantry Battalion was manned by members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU). No militia was reported hurt in the attack by the group believed to be supporting the pro-ISIS Maute terrorists in Lanao del Sur, the report said.
A joint police and military team is in pursuit for the group that harassed the military camp, and security around war-torn Marawi City has been heightened.
Meanwhile, in Marawi City, fierce fighting between the holdover Maute terrorists and government soldiers has continued to rage nearly three months after the pro-ISIS jihadists laid siege to the city on May 23.
ABS-CBN (Aug 19): Maute terrorists holed up in Marawi grand mosque
The remaining members of the Maute group in Marawi City are holed up in the grand mosque with their civilian hostages.
In an exclusive video provided to ABS-CBN News, the war-torn buildings near the grand mosque can be seen.
On the background, the nonstop exchange of gunfires between the military and the Maute group can be heard.
According to the source of the video, the war torn establishment is only 60 to 70 meters away from the grand mosque, which has become the center of the firefight between government forces and the terrorist group.
It is believed that the remaining members of the Maute are inside the grand mosque, where they are also reportedly keeping around 40 civilian hostages. With their number getting smaller everyday, the military said that that Maute is desperate to get help from supporters outside the main battle area.
Just recently, 2 alleged Maute supporters were killed by military while trying to get inside the main battle area through the Lake Lanao.
On the 89th day of the Marawi clash, a total of 128 soldiers have been killed while the death toll for the terrorists has now reached a total of 573. Dateline Philippines, 19 August 2017.
From the Philippine Star (Aug 19): Funds sought for wounded MILF guerillas who fought with BIFF
Commander Rambo 6 of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is among the guerillas wounded in the MILF’s latest encounter with armed men in Maguindanao operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. STAR/John Unson
Officials are urging the public to help in the medical needs of Moro guerillas injured in their effort to neutralize violent extremists in Maguindanao province.
More than a dozen guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front had been wounded in encounters with a third faction in the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters since late July.
Socrates Piñol, member of the North Cotabato provincial board, said on Saturday that he will propose a resolution, subject to approval by his colleagues, recommending to the government the allocation of fund for the treatment of the injured guerillas.
He said he will sponsor the drafting of the resolution during the session next week of the provincial board.
"(In the) meantime, kind-hearted people may provide help. It is for us all, the Muslims, Christians and the Lumads, that the MILF is helping the government prevent the spread of these militants," Piñol said.
The breakaway BIFF group the MILF is trying to purge is led by Esmael Abdulmalik.
He was trained in fabrication of improvised explosive devices by the slain Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, most known as Marwan.
Four MILF guerillas, among them a senior commander, Rambo 6, were wounded in firefights with the militant group early Friday in Barangay Tee in Datu Salibo town in the second district of Maguindanao.
Five others, Mahmod Laguiab, Darix Kendag, Kuzak Ali, Anwar Maulana and Kalidin Ulama, who all belong to the MILF's Task Force Ittihad, were killed in the encounter.
It was the MILF's seventh encounter with the BIFF since it started operating against Abdulmalik three weeks ago in support of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-terror campaign.
Local officials and barangay leaders have confirmed that 12 of Abdulmalik's men, among them his son, Hamdi, were killed in Friday's hostilities.
Neighbors of Abdulmalik's daughter residing in Barangay Lapok in Sharif Aguak town in Maguindanao told reporters that Hamdi died from multiple gunshot wounds in the upper torso.
Abdulmalik has been claiming allegiance to the terror organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The two larger factions in the BIFF, one led by Imam Karialan and the other by Imam Bongos, have separately disowned the group of Abdulmalik for fear of being targeted next by the MILF.
Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, commanding officer of the Army's 6th Civil-Military Operations Battalion, said helping the wounded MILF guerillas now confined in hospitals will boost the morale of their companions hunting for Abdulmalik.
"It is good to give them recognition by way of helping them and the families of those killed in their campaign against ISIS-inspired militants," Besana said on Saturday.
Five MILF fighters were killed last week when one of them stepped on a trip wire attached to a powerful landmine while chasing Abdulmalik and his followers at the swampy boarder of Datu Piang and Salibo towns.
The landmine, laid by the fleeing militants, was fashioned from explosive powders packed with bent nails and fragments of metals with jagged edges.
From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 20): Notorious Abu Sayyaf member, 7 others nabbed by gov’t forces in separate ops A notorious Abu Sayyaf member and seven other lawless elements were arrested by government forces in separate operations in Sulu.
