BAYAN: Bayan slams defense chief for bases remark

From the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-New Patriotic Alliance) Website (Apr 13): Bayan slams defense chief for bases remark

News Release
April 13, 2013

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today slammed Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin for suggesting the possibility of the return of US bases in the country should a US war with North Korea break out.

Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr. called the suggestion “another trial balloon aimed at gauging public opinion on the return of formal US bases.”

“Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is out of line, out of this world and maybe out of his mind when he suggested that a US war with Korea will justify the return of US bases. In the first place, why would we want the Philippines dragged into an armed conflict not of our making and not in our national interest? Why allow the Philippines to be used again as a staging ground for US military intervention in Asia? We were already the staging ground during the Vietnam War and the Gulf War of 1991,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“The Cold War relic that is the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty obliges Philippine support for the US but does not automatically mean US support if the Philippines is attacked. There is a double standard there. We should abandon this antiquated and grossly one-sided pact,” he added.

Bayan said that the return of formal bases would mean a significant “levelling up” of US military presence in the country.

“Even without formal US bases, the US troops are already accorded virtual basing opportunities. This is in stark violation of the Constitution, because the VFA is not supposed to be a basing treaty. This anomaly has been going on for more than a decade now. They call it rotational presence, but in reality, it is a permanent and continuing presence. It is actual basing of troops. It is the actual entry of ships any time of the year to use PH facilities,” Reyes said.

“The DND cites the MDT as the basis of the extended stay of US troops in the Philippines. That’s hogwash. We invite him to re-read the MDT because nowhere in the agreement could you find the words ‘extended stay’. And nowhere in the agreement will you find the words “basing”. The DND is clearly misleading the public,” he added.

Bayan challenged on Malacanang to officially rebuff Gazmin otherwise Palace silence would mean and endorsement of the bases proposal.

“Is Gazmin’s proposal official Malacanang’s policy? Is that where Aquino is headed? The return of formal US bases and the reversal of all the gains in asserting national sovereignty the past 20 years?” Reyes asked.

“The DND cannot invoke the prospect of war in justifying the violation of the Constitution. What the DND is doing however is trying to conceal Aquino’s continuing violation of the Constitution, of allowing the permanent and continuing presence of US troops even without a formal basing treaty as required by the Charter,” he added.

http://www.bayan.ph/site/2013/04/bayan-slams-defense-chief-for-bases-remark/

A grand show of force, a tradeshow for US arms

Posted to the CPP-associated online publication Bulatlat (Apr 14): Balikatan 2013: A grand show of force, a tradeshow for US arms

MANILA – By now it is an inescapable fact that a large US-led military exercise is ongoing in the Philippines. For about two weeks until April 17, the country plays host to the 29th and largest US-led military exercises here. The US Embassy in Manila said the exercise will “enhance Philippine-US military interoperability and build military-to-military relations.” More than 8,000 Filipino and American military personnel are participating in drills being held in various locations throughout Luzon. US jet fighters are even slated to join the exercises, a rarity in previous joint military exercises in the country.

In the run-up to this exercise, US defense officials and US special forces troops had also flitted in and out of the country to discuss preparations with their Philippine counterparts. In fact, as US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas said during this Balikatan’s opening last April 5 at Camp Aguinaldo, members of US Armed Forces were here during typhoon Pablo four months ago. He boasted that that was why they were able to send aircraft to Mindanao within seven hours after the government requested aid in rescue operations.

“They want to be invited back,” Roland Simbulan, geopolitics expert and professor at University of the Philippines, said about Balikatan and US military basing here. He said that since the US announced its Asian pivot, it is concentrating in the region. Last year, an Asia Times correspondent estimated ^[2] that the US would include “probably another base in the Philippines in the short term, inciting animosity between the Philippines and Vietnam and China.”

The US already has one unofficial military base in Southern Philippines, plus access to former bases in Clark, Pampanga; Subic, Zambales, and other ports and airports of the Philippines. It has an unofficial base in Australia, where it deployed 2,500 US troops, and reports said it has been increasing deployment or bases or ships in South Korea and Japan.

