From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 26): PH Navy now capable of deploying ships overseas if needed
The recently-concluded "Rim of the Pacific" (RIMPAC) exercises has given the Philippine Navy (PN) the capability to deploy its ships overseas if needed.
This, according to Navy spokesperson Cmdr. Jonathan Zata when asked on the lessons learned by the Filipino naval personnel in the above-mentioned maneuvers.
"It provided the Navy both the competence and confidence to project a force package oversees. With an operational readiness that can be beneficial to our OFWs should the need arise," Zata said.
RIMPAC also validated the PN's readiness and competence on a host of requirements for naval operations and the need to revise and develop new procedures to better improve naval operations especially with the coming new and more technologically updated weapons and systems, he added.
The PN deployed the strategic sealift vessel BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602) and frigate BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17), an AgustaWestland naval helicopter and 700 sailors and marines for the exercises from June 27 to August 2.
The assets participated in several RIMPAC exercises that include helicopter cross-decking, live-fire exercises, a special operations training, ground-air-integration, and replenishment-at-sea among others.
"The Philippine Navy’s participation to RIMPAC 2018 trumpets the Command’s commitment in promoting multilateral cooperation to strengthen relationship and cooperation among participating navies of the world," he earlier said.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1046013
Sunday, August 26, 2018
4 Isabela village chiefs face threats from suspected rebels
From the Sun Star-Bacolod (Aug 25): 4 Isabela village chiefs face threats from suspected rebels
BACOLOD. Some of the village chiefs from Isabela, Negros Occidental meet with Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr., provincial police director, at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City Friday as they are concern with their security. (Glazyl Masculino)
FOUR out of 30 village chiefs in Isabela, Negros Occidental are reportedly facing threats from the suspected rebels.
This was revealed by one of the seven village chiefs who met with Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr., director of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City Friday.
The village chiefs, whose names were withheld for security reasons, talked to Castil their concern regarding their security and protection in the town following the killing of incumbent Libas village chief Rhoy Pagapang this week and former San Agustin village chief Agapito Euroba two weeks ago.
As this developed, Ka JB Regalado, spokesperson of Leonardo Panaligan Command (LPC) of the New People's Army (NPA), denied the allegations of the village chiefs.
He said they have not sent death threats to the four village chiefs.
On August 20, Pagapang was shot to death by four unidentified men at Barangay Cabcab, where he was supposed to meet somebody. He was with a village watchman when the incident happened but the latter was unharmed.
Pagapang was previously involved in a shooting incident two months ago in Barangay Libas, victimizing a couple. A frustrated homicide case was even filed against him.
On August 10, former village chief Agapito Euroba of Barangay San Agustin was also gunned down by the rebels, claiming that he was an alleged “military asset.”
Both incidents were claimed to be perpetrated by the rebels. They alleged that both barangay officials were “military assets.”
One of the village chiefs said they are asking for additional military troops and police forces in the town to neutralize the perpetrators.
He said they are not providing information to the military or police regarding any movement from the rebels because they do not even see them. But still, they are being identified as alleged “military assets.”
He said they would want more police presence in each barangay to protect them and their families as well.
‘Alarming’
He also said that the killings involving village chiefs in the town are already alarming.
“Whoever is behind this plot, should stop this because our families suffer also,” the village chief added.
“Sino masunod? Indi na ni lahog-lahog kay nabuynan na kami isa” (Who’s next? This is not a joke anymore because one of them was already gone), he said.
He advised their fellow village chiefs to be extra careful and change their routines so they can’t be traced.
Another village chief, who is a retired army, said he was surprised when he was informed by a law enforcer that his name is allegedly included in a “list” of the rebels.
Another village chief also alleged that the threats could be politically-motivated but he urged those people behind it to stop because it already brought fear to them and their families.
These village chiefs have yet to meet with Mayor Joselito Malabor to discuss their concerns but they appealed to him to settle the issue of insurgency and other related problems as soon as possible.
More policemen
Castil said he already deployed more policemen in the town, however, he refused to divulge the number of these forces since they are doing covert operations.
The police director said he was even surprised when he was informed about the meeting with these village chiefs.
He said they provided them with more policemen for their personal protection as well but these forces will conduct regular patrol operations especially in critical areas in coordination with the Regional Mobile Force Company–6 and the Philippine Army.
Castil assured them that they will maximize the security in the town to avoid the recurrence of the incident.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1759864/Bacolod/Local-News/4-Isabela-village-chiefs-face-threats-from-suspected-rebels
BACOLOD. Some of the village chiefs from Isabela, Negros Occidental meet with Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr., provincial police director, at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City Friday as they are concern with their security. (Glazyl Masculino)
FOUR out of 30 village chiefs in Isabela, Negros Occidental are reportedly facing threats from the suspected rebels.
This was revealed by one of the seven village chiefs who met with Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr., director of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City Friday.
The village chiefs, whose names were withheld for security reasons, talked to Castil their concern regarding their security and protection in the town following the killing of incumbent Libas village chief Rhoy Pagapang this week and former San Agustin village chief Agapito Euroba two weeks ago.
As this developed, Ka JB Regalado, spokesperson of Leonardo Panaligan Command (LPC) of the New People's Army (NPA), denied the allegations of the village chiefs.
He said they have not sent death threats to the four village chiefs.
On August 20, Pagapang was shot to death by four unidentified men at Barangay Cabcab, where he was supposed to meet somebody. He was with a village watchman when the incident happened but the latter was unharmed.
Pagapang was previously involved in a shooting incident two months ago in Barangay Libas, victimizing a couple. A frustrated homicide case was even filed against him.
On August 10, former village chief Agapito Euroba of Barangay San Agustin was also gunned down by the rebels, claiming that he was an alleged “military asset.”
Both incidents were claimed to be perpetrated by the rebels. They alleged that both barangay officials were “military assets.”
One of the village chiefs said they are asking for additional military troops and police forces in the town to neutralize the perpetrators.
He said they are not providing information to the military or police regarding any movement from the rebels because they do not even see them. But still, they are being identified as alleged “military assets.”
He said they would want more police presence in each barangay to protect them and their families as well.
‘Alarming’
He also said that the killings involving village chiefs in the town are already alarming.
“Whoever is behind this plot, should stop this because our families suffer also,” the village chief added.
“Sino masunod? Indi na ni lahog-lahog kay nabuynan na kami isa” (Who’s next? This is not a joke anymore because one of them was already gone), he said.
He advised their fellow village chiefs to be extra careful and change their routines so they can’t be traced.
Another village chief, who is a retired army, said he was surprised when he was informed by a law enforcer that his name is allegedly included in a “list” of the rebels.
Another village chief also alleged that the threats could be politically-motivated but he urged those people behind it to stop because it already brought fear to them and their families.
These village chiefs have yet to meet with Mayor Joselito Malabor to discuss their concerns but they appealed to him to settle the issue of insurgency and other related problems as soon as possible.
More policemen
Castil said he already deployed more policemen in the town, however, he refused to divulge the number of these forces since they are doing covert operations.
The police director said he was even surprised when he was informed about the meeting with these village chiefs.
He said they provided them with more policemen for their personal protection as well but these forces will conduct regular patrol operations especially in critical areas in coordination with the Regional Mobile Force Company–6 and the Philippine Army.
Castil assured them that they will maximize the security in the town to avoid the recurrence of the incident.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1759864/Bacolod/Local-News/4-Isabela-village-chiefs-face-threats-from-suspected-rebels
240 new officers to join Army units nationwide
From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 26): 240 new officers to join Army units nationwide
Some 240 newly-commissioned 2nd lieutenants were formally deployed Friday to various Philippine Army (PA) units nationwide to help in the ongoing fight against insurgency and terrorism.
Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva, said these officers consists of 102 male and 37 female graduates of Philippine Military Academy Class of 2018, 88 male and 12 female graduates of the Officer Candidate School Class 49-17, and one graduate of British Army Commissioning Course 163 of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
"The new set of officers were fully trained on war fighting and tactical leadership. They were also taught and equipped with knowledge on rule of law, human rights and international humanitarian law, which is essential in the discharge of their duties and accomplishment of their assigned mission," he added.
Acting PA chief, Major Gen. Chad D. Isleta, led the send-off ceremony in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City along with other ranking officers, civilian employees and the families of the new officers to show their unwavering support and motivation.
“I commend all of you for making the Philippine Army your choice and for willingly accepting the challenges that come with our profession, even if this means having to voluntarily leave behind your families, friends, and loved ones to protect a greater family – the Filipino citizenry. Take pride that you are now a part of a force that is rapidly transforming into a world-class organization,” he added.
The bulk of the new officers shall be deployed in various Army field units to strengthen leadership at the tactical level which is essential in quelling the various threats besetting the country, particularly insurgency and terrorism.
Villanueva said the deployment of the new lieutenants is very timely as the Army, through its ground units just heightened and intensified its security campaign to suppress terrorism and insurgency the soonest possible time.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1046016
Some 240 newly-commissioned 2nd lieutenants were formally deployed Friday to various Philippine Army (PA) units nationwide to help in the ongoing fight against insurgency and terrorism.
Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva, said these officers consists of 102 male and 37 female graduates of Philippine Military Academy Class of 2018, 88 male and 12 female graduates of the Officer Candidate School Class 49-17, and one graduate of British Army Commissioning Course 163 of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
"The new set of officers were fully trained on war fighting and tactical leadership. They were also taught and equipped with knowledge on rule of law, human rights and international humanitarian law, which is essential in the discharge of their duties and accomplishment of their assigned mission," he added.
Acting PA chief, Major Gen. Chad D. Isleta, led the send-off ceremony in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City along with other ranking officers, civilian employees and the families of the new officers to show their unwavering support and motivation.
“I commend all of you for making the Philippine Army your choice and for willingly accepting the challenges that come with our profession, even if this means having to voluntarily leave behind your families, friends, and loved ones to protect a greater family – the Filipino citizenry. Take pride that you are now a part of a force that is rapidly transforming into a world-class organization,” he added.
The bulk of the new officers shall be deployed in various Army field units to strengthen leadership at the tactical level which is essential in quelling the various threats besetting the country, particularly insurgency and terrorism.
Villanueva said the deployment of the new lieutenants is very timely as the Army, through its ground units just heightened and intensified its security campaign to suppress terrorism and insurgency the soonest possible time.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1046016
Western Visayas police step up security measures NPA attack in Iloilo
From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 26): Western Visayas police step up security measures NPA attack in Iloilo
Police forces in Western Visayas have further stepped up their security and target-hardening measures following the attack of communist rebels in Iloilo in what is believed to be in retaliation on the death of ranking New People’s Army (NPA) members in Antique.
Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao (PNP / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, director of the Western Visayas regional police, said the roadside bombing that left five of his men wounded, including an officer with a rank equivalent to major in the military, only further their resolve to engage the local communist rebels.
“We emphasize that the government is firm in upholding law and order throughout the country. All those who sow chaos and bloodshed and other terrorist acts will have to face the consequence of their actions,” Bulalacao said..
“We will never relent in our drive to bring criminals to the bar of justice and make them accountable for their crimes,” he added.
On Friday morning, a group of policemen went to a remote area of Leon town in Iloilo over reports of rebel sightings in the area. The report turned out to be a trick to lure the cops for an ambush on their way back.
Realizing that they were in danger, Chief Insp. Abner Jordan changed their route on their way back but were attacked by communist rebels using roadside bombing tactic.
Aside from Jordan, wounded were PO2 Rosenie Lebuna, PO1 Mark Ringo Fernando, PO1 Sandie Lavilla and PO1 John Oliver Sungawho. They all sustained minor injuries caused by landmine explosion but are now declared safe by the doctors.
The ambush occurred several days after Western Visayas police force and soldiers killed seven communist rebels in Antique, most of them turned out to be ranking officers of the local communist movement.
Bulalacao earlier alerted all police commanders to brace for possible retaliatory attack by the communist rebels.
Following the attack, he called on the residents to continue cooperating with the police and military in fighting communist rebels.
“We enjoin the public to be more vigilant and report all crimes committed by this group to the PNP for their immediate arrest,” said Bulalacao.