Abu Sayyaf (Manila Bulletin File Photo)
Abu Sayyaf member Fahar Ismael, alias Putoh Taron, was arrested in a checkpoint set up by troops of the 41st Infantry Battalion and the police in Barangay Timbangan, Indanan, Sulu on August 16 at about 7 a.m.
Ismael is said to be involved in the kidnappings of Engr. Marso Salinas and Evelyn Chan. He also has an arrest warrant for murder as co-accused of his leader, Idang Susukan.
Ishmael is now under custodial investigation.
Meanwhile, seven lawless elements were also arrested by the military and police in Lugus municipality, Zulu on Friday at 7:16 a.m.
Seized from the lawless elements were three M14 rifles, two M16 rifles, an M1 Garand rifle, a caliber .45 pistol, six clips for Garand rifle, assorted magazines, 13 magazines for M16, assorted ammunition, and assorted ammunition pouches and uniforms.
The lawless elements were arrested for illegal possession of firearms by troops of the Philippine Marine Ready Fleet Sulu and the Marine Battalion Landing Team 1 under Lt. Col. Stephen Cabanlet, and the 52nd Special Action Company, Special Action Force.
The persons and firearms were turned over to Sulu Provincial Police Office for proper disposition.
“Law enforcement support operations, in collaboration with the police, will continuously be conducted by the Joint Task Force Sulu to contain lawless elements operating in the area,” said Lt. Gen. Carlito G. Galvez Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command.
“It is with pride that I congratulate the soldiers of the Joint Task Force Sulu headed by Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana and the policemen of Sulu Province Police Office for this recent commendable accomplishment,” he added.
From AMN Al-Masdar News (Aug 19): ISIS brags about battle for Marawi, claims over 300 Philippine troops dead
Amaq Agency released an infographic on Friday detailing alleged losses sustained by the Philippine Army during the three-month battle for Marawi, a large city on the island of Mindanao in the southern part of the country.
If one is to believe Amaq Agency, 335 government soldiers have been killed in 86 days of fighting. In addition, 8 armored vehicles have been destroyed and one more heavily damaged.
The Islamic State also emphasised the role of its snipers, stating 37 deaths to have been inflicted by them. One church has also been burnt down by the jihadists, represented on the ground by the ISIS-linked Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups.
The official army death toll is less than half according to government officials. Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Task Force Marawi, said that since the fighting began, 128 soldiers and policemen have been killed.
The figure included those killed in what the military dubbed as “friendly fires.”
On the other hand, some 500 ISIS insurgents have been killed during the battle for Marawi, army officials claim. At the moment, between 70 and 80 jihadist militants remain bogged down in an urban area measuring about 800 by 600 meters in downtown Marawi.
From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 20): 17 killed as MILF, BIFF clash in Datu Salibo
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters clashed anew with its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), in Maguindanao last Friday, leaving 17 persons dead.
Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello said the two groups clashed when the BIFF tried to set up a bomb in Datu Salibo town south of Maguindanao province. When the smoke of the three-hour gunfight cleared, 12 followers of BIFF leader Esmael Abdulmalik lay dead.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels gather inside their camp, as thousands of its members and residents arrive for a rally in support of the peace in 2014. (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
They were identified as Salik, Noboh, Amir, Sanged, Mohaimin, Sulah, Tatoh, Pagal, Arsad, Dindih, Musib and Awal.
Abdulmalik is a former henchman of Malaysian terrorist bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir (Marwan) who was killed by Special Action Forces in Mamasapano in 2015.
The Task Force Ittihad (TFI) of the MILF, on the other hand, suffered five casualties – Mahmod Laguiab, Darix Kendag, Kuzak Ali, Anwar Maulana, and Kalidin Ulama. Four other MILF fighters were wounded.
The fighting between the two rebel groups started when BIFF rebels detonated a bomb that wounded several MILF fighters which retaliated in early August. Army troops have backed the Moro rebel front fighters with artillery fire and airstrikes, army Lt. Col. Gerry Besana said.
More than 40 rebels from both sides have been killed in the sporadic clashes in Datu Salibo and outlying towns in Maguindanao province’s vast marshland, Besana said.
The BIFF was formed by Ustadz Umbra Ameril Kato after bolting from the MILF in protest over the botched signing in 2008 of Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional.