This latest Balikatan exercise, Simbulan told Bulatlat.com, is playing a role vis-a-vis the heightening tension in Korean peninsula. “The ongoing Balikatan military exercise serves as one of the US’ show of force,” amid regional tensions that critics said are largely fomented by the US The latest is the trouble at the Korean Peninsula ^[3]. The US reportedly committed one action after another, from putting in place a “kill chain” to distorting North Korea’s recent satellite launch to be reported in the West as intercontinental ballistic missile test launch.

Balikatan 2013: A show for US’ shock and awe

Filipinos are traditionally not given a list of military hardware and equipment being used in the military exercise, nor the various interoperability issues they intend to work on as they build their “military-to-military relations.” The Balikatan military exercises, said the US Embassy, include humanitarian civic assistance, which so far have been duly reported with front page pictures in the news. Other activities of the military exercises itself, which include “senior leader engagements, a command post exercise, field training exercises, and maritime security and ship drills,” so far do not have detailed reports.

At least, the public is told that this largest Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) exercise employs an amphibious dock landing ship of the US 7th Fleet, the USS Tortuga (LSD 46), which arrived in Manila on April 2. The Tortuga is part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and is currently deployed to the US 7th Fleet’s area of responsibility. The Bonhomme Richard ARG reports to the US commander, Amphibious Force 7th Fleet, Rear Adm. Jeffrey A. Harley, who is headquartered at the US military base in White Beach, Okinawa, Japan.

While the military exercise is ongoing, another US warship, the US Navy’s first littoral combat ship, arrived for the first time in Manila (on April 8) and in Southeast Asia. Its port visit is for refueling and receiving supplies for the next period of its eight-month deployment. The combat ship’s port visit is unrelated to Balikatan, the US Embassy said. But it will take part in other US-led military show of force in the region, for example, in the International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference, and in select phases of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise series in Southeast Asia.

A show for whom

In the first place, why is there a need for US and Philippine forces to “enhance interoperability, and build military-to-military relations”?

From releases of US and Philippine governments, the simplest explanation appears that as allies or treaty partners, “interoperability” will make it easier, or seamless, for troops of the two nations to work or mesh together or cooperate in missions, gathering and sharing of intelligence, etc. This implies that the US and Philippine armed forces are expected to operate like one, even if the Philippines is supposedly a sovereign and independent state. This apparent subordination of Philippine troops and territory to US government’s armed forces is one of the things that irked Filipino progressive groups.

In a rally in front of Camp Aguinaldo hours before Balikatan’s formal opening on April 5, they reminded the public that these US troops now doing war exercises and other vaguely defined operations in the Philippines had in fact killed nearly a fifth of the Philippine population in early 1900s, when it engaged the nascent Philippine Republic in a war.

For over a century Filipinos have continued to fight and die for Philippine independence, succeeding in 1940s but still remaining under the US government and US military by various economic and military treaties (from parity rights to military basing rights). After decades of campaigning, Filipinos finally shut down the US military bases in 1990s. But now, especially after the 2011 declarations of US pivot to Asia, they are back for increased “routine” dockings, landings, refueling, rest and recreation and military exercises such as Balikatan.

In case there are conflicts, such as shown by the case of the two Koreas, and the Philippine armed conflict with revolutionary groups, the “US will rely more on its allies for its ground operations,” Simbulan said, explaining that the US government, especially Obama has been traumatized by high casualties. American soldiers dying in wars around the world is politically costly for the US government. This is why the US relies more on small-unit special forces operations, training of surrogate forces, and use of high-tech equipment such as drones.

Military trainings to develop interoperability are crucial for the US, especially when it is about to drag an ally to start or join its war. Also, military exercises such as Balikatan plays a role in US sales of arms, Simbulan told Bulatlat.com.

During Balikatan and other drills for interoperability, US troops demonstrate their equipment and Filipino soldiers, and the troops of other nations, which the US regards as its surrogate forces, get to try it out. Later, they can place orders for it. US provides soft loans for that, Simbulan said.

For the US economy

Three days before the start of Balikatan, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert Del Rosario met with Secretary of State John Kerry during the former’s visit to Washington to discuss the two countries’ bilateral relations last April 2. In Kerry’s remarks before the meeting, he said they would discuss ways to strengthen trade relations between the two countries, and in particular, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Two years ago, in a bid to enter the Tans-Pacific Partnership, the Philippines entered into an agreement with the US called the Partnership for Growth.