The 4,000-strong NPA has been waging more than four decades of armed struggles against the government amid several failed attempts to strike a peace deal.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/26/western-visayas-police-step-up-security-measures-npa-attack-in-iloilo/
Police forces in Western Visayas have further stepped up their security and target-hardening measures following the attack of communist rebels in Iloilo in what is believed to be in retaliation on the death of ranking New People’s Army (NPA) members in Antique.
Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao (PNP / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, director of the Western Visayas regional police, said the roadside bombing that left five of his men wounded, including an officer with a rank equivalent to major in the military, only further their resolve to engage the local communist rebels.
“We emphasize that the government is firm in upholding law and order throughout the country. All those who sow chaos and bloodshed and other terrorist acts will have to face the consequence of their actions,” Bulalacao said..
“We will never relent in our drive to bring criminals to the bar of justice and make them accountable for their crimes,” he added.
On Friday morning, a group of policemen went to a remote area of Leon town in Iloilo over reports of rebel sightings in the area. The report turned out to be a trick to lure the cops for an ambush on their way back.
Realizing that they were in danger, Chief Insp. Abner Jordan changed their route on their way back but were attacked by communist rebels using roadside bombing tactic.
Aside from Jordan, wounded were PO2 Rosenie Lebuna, PO1 Mark Ringo Fernando, PO1 Sandie Lavilla and PO1 John Oliver Sungawho. They all sustained minor injuries caused by landmine explosion but are now declared safe by the doctors.
The ambush occurred several days after Western Visayas police force and soldiers killed seven communist rebels in Antique, most of them turned out to be ranking officers of the local communist movement.
Bulalacao earlier alerted all police commanders to brace for possible retaliatory attack by the communist rebels.
Following the attack, he called on the residents to continue cooperating with the police and military in fighting communist rebels.
“We enjoin the public to be more vigilant and report all crimes committed by this group to the PNP for their immediate arrest,” said Bulalacao.
The 4,000-strong NPA has been waging more than four decades of armed struggles against the government amid several failed attempts to strike a peace deal.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/26/western-visayas-police-step-up-security-measures-npa-attack-in-iloilo/
Duterte threatens to stop taking in NPAs who surrender
From the Philippine Star (Aug 26): Duterte threatens to stop taking in NPAs who surrender
In this December 12 file photo, members of the communist New People's Army surrender to authorities. John Unson, file
The fate of the peace talks between the government and the communists remains uncertain as President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to "raise the bar" in the fight and no longer accept surrenderees.
Duterte castigated the New People's Army and communist party founder Jose Maria Sison for threatening him, saying they do not have enough forces to defeat government troops.
"The NPAs are arrogant. These fools even threatened me. Sison claimed I am comatose. Fool. They do not have a Navy, an Army, a helicopter, CAFGU (militia) and Air Force. But they talk as if they are somebody. Don't believe them. They are only capable of conducting ambush," the president told troops in Sulu on Saturday.
The New People's Army has been fighting a guerrilla war since 1969 in recognition of its lack of personnel and firepower to engage government troops in conventional warfare.
"But next time around, we will raise the bar higher...Sabi ko ‘pag magdating ang...wala ng surrender-surrender. P***** i**. Fight ka diyan hanggang mamatay ka. Hindi na mag-accept ng surrender. Pabalik-balik kayo," he added.
(There will come a time, there will be no more surrenders. Son of a b****. Fight until you die. We won't accept surrenders anymore. You keep on returning)
Government's CLIP
The government has a surrender and reintegration program called the Comprehensive Local Intergration Program that gives former rebels financial assistance to help them rejoin mainstream society.
These surrenders, based on past reports, are done after negotiations and not on the battlefield.
In March, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana claimed that more than 4,000 communists had already surrendered in the first quarter of 2018.
The Communist Party of the Philippines has played down the supposed surrenders and said in response that the supposed rebels who had given up outnumber the Armed Forces of the Philippines' estimate of the CPP-NPA's strength.
"So, 'Congratulations!' are in order for Lorenzana and Duterte, because, by June, they would have defeated the NPA at least two times over," the CPP said then.
Sison's coma claim
Sison claimed that Duterte was in a coma last week but the president denied this and claimed that the communist leader has cancer. Duterte had also called Sison a discredited leader and a freeloader who does not pay his hospital bills in the Netherlands.
Duterte has promised to work for a settlement with the communist rebels who have been waging an armed struggle against the government for about 50 years. However, disagreements between the two sides have hampered the progress of the negotiations.
The president canceled the formal talks slated for June supposedly to personally review the agreements signed by his predecessors and the communists.
Last month, Duterte said he has read the proposals of the rebels and claimed that it would lead to a coalition government, a power-sharing setup that he said is not allowed by the constitution.
The government and the communists also have differences with regard to the venue of the talks.
Duterte wants the negotiation to be held in the Philippines but the National Democratic Front (NDF), the negotiating panel of communists, said ut should happen in a neutral territory.
The two sides have also been trading accusations and have been blaming each other for the issues delaying the talks.
RELATED: Government shifts to localized peace talks — Dureza
The Defense department had accused the communists of coming up with a three-year plan to oust Duterte but the NDF dismissed it as an "orchestrated" lie.
Last month, Duterte said he was not discounting the possibility that the negotiations between the government and the communists may only resume after he steps down from office.
"The communists — we will talk eventually whichever way you want it. But we will talk in a matter of time. But I am quite tough," the President said in a speech in Zamboanga Sibugay last July 26.
In this December 12 file photo, members of the communist New People's Army surrender to authorities. John Unson, file
The fate of the peace talks between the government and the communists remains uncertain as President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to "raise the bar" in the fight and no longer accept surrenderees.
Duterte castigated the New People's Army and communist party founder Jose Maria Sison for threatening him, saying they do not have enough forces to defeat government troops.
"The NPAs are arrogant. These fools even threatened me. Sison claimed I am comatose. Fool. They do not have a Navy, an Army, a helicopter, CAFGU (militia) and Air Force. But they talk as if they are somebody. Don't believe them. They are only capable of conducting ambush," the president told troops in Sulu on Saturday.
The New People's Army has been fighting a guerrilla war since 1969 in recognition of its lack of personnel and firepower to engage government troops in conventional warfare.
"But next time around, we will raise the bar higher...Sabi ko ‘pag magdating ang...wala ng surrender-surrender. P***** i**. Fight ka diyan hanggang mamatay ka. Hindi na mag-accept ng surrender. Pabalik-balik kayo," he added.
(There will come a time, there will be no more surrenders. Son of a b****. Fight until you die. We won't accept surrenders anymore. You keep on returning)
Government's CLIP
The government has a surrender and reintegration program called the Comprehensive Local Intergration Program that gives former rebels financial assistance to help them rejoin mainstream society.
These surrenders, based on past reports, are done after negotiations and not on the battlefield.
In March, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana claimed that more than 4,000 communists had already surrendered in the first quarter of 2018.
The Communist Party of the Philippines has played down the supposed surrenders and said in response that the supposed rebels who had given up outnumber the Armed Forces of the Philippines' estimate of the CPP-NPA's strength.
"So, 'Congratulations!' are in order for Lorenzana and Duterte, because, by June, they would have defeated the NPA at least two times over," the CPP said then.
Sison's coma claim
Sison claimed that Duterte was in a coma last week but the president denied this and claimed that the communist leader has cancer. Duterte had also called Sison a discredited leader and a freeloader who does not pay his hospital bills in the Netherlands.
Duterte has promised to work for a settlement with the communist rebels who have been waging an armed struggle against the government for about 50 years. However, disagreements between the two sides have hampered the progress of the negotiations.
The president canceled the formal talks slated for June supposedly to personally review the agreements signed by his predecessors and the communists.
Last month, Duterte said he has read the proposals of the rebels and claimed that it would lead to a coalition government, a power-sharing setup that he said is not allowed by the constitution.
The government and the communists also have differences with regard to the venue of the talks.
Duterte wants the negotiation to be held in the Philippines but the National Democratic Front (NDF), the negotiating panel of communists, said ut should happen in a neutral territory.
The two sides have also been trading accusations and have been blaming each other for the issues delaying the talks.
RELATED: Government shifts to localized peace talks — Dureza
The Defense department had accused the communists of coming up with a three-year plan to oust Duterte but the NDF dismissed it as an "orchestrated" lie.
Last month, Duterte said he was not discounting the possibility that the negotiations between the government and the communists may only resume after he steps down from office.
"The communists — we will talk eventually whichever way you want it. But we will talk in a matter of time. But I am quite tough," the President said in a speech in Zamboanga Sibugay last July 26.
At wake of 7 rebels, paintings of guerrilla life draw attention
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Aug 25): At wake of 7 rebels, paintings of guerrilla life draw attention
PORTRAIT OF A GUERILLA One of the paintings displayed at the wake of seven rebels in Iloilo City depicts a female guerrilla in a rebel camp. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
ILOILO CITY—Paintings drew the most attention at the wake for seven communist rebels at a funeral home here.
They depicted life in guerrilla zones and were done by two of the men now lying in coffins draped with flags of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
While CPP and NDFP leaders confirmed that the slain men and woman were rebels, they said those lying in the seven coffins were noncombatants and were unarmed when killed by soldiers.
The walls and hallways at the second floor of Gegato Abecia Funeral Homes and Crematory in the village of Balabago here turned into a gallery featuring at least 50 works of Felix Salditos, 60, and Eldie Labinghisa, 56.
Extortion group?
They were among those killed at the village of Atabay in San Jose town, Antique province in a supposed clash with soldiers on August 15.
Also killed were Peter Mecinas, 60; Karen Ceralvo, 41; Liezl Bandiola, 44; Jason Sanchez, 38 and Jason Talibo, 27.
Police and military officials had described them as members of a rebel “extortion group” who were killed when they lobbed a grenade at a law enforcement team trying to serve arrest warrants for two of the men.
The slain men’s relatives, however, said they were victims of a massacre and were unarmed when policemen and soldiers came.
Noncombatants
Concha Araneta, spokesperson for NDFP and CPP in Panay, said in a statement that those who died were noncombatants and members of the CPP’s regional education and propaganda staff.
On Tuesday, families, friends and colleagues of the slain rebels paid tribute to them with songs, poems, speeches and anecdotes.
They vowed to pursue the ideals that those who died fought for.
Ruth Salditos, widow of Felix, described her husband as a prolific artist who drew inspiration for his works from the lives and struggles of farmers, workers and Tumandok, Panay’s biggest indigenous people’s group concentrated in the central areas of the island.
Goodnight
Salditos’ works had been exhibited in schools. He is more known by his artist and pen names RFS, Mayamor and Maya Daniel.
In the Facebook page of Maya Daniel, Salditos posted 17 poems and bid his friends “goodnight” at 11:55 p.m. on August 14.
Police and military officials said the operation against the rebels started around 12:10 a.m. on August 15.
The art works of Salditos and Labinghisa exhibited at the wake included paintings in watercolor, acrylic and mix media, pen and ink sketches and driftwood sculptures.
These mostly depicted rural life and those of rebels in the mountains and of epics of the Tumandok people.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Western Visayas is investigating whether the rebels were unarmed when killed.
CHR probe
A CHR team had started to gather information and evidence, according to lawyer Jonnie Dabuco, CHR Western Visayas investigator.
The seven rebels died of fatal gunshot wounds in the head and chest during the clash at a house in San Jose.
Col. Benedict Arevalo, head of the Army’s 301st Brigade, said the slain rebels were members of the New People’s Army’s Regional Taxation Implementing Group in Panay, which collected “revolutionary tax” from business firms.
He said soldiers found records and lists of companies and individuals targeted by the rebels.
Dabuco, however, said the Army was also trying to determine “if there was excessive use of force and if there was any violation of international humanitarian laws.”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1024763/at-wake-of-7-rebels-paintings-of-guerrilla-life-draw-attention
PORTRAIT OF A GUERILLA One of the paintings displayed at the wake of seven rebels in Iloilo City depicts a female guerrilla in a rebel camp. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
ILOILO CITY—Paintings drew the most attention at the wake for seven communist rebels at a funeral home here.
They depicted life in guerrilla zones and were done by two of the men now lying in coffins draped with flags of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
While CPP and NDFP leaders confirmed that the slain men and woman were rebels, they said those lying in the seven coffins were noncombatants and were unarmed when killed by soldiers.