After Kato’s death in 2015, the BIFF splintered into three factions. The MILF leadership said the Abdulmalik group “closed its door to peace talks” and pursued the extremist ideology of the Daesh or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Captain Arvin Encinas, public affairs officer of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said their units are guarding against possible BIFF retaliations on innocent civilians to avenge the death of more than 20 members killed in skirmishes with MILF guerillas since last month.
The MILF is helping the government fight violent religious extremists in Maguindanao in keeping with its two peace compacts with the government — the October 15, 2013 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and the March 27, 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.
The Moro rebels’ mastery of the terrain is a big help to military as troops confront the rise of new pro-Islamic State groups, including those behind a deadly siege in southern Marawi City that has dragged for nearly three months, Besana added.
From GMA News (Aug 20): Six killed amid further MILF-BIFF clashes
DATU SALIBO, Philippines - Clashes between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its offshoot, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), took place on Friday and Saturday, with six fighters from the original group killed.
The fighting between the two groups began about two weeks ago in the marshy farmlands around Maguindanao's Datu Salibo town, regional police spokeswoman Tara Leah Cuyco said.
"The MILF is trying to force the BIFF out of the area. They do not want any trouble," Chief Inspector Cuyco told AFP.
A MILF guerrilla leader told a video journalist working for AFP on Saturday: "We do not want them here. It's an order from the higher-ups."
The MILF, which has more than 10,000 fighters, has waged a decades-long guerrilla war, first for independence and later autonomy for the large Islamic minority in the south of the largely Catholic Asian nation.
It signed a peace treaty with the Philippine government in 2014 and is observing a ceasefire with the Philippine government while waiting for the passage of a proposed law that would grant self-rule to the Muslim areas of the Mindanao region.
Senior MILF leaders have warned President Rodrigo Duterte to deliver on government commitments under the peace accord, chiefly the autonomy law, or risk frustrating MILF members and causing them to defect to the BIFF and other pro-IS groups.
The BIFF, said by the military to have a few hundred armed fighters, has been among several small armed groups in Mindanao that have pledged alliance to the IS.
The fighting comes as the military fought a near three-month battle in Marawi, a Muslim city 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the north.
The fighting in Marawi is being led by two other Muslim rebel factions, the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf.
The Marawi battle has left 573 militants and 128 soldiers and police dead, along with at least 45 civilians, according to an official tally.
From Rappler (Aug 19): NPA links or pork barrel? Why the CA rejected Taguiwalo
Weeks before the confirmation hearing, the House contingent of the Commission on Appointments requested a security briefing on the Left, including the New People's Army
When the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, there was no clear reason given for the decision.
Days after, at least two CA members and one insider said the "main" reason was her close connection to the Left.
With the new rule on secret voting, there was no clear information on who voted for and against her. There is also no final count, as the CA stopped counting ballots upon reaching the majority of 13 negative votes.
"The counting of the votes was stopped when rejection reached 13. No official breakdown was done," CA member and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said in a text message.
Some senators took to the floor and expressed their support for Taguiwalo. But with secret ballots, there is no sure way to prove that they indeed walked their talk. (READ: Is someone lying? CA votes on Gina Lopez don't add up)
The public is left on its own to speculate why the CA rejected the former DSWD chief. The overarching suspicion was that Taguiwalo was rejected because of her fight against pork barrel, which some lawmakers allegedly park in the agency. Even Taguiwalo herself believes her stance against the discretionary funds and the tax reform bill caused her downfall.
In 2016, lawmakers confronted Taguiwalo when she issued a memorandum reminding DSWD personnel that recommendation letters from politicians have no bearing in granting aid. (READ: Congressmen on DSWD's 'anti-padrino' memo: We hold the money)
But CA members refuted this, saying there is no point in blaming Taguiwalo for that because the pork barrel controversy and the tightening of policies happened under the past administration.
“It’s unfair that they say the reason for rejection is only because of PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund). We’ve long adjusted with the new rules. We’re living with it,” one CA member, who refused to be named, told Rappler.
The main reason, according to at least two CA sources, is Taguiwalo’s links to the Left and the alleged use of the agency to “employ” and “recruit” new members of the New People’s Army.
One source said: "Others have reservations, that of course, you don’t also want to have under your nose those threatening the government."
"It's for security purposes. They are moving already," another source said.
They claimed they could not say this in public for fear of their lives. They also claimed that the Left is known for attacking those who oppose them, citing the burning of Lapanday-managed farms and the takeover of government housing by Kadamay to prove their point as examples.
“They even attacked the Presidential Security Group, and that’s the President already. How much more those below him?” one member said, referring to the firefight between PSG and suspected New People's Army members in North Cotabato on July 19.