This partnership demonstrates the Philippines’ commitment to ‘economic reform’ to foster a more conducive investment environment. It has a joint steering committee composed of representatives from the US and Philippines, meeting every six months. It is essentially, a mechanism to shape Philippine economic policies to conform to the interests and needs of the US economy.

The Aquino is in need of a lot of funds, as the Philippines is frantically trying to boost the capabilities of its backward armed forces ^[4]. “Though Southeast Asians don’t like to hear it, there is an arms race going on in the region,” said Inkster, now head of trans-national threats and political risk at London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“In a way military exercises are a big trade show where technics and weapons are demonstrated,” Smbulan said.

“If they (a country) buy weapons, it is in package deal, complete with military advisers and training in the use of the purchased weapons. They come in to train local units, armed forces, in how they can effectively use those weapons.

In the US at the beginning of Obama’s government, the US was supplying 20 percent of the developing world’s arms purchases. Before 2012 was over, this has jumped to 79 percent. The Obama Administration has increased the US industry’s arms sales to the Third World from a level of $9 billion per year during the 2004-2007 Bush years to $56 billion in the pre-election year of 2011.
Now that the Aquino government and the military had passed the Modernization Law, which also allows requests to exempt some contracts from public bidding, the country has gained billions of funds for arms acquisition.

URLs in this post:

[1] Bulatlat.com: http://www.bulatlat.com/

[2] an Asia Times correspondent estimated: http://rt.com/news/us-philippine-drills-china-967/

[3] fomented by the US The latest is the trouble at the Korean Peninsula: http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/09/whats-annoying-the-north-koreans/

[4] to boost the capabilities of its backward armed forces: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/10/arms-vietnam-idUSL5E8DAA0820120210

[5] Image: http://bulatlat.com

 

http://bulatlat.com/main/2013/04/14/balikatan-2013-a-grand-show-of-force-a-tradeshow-for-us-arms/

19 detained Sulu sultanate supporters faces death penalty in Malaysia

From the Mindanao Examiner blog site (Apr 14): 19 detained Sulu sultanate supporters faces death penalty in Malaysia

Eleven more Filipinos with links to the Sultanate of Sulu have been charged with terrorism in Malaysia for waging war with the King - Yang di-Pertuan Agong - bringing to 19 the total number of Filipinos detained on similar charges. They face the death penalty if proven guilty.

The identities of those charged were Hussin Abu Bakar, Basad Manuel, Lin Mad Salleh, Holland Kalbi, Habil Suhaili, Timhar Hadir, Kadir Uyung, Masir Aidin, Ismail Yasin, Anwar Salib Akhmad, Binhar Salib Akhma, Lating Tiong Virgilio Nemar Patulada, Salib Akhmad Emali, Al Wazir Osman, Hadi Mawan, Tani Lahad Dahi, Julham Rashid and Aiman Radie.

They would be represented by lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan.

All the accused were linked by authorities to the group of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, whose 200 followers clashed with security forces in Sabah in March following a deadly standoff that started in February when he sent his brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin to Lahad Datu town to exert determination and historical claim over the oil-rich island, just several nautical miles off the Filipino province of Tawi-Tawi.

Malaysia rejected the claims and mounted a deadly assault that killed over 60 of the sultan’s men and detained more than 400 Filipinos - suspected of aiding Raja Muda Agbimuddin – under a strict anti-terrorism law. Ten Malaysian policemen and soldiers were also killed in the fighting.

A Malaysian policeman, Corporal Hassan Ali Basri, was also arrested for allegedly failing to providing information about Sultan Jamalul’s group. Hassan pleaded not guilty during Friday’s court trial. He was charged under Section 130m of the Penal Code which carries a sentence of imprisonment which may extend to seven years or a fine or both.

http://mindanaoexaminer.blogspot.com/2013/04/19-detained-sulu-sultanate-supporters.html

CPP: CPP slams Gazmin claim of NPA ties with drug trade

From the CPP Website (Apr 14): CPP slams Gazmin claim of NPA ties with drug trade

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denounced as “an absolute lie” the Aquino regime’s claims yesterday that the New People’s Army (NPA) has links with and protects drug syndicates in the Philippines.