The walls and hallways at the second floor of Gegato Abecia Funeral Homes and Crematory in the village of Balabago here turned into a gallery featuring at least 50 works of Felix Salditos, 60, and Eldie Labinghisa, 56.
Extortion group?
They were among those killed at the village of Atabay in San Jose town, Antique province in a supposed clash with soldiers on August 15.
Also killed were Peter Mecinas, 60; Karen Ceralvo, 41; Liezl Bandiola, 44; Jason Sanchez, 38 and Jason Talibo, 27.
Police and military officials had described them as members of a rebel “extortion group” who were killed when they lobbed a grenade at a law enforcement team trying to serve arrest warrants for two of the men.
The slain men’s relatives, however, said they were victims of a massacre and were unarmed when policemen and soldiers came.
Noncombatants
Concha Araneta, spokesperson for NDFP and CPP in Panay, said in a statement that those who died were noncombatants and members of the CPP’s regional education and propaganda staff.
On Tuesday, families, friends and colleagues of the slain rebels paid tribute to them with songs, poems, speeches and anecdotes.
They vowed to pursue the ideals that those who died fought for.
Ruth Salditos, widow of Felix, described her husband as a prolific artist who drew inspiration for his works from the lives and struggles of farmers, workers and Tumandok, Panay’s biggest indigenous people’s group concentrated in the central areas of the island.
Goodnight
Salditos’ works had been exhibited in schools. He is more known by his artist and pen names RFS, Mayamor and Maya Daniel.
In the Facebook page of Maya Daniel, Salditos posted 17 poems and bid his friends “goodnight” at 11:55 p.m. on August 14.
Police and military officials said the operation against the rebels started around 12:10 a.m. on August 15.
The art works of Salditos and Labinghisa exhibited at the wake included paintings in watercolor, acrylic and mix media, pen and ink sketches and driftwood sculptures.
These mostly depicted rural life and those of rebels in the mountains and of epics of the Tumandok people.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Western Visayas is investigating whether the rebels were unarmed when killed.
CHR probe
A CHR team had started to gather information and evidence, according to lawyer Jonnie Dabuco, CHR Western Visayas investigator.
The seven rebels died of fatal gunshot wounds in the head and chest during the clash at a house in San Jose.
Col. Benedict Arevalo, head of the Army’s 301st Brigade, said the slain rebels were members of the New People’s Army’s Regional Taxation Implementing Group in Panay, which collected “revolutionary tax” from business firms.
He said soldiers found records and lists of companies and individuals targeted by the rebels.
Dabuco, however, said the Army was also trying to determine “if there was excessive use of force and if there was any violation of international humanitarian laws.”
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1024763/at-wake-of-7-rebels-paintings-of-guerrilla-life-draw-attention
Stakeholders approve military camp in Marawi
From the Manila Times (Aug 26): Stakeholders approve military camp in Marawi
Stakeholders and lot owners in Barangay Kapantaran of Marawi City are in favor of establishing a military camp in the Old Capitol site of the besieged city, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has said.
Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s civil-military operations regiment, said the military had conducted dialogues with its stakeholders and owners of lots in Kapantaran and the general sentiment was they are in favor of a military camp “because of the emphasis on the security” of Marawi’s rehabilitation process.
“They (lot owners and stakeholders) are in favor of this. But for now, we are just arranging the buying of lands here,” he said in a media conference in Marawi City on Friday.
In January, President Rodrigo Duterte along with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and high-ranking military officials led a groundbreaking ceremony on the lot where the military camp will be built.
Brawner earlier said that the 10 hectares of the area located on top of the hill overlooking the business district up to the lake are owned by the government.
But several citizens in Marawi opposed the plan through the Ranaw Multi-Sectoral Movement.
In a statement last March, the group urged Duterte to stop the building of the military camp and an economic zone (ecozone) arguing that Task Force Bangon Marawi was ignoring their plight.
The group claimed that the task force head, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Eduardo del Rosario, was the one who presented the idea of an ecozone.
Mapandi, Lilod roads closed
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Ramiro Rey, commander of Joint Task Group Ranao, also confirmed in the same conference that the roads in the villages of Mapandi and Lilod were closed temporarily as military troops were still retrieving unexploded bombs and ordnances left during the five-month siege in Marawi.
Rey said he was given a month to recover the unexploded bombs “slowly and manually.”
“Once the retrieval has been completed, we will be opening the roads again to the public,” he added.
Rey noted the military has so far recovered unexploded bombs and improvised explosive devices seen above the ground of the main battle area while those that went beneath the ground are still underway for retrieval operations.
Stakeholders and lot owners in Barangay Kapantaran of Marawi City are in favor of establishing a military camp in the Old Capitol site of the besieged city, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has said.
Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s civil-military operations regiment, said the military had conducted dialogues with its stakeholders and owners of lots in Kapantaran and the general sentiment was they are in favor of a military camp “because of the emphasis on the security” of Marawi’s rehabilitation process.
“They (lot owners and stakeholders) are in favor of this. But for now, we are just arranging the buying of lands here,” he said in a media conference in Marawi City on Friday.
In January, President Rodrigo Duterte along with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and high-ranking military officials led a groundbreaking ceremony on the lot where the military camp will be built.
Brawner earlier said that the 10 hectares of the area located on top of the hill overlooking the business district up to the lake are owned by the government.
But several citizens in Marawi opposed the plan through the Ranaw Multi-Sectoral Movement.
In a statement last March, the group urged Duterte to stop the building of the military camp and an economic zone (ecozone) arguing that Task Force Bangon Marawi was ignoring their plight.
The group claimed that the task force head, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman Eduardo del Rosario, was the one who presented the idea of an ecozone.
Mapandi, Lilod roads closed
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Ramiro Rey, commander of Joint Task Group Ranao, also confirmed in the same conference that the roads in the villages of Mapandi and Lilod were closed temporarily as military troops were still retrieving unexploded bombs and ordnances left during the five-month siege in Marawi.
Rey said he was given a month to recover the unexploded bombs “slowly and manually.”
“Once the retrieval has been completed, we will be opening the roads again to the public,” he added.
Rey noted the military has so far recovered unexploded bombs and improvised explosive devices seen above the ground of the main battle area while those that went beneath the ground are still underway for retrieval operations.
‘F16 jets are expensive to maintain’
From the Philippine Star (Aug 26): ‘F16 jets are expensive to maintain’
The official, who asked not to be named, said that while F16 jets are highly-capable aircraft that could make the Air Force more capable of guarding the Philippine skies, they are costly to operate and maintain.
A senior military official was claiming that F16 fighter jets the US had offered to supply the Philippines would require huge operational and maintenance cost for the already-cash strapped Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The official, who asked not to be named, said that while F16 jets are highly-capable aircraft that could make the Air Force more capable of guarding the Philippine skies, they are costly to operate and maintain.
Based on available data, the cost ranges from $7,000 to $24,000 per hour for each F16 jet.
Under the current peso to dollar rate, the Air Force would spend P371,000 per hour to fly one F16.
The official, who asked not to be named, said that while F16 jets are highly-capable aircraft that could make the Air Force more capable of guarding the Philippine skies, they are costly to operate and maintain.
Based on available data, the cost ranges from $7,000 to $24,000 per hour for each F16 jet.
Under the current peso to dollar rate, the Air Force would spend P371,000 per hour to fly one F16.
“This is on top of the cost of the procurement, transfer and the weapons systems. It’s very highly-capable fighter jet but it’s also a highly-maintenance aircraft. Why not if there’s money,” he said.
In 1998, the market value of F16C/D was around $18.8 million or P996.4 billion apiece, apparently excluding upgrades and the weapon systems.
It was gathered that the US government had offered the Philippines this type of jet a long time ago but the previous administrations declined them due to lack of procurement, operational maintenance funds.
“This US F16s offer is not new, only that we don’t procure them due to financial constraints. It’s costly to operate,” he said.
Three US officials have written President Duterte offering the F16s but the President declined the offer saying that what the Philippines needs for now are trainer planes, close-air support aircraft, combat helicopters, to fight the insurgents.
In 1998, the market value of F16C/D was around $18.8 million or P996.4 billion apiece, apparently excluding upgrades and the weapon systems.
It was gathered that the US government had offered the Philippines this type of jet a long time ago but the previous administrations declined them due to lack of procurement, operational maintenance funds.
“This US F16s offer is not new, only that we don’t procure them due to financial constraints. It’s costly to operate,” he said.
Three US officials have written President Duterte offering the F16s but the President declined the offer saying that what the Philippines needs for now are trainer planes, close-air support aircraft, combat helicopters, to fight the insurgents.
Defense observers described the offer as another effort by the US government to dissuade the Philippines from procuring big ticket military platforms from Russia.
Visiting US Assistant Defense Secretary for Asian and Pacific security, Randall Schriver, earlier cautioned the Philippine government from procuring key military platforms from Russia saying doing so would be unhealthy to the US-Philippine alliance.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana spent almost a week in Moscow shopping for big ticket defense equipment including submarines, warships, attack helicopters, trainer planes, grenade launchers, sniper and assault rifles.
Russia is offering a soft loan to help the Philippines bankroll the modernization program of the AFP.
Visiting US Assistant Defense Secretary for Asian and Pacific security, Randall Schriver, earlier cautioned the Philippine government from procuring key military platforms from Russia saying doing so would be unhealthy to the US-Philippine alliance.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana spent almost a week in Moscow shopping for big ticket defense equipment including submarines, warships, attack helicopters, trainer planes, grenade launchers, sniper and assault rifles.
Russia is offering a soft loan to help the Philippines bankroll the modernization program of the AFP.
Lorenzana said nothing is final yet.
He said any government deal with any state for that matter, must go and pass through the tedious defense procurement processes.
He said any government deal with any state for that matter, must go and pass through the tedious defense procurement processes.
No moving on from Marcos-era massacres and abuse, Bangsamoro group says
From the Philippine Star (Aug 26): No moving on from Marcos-era massacres and abuse, Bangsamoro group says
Marcos loyalists at a rally outside the Supreme Court in Manila in September 2016.
Moro families who lost relatives to massacres and fighting in Mindanao during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos will never forget, a Bangsamoro activist group said Saturday.
"Under his Martial Law, Bangsamoro suffered from his anti-Moro war and series of massacres such as the Jabidah, Tacub, Manili, Palimbang and many others. Until now, no justice has been given to our people!" Suara Bangsamoro, a mass organization associated with the national democratic movement, said in a statement Saturday.
RELATED: The Forgotten War: Memories of Martial Law in Mindanao
The group was responding to remarks by Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos earlier in the week that critics of her father's more than 20 years in power should move on. "The millennials have moved on and, I think, people at my age should move on as well," she said on the anniversary of the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., her father's political rival and critic.
Youth groups promptly disputed her claim.
On Friday, former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos said he understands his sister's sentiments.
"The government fell. The cases against us were filed. The cases came to a decision," the former senator said. "What do we [as a nation] want to do about it now?"
Parts of Mindanao saw heavy militarization in the 1970s—a situation that activists and rights advocates say still remains—in response to the Moro independence movement and to rebellion by the Moro National Liberation Front.The "pacification" campaign has been blamed for human rights violations—including massacres and rapes—in that period.
A widespread fire in Jolo, Sulu that destroyed thousands of houses was said to be the worst since the 1974 Battle of Jolo—also called the Burning of Jolo—between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front.
"During Martial Law, more than a thousand of Palimbang (in Sultan Kudarat province) men of all ages were rounded up and mercilessly massacred inside that mosque by the military. From wives to widows in an instant blow, the women of Palimbang wept and struggled to pick up the shambles of their village to build lives for their children. These people, my relatives, deserve justice," Suara Bangsamoro chairperson Jerome Succor Aba said.
Marcos supporters contend that the ousted dictator did not directly order the abuses.
Guiamel Alim, while chairman of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, said in an interview in 2016 that there has been "no reparation, no justice, no institutional reform and structural changes. Simply said, the Bangsamoro has not recovered from these war atrocities."
He told Philstar.com in 2016 that "they still remember how their relatives were massacred, their women raped and the ultimate result of social dis-integration."
