11ID recruits Tausugs to boost village defense

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 26, 2021): 11ID recruits Tausugs to boost village defense (By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.)

The Army’s 11th Infantry Division (ID) is recruiting Tausug natives to join the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) to strengthen the community defense in Sulu province.

Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, 11ID commander, said Friday the recruitment is open for natural-born Filipinos in Sulu, 18 to 48 years old, with no pending case and physically fit to perform duty.

“We keep on recruiting Tausugs to join the CAFGU since the Task Force for Ending Local Armed Conflict (TF-ELAC) is returning internally displaced people (IDP) to their hometowns,” Gonzales said.

“Whenever we implement the Balik Barangay Program, local chiefs request the establishment of patrol bases to prevent members of the Abu Sayyaf Group from retaliating against civilians who support the government forces in eradicating terrorism,” Gonzales said.

CAFGU was created in 1987 through Executive Order No. 264 to complement the operations of regular military forces.

Lt. Col. Jooney Jay Businos, 2nd Special Forces Battalion commander, said Friday that 110 were chosen out of 165 civilian volunteers who registered to join the CAFGU.

Businos, who heads the recruitment screening committee, said that the qualified applicants would then undergo further screening to include neuropsychological and other medical tests.

Busiños added that the CAFGU training is tentatively scheduled to start on April 5 at the headquarters of the 2nd Special Forces Battalion in Barangay Bilaan, Talipao, Sulu.

The screening committee members are Lt. Col. Alex Gagula, commander of the 11th Division CAFGU Auxiliary Affairs Unit; Executive Master Sergeant Abdulbasir Abdua, Talipao police chief; and Sgt. Silverio Liwanag, representative of the 1101st Infantry Brigade.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135011