The statement was made yesterday by Aquino’s Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin who insisted that the NPA is involved in the maintenance and cultivation of marijuana plantations in the Cordillera and that it has an “unholy alliance” with the drug syndicates, claiming that the NPA is desperate for funds to procure weapons.

“On the contrary, it is the reactionary politicians and top military and police officials of the ruling regime, those who now profess treading the Aquino regime’s mythical righteous path, who are in collusion with the drug syndicates as well as with the biggest illegal gambling lords, kidnapping and carnapping rings, smuggling and other criminal groups in order to finance their political campaigns and pocket shares from the operations of these nefarious gangs.”

“Wherever the revolutionary forces and their people’s army succeed in establishing the people’s democratic government, drug syndicates as well as other criminal groups are expelled from the areas under the sway of revolutionary authorities,” said the CPP. “Under the people’s democratic government, leaders of these drug syndicates have been subjected to arrest, prosecution and judgment by the people’s courts and have been meted out appropriate punishment for their crimes.”

“Far from being desperate, the NPA enjoys the boundless support of the revolutionary masses who not only provide their army with material support, but actively engage in both unarmed and armed resistance to fight the exploitative and oppressive system and its armed protectors in the reactionary armed forces and police,” added the CPP.

“The pronouncements of Secretary Gazmin are nothing but a rehash of the baseless and unproven allegations made years ago by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the US government,” said the CPP. The CPP further pointed out that the US government has long been using such claims against the revolutionary forces in Colombia in order to justify its war of intervention as part of its “war on drugs.” The US government also uses the DEA to engage in interventionism in the Philippines in the name of “cooperation” with the local anti-drug agencies.

“The marijuana plantations in the Cordilleras have long been maintained by officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP),” added the CPP. “They draw in the poor peasant masses to engage in the planting and cultivation of marijuana plants and protect these plantations with their armed goons.”

“This is also the case in other marijuana-growing areas such as the Davao Oriental countryside. Military and police generals take advantage of the poverty and desperation of the rural masses who suffer from feudal and semifeudal exploitation and the low prices for their agricultural produce, by promising quick and big money in the marijuana trade,” said the CPP.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20130414_cpp-slams-gazmin-claim-of-npa-ties-with-drug-trade

Waging War at the Court of the Sultan of Sulu

From Time Magazine (Apr 10): Waging War at the Court of the Sultan of Sulu

The Sultan of Sulu’s Manila home lies in a poor Muslim neighborhood in the south of the Philippine capital. Its high walls are festooned with royal banners weighted down by repurposed plastic soda bottles. Advertisements for “Septic Tank Plumbing Services” are posted next to a derelict Opel station wagon, now the only fixture on the sidewalk out front. In early February, when armed supporters of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III landed in Malaysian Borneo to enforce an ancestral-land claim, media flocked here to meet the low-profile leader, whose forebears once held sway over the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. (These days, there is no civil power attached to the role.) TV news crews crowded the sidewalk around-the-clock as, hundreds of kilometers away, the sultan’s men were locked in a clash with Malaysian security forces that has since killed over 70 people and displaced scores.

Today, the street outside the sultan’s crumbling residence is quieter, but the fallout from his brazen campaign has not settled. As Malaysian security forces continue their mopping up operations against the sultan’s men in eastern Sabah province, a fresh wave of fighters has reportedly entered the fray. According to Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the Royal Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, some 400 armed men have managed to breach a joint Malaysian-Filipino naval blockade in the Sulu Sea. It’s not yet clear who sent them, though the sultanate asserts they are from Mindanao, where leaders of the southern Philippine militant group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have pledged support. On March 31, the MNLF threatened a “long, protracted war” if Malaysian forces continued their pursuit of the self-proclaimed Royal Army of Sulu.

The Sabah affair is emblematic of territorial disputes that have long overshadowed the region. Centuries before the modern states of Malaysia and the Philippines came into being, the islands of the Sulu Sea, and part of resource-rich Sabah, were ruled by the Sultanate of Sulu. In 1878, the sultan made a fateful deal to lease Sabah to a British commercial interest; the territory was later annexed by the British crown and, in 1963, became part of an independent Malaysia. Now the Kiram family wants it back. It still receives roughly $1,700 a year in rent from Kuala Lumpur, but views the sum as ridiculous given how profitable the land is and the status afforded to other sultans in Malaysia. (For reference, Sultan Kiram and the Sultan of Brunei, once named the world’s richest man, share the same great-great grandfather.)