Since that interview, the government has enacted the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which is meant to create a new region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and pave the way for institutional reforms and correcting what President Rodrigo Duterte has described as historical injustices in the region.
Aba said on Saturday: "How can we move on? Our blood boils at the callousness of your dismissal of your sins. Your family owes us for the lives of relatives long lost to us. Your family owes us for raping our women. Your family owes us for the stolen sanctities of our communities you ransacked. Your family owes us for demonizing our culture and beliefs. Your family committed genocide against the Bangsamoro."
Aba, who added: "So when Bongbong asked what else we need from them, we have one clear answer: Justice."
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2018/08/26/1845980/no-moving-marcos-era-massacres-and-abuse-bangsamoro-group-says
"Under his Martial Law, Bangsamoro suffered from his anti-Moro war and series of massacres such as the Jabidah, Tacub, Manili, Palimbang and many others. Until now, no justice has been given to our people!" Suara Bangsamoro, a mass organization associated with the national democratic movement, said in a statement Saturday.
RELATED: The Forgotten War: Memories of Martial Law in Mindanao
The group was responding to remarks by Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos earlier in the week that critics of her father's more than 20 years in power should move on. "The millennials have moved on and, I think, people at my age should move on as well," she said on the anniversary of the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., her father's political rival and critic.
Youth groups promptly disputed her claim.
On Friday, former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos said he understands his sister's sentiments.
"The government fell. The cases against us were filed. The cases came to a decision," the former senator said. "What do we [as a nation] want to do about it now?"
Parts of Mindanao saw heavy militarization in the 1970s—a situation that activists and rights advocates say still remains—in response to the Moro independence movement and to rebellion by the Moro National Liberation Front.The "pacification" campaign has been blamed for human rights violations—including massacres and rapes—in that period.
A widespread fire in Jolo, Sulu that destroyed thousands of houses was said to be the worst since the 1974 Battle of Jolo—also called the Burning of Jolo—between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front.
"During Martial Law, more than a thousand of Palimbang (in Sultan Kudarat province) men of all ages were rounded up and mercilessly massacred inside that mosque by the military. From wives to widows in an instant blow, the women of Palimbang wept and struggled to pick up the shambles of their village to build lives for their children. These people, my relatives, deserve justice," Suara Bangsamoro chairperson Jerome Succor Aba said.
Marcos supporters contend that the ousted dictator did not directly order the abuses.
Guiamel Alim, while chairman of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, said in an interview in 2016 that there has been "no reparation, no justice, no institutional reform and structural changes. Simply said, the Bangsamoro has not recovered from these war atrocities."
He told Philstar.com in 2016 that "they still remember how their relatives were massacred, their women raped and the ultimate result of social dis-integration."
Since that interview, the government has enacted the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which is meant to create a new region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and pave the way for institutional reforms and correcting what President Rodrigo Duterte has described as historical injustices in the region.
Aba said on Saturday: "How can we move on? Our blood boils at the callousness of your dismissal of your sins. Your family owes us for the lives of relatives long lost to us. Your family owes us for raping our women. Your family owes us for the stolen sanctities of our communities you ransacked. Your family owes us for demonizing our culture and beliefs. Your family committed genocide against the Bangsamoro."
Aba, who added: "So when Bongbong asked what else we need from them, we have one clear answer: Justice."
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2018/08/26/1845980/no-moving-marcos-era-massacres-and-abuse-bangsamoro-group-says
Gov’t aid assured for 6 NPA surrenderers in Bukidnon
From PTV News (Aug 25): Gov’t aid assured for 6 NPA surrenderers in Bukidnon
MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon – Six members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who surrendered separately this week will be provided the appropriate government economic assistance as they start their new life, an Army official said Friday.
Brigadier Gen. Eric C. Vinoya, commander of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade (IB), said the surrenderers will receive livelihood assistance and other aid packages under the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
“They will receive firearms remuneration, as well as cash, livelihood, employment, housing, and health assistance,” Vinoya said, as he called on the remaining rebels and their supporters “to embrace peace, go back to the folds of the law.”
Capt. Norman M. Tagros, 403 IB civil-military operations officer, identified one of the surrenderers as a certain Alias Lito, vice commanding officer of the NPA’s Militia ng Bayan under NPA’s Section Committee 89, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NMRC).
Lito brought along with him a .45-caliber pistol when he surrendered to the elements of the 8th Infantry Battalion in Impasug-ong town, Bukidnon on Thursday, Tagros said. Impasug-ong, a first-class municipality, is located on the northern part of the province.
Tagros said that on Wednesday, five members of the NPA’s Guerilla Front 68 also surrendered to the elements of the Army’s First Special Forces Battalion in Pangantucan town. He said Alias Gorio, Alias Bryan, Alias Roskie, Alias Benjie, and Alias Ryan surrendered at about 8 a.m.
The NPA’s Guerrilla Front operates in the hinterland areas of Lantapan, Pangantucan, Baungon, Talakag, all located within the Kitanglad Mountain range.
During the custodial debriefing, Tagros said the surrenderers revealed the hardships they had experienced in their stay with the communist organization.
He said the surrenderers felt betrayed by the NPA’s “false promises, particularly the assurance of support for their respective families that was never been given.”
Lt. Col. Ronald M, Illana, the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion commanding officer, noted that the NPA usually dangles promises of support for potential recruits, but that these are nothing but “deception and lies.”
Illana said the NPA — the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines — “is losing its grasp on its members. Most of them already realized that they have all been deceived and are now looking for ways to make peace with the government.”
https://www.ptvnews.ph/govt-aid-assured-6-npa-surrenderers-bukidnon/
MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon – Six members of the New People’s Army (NPA) who surrendered separately this week will be provided the appropriate government economic assistance as they start their new life, an Army official said Friday.
Brigadier Gen. Eric C. Vinoya, commander of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade (IB), said the surrenderers will receive livelihood assistance and other aid packages under the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
“They will receive firearms remuneration, as well as cash, livelihood, employment, housing, and health assistance,” Vinoya said, as he called on the remaining rebels and their supporters “to embrace peace, go back to the folds of the law.”
Capt. Norman M. Tagros, 403 IB civil-military operations officer, identified one of the surrenderers as a certain Alias Lito, vice commanding officer of the NPA’s Militia ng Bayan under NPA’s Section Committee 89, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NMRC).
Lito brought along with him a .45-caliber pistol when he surrendered to the elements of the 8th Infantry Battalion in Impasug-ong town, Bukidnon on Thursday, Tagros said. Impasug-ong, a first-class municipality, is located on the northern part of the province.
Tagros said that on Wednesday, five members of the NPA’s Guerilla Front 68 also surrendered to the elements of the Army’s First Special Forces Battalion in Pangantucan town. He said Alias Gorio, Alias Bryan, Alias Roskie, Alias Benjie, and Alias Ryan surrendered at about 8 a.m.
The NPA’s Guerrilla Front operates in the hinterland areas of Lantapan, Pangantucan, Baungon, Talakag, all located within the Kitanglad Mountain range.
During the custodial debriefing, Tagros said the surrenderers revealed the hardships they had experienced in their stay with the communist organization.
He said the surrenderers felt betrayed by the NPA’s “false promises, particularly the assurance of support for their respective families that was never been given.”
Lt. Col. Ronald M, Illana, the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion commanding officer, noted that the NPA usually dangles promises of support for potential recruits, but that these are nothing but “deception and lies.”
Illana said the NPA — the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines — “is losing its grasp on its members. Most of them already realized that they have all been deceived and are now looking for ways to make peace with the government.”
https://www.ptvnews.ph/govt-aid-assured-6-npa-surrenderers-bukidnon/
Threat level of 5 NPA fronts downgraded
From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 25): Threat level of 5 NPA fronts downgraded
CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – The area command here of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Saturday disclosed that five guerilla fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Mindanao have already been downgraded, with fighters either surrendering or being neutralized, and encampments being over-ran in relentless government operations.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
Field unit commanders of the AFP’s Northeastern and Northern Mindanao Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID), the largest maneuvering Army division stationed in Mindanao, have claimed significant victories against the CPP-NPA terrorists (CNTs) as combat maneuvering troops destroyed scores of firearms seized from in series of encounters beginning January this year.
For the past eight months, Maj. Gen. Ronald C. Villanueva, commanding general of the 4th ID said the AFP Eastern Command already captured at least 300 rebel camps spread throughout Mindanao.
“Most of the captured CNT encampments were equipped with containers of rice, medicine, firearms, and ammunition,” claimed the 4th ID chief.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) turned over to President Rodrigo Duterte more than 1,000 firearms recovered from the Communist rebels within the army unit’s area of responsibility.
The turnover was held during the Eastmincom’s 12th Founding Anniversary held at the camp in Panacan last August 23 at the Naval Station Felix Apolinario in Panacan, Davao City where the President was guest of honor.
In another development, a 17-year-old NPA fighter surrendered to government troopers on Friday in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental.
According to authorities, Jemar Labito Salayon was with a group of NPA terrorists when they encountered elements of the 10th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Hoyohoy, Tangub City last August 11.
However, he was wounded in the left knee and was abandoned by his comrades, leaving him no choice but to surrender to the troopers.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/25/threat-level-of-5-npa-fronts-downgraded/
CAMP BANCASI, Butuan City – The area command here of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Saturday disclosed that five guerilla fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Mindanao have already been downgraded, with fighters either surrendering or being neutralized, and encampments being over-ran in relentless government operations.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
Field unit commanders of the AFP’s Northeastern and Northern Mindanao Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID), the largest maneuvering Army division stationed in Mindanao, have claimed significant victories against the CPP-NPA terrorists (CNTs) as combat maneuvering troops destroyed scores of firearms seized from in series of encounters beginning January this year.
For the past eight months, Maj. Gen. Ronald C. Villanueva, commanding general of the 4th ID said the AFP Eastern Command already captured at least 300 rebel camps spread throughout Mindanao.
“Most of the captured CNT encampments were equipped with containers of rice, medicine, firearms, and ammunition,” claimed the 4th ID chief.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) turned over to President Rodrigo Duterte more than 1,000 firearms recovered from the Communist rebels within the army unit’s area of responsibility.
The turnover was held during the Eastmincom’s 12th Founding Anniversary held at the camp in Panacan last August 23 at the Naval Station Felix Apolinario in Panacan, Davao City where the President was guest of honor.
In another development, a 17-year-old NPA fighter surrendered to government troopers on Friday in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental.
According to authorities, Jemar Labito Salayon was with a group of NPA terrorists when they encountered elements of the 10th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Hoyohoy, Tangub City last August 11.
However, he was wounded in the left knee and was abandoned by his comrades, leaving him no choice but to surrender to the troopers.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/25/threat-level-of-5-npa-fronts-downgraded/
Police ‘strike force’ to secure Benguet vs insurgents
From PTV News (Aug 24): Police ‘strike force’ to secure Benguet vs insurgents
Even if there is no imminent danger from insurgents, the Benguet police force has beefed up its security plan for the region in case of sudden attack, particularly from communist rebels.
The Benguet Provincial Mobile Force has deployed two more platoons spread in various towns of the province to prepare for possible internal threats and aid locals cops in anti-crime operations.
“The mobile force is ready to respond anytime and anywhere,” Police Supt. Edward Aquintey, chief of the mobile force, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.
Serving as first responders, the Benguet Provincial Mobile Force is the province’s “strike force,” composed of cops trained to take action against sudden attacks.
He said the two platoons were deployed to the towns of Atok, Mankayan, Kabayan, Bokod, and Itogon, areas that are distant from the headquarters of the Benguet Provincial Mobile Force in Abatan, Buguias town.
“It will take time for our troops to respond in cases of threats,” Aquintey explained, saying it would take time for the headquarters to respond in case of sudden attack in these areas.
Benguet is a “white area” in terms of internal threats and has no known camps of insurgents belonging to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA).
“But it is best to have a pro-active presence of the mobile force company, just in case,” the police colonel said.
Aquintey describes the CPP-NPA as “very mobile,” increasing the possibility of their presence in the province.
He related the past incident in Tuba in 2017, where members of the left community in the area exchange fire with the police.
“We cannot be complacent, even if we are considered as a white area,” Aquintey said, saying the presence of the mobile force is a pre-emptive measure.