House contingent requests security briefing According to 3 CA insiders, the House contingent asked for a security briefing on the NPA, as well as its allies, weeks before Taguiwalo’s confirmation hearing.
"Yes, because we got an avalanche of reports from the ground, from members of Congress also. You know, politicians, especially in provinces, they know these people and now they're up there already in DSWD," one CA source said.
CA Majority Leader and Isabela 1st District Representative Rodito Albano confirmed the briefing and said the peace panel was among those who were present.
“Yes, that was public knowledge. Yes, House contingent. Even the peace panel briefed us also,” Albano said in a text message to Rappler.
Two CA sources said there were two briefings. Aside from the briefing with the peace panel, another one was conducted by the Department of National Defense, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
During the briefings, security officials discussed how the DSWD is supposedly used to “employ” and “recruit” new NPA members.
One CA member said they were told by the military about "food packs and ATM cards" used in the government’s cash transfer program found in seized NPA camps.
Another CA member said the security officials discussed the DSWD's supposed hiring of NPA members and officials as consultants and undersecretaries. The CA member said some of these people were actual contacts of local officials in provinces, especially when paying “permit to campaign” taxes in NPA-controlled areas.
The same member also claimed that Left-backed groups are “exerting influence” on beneficiaries, especially in far-flung areas, in an attempt to recruit them to join the movement.
"I never gave anything to the NPA. I know the demarcation line between the people who have to be served [given] our relationship with the rebels – whether this is the NPA or the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) or the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front). I'm sad that was not even heard during the committee hearing," Taguiwalo told Rappler when asked about the issue.
“They never opened it. I think I deserve due process. I was a victim of Martial Law. I was tortured, I was imprisoned. If the military [has] charges against [me] during [my] time as DSWD secretary, [they should] have opened it up. But nobody asked me,” she said.
Fear of life? But where’s accountability?
A nominee of the Left to the Duterte Cabinet, Taguiwalo was an activist during the Martial Law years and was tortured during the term of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
She said her links with the Left "have never been a secret" and that these never affected her capacity to serve.
"Is being categorized as Left a deterrent to good public service? I dont think so. I’ve used the resources of this office and department for the people," she said.
Taguiwalo slammed lawmakers for not stating reasons for her rejection.
But at least 3 CA members said they could not say it out in the open for “fear of their lives.” They also said they could not even raise the issue with her because they would be “marked” as enemies.
“[If you ask that or raise that,] you're putting the member at risk. That’s the reason why di na binabanggit yan (it's no longer mentioned). It’s because their lives are at stake. whoever starts pointing out that it is difficult to give resources to somebody who is Left-leaning, or to give somebody with deep connection to the Left that far-reaching powers of hiring people,” one source said.
With secret voting, no one could really be sure who voted for and against Taguiwalo. Some showed their ballots to the others while some did not.
“Others decided to speak for her, maybe even if they didn’t really vote for her, just to register na di ako kalaban, di ako magiging kalaban. (I'm not an enermy, I won't be an enemy.) Who knows?” one member said.
Contrary to what people think, 3 CA sources said the House contingent, known for bloc voting, did not vote as a group against Taguiwalo’s confirmation.
This was seconded by Davao Oriental Representative Joel Mayo Almario, who said such practice is only true for non-controversial appointees.
“But for controversial ones like Gina Lopez and Judy Taguiwalo, it’s not the case. Each one has his or her own standing,” Almario claimed. But with concealed voting, there is no way this could be confirmed.
Eight senators have so far claimed that they voted in favor of the DSWD chief – Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Juan Edgardo Angara, Loren Legarda, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and Francis Pangilinan.
With the secret voting policy in place and with two more controversial appointees to be heard – Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial and Agrarian Reform chief Rafael Mariano, another Left-leaning official – questions on accountability and transparency are likely to hound the powerful CA. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/179157-ca-reasons-rejection-judy-taguiwalo-npa
From East Asia Forum (Aug 19): Jihadism back from the dead in Southeast Asia (By Zachary Abuza)
Within any Salafi-jihadist organisation there lies a debate over strategy: should the organisation target the enemy at home or the one further afield, like Western backers of the government? In Southeast Asia this debate has erupted in recent years.
The Al Qaeda affiliate Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) spent years engaging in sectarian domestic conflict before taking up a larger-scale international approach with the 2002 Bali bombings. But that attack was largely at the impetus of Al Qaeda, and from 2003–09 JI only managed to perpetrate roughly one major attack against a Western tourist venue annually. And with each attack, more of the organisation was dismantled.
