AFP finds a perfect plan for defeating ASG elusive

From InterAksyon (Nov 1): AFP finds a perfect plan for defeating ASG elusive

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is still searching for a perfect plan to eliminate the scourge of Abu Sayyaf banditry in Basilan and Sulu, more than two and a half decades since ASG burst on the scene to sow terrorism and kidnap-for-ransom atrocities in Mindanao.

But according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs chief Colonel Edgard Arevalo, the military's fight against the notorious terror group is "on the right direction".

"This is a battle of tactics and strategies, and I'm sure we have the upper hand," Arevalo said.

Despite obviously superior firepower and resources, the AFP has had a hard time cutting down the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Arevalo acknowledges one reality: "They have mastery over the terrain, and they specialize in small-unit actions, and they are able to leverage what we see is support in the community level, where the villagers may be related to them partly through kinship or affinity. And that is what we are slowly working to surmount, especially the insurgency warfare that they are conducting."

The score card remains the military's yardstick to measure its accomplishment while, at the same time, appreciating the importance of what it calls "all of nation approach" as the cornerstone of its Oplan "Bayanihan" (Internal Peace and Security Plan).

In the case of the ASG, Arevalo disclosed, from July to October the military had so far killed 60, wounded 19 and captured 30 captured, all Abu Sayyaf men, in Sulu.

In Basilan, the military has killed 10, wounded 3, taken in 34 surrenderers, and captured two, all Abu Sayyaf men.

Barely a month after he became the Commander-in-Chief in July, President Rodrigo Duterte gave the marching order to AFP chief General Ricardo Visaya to wage an all-out war against the ASG.

But despite the deployment of three additional brigades in Sulu and Basilan to go after the terrorists numbering only slightly more than 300 based on the latest military data, the ASG has continued to thrive and even find time to kidnap new victims for ransom.

"When a criminal is determined and feel pressure, it's not surprising that he will become more bold and intense."

"We are engaging terrorists who have somehow mastered and engineered their skills. We are addressing that and, based on the adjustments we are making, they are likewise adjusting to us.  So, that behooves us to tweak our adjustment and I think we are on it," he explained further.

Arevalo said the instruction of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is to maintain the momentum and strengthen the military's public affairs and civil operations in all the ASG-influenced barangays and local government units in Basilan and Sulu.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/133879/afp-finds-a-perfect-plan-for-defeating-asg-elusive