He added the mobile force also maintains an “advanced-forward” deployment in areas, where there are major installations like the hydroelectric power plants in Binga, Itogon and Ambuklao in Bokod, Benguet.
“We are maintaining one platoon in Itogon, Benguet to address the internal security issues in the south, while we have our headquarters in Buguias, Benguet to secure the northern part,” he said. “The mobile force has operational jurisdiction over the province. I would like to reiterate, with the platoons being deployed, it can be easier for us to respond to beleaguered areas.”
Aquintey assured that the mobile force has the personnel and equipment to ensure security in its protected areas.
The group also undergoes training on disaster risk reduction management, equipping the members with skills needed to respond to emergencies due to calamities and disasters.
Aquintey, who also heads the Police Community Relations branch of the Baguio City Police Office, said the Benguet strike force is also linking with the community or talking to the people, not only to aid intelligence and regular police operations but also to develop rapport with the community.
“We should develop our rapport, partnership with the community, especially in far flung areas,” he said. “With that relationship, the community will trust the police and the government. War is not always won with the use of firearms.”
https://ptvnews.ph/police-strike-force-secure-benguet-vs-insurgents/
Even if there is no imminent danger from insurgents, the Benguet police force has beefed up its security plan for the region in case of sudden attack, particularly from communist rebels.
The Benguet Provincial Mobile Force has deployed two more platoons spread in various towns of the province to prepare for possible internal threats and aid locals cops in anti-crime operations.
“The mobile force is ready to respond anytime and anywhere,” Police Supt. Edward Aquintey, chief of the mobile force, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.
Serving as first responders, the Benguet Provincial Mobile Force is the province’s “strike force,” composed of cops trained to take action against sudden attacks.
He said the two platoons were deployed to the towns of Atok, Mankayan, Kabayan, Bokod, and Itogon, areas that are distant from the headquarters of the Benguet Provincial Mobile Force in Abatan, Buguias town.
“It will take time for our troops to respond in cases of threats,” Aquintey explained, saying it would take time for the headquarters to respond in case of sudden attack in these areas.
Benguet is a “white area” in terms of internal threats and has no known camps of insurgents belonging to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA).
“But it is best to have a pro-active presence of the mobile force company, just in case,” the police colonel said.
Aquintey describes the CPP-NPA as “very mobile,” increasing the possibility of their presence in the province.
He related the past incident in Tuba in 2017, where members of the left community in the area exchange fire with the police.
“We cannot be complacent, even if we are considered as a white area,” Aquintey said, saying the presence of the mobile force is a pre-emptive measure.
He added the mobile force also maintains an “advanced-forward” deployment in areas, where there are major installations like the hydroelectric power plants in Binga, Itogon and Ambuklao in Bokod, Benguet.
“We are maintaining one platoon in Itogon, Benguet to address the internal security issues in the south, while we have our headquarters in Buguias, Benguet to secure the northern part,” he said. “The mobile force has operational jurisdiction over the province. I would like to reiterate, with the platoons being deployed, it can be easier for us to respond to beleaguered areas.”
Aquintey assured that the mobile force has the personnel and equipment to ensure security in its protected areas.
The group also undergoes training on disaster risk reduction management, equipping the members with skills needed to respond to emergencies due to calamities and disasters.
Aquintey, who also heads the Police Community Relations branch of the Baguio City Police Office, said the Benguet strike force is also linking with the community or talking to the people, not only to aid intelligence and regular police operations but also to develop rapport with the community.
“We should develop our rapport, partnership with the community, especially in far flung areas,” he said. “With that relationship, the community will trust the police and the government. War is not always won with the use of firearms.”
https://ptvnews.ph/police-strike-force-secure-benguet-vs-insurgents/
NPA Strikes Back
From Panay News (Aug 25): NPA Strikes Back
3 cops injured in Leon clash with Reds
A facial injury has not hindered Chief Inspector Abner Jordan of the 1st Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company to lead his platoon in repelling a band of New People’s Army rebels that ambushed them in Barangay Isian Victoria, Leon, Iloilo on Aug. 24, 2018 past 6 a.m. He is shown here trying to make a call to other colleagues hours after the clash. PHOTO COURTESY OF RMN-ILOILO
ILOILO City – Over a week after losing seven comrades to the police and military in Barangay Atabay, San Jose, Antique, the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed a platoon of policemen in Barangay Isian Victoria, Leon, Iloilo. Three policemen were injured.
Troops of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company were on patrol when some 20 NPA rebels set off a command-detonated landmine and started firing at the policemen around 6:20 a.m. yesterday.
The three injured policemen were platoon leader Chief Inspector Abner Jordan, Police Officer 2 Rosenie Lebuna and Police Officer 1 Mark Ringo Fernando.
The mobile force company repelled the rebels after some 20 minutes of gunfight, said Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, police provincial director.
He also believed the police managed to hit the rebels. Villagers of Barangay Isian Victoria reported having seen the fleeing rebels carrying two injured members, he said.
The Police Regional Office 6 condemned the NPA attack. Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional police director, described the rebels as “national terrorists.”
He also said the rebels’ use of landmine was a “gross violation” of Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, as well as the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of landmines “whether improvised or not.”
“We enjoin the public to be more vigilant and report to the police all crimes committed by this group so they could be arrested,” said Bulalacao.
On Aug. 15 combined forces of the San Jose, Antique police station, Antique Provincial Mobile Force Company and the Philippine Army’s 301st Brigade Intelligence Task Group killed seven rebels in Barangay Atabay, San Jose. The casualties were members of the NPA’s taxation group extorting money from the locals, said Bulalacao.
According to Tayaba, 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company decided to conduct a patrol in Barangay Isian Victoria following complaints from villagers that the rebels were on an extortion spree there.
“We ask the communist national terrorists to cease in their evil acts, to reform and return to the folds of law, embrace the harmony of a peaceful family life and do their share in nation-building,” said Bulalacao.
As of this writing, the mobile force company was conducting a hot pursuit operation against the rebels in the hinterlands of Leon.
Following the operation in Barangay Atabay, San Jose, Antique, Bulalacao ordered all police stations in the region to beef up their security. He was wary of retaliatory attacks from the NPA.
From the encounter site in Barangay Isian Victoria, Leon the police recovered 36 spent bullet shells of M16 rifles, a .45 pistol with seven live ammunitions, 12 spent bullet shells of M14 rifles, a double AA battery, a magazine, electric wires, and a penlight.
According to Tayaba, the three policemen were injured by shrapnels from the NPA’s improvised command-detonated landmine.
But the injuries were not serious, he stressed. The three received first aid treatment and need not be hospitalized.
“The instruction to all municipal police chiefs, including city and provincial police directors, is to be alert. Do not leave the police stations unmanned. Do not relax. Dapat alerto palagi ang mga pulis natin. Ayaw ko ng tulog na pulis, especially sa mga areas na rebel-infested,” said Bulalacao.
In Iloilo province, the PRO-6 identified 15 police stations vulnerable to rebel attacks. These are in the towns of San Joaquin, Guimbal, Miag-ao, Tubungan, Igbaras, Alimodian, Leon, Calinog, Maasin, Bingawan, Badiangan, San Enrique, San Rafael, and Lemery, and the component city of Passi.
https://www.panaynews.net/npa-strikes-back/
3 cops injured in Leon clash with Reds
A facial injury has not hindered Chief Inspector Abner Jordan of the 1st Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company to lead his platoon in repelling a band of New People’s Army rebels that ambushed them in Barangay Isian Victoria, Leon, Iloilo on Aug. 24, 2018 past 6 a.m. He is shown here trying to make a call to other colleagues hours after the clash. PHOTO COURTESY OF RMN-ILOILO
ILOILO City – Over a week after losing seven comrades to the police and military in Barangay Atabay, San Jose, Antique, the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed a platoon of policemen in Barangay Isian Victoria, Leon, Iloilo. Three policemen were injured.
Troops of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company were on patrol when some 20 NPA rebels set off a command-detonated landmine and started firing at the policemen around 6:20 a.m. yesterday.
The three injured policemen were platoon leader Chief Inspector Abner Jordan, Police Officer 2 Rosenie Lebuna and Police Officer 1 Mark Ringo Fernando.
The mobile force company repelled the rebels after some 20 minutes of gunfight, said Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, police provincial director.
He also believed the police managed to hit the rebels. Villagers of Barangay Isian Victoria reported having seen the fleeing rebels carrying two injured members, he said.
The Police Regional Office 6 condemned the NPA attack. Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional police director, described the rebels as “national terrorists.”
He also said the rebels’ use of landmine was a “gross violation” of Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, as well as the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of landmines “whether improvised or not.”
“We enjoin the public to be more vigilant and report to the police all crimes committed by this group so they could be arrested,” said Bulalacao.
On Aug. 15 combined forces of the San Jose, Antique police station, Antique Provincial Mobile Force Company and the Philippine Army’s 301st Brigade Intelligence Task Group killed seven rebels in Barangay Atabay, San Jose. The casualties were members of the NPA’s taxation group extorting money from the locals, said Bulalacao.
According to Tayaba, 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company decided to conduct a patrol in Barangay Isian Victoria following complaints from villagers that the rebels were on an extortion spree there.
“We ask the communist national terrorists to cease in their evil acts, to reform and return to the folds of law, embrace the harmony of a peaceful family life and do their share in nation-building,” said Bulalacao.
As of this writing, the mobile force company was conducting a hot pursuit operation against the rebels in the hinterlands of Leon.
Following the operation in Barangay Atabay, San Jose, Antique, Bulalacao ordered all police stations in the region to beef up their security. He was wary of retaliatory attacks from the NPA.
From the encounter site in Barangay Isian Victoria, Leon the police recovered 36 spent bullet shells of M16 rifles, a .45 pistol with seven live ammunitions, 12 spent bullet shells of M14 rifles, a double AA battery, a magazine, electric wires, and a penlight.
According to Tayaba, the three policemen were injured by shrapnels from the NPA’s improvised command-detonated landmine.
But the injuries were not serious, he stressed. The three received first aid treatment and need not be hospitalized.
“The instruction to all municipal police chiefs, including city and provincial police directors, is to be alert. Do not leave the police stations unmanned. Do not relax. Dapat alerto palagi ang mga pulis natin. Ayaw ko ng tulog na pulis, especially sa mga areas na rebel-infested,” said Bulalacao.
In Iloilo province, the PRO-6 identified 15 police stations vulnerable to rebel attacks. These are in the towns of San Joaquin, Guimbal, Miag-ao, Tubungan, Igbaras, Alimodian, Leon, Calinog, Maasin, Bingawan, Badiangan, San Enrique, San Rafael, and Lemery, and the component city of Passi.
https://www.panaynews.net/npa-strikes-back/
Wounded NPA fighter surrendered to Tabak troopers
From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 25): Wounded NPA fighter surrendered to Tabak troopers
A young New People’s Army fighter on Friday surrendered to the Tabak troopers in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, Thursday.
The surrenderer, a certain Jemar ‘Edward’ Labito Salayon, is among the elements of NPA encountered by the 10th Infantry Battalion troopers in Brgy Hoyohoy of Tangub City last August 11.
Salayon disclosed that he sustained one gunshot wound on his left knee during the said clash and was abandoned by his comrades while fleeing. The 17-year-old is presently recuperating at MARSGEN Hospital in Ozamis City.
Lieutenant Colonel Ryan N Severo, Commanding Officer of the 10th Infantry Battalion said that subject surrenderor will receive P15,000.00 immediate cash assistance and P50,000.00 for livelihood assistance.
Aside from monetary assistance, he could also avail services from other government agencies such as psychosocial debriefing from DSWD; skills training by TESDA; employment and capacity building from the different institutions of the government and security as guaranteed by the AFP and PNP said Severo.
Meanwhile, 18 members of Communist-NPA-Terrorist (CNT) Sanga ng Partido sa Lokalidad (SPL) and Militia ng Bayan (MB) also surrendered to 10th Infantry Battalion in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental through the Community Support Program (CSP) last Sunday.
Col Bagnus P Gaerlan, Commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade said: The surrender of this rebel and many other supporters is a welcome development in our ongoing effort in supporting the peace and development agenda of the government.
