AFP assessing Oplan Bayanihan

From InterAksyon (Jul 11): AFP assessing Oplan Bayanihan

The Armed Forces of the Philippines is assessing its counterinsurgency program, Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan, at a conference in Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday.

The assessment, to be led by AFP chief General Emmanuel Bautista, will be followed by a press conference at 2 p.m.

Bautista was among the military officials who formulated the Bayanihan strategy, which seeks to end the 44-year old communist insurgency in the country, one of the longest running in the world.

The conference is also expected to assess plans for the military to shift to external defense in the face of intensifying territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.

With Chinese incursion into disputed territories becoming more aggressive, Manila has been rushing to acquire more modern equipment for external defense and has sought arbitration before the United Nations.

Oplan Bayanihan replaced the counterinsurgency programs of the past administration -- Oplans Bantay Laya 1 and 2 -- which were blamed for an upsurge in human rights abuses, particularly extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

However, human rights groups say there has been no letup in the abuses under Bayanihan.

And the first half of this year saw a spike in attacks by communist rebels on government forces and large business establishments across the country that have claimed scores of lives and led to several millions of pesos in destroyed properties and infrastructures.

Among these attacks were recent ambushes in Mountain Province, which killed a police trainee and wounded nine others; in Allacapan, Cagayan where eight members of the Special Action Force died; and in La Castellana, Negros Occidental in which a policeman and eight civilians were killed.

The rebels have also suffered their own setbacks, including the recent deaths of eight guerrillas in Sorsogon, among them the National Democratic Front spokesman for the Bicol region and his staff.

Peace talks between the government and communist rebels have also been stalled and recently, the government said it is not keen on returning to the negotiating table.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/66094/afp-assessing-oplan-bayanihan