This provoked a debate within JI between advocates of the Al Qaeda line and proponents of a sectarian conflict-based strategy. Neither side prevailed. Despite attempts to bridge the divide and establish a training camp in Aceh, JI splintered in 2010, and became a more or less defunct organisation which was incapable of military operations.
The 2014 emergence of the so-called Islamic State (IS) revitalised terrorist networks in Southeast Asia. Since 2014, a number of IS-inspired attacks and plots have been perpetrated following recruitment efforts by Indonesian and Malaysian leaders in Raqqa. But the majority of militants from the region still remain preoccupied with the far enemy and with joining IS. An estimated 1000 Southeast Asians have travelled to Iraq and Syria. Indeed, the fact that many travelled with their families, or ceremoniously burned their passports, suggests they had no intention of ever returning.
Many wanted to be part of the caliphate, attracted by IS promises and slick propaganda. Some simply saw themselves as being too weak at present to take on their government back home. Others perceived fighting with IS as a way to burnish their jihadi credentials and gain military skills before returning home to focus on the domestic enemy.
Groups and cells across Southeast Asia declared ‘bay’ah’ — an oath of allegiance — to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But IS did not recognise any Southeast Asian cell or group until January 2016, when IS referred to Isnilon Hapilon of the Abu Sayyaf as ‘sheikh’, and called on other groups that had pledged ‘bay’ah’ to IS to fall under his leadership. That recognition allowed militants in the region to once again re-orient themselves towards the domestic enemy as they sought to establish a ‘wiliyat’ — a province of the caliphate.
This movement escalated following a mid-2016 video produced by IS central media that called on Southeast Asian recruits to travel to Mindanao or to engage in operations in the region if they could not travel to Syria. The trip to Syria has become more perilous with greater international cooperation among security forces. Hundreds of Southeast Asian recruits had been turned back by Turkish authorities, including 430 Indonesians alone.
The recent success of IS-pledged militants in tying down the Armed Forces of the Philippines for over two months will further attract followers and recruits. Sieging cities on two occasions, they have proven themselves as committed jihadists, willing to take the fight to the Philippine government. Marawi demonstrated the utility of targeting the domestic enemy. That in itself will attract foreign fighters from Southeast Asia and further afield. And with the Philippine military weak and spread thin, more attacks make both tactical and strategic sense.
The pogroms from Myanmar will also provide a new pool of talent to recruit from and networks to penetrate. The ongoing sectarian cleansing against the 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar has led to the deaths of over 600 and the displacement of over 75,000. The situation is growing more dire by the day with some 140,000 living in squalid internally displaced person camps, and over 40,000 others currently displaced by pogroms, much of which have been caused by Myanmar’s security forces.
Indonesian authorities have now broken up two terrorist plots to blow up the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta. Recently, an armed militant group, the Harakat al-Islamiyah (HAY), has begun operations against Myanmar’s security forces, at the same time that IS has begun to reference the Rohingya in its (albeit diminished) media. There are signs that HAY is trying to recruit from Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, with a surge in arrests of Bangladeshi nationals across the region.
The July 2017 decision by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to ban Hizbut Tahrir is also likely to inflame the anger of Islamist militants in Indonesia. While Widodo is rightfully concerned about conveyor groups — such as Hizbut Tahrir — the ban is likely to put the Indonesian government back in the cross hairs. The Indonesian government’s threat to ban the messaging app Telegram, resulted in the company removing 55 IS channels, another thing likely to incur the wrath of militants in the region and get them to refocus their energies towards the domestic government.
Further, there are several hundred terrorism suspects in Southeast Asian prisons, including over 200 in Indonesia alone. Most will be released in the coming years, and they will be unlikely to travel. And though Indonesia touts its de-radicalisation program, it is not compulsory and its prisons have long been key nodes of recruitment and indoctrination.
The loss of the caliphate has led to a shift in attention back to the domestic enemy in Southeast Asia. Until a militant Salafist group emerges from the embers of IS, the more distant enemies will recede in the strategic thinking of Southeast Asian militants. [Zachary Abuza is Professor of National Security Strategy at the US National War College. The views expressed here are his own, and do not reflect the opinions of the Department of Defense, National Defense University, or the National War College. Follow him @ZachAbuza.]