We would like to transform Misamis Occidental into a conflict-free area that would bring peace and prosperity for the local folks of the Province, said Gaerlan.
Our efforts are relentless as we are tirelessly urging the remaining members of the New Peoples Army and their supporters here in Western Mindanao to just lay down their arms, surrender and return to the folds of the law, said Major General Roseller G. Murillo, 1st Infantry Division commander and concurrent commander of the Joint Task Force Zampelan.
We will help you start a new life as he commended the troops for the job well-done.
As we expressed our support for the localized peace talk, we will likewise unrelentingly pursue the remaining enemies of the Filipino people the CNT, until they voluntarily surrender or the hands of justice will be served to them. Maj Gen Murillo added.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/25/wounded-npa-fighter-surrendered-to-tabak-troopers/
A young New People’s Army fighter on Friday surrendered to the Tabak troopers in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, Thursday.
Photo courtesy of Bonita Ermac/ MANILA BULLETIN
The surrenderer, a certain Jemar ‘Edward’ Labito Salayon, is among the elements of NPA encountered by the 10th Infantry Battalion troopers in Brgy Hoyohoy of Tangub City last August 11.
Salayon disclosed that he sustained one gunshot wound on his left knee during the said clash and was abandoned by his comrades while fleeing. The 17-year-old is presently recuperating at MARSGEN Hospital in Ozamis City.
Lieutenant Colonel Ryan N Severo, Commanding Officer of the 10th Infantry Battalion said that subject surrenderor will receive P15,000.00 immediate cash assistance and P50,000.00 for livelihood assistance.
Aside from monetary assistance, he could also avail services from other government agencies such as psychosocial debriefing from DSWD; skills training by TESDA; employment and capacity building from the different institutions of the government and security as guaranteed by the AFP and PNP said Severo.
Meanwhile, 18 members of Communist-NPA-Terrorist (CNT) Sanga ng Partido sa Lokalidad (SPL) and Militia ng Bayan (MB) also surrendered to 10th Infantry Battalion in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental through the Community Support Program (CSP) last Sunday.
Col Bagnus P Gaerlan, Commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade said: The surrender of this rebel and many other supporters is a welcome development in our ongoing effort in supporting the peace and development agenda of the government.
We would like to transform Misamis Occidental into a conflict-free area that would bring peace and prosperity for the local folks of the Province, said Gaerlan.
Our efforts are relentless as we are tirelessly urging the remaining members of the New Peoples Army and their supporters here in Western Mindanao to just lay down their arms, surrender and return to the folds of the law, said Major General Roseller G. Murillo, 1st Infantry Division commander and concurrent commander of the Joint Task Force Zampelan.
We will help you start a new life as he commended the troops for the job well-done.
As we expressed our support for the localized peace talk, we will likewise unrelentingly pursue the remaining enemies of the Filipino people the CNT, until they voluntarily surrender or the hands of justice will be served to them. Maj Gen Murillo added.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/25/wounded-npa-fighter-surrendered-to-tabak-troopers/
DON'T JOIN KMU // Duterte tells rebel returnees: Communism an obsolete ideology
From GMA News (Aug 24): DON'T JOIN KMU // Duterte tells rebel returnees: Communism an obsolete ideology
President Rodrigo Duterte maintained on Thursday that communism is obsolete, and urged rebel returnees also not to join left-leaning labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno, which he accused of disrupting business through rallies and strikes.
Speaking before soldiers in Davao City, Duterte repeated his pronouncement last February that communism is no longer relevant because Russia and China, with their self-styled socialism, have already embraced capitalism and become successful.
He vowed to send some rebel returnees to Hong Kong and mainland China to “see what kind of communism it is.”
“Their buildings are really tall, while ours is (sic) just short. But don’t try to analyze the economy anymore. It’s difficult to understand. Even I don’t understand it. But see how good and how modern those communists are,” Duterte said in his native Cebuano.
The President also urged the former New People’s Army members not to join the KMU.
“They will have a strike and if the business closes down, they leave. You’re left with no jobs. So who made money from that? The KMU leaders. They’ll ask you to pay for membership and then extort from a store,” Duterte said.
But in response, KMU secretary general Jerome Adonis called the President’s remarks “malicious.”
“Malisyoso at paninira po ang pahayag na ‘yan ni Duterte laban sa KMU. Matagal na po kaming lumalaban para sa ibasura ang kontraktwalisasyon at pagtaas ng sahod ng mga manggagawa,” Adonis told GMA News Online.
Adonis said holding rallies and strikes is constitutional and an exercise of labor rights.
The KMU official said added Duterte’s pronouncements only exposed the chief executive’s anti-labor and pro-capitalist stance.
Adonis also advised Duterte to focus on addressing the inflationary impact of the new tax reform law instead of attacking the militant labor organizations.
In his speech, Duterte reiterated his call for peace with communist rebels.
“Why do you need to kill in order for your movement to progress? A movement that has no hope of progressing. The world is moving constantly and it will not stop for you, not even for a second to listen to the grievances you hold against the world,” he said.
“What we can do is talk. And maybe we can lessen the pain if there is any.”
The formal resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), was supposed to take place last June 28 in Oslo, Norway. But Duterte called it off to give way to public consultations and review of existing agreements.
The postponement infuriated CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison who said the Duterte regime is not serious in pursuing peace with the communist rebels.
Duterte, meanwhile, urged the rebels not to believe Sison, who recently claimed the President was in coma.
“Sison’s bible is his brain. Don’t believe him. He’s old,” the President said.
“Look at him now, instead of talking about an ideology, if there is one at all, he’s saying that I’m comatose, that I’m dead, or that my thing that’s dangling there can’t get hard anymore.”
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/665333/duterte-tells-rebel-returnees-communism-an-obsolete-ideology/story/
President Rodrigo Duterte maintained on Thursday that communism is obsolete, and urged rebel returnees also not to join left-leaning labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno, which he accused of disrupting business through rallies and strikes.
Speaking before soldiers in Davao City, Duterte repeated his pronouncement last February that communism is no longer relevant because Russia and China, with their self-styled socialism, have already embraced capitalism and become successful.
He vowed to send some rebel returnees to Hong Kong and mainland China to “see what kind of communism it is.”
“Their buildings are really tall, while ours is (sic) just short. But don’t try to analyze the economy anymore. It’s difficult to understand. Even I don’t understand it. But see how good and how modern those communists are,” Duterte said in his native Cebuano.
The President also urged the former New People’s Army members not to join the KMU.
“They will have a strike and if the business closes down, they leave. You’re left with no jobs. So who made money from that? The KMU leaders. They’ll ask you to pay for membership and then extort from a store,” Duterte said.
But in response, KMU secretary general Jerome Adonis called the President’s remarks “malicious.”
“Malisyoso at paninira po ang pahayag na ‘yan ni Duterte laban sa KMU. Matagal na po kaming lumalaban para sa ibasura ang kontraktwalisasyon at pagtaas ng sahod ng mga manggagawa,” Adonis told GMA News Online.
Adonis said holding rallies and strikes is constitutional and an exercise of labor rights.
The KMU official said added Duterte’s pronouncements only exposed the chief executive’s anti-labor and pro-capitalist stance.
Adonis also advised Duterte to focus on addressing the inflationary impact of the new tax reform law instead of attacking the militant labor organizations.
In his speech, Duterte reiterated his call for peace with communist rebels.
“Why do you need to kill in order for your movement to progress? A movement that has no hope of progressing. The world is moving constantly and it will not stop for you, not even for a second to listen to the grievances you hold against the world,” he said.
“What we can do is talk. And maybe we can lessen the pain if there is any.”
The formal resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), was supposed to take place last June 28 in Oslo, Norway. But Duterte called it off to give way to public consultations and review of existing agreements.
The postponement infuriated CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison who said the Duterte regime is not serious in pursuing peace with the communist rebels.
Duterte, meanwhile, urged the rebels not to believe Sison, who recently claimed the President was in coma.
“Sison’s bible is his brain. Don’t believe him. He’s old,” the President said.
“Look at him now, instead of talking about an ideology, if there is one at all, he’s saying that I’m comatose, that I’m dead, or that my thing that’s dangling there can’t get hard anymore.”
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/665333/duterte-tells-rebel-returnees-communism-an-obsolete-ideology/story/
Rody tells US: Return Balangiga bells first or no arms buy talks
From the Manila Standard (Aug 25): Rody tells US: Return Balangiga bells first or no arms buy talks
President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday there would be no discussion with high-ranking officials of the United States to buy arms and vehicles from the Philippines’ longtime ally unless the US returns the historic Balangiga bells to the country.
“If they did not return the Balangiga bells, there is nothing to talk about,” the President stressed in a speech to soldiers in Davao City.
He reiterated that the Philippines “would not forget” the massacre committed by American soldiers against Filipinos fighters in Balangiga, a town in Eastern Samar, over a century ago.
“Now you say, ‘Ah, Duterte, that was a long time ago.’ Why? Can the passage of time cure an injustice? Just because it was 100 years [ago] so it is erased? Then, the bells are there. And the memory still haunts everybody here because it was taken with blood and lives of our brothers and sisters,” said the President.
The President made this statement in response to a letter signed by three US officials―Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis―who all want to meet Duterte to discuss the country’s military’s modernization program.
The President read the letter out loud during the 12th anniversary of the Davao-based Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command anniversary.
This was after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday confirmed that the Philippines was eyeing to purchase submarines and other weapons from Russia as discussed during his recent visit to the country.
Lorenzana told reporters there were “discussions” with the Russians, “but they know that we are shopping and we have yet to decide where to buy,” noting that South Korea was also a possible supplier.
Duterte, meanwhile, said he is not interested in acquiring M16 rifles from the US, and was more interested in acquiring propeller planes for the anti-insurgency campaign.
In the first place, Duterte said he was unsure US Congress would approve the arms deal to the Philippines.
“How sure are you that I will get what I ordered? If I bought a dozen M16 rifles, will they deliver them?” Duterte asked, directing his questions to Pompeo, Mattis, and Ross.
He reiterated that the country needs more propeller-driven planes for anti-insurgency operations.
“We don’t have any other enemies. NPA [New People’s Army], the ISIS, Abu Sayyaf. We don’t need the M16. And yet they dangled before us after they insulted us,” said Duterte.
“I have said my piece about America. We do not need any M16s. It would be utterly useless to buy it. But I need attack helicopters and small planes for the counterinsurgency,” he ended.
He also revealed that US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim appealed to his office, asking to strengthen the security and trade cooperation between the two countries through talks.
According to Duterte, the American officials highlighted the track record of the US in supplying defense equipment to the Philippines.
“We are writing you to reaffirm this administration’s strongest support for your efforts to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” they said.
“We know however that our nations can do even more to integrate our economic and security concerns,” the letter stated as read by Duterte.
The US hopes to help the country’s defense through the procurement of Lockheed Martin F-16 multi-role fighter platform and other attack helicopter platform.
“The United States is peerless, unparalleled, a supplier of state-of-the-art technology with a proven track record and a long-term reliable partner,” it added.
Duterte, however, mentioned the three crashed “refurbished” helicopters the country bought from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“We bought it. We bought six. Three of those helicopters crashed killing all my soldiers. Failed. Then you will tell me that procurement? Prove to me first that you are in utter good faith,” Duterte said, adding that he would never set foot on America.
The President also expressed willingness to face the officials and debate them, pointing out that the country and the US only gained their friendship when the Americans colonized the country years ago.
“Don’t tell me we’re friends because it was not a friendship agreed upon [and] mutually satisfying,” he bared. “It was a friendship imposed on us because when you won in the Spanish-American War, the Philippines was handed to you, America, like a chattel.”
In 1901, the Americans took the bells from the church of Balangiga as war trophies. Two of the three bells are preserved at the US Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, while the third is with a traveling museum.
http://manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/273881/rody-tells-us-return-balangiga-bells-first-or-no-arms-buy-talks-.html
President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday there would be no discussion with high-ranking officials of the United States to buy arms and vehicles from the Philippines’ longtime ally unless the US returns the historic Balangiga bells to the country.
“If they did not return the Balangiga bells, there is nothing to talk about,” the President stressed in a speech to soldiers in Davao City.
