AFP command constriction underway?

From InterAksyon (Oct 8): AFP command constriction underway?

Without officially announcing it, the Armed Forces seems silently implementing the process of command constriction, which it plans to accomplish on or before President Aquinoo steps down from power in 2016.

On Wednesday, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. directed the deployment of one Special Forces Company from Zamboanga City to Sulu.

Earlier, Catapang ordered the deployment of a K9 Company unit to the same area to augment soldiers hunting down Abu Sayyaf bandits holding 12 civilian hostages, including five foreigners. 

"The AFP is serious in its effort to flush out the bandits and contribute toward the eventual release of the victims from the hand of their captors,” Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, Catapang’s spokesman said. 

Much earlier, the whole Army’s 501st Infantry Brigade of the 5th Infantry Division based in Camp De la Cruz in Gamu, Isabela was transferred to Barangay Busbus in the capital town of Jolo, Sulu.

Cabunoc said the 100-man strong and elite unit of the Special Operations Command will be placed under control of the brigade.

In the command constriction principle, the Army service would be the most affected in the first phase, starting with the dissolution of some divisions currently being led by brigadier and/or major generals.

Reportedly, the 5ID would be the first to be dissolve then followed by other commands.

"The pullout of the Marines in Sulu and from other areas in Mindanao is not new. What's new is the placing of all our Marine forces in the Western Command (Westcom) based in Palawan. Maybe, the next to be done is transfer the Marines Headquarters from Fort Bonifacio to Palawan, how about that?" a military official disclosed on condition his name would not be published.

A year after Aquino assumed the presidency, the Department of National Defense (DND) and Armed Forces of the Philippines started to dissolve commands deemed nonessential, such as the defunct National Development Support Command (NADESCOM) and National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM which were led by three-star or lieutenant generals. What became of the anti-coup NCRCOM is now "The Special Task Force-NCR led by a one-star or brigadier general.

The plan is that there will be only four area commands left: Northern Command (Northcom); the revival of the Southern Command (Southcom) for Mindanao; and maintaining the Central Command and Westcom in the Visayas.

Westcom would be the hub of the Marines. So all Marine units in Mindanao will be deployed to Palawan for territorial defense in the West Philippine Sea where China has been grabbing some territories.

The primary objective of streamlining is to make the four commands a strong and cohesive forces of the three major services – Army, Navy and Air Force – and the AFP General Headquarters where the Chief of Staff resides in general.

"We have to strengthen our area commands not only for internal security operations, against rebel groups and other threat groups, but we're also transitioning to territorial defense. Actually, this is part of the AFP Transformation Roadmap,” the source said.

For example, he said, the problem of small terrorist groups in southern Mindanao, such as the Abu Sayyaf, can be handled by the Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

"We don’t need a brigade of Marines to deal with them, so we should let our Marines do what they're supposed to do. Let the infantries deal with rebellious groups, such as the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in some parts of Central Mindanao" the officer said.

The AFP Spokesman added that after the constriction process the Armed Forces would be turned into a "Pentagon-like command”.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/96919/afp-command-constriction-underway