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Aug 20): Justice Carpio bares invasion of PH islet
Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio urged the government to act on what he called an “invasion of Philippine territory by China” as he confirmed Chinese ships were now guarding a newly created island well within Philippine territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement on Saturday, Carpio said two frigates, a coast guard vessel and two fishing boats of China were guarding Sandy Cay, a sandbar some 4.6 kilometers (2.5 nautical miles) from Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island that had permanently protruded above the water.
Carpio, in his statement, said the Chinese ships were “well within” the 22 km (12 nautical miles) territorial sea of Pag-asa and could not claim “innocent passage” or invoke freedom of navigation in the high seas to explain their presence in the area.
“Sandy Cay is a Philippine land territory that is being seized (to put it mildly) or being invaded (to put it frankly) by China,” Carpio said.
The senior Supreme Court justice was part of the team that won the arbitral ruling last year that invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea that infringed on the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.
‘Seizure of PH territory’
Should China succeed in occupying Sandy Cay, Carpio warned, Pag-asa would lose a third of its territorial sea including Zamora (Subi) Reef, which China had turned into an artificial island outpost.
“This means China is now virtually occupying a new geologic feature within the territorial sea of Pag-asa, a Philippine territory, in clear violation of China’s supposed vow not to occupy anymore islands in the Spratlys,” Carpio said.
“This is worse than what happened in Scarborough Shoal,” he added, referring to Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal off Zambales which became the center of a territorial dispute in 2012 between China and the Philippines.
“By any yardstick, this is seizure of Philippine territory,” Carpio continued.
Addressing President Duterte and Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Carpio reminded them of a promise they made not to concede a single inch of Philippine territory to China.
“The very least that they could do now is to vigorously protest this invasion of Philippine territory by China,” Carpio said.
“If both are courageous, they should send a Philippine Navy ship to guard Sandy Cay, and if the Chinese Navy ships attack the Philippine Navy vessel, they should invoke the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty,” Carpio added.
The treaty provides for US military backing should the Philippines come under attack by a foreign aggressor and call for help.
Cayetano calm
Last week, Cayetano played down a report made by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano about the presence of Chinese ships near Pag-asa. Cayetano said the “mere presence of Chinese ships” in the West Philippine Sea was no cause for alarm.
Sandy Cay used to be a sandbar that appears only during low tide and disappears during high tide between Pag-asa and Zamora Reef.
However, due to China’s dredging in Zamora Reef, pulverized corals were swept atop Sandy Cay, turning it into “land or territory capable of sovereign ownership,” according to Carpio.
But Carpio said China could not lay claim to the newly created island even under its discredited historic claim since Sandy Cay formed within the Philippines’ territorial sea.
“If Sandy Cay becomes Chinese territory, it will reduce by a third or more Pag-asa’s territorial sea, depending on how large a reclaimed area China will create out of Sandy Cay,” Carpio said.
“It will also prevent the Philippines from extending the territorial sea of Pag-asa to include Subi (Zamora) Reef,” he said.
Carpio said the Chinese ships had prevented a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel from approaching Sandy Cay. “China obviously wants to physically possess and control Sandy Cay,” he said.
From Malaya Business Insight (Aug 21): US, SEA start naval exercise today
UNITED States and Southeast Asian navies and coast guards are due to commence today a maritime exercise, South East Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) Exercise 2017, to improve interoperability in combating terrorism and illegal drugs.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said the 11-day exercise will be held in various parts of the region, including Zambales and Sulu.
Balilo said the activity will kick off today with the conduct of academic seminar in Singapore; boarding workshop in Manila; and command post exercise in Singapore and Brunei.
Balilo said the actual at-sea exercise will be held in Singapore, Brunei and Philippines, including Subic, Zambales and Sulu sea.
“During the last phase, Command Post Exercise/ Field Training Exercise, a number of unscripted boarding provided by the US Navy will be carried out simultaneously in Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines,” said Balilo.
“Aircrafts and vessels from participating navies and coast guards will investigate, conduct and execute practical maritime responses such as MIO (maritime interdiction operation) or VBSS (visit, board and search and seizure),” he said.
“The SEACAT 2017 will also have two tracking and boarding scenarios in the Philippines that will be conducted by the PCG in the West off Subic, Zambales and Philippine Navy off Sulu Sea respectively,” added Balilo.
Balilo said the PCG has dedicated three ships and about 50 personnel for the annual exerise. It was not immediately clear as to the number of troops and assets that will be deployed for the event.