He reiterated that the Philippines “would not forget” the massacre committed by American soldiers against Filipinos fighters in Balangiga, a town in Eastern Samar, over a century ago.
“Now you say, ‘Ah, Duterte, that was a long time ago.’ Why? Can the passage of time cure an injustice? Just because it was 100 years [ago] so it is erased? Then, the bells are there. And the memory still haunts everybody here because it was taken with blood and lives of our brothers and sisters,” said the President.
The President made this statement in response to a letter signed by three US officials―Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis―who all want to meet Duterte to discuss the country’s military’s modernization program.
The President read the letter out loud during the 12th anniversary of the Davao-based Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command anniversary.
This was after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday confirmed that the Philippines was eyeing to purchase submarines and other weapons from Russia as discussed during his recent visit to the country.
Lorenzana told reporters there were “discussions” with the Russians, “but they know that we are shopping and we have yet to decide where to buy,” noting that South Korea was also a possible supplier.
Duterte, meanwhile, said he is not interested in acquiring M16 rifles from the US, and was more interested in acquiring propeller planes for the anti-insurgency campaign.
In the first place, Duterte said he was unsure US Congress would approve the arms deal to the Philippines.
“How sure are you that I will get what I ordered? If I bought a dozen M16 rifles, will they deliver them?” Duterte asked, directing his questions to Pompeo, Mattis, and Ross.
He reiterated that the country needs more propeller-driven planes for anti-insurgency operations.
“We don’t have any other enemies. NPA [New People’s Army], the ISIS, Abu Sayyaf. We don’t need the M16. And yet they dangled before us after they insulted us,” said Duterte.
He also revealed that US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim appealed to his office, asking to strengthen the security and trade cooperation between the two countries through talks.
According to Duterte, the American officials highlighted the track record of the US in supplying defense equipment to the Philippines.
“We are writing you to reaffirm this administration’s strongest support for your efforts to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” they said.
“We know however that our nations can do even more to integrate our economic and security concerns,” the letter stated as read by Duterte.
The US hopes to help the country’s defense through the procurement of Lockheed Martin F-16 multi-role fighter platform and other attack helicopter platform.
“The United States is peerless, unparalleled, a supplier of state-of-the-art technology with a proven track record and a long-term reliable partner,” it added.
Duterte, however, mentioned the three crashed “refurbished” helicopters the country bought from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“We bought it. We bought six. Three of those helicopters crashed killing all my soldiers. Failed. Then you will tell me that procurement? Prove to me first that you are in utter good faith,” Duterte said, adding that he would never set foot on America.
The President also expressed willingness to face the officials and debate them, pointing out that the country and the US only gained their friendship when the Americans colonized the country years ago.
“Don’t tell me we’re friends because it was not a friendship agreed upon [and] mutually satisfying,” he bared. “It was a friendship imposed on us because when you won in the Spanish-American War, the Philippines was handed to you, America, like a chattel.”
In 1901, the Americans took the bells from the church of Balangiga as war trophies. Two of the three bells are preserved at the US Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, while the third is with a traveling museum.
http://manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/273881/rody-tells-us-return-balangiga-bells-first-or-no-arms-buy-talks-.html
A closer look inside an MILF detention facility
From the Manila Bulletin (Aug 24): A closer look inside an MILF detention facility
PIKIT, North Cotabato — Situated in the plains of this marshy town, heavily armed men are stationed around a fortified structure that serves as detention facility for erring villagers.
But this is not a government-ran facility. Instead, it is being maintained by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
JUSTICE MILF-STYLE – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters guard one of the cells inside the Reformatory Center of the MILF in Camp Rajamuda in Pikit, North Cotabato. (Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN)
The cell, which sits inside a barb wire-fenced compound, is called the Eastern Mindanao Reformation Center, which is, itself, located inside the sprawling Camp Rajamuda of the MILF.
MILF Eastern Mindanao Front Commander Jack Abbas told The Manila Bulletin that the Reformation Center serves not just as detention facility for criminals, but as a rehabilitation center for drug dependents as well.
Abbas pointed out that the punishment for pushers are different than users. “Drug pushers are detained as criminals while users undergo rehabilitation,” he said.
“(Drug dependents) undergo not just physical rehabilitation, but spiritual renewal, as well,” he added saying that an Ustadz visits the facility every week to teach them Islamic values.
Every month, the MILF official added, a physician examines the health condition of the detainees.
Abbas, one of the veteran MILF commanders, added that the number of drug dependent detainees have already dropped following the government’s relentless war on drugs.
On August 21, the MILF gave Manila Bulletin an exclusive first look of the detention facility. During the visit, there were only three detainees sharing one of the three cells, with an estimated size of about 16 square meters each.
The facility has a common kitchen and a restroom.
Right at the gate of the compound stands a mosque where the detainees are allowed to say their noontime prayer along with their guards and villagers.
Yusoph Mohammad, the MILF jail warden, told The Manila Bulletin that many have already been released after they have completed the maximum four-month detention.
“But for high profile or criminal cases, they are transferred to another facility in Camp Darapanan. This Reformation Center mainly functions as rehabilitation or disciplinary actions to drug dependents,” Mohammad explained.
Camp Darapanan is the MILF’s main headquarters located at Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao.
Mohammad added that the facility could accommodate up to 30 persons. However, at the height of MILF’s anti-drug campaign in 2016 to 2017, the detainees cramped in the cells ballooned to 60.
Since they could not be accommodated inside the facility, he bared that some were allowed to sleep in the nearby madrasah and sentry huts. “They could not just slip away, the are a lot of heavily-armed guards around.”
One of the detainees, who asked not to be named, told The Manila Bulletin that his parents turned him in to the MILF due to excessive drug use.
He has been detained for over four months already. He admitted that he was comfortable in the Reformation Center because he has learned a lot on the teachings of Islam.
“Mas maganda dito dahil nakapagdasal pa ako at mas komportable dito dahil hindi masikip at mainit,” the 38-year old father of seven told Manila Bulletin.
Mohammad explained that some detainees’ term needed to be extended because their parents have refused to take them back.
Established in 2009, the facility was gradually built through contributions from the local community. “Even some of the food supplies for the guards and detainees sometimes come from the pockets of ordinary villagers,” a ranking MILF political officer said.
Aside from the perimeter fence of the compound, a seven-foot high concrete wall surrounds the facility with an estimated perimeter of about 200 meters.
“Now we only have three detainees left. This could mean a good news because it may be an indicator that many may have already stopped their bad deeds,” Mohammad concluded.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/23/a-closer-look-inside-an-milf-detention-facility/
PIKIT, North Cotabato — Situated in the plains of this marshy town, heavily armed men are stationed around a fortified structure that serves as detention facility for erring villagers.
But this is not a government-ran facility. Instead, it is being maintained by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
JUSTICE MILF-STYLE – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters guard one of the cells inside the Reformatory Center of the MILF in Camp Rajamuda in Pikit, North Cotabato. (Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN)
The cell, which sits inside a barb wire-fenced compound, is called the Eastern Mindanao Reformation Center, which is, itself, located inside the sprawling Camp Rajamuda of the MILF.
MILF Eastern Mindanao Front Commander Jack Abbas told The Manila Bulletin that the Reformation Center serves not just as detention facility for criminals, but as a rehabilitation center for drug dependents as well.
Abbas pointed out that the punishment for pushers are different than users. “Drug pushers are detained as criminals while users undergo rehabilitation,” he said.
“(Drug dependents) undergo not just physical rehabilitation, but spiritual renewal, as well,” he added saying that an Ustadz visits the facility every week to teach them Islamic values.
Every month, the MILF official added, a physician examines the health condition of the detainees.
Abbas, one of the veteran MILF commanders, added that the number of drug dependent detainees have already dropped following the government’s relentless war on drugs.
On August 21, the MILF gave Manila Bulletin an exclusive first look of the detention facility. During the visit, there were only three detainees sharing one of the three cells, with an estimated size of about 16 square meters each.
The facility has a common kitchen and a restroom.
Right at the gate of the compound stands a mosque where the detainees are allowed to say their noontime prayer along with their guards and villagers.
Yusoph Mohammad, the MILF jail warden, told The Manila Bulletin that many have already been released after they have completed the maximum four-month detention.
“But for high profile or criminal cases, they are transferred to another facility in Camp Darapanan. This Reformation Center mainly functions as rehabilitation or disciplinary actions to drug dependents,” Mohammad explained.
Camp Darapanan is the MILF’s main headquarters located at Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao.
Mohammad added that the facility could accommodate up to 30 persons. However, at the height of MILF’s anti-drug campaign in 2016 to 2017, the detainees cramped in the cells ballooned to 60.
Since they could not be accommodated inside the facility, he bared that some were allowed to sleep in the nearby madrasah and sentry huts. “They could not just slip away, the are a lot of heavily-armed guards around.”
One of the detainees, who asked not to be named, told The Manila Bulletin that his parents turned him in to the MILF due to excessive drug use.
He has been detained for over four months already. He admitted that he was comfortable in the Reformation Center because he has learned a lot on the teachings of Islam.
“Mas maganda dito dahil nakapagdasal pa ako at mas komportable dito dahil hindi masikip at mainit,” the 38-year old father of seven told Manila Bulletin.
Mohammad explained that some detainees’ term needed to be extended because their parents have refused to take them back.
Established in 2009, the facility was gradually built through contributions from the local community. “Even some of the food supplies for the guards and detainees sometimes come from the pockets of ordinary villagers,” a ranking MILF political officer said.
Aside from the perimeter fence of the compound, a seven-foot high concrete wall surrounds the facility with an estimated perimeter of about 200 meters.
“Now we only have three detainees left. This could mean a good news because it may be an indicator that many may have already stopped their bad deeds,” Mohammad concluded.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/23/a-closer-look-inside-an-milf-detention-facility/
US Sanctions Senior IS Recruiters From Southeast Asia
From the Voice of America (Aug 24): US Sanctions Senior IS Recruiters From Southeast Asia
FILE - Islamic State group militants hold up their flag as they patrol in a commandeered Iraqi military vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq, March 30, 2014. The United States Friday sanctioned three members of the Islamic State who were featured in a beheading video distributed by the group and accused of luring recruits in Southeast Asia.
The United States on Friday designated three individuals from Southeast Asia as terrorists for allegedly recruiting people to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
A statement from the U.S. Treasury Department said Mohamad Rafi Udin, a Malaysian, Mohammed Karim Yusop Faiz, an Indonesian, and Mohammad Reza Lahaman Kiram, a Philippine, were also featured in a June 2016 IS video, in which they beheaded three prisoners held by the terror group.
“Treasury is targeting ISIS recruiters who have engaged in a beheading video and other brutal acts as part of a propaganda campaign to attract radicals to join militant terrorist groups in Southeast Asia,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker, using another acronym for IS.
“We are sanctioning these terrorists along with our U.N. and international partners as part of a coordinated effort to counter ISIS’s global networks that enable the group to recruit foreign fighters to conduct international terrorist attacks,” she said.
Sigal P. Mandelker, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, talks to journalists at a press briefing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 12, 2018.
Udin, a former taxi driver turned Islamist militant since 1998, traveled to Syria in 2014 and used IS propaganda material to urge sympathizers to join the group and conduct terrorist attacks. He worked to unite jihadists in the Philippines under Isnilon Hapilon, the former leader of Abu Sayyaf Group, who pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi in July 2014.
The second blacklisted man, Faiz, was jailed in the Philippines for nine years on charges of illegal possession of explosives and weapons. He also joined IS in Syria in 2014 and helped recruit people from Southeast Asia to join IS-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, also known as IS-Philippines Province.
The third man, Kiram, is accused by the Philippines police of being responsible for a 2012 bus bombing in the city of Zamboanga. He reportedly trained IS-linked Ansar Khalifa group recruits in 2014, before traveling to Syria with his wife and daughter in 2015.
All three individuals will be added to the U.S. list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, which targets terrorists and their financing.
The United Nations Security Council designated Udin, Faiz, and Kiram Thursday on similar charges, obliging all UNmember countries to prohibit their travel, freeze their assets, and deny their access to the international financial system.
FILE - Islamic State group militants hold up their flag as they patrol in a commandeered Iraqi military vehicle in Fallujah, Iraq, March 30, 2014. The United States Friday sanctioned three members of the Islamic State who were featured in a beheading video distributed by the group and accused of luring recruits in Southeast Asia.
The United States on Friday designated three individuals from Southeast Asia as terrorists for allegedly recruiting people to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
A statement from the U.S. Treasury Department said Mohamad Rafi Udin, a Malaysian, Mohammed Karim Yusop Faiz, an Indonesian, and Mohammad Reza Lahaman Kiram, a Philippine, were also featured in a June 2016 IS video, in which they beheaded three prisoners held by the terror group.
“Treasury is targeting ISIS recruiters who have engaged in a beheading video and other brutal acts as part of a propaganda campaign to attract radicals to join militant terrorist groups in Southeast Asia,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker, using another acronym for IS.
“We are sanctioning these terrorists along with our U.N. and international partners as part of a coordinated effort to counter ISIS’s global networks that enable the group to recruit foreign fighters to conduct international terrorist attacks,” she said.
Sigal P. Mandelker, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, talks to journalists at a press briefing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 12, 2018.
Udin, a former taxi driver turned Islamist militant since 1998, traveled to Syria in 2014 and used IS propaganda material to urge sympathizers to join the group and conduct terrorist attacks. He worked to unite jihadists in the Philippines under Isnilon Hapilon, the former leader of Abu Sayyaf Group, who pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi in July 2014.
The second blacklisted man, Faiz, was jailed in the Philippines for nine years on charges of illegal possession of explosives and weapons. He also joined IS in Syria in 2014 and helped recruit people from Southeast Asia to join IS-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, also known as IS-Philippines Province.
The third man, Kiram, is accused by the Philippines police of being responsible for a 2012 bus bombing in the city of Zamboanga. He reportedly trained IS-linked Ansar Khalifa group recruits in 2014, before traveling to Syria with his wife and daughter in 2015.
All three individuals will be added to the U.S. list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, which targets terrorists and their financing.
The United Nations Security Council designated Udin, Faiz, and Kiram Thursday on similar charges, obliging all UNmember countries to prohibit their travel, freeze their assets, and deny their access to the international financial system.
Misuari to enter plea on Sept. 21 on malversation, graft charges
From the Manila Standard (Aug 24): Misuari to enter plea on Sept. 21 on malversation, graft charges
Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari is expected to enter his plea on the scheduled Sept. 21 arraignment in connection with the graft and malversation cases filed against him at the Sandiganbayan.
A minute resolution released to the media by the anti-graft court’s Third Division Thursday said Misuari’s arraignment will be followed by a pre-trial proceeding at 8:30 am on Sept. 21.
The resolution was signed by presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justices Sarah Jane Fernandez and Bernelito Fernandez.
Misuari, the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor, is facing two counts each of graft and malversation by falsification owing to the alleged anomalous procurement of educational materials worth P115.2 million during his term as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Misuari and his co-accused allegedly conspired to give “unwarranted benefits, advantage and privilege” to MBJ Learning Tools, CPR Publishing, and White Orchids Printing.
But Ombudsman investigators said “no such materials were delivered” by the three companies.
Misuari posted a P460,000 bail in September last year for his provisional liberty.
http://manilastandard.net/news/national/273862/misuari-to-enter-plea-on-sept-21-on-malversation-graft-charges.html
Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari is expected to enter his plea on the scheduled Sept. 21 arraignment in connection with the graft and malversation cases filed against him at the Sandiganbayan.
A minute resolution released to the media by the anti-graft court’s Third Division Thursday said Misuari’s arraignment will be followed by a pre-trial proceeding at 8:30 am on Sept. 21.
The resolution was signed by presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justices Sarah Jane Fernandez and Bernelito Fernandez.
Misuari, the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor, is facing two counts each of graft and malversation by falsification owing to the alleged anomalous procurement of educational materials worth P115.2 million during his term as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Misuari and his co-accused allegedly conspired to give “unwarranted benefits, advantage and privilege” to MBJ Learning Tools, CPR Publishing, and White Orchids Printing.
But Ombudsman investigators said “no such materials were delivered” by the three companies.
Misuari posted a P460,000 bail in September last year for his provisional liberty.
http://manilastandard.net/news/national/273862/misuari-to-enter-plea-on-sept-21-on-malversation-graft-charges.html
Court orders trial of Moro leader for corruption
From the Gulf Today (Aug 25): Court orders trial of Moro leader for corruption
A special court called the Sandiganbayan stood firm on its decision to try Moro rebel leader Nur Misuari for the allegedly anomalous purchase of educational materials totalling more than $1 million when he was the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The Sandiganbayan set the arraignment of Misuari, the founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Sept. 17 for two counts of graft and another two counts of malversation of public funds.
Aside from Misuari, also indicted were regional officials of the Department of Education in ARMM, composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as well as Marawi City.
The office of the Ombudsman indicted Misuari before the Sandiganbayan for the alleged misuse of more than $1 million in public funds in the anomalous purchase of educational materials for public schools from three private suppliers when he was the ARMM governor from 2000 to 2001
Prosecutors said during their field inquiries, Ombudsman investigators discovered there were alleged “ghost purchases” or that the educational materials were not delivered by the private suppliers.
Also in Mindanao, the military reported that a member of the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf terror group was killed while at least 20 soldiers were wounded in an encounter in the town of Patikul, Sulu.
Lieutenant General Gerry Basana, the spokesman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said the soldiers were on security patrol on Thursday morning in a remote “barangay” (village)in Patikul when they clashed with about 40 terrorists.
Besana said the terrorists left behind their dead comrade when the fled after the encounter that also saw at least 18 soldiers wounded from blasts from rifle grenades and two others from gunshots.
The Abu Sayyaf, meaning “bearer of the sword,” gained notoriety through a spate of kidnap-for-ransom cases that have often been marred by the beheading of their foreign and Filipino hostages.
The military also blamed the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group that both pledged allegiance to the Daesh extremists in the Middle East for the siege on Marawi, the capital city of Lanao del Sur that prompted President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte to declare martial law over the whole of Mindanao, which is still in effect from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/ca4ed080-98bc-4894-aff4-ec2654a14494.aspx
A special court called the Sandiganbayan stood firm on its decision to try Moro rebel leader Nur Misuari for the allegedly anomalous purchase of educational materials totalling more than $1 million when he was the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The Sandiganbayan set the arraignment of Misuari, the founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Sept. 17 for two counts of graft and another two counts of malversation of public funds.
Aside from Misuari, also indicted were regional officials of the Department of Education in ARMM, composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi as well as Marawi City.
The office of the Ombudsman indicted Misuari before the Sandiganbayan for the alleged misuse of more than $1 million in public funds in the anomalous purchase of educational materials for public schools from three private suppliers when he was the ARMM governor from 2000 to 2001
Prosecutors said during their field inquiries, Ombudsman investigators discovered there were alleged “ghost purchases” or that the educational materials were not delivered by the private suppliers.
Also in Mindanao, the military reported that a member of the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf terror group was killed while at least 20 soldiers were wounded in an encounter in the town of Patikul, Sulu.
Lieutenant General Gerry Basana, the spokesman of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said the soldiers were on security patrol on Thursday morning in a remote “barangay” (village)in Patikul when they clashed with about 40 terrorists.
Besana said the terrorists left behind their dead comrade when the fled after the encounter that also saw at least 18 soldiers wounded from blasts from rifle grenades and two others from gunshots.
The Abu Sayyaf, meaning “bearer of the sword,” gained notoriety through a spate of kidnap-for-ransom cases that have often been marred by the beheading of their foreign and Filipino hostages.
The military also blamed the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group that both pledged allegiance to the Daesh extremists in the Middle East for the siege on Marawi, the capital city of Lanao del Sur that prompted President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte to declare martial law over the whole of Mindanao, which is still in effect from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/ca4ed080-98bc-4894-aff4-ec2654a14494.aspx
Soldiers Kill 7 IS-Linked Militants in Southern Philippines
From BenarNews (Aug 23): Soldiers Kill 7 IS-Linked Militants in Southern Philippines
Troops from the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division launch artillery strikes against suspected Islamic State-linked militants in the southern Philippine town of Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao province, Aug. 20, 2018. Mark Navales/ BenarNews
Philippine security forces killed seven pro-Islamic State militants on the eve of the observance of Eid-ul-Adha, the Islamic feast of sacrifice, on the insurgency-wracked southern island of Mindanao, a military official said Thursday.
Troops launched an artillery attack Monday in a marshy area near Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao province, about 1,680 kilometers (1,050 miles) southeast of Manila, after authorities received information that forces of the militant group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were hiding in the area, regional military spokesman Capt. Arvin John Encinas told BenarNews.
“There was no ground encounter,” he said. “Based on the information provided to us by locals seven military died in our shelling that started in the afternoon until evening of Aug. 20.”
The BIFF is a splinter group of the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s main separatist force that signed a peace deal with Manila and is now helping the government battle IS-linked militants.
Encinas said they received information that BIFF commander Abu Turaife was among the enemy fighters in the area, prompting security forces to launch the attack. It was not immediately clear if Turaife was injured in the government offensive.
Turaife’s faction had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, but did not join in the Marawi city siege last year.
About 1,200 people were killed, most of them militants, in five months of vicious fighting that began in May 2017 when Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged IS leader in the country, captured parts of Marawi. The gunbattles ended after the Philippine military killed Hapilon and several foreign and local pro-IS militants.
Encinas also reported a soldier was wounded Wednesday morning when suspects believed to be Turaife’s men detonated a homemade bomb they planted along the road in the nearby town of Datu Hoffer.
“Soldiers were patrolling when the bomb exploded,” he said.
Abu Misri Mama, spokesman for the BIFF, confirmed their forces were in the village for the observance of Eid-ul-Adha when the military began firing mortars, but denied that they suffered casualties as reported by the government.
“We only have one wounded. They immediately abandoned the area as soon as the military started their artillery fires,” Mama said.
The assault was carried out on the eve of Eid-ul-Adha, an Islamic holiday that marks the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham to Christian and Jews, to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God’s command. It also marks the culmination of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca.
Troops from the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division launch artillery strikes against suspected Islamic State-linked militants in the southern Philippine town of Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao province, Aug. 20, 2018. Mark Navales/ BenarNews
Philippine security forces killed seven pro-Islamic State militants on the eve of the observance of Eid-ul-Adha, the Islamic feast of sacrifice, on the insurgency-wracked southern island of Mindanao, a military official said Thursday.
Troops launched an artillery attack Monday in a marshy area near Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao province, about 1,680 kilometers (1,050 miles) southeast of Manila, after authorities received information that forces of the militant group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were hiding in the area, regional military spokesman Capt. Arvin John Encinas told BenarNews.
“There was no ground encounter,” he said. “Based on the information provided to us by locals seven military died in our shelling that started in the afternoon until evening of Aug. 20.”
The BIFF is a splinter group of the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s main separatist force that signed a peace deal with Manila and is now helping the government battle IS-linked militants.
Encinas said they received information that BIFF commander Abu Turaife was among the enemy fighters in the area, prompting security forces to launch the attack. It was not immediately clear if Turaife was injured in the government offensive.
Turaife’s faction had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, but did not join in the Marawi city siege last year.
About 1,200 people were killed, most of them militants, in five months of vicious fighting that began in May 2017 when Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged IS leader in the country, captured parts of Marawi. The gunbattles ended after the Philippine military killed Hapilon and several foreign and local pro-IS militants.
Encinas also reported a soldier was wounded Wednesday morning when suspects believed to be Turaife’s men detonated a homemade bomb they planted along the road in the nearby town of Datu Hoffer.
“Soldiers were patrolling when the bomb exploded,” he said.
Abu Misri Mama, spokesman for the BIFF, confirmed their forces were in the village for the observance of Eid-ul-Adha when the military began firing mortars, but denied that they suffered casualties as reported by the government.
“We only have one wounded. They immediately abandoned the area as soon as the military started their artillery fires,” Mama said.
The assault was carried out on the eve of Eid-ul-Adha, an Islamic holiday that marks the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham to Christian and Jews, to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God’s command. It also marks the culmination of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)