Meanwhile, the US government is due to handover today a Tethered Aerostat Radar System to the Philippine Navy in a ceremony in San Antonio, Zambales, home to the Naval Education and Training Command.
The donation is scheduled to be turned over by Michael Klescheski, the US Deputy Embassy chief of Mission to the Philippines, to Navy chief Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph Mercado.
Navy spokesman Capt. Lued Lincuna said the balloon-borne radar “is expected to enhance the PN’s capability in maritime intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance by effectively detecting maritime and air traffic within the country’s coastal waters using sensors.”
“Moreover, it will also be utilized in the conduct of humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations,” said Lincuna.
From Malaya Business Insight (Aug 21): Maute death toll now 581
The number of Maute Group members slain in the armed rebellion in Marawi City, which is nearing its third month, continued to rise as government troops continued to clear a small part of the city of the terrorist group.
As of yesterday, 581 Maute men have been killed, with 638 firearms recovered, said Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokeswoman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command and Joint Task Force Marawi.
The figure is higher by eight compared to last Friday’s count.
The number of slain soldiers and policemen remained at 128 and civilians at 45.
About 50 to 60 Maute members are still left in the city, confined in a small battle area measuring 800 by 600 meters.
Asked when the military will finally end the conflict that started on May 23, Petinglay said, “We still have more than 400 structures to clear. Look at the structures being cleared and make an estimate how long it will take.”
Petinglay said operating troops cleared 26 structures of Maute men and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) last Saturday. On Friday, said 32 buildings were cleared the previous day.
“The clearing depends on the structures… Some of them have been destroyed due to air strikes. They may be cleared of enemy presence but not cleared of IEDs or bombs. That’s one of the issues that that we are facing on the ground,” said Petinglay.
Petinglay also said soldiers are still facing two major challenges -- the presence of hostages and IEDs.
“If our soldiers will not be careful or (will be) careless in the clearing operation, they may hit the hostages. That’s one of the issues that we have to consider... The enemy is holding hostages which they are using as human shields, to the disadvantage of our troops,” said Petinglay.
From Malaya Business Insight (Aug 21): Esperon: Chinese at Pag-asa but not occupying sandbars
NATIONAL Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. yesterday confirmed the presence of Chinese ships at sandbars near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.
But the Chinese are not occupying the sandbars which are part of the disputed Spratly Islands, said Esperon, concurrent chairman of the multi-agency National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.
“China has not seized sandbars in Pag-asa atoll. There should be no alarm on that as long as they don’t occupy any of the sandbars,” he said.
Pag-asa is the biggest of the Philippine-held islands in the disputed Spratlys archipelago. It serves as the seat of government of Kalayaan town in Palawan. The town was created in June 1978 through Presidential Decree 1596. It is under the political jurisdiction of Palawan but under the “custody and administration” of the Armed Forces. Soldiers are posted at Pag-asa island.
Esperon declined to say when the Chinese ships were first seen at the sandbars and what are they doing there, if they are not there to occupy the area.
On Tuesday last week, Magdalo party list Rep. Gary Alejano said he has information that two Chinese frigates, a Chinese coast guard ship, and two Chinese fishing boats are at the sandbars since three days earlier.
Alejano, a former Marines captain, said the Chinese ships even prevented vessels of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources from going near the sandbars, about one to three nautical miles from Pag-asa island.
Last Saturday, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Chinese ships are guarding “Sandy Cay,” a sandbar between Pag-asa and Zamora (Subi) Reef. The sandbar appears for only for a few months.
Esperon confirmed that Chinese fishing vessels are at the sandbars.
“There are many Chinese, as well as Vietnamese, fishing boats in and near Pag-asa Island and its nearby sandbars, collectively called Pag-asa atoll,” said Esperon, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces.
“Spratlys is disputed area,” he added, further saying government is not is not dropping the country’s claims over the Spratly Islands.
The Spratly Islands, a chain of islands and islets, is believed to be rich in oil and minerals deposits. It is being claimed in part or in whole by the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.
“We are not giving away any inch of our claims, nor any part of our entitlements under UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) of 1982. And those of PCA/ tribunal ruling of July 2016…,” he said.
Esperon was referring to the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China’s excessive nine-dash-line claim in the South China Sea. The ruling also upheld Philippines’ right to its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
“Pag-asa is in the middle of the Spratlys where we have nine occupied high-tide features, islands,” said Esperon. He said China is occupying seven recently-reclaimed reefs, three of them have three-kilometer airstrips.
“The nearest Chinese airstrip is in Subi reef which is 12.5 NM (nautical miles) southwest from our Pag-asa. It (Subi reef) used to be a low tide feature but it is now 540 hectares,” he said.
A Washington-based think tank has said China has installed weapon systems at the reclaimed reefs. Defense and military officials have said the development is a cause for concern.
AFP chief Gen. Eduardo Año has declined to confirm or deny the presence of the Chinese ships at the sandbars.
From the Visayan Daily Star (Aug 19): Army tries to ‘zero in' on location of rebels
The Philippine Army continues its combat operations and intelligence monitoring to pinpoint the exact location of New People's Army rebels, who had claimed responsibility for the ambush-slay of six policemen and a civilian in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, last month, Maj. Gen. Jon Aying, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said.
“We are now trying to zero in on their exact location, for us to get them,” he added.
The Leonardo Panaligan Command of the NPA, who claimed responsibility for the ambush of the Guihulngan policemen, also reported to have confiscated 17 firearms.
Senior Supt. Henry Biñas, provincial police director of Negros Oriental, said they have already established the identities of the rebel ambushers.
Aying admitted that some of the communist rebels, who had reinforced their comrades in central Negros in the staging of the ambush, splintered into small groups, and already returned to their areas.
But Aying still believes that the main bulk of rebel ambushers are still in central Negros.
The return of the 11 th Infantry Battalion in central Negros is now being requested by local officials in Negros Oriental.
From Rappler (Aug 20): Delay hits gov't plan to fix runway in West Philippine Sea
Construction has yet to start 4 months since Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced the need to immediately repair the Philippine airstrip on Pag-asa Island
PAG-ASA ISLAND. About a hundred Filipinos live in one of the biggest islands in the Spratlys.
Philippine security officials are blaming "weather conditions" for failing to start the long-awaited repair of its dilapidated runway in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) 4 months since the plans were announced. (READ: PH plans for Pag-asa to test Duterte's friendship with China)
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the runway in Pag-asa (Thitu) cannot be expected to be fixed within the year.
"Hindi natin magagawa ngayong taon na ito (We can't do it this year)," Lorenzana said during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Monday, August 14. (READ: PH allots P1.6B to fast-track construction on Pag-asa)
Lorenzana visited the island in April 2017 and committed to fast-track the repair of the runway on the second biggest naturally occuring island in the Spratlys, where about a hundred Filipinos are residing. (READ: The residents of Pag-asa: Life on a disputed island)
Navy chief Vice Admiral Ronald Mercado said the construction company will do its best to start the construction soon.
"Weather conditions gave some limitation on the tranpsort of construction equipment to Pag-asa. The sea condition is a bit rough right now. But they have intimated to us they will do their best to start the construction of the beaching ramp," Mercado told lawmakers asking updates on the projects.
China protested Lorenzana's visit in April, pushing its claim over practically the entire South China Sea.
Duterte warmed Philippine ties with China after tense relations with his predecessor President Aquino, who led and won an international arbitration case against China claims over the West Philippine Sea.
But China continues to develop reefs it reclaimed, raising alarm from observers despite continued assurances from the Philippine government that the situation is better. (READ: Photos show Cayetano, Wang wrong on China reclamation)
From Rappler (Aug 20): PH Navy gets radar system from U.S.
The Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) is a balloon-borne radar that will boost the country's capability to patrol its maritime territories
The United States donated a Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to the Philippine Navy to boost its capability to monitor maritime and air traffic amid continuing concerns in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Philippine Navy spokesman Commander Lued Lincuna said a formal turnover ceremony is scheduled on Tuesday, August 22, a month after the radar system arrived in the Philippines, based on photos that circulated online in July.
Navy chief Vice Admiral Ronald Mercado and the US embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Klescheski are expected to attend the ceremony at the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) in San Antonio, Zambales.
TARS is a balloon-borne radar that uses Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) technology. It is widely used by the US to monitor its borders, mostly to prevent trafficking of drugs and people.
"It is expected to enhance the Philippine Navy's capability in maritime intelligence surveillance reconnaissance by effectively detecting maritime and air traffic within the country's coastal waters using sensors," said Lincuna.
The TARS also includes a weather station that transmits data on ambient temperature, pressure, wind speed, and other pertinent parameters in the operation of the system.
Lincuna said it can also be used in the conduct of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) operations.
The donation follows the arrival of two surveillance aircraft also from the US – the Cessna C-208B Grand Caravan.