These days, Sultan Kiram, 74, could use some extra cash. On a recent morning, he was away at the hospital for one of his biweekly dialysis sessions. Fatima, his panguian — to use the term bestowed on a sultan’s wife — insists that while “he’s still O.K.,” he’s not the fleet-footed tango dancer who dazzled her early in their marriage. A retired civil servant, she worked full-time for over 20 years to support the family while the sultan managed a modest seafood-exporting business. In between filling cuttlefish orders from Japan, he was called upon to help mediate domestic insurgencies. Photo albums on the coffee table show the sultan wearing his trademark brown sunglasses next to grim-faced MNLF rebels and government officers.

Back in the 1970s, Fatima recalls urging her husband to also take up the gun. “I told him, ‘Why don’t you go the mountains and fight the [Malaysians]’ … you are only recognized if you are a rebel force,” she says. For years, the sultan countered that patience and diplomacy were the best course and wrote letters to officials, but to no avail. On Feb. 6, about 200 of his followers — some of them heavily armed — were dispatched to Sabah. A weeks-long impasse in a coastal village ended in bloodshed, as a Malaysian ground assault gave way to air strikes. The Sultan’s fighters and their commander, Agbimuddin Kiram, the sultan’s 70-year-old brother, melted into the jungle, where sporadic gun battles persist.

The crackdown has made a hard life even harder for the 800,000–plus Filipino migrant workers who help sustain Sabah’s booming palm-oil and petroleum industries. The Malaysian government, already facing criticism for harsh treatment of its migrant underclass, is accused by rights groups of widespread harassment of civilians as it moves to flush out the Royal Army. Dozens of homes have been destroyed and hundreds of Filipinos have fled abroad. Analysts warn that the toll will further aggravate anti-Malaysian sentiment in the southern Philippines, less than an hour away by boat.

With such valuable interests in the region and general elections on the horizon, the Malaysian government has shown no willingness to cede any ground. State officials, keen to project strength, have labeled the Royal Army “terrorists” and ignored the U.N.’s demands for a cease-fire. In Manila, President Benigno Aquino has tried to balance relations with Malaysia, a key ally and trading partner, with pressing political calculations at home as a midterm ballot nears. The sultan enjoys considerable standing among Muslims in the restive south of the country, and his claim to Sabah has become a matter of local pride.

Sultan Kiram judges the incursion to be a partial success in that his cause finally has the world’s attention. “I regret that people have died,” he says, moments after returning from his hospital treatment, walking with a cane. “However, we must make a sacrifice to enjoy the fruits that are rightfully ours.” He would not (or could not) say who the new fighters who have joined his army were, only that they were “volunteers” going to Sabah to seek “revenge for their brothers” killed by Malaysian forces. “We cannot stop people now,” he adds, somewhat cryptically, “but peace is our hope.”

The sultan says his people will hold out as long as it takes, but time may not be on his side. At midday his voice was faint and, behind the signature dark glasses, one of his eyes was fully shut. A handful of local journalists who by now had gathered outside to interview him would have to wait a while longer. The sultan needed a nap.

http://world.time.com/2013/04/10/waging-war-at-the-court-of-the-sultan-of-sulu/

NPA still a big election threat, says Solcom

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Apr 12): NPA still a big election threat, says Solcom

The military’s Southern Luzon Command has identified 27 towns and 65 barangays in the provinces of Quezon, Rizal, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro where it said the communist New People’s Army rebels pose a security threat to the conduct of peaceful election.

Maj. Gen. Caesar Ronnie Ordoyo, Solcom chief, told newsmen during a media forum Thursday at Camp Nakar that included the Solcom, Philippine National Police and Commission on Elections that the military and police are closely monitoring the situation in those places to ensure peaceful election and “protect the sanctity of the people’s will.”

Ordoyo said the communist rebels were demanding permit-to-campaign (PTC) fees, ranging from P1,000 to P1 million, from politicians in Southern Luzon.

He said recovered communist document on Aug. 7, 2012 showed that the rebels were asking P800,000 to P1 million from a gubernatorial candidate; P400,000 to P600,000 from a congressman; P50,000 to P100,000 from a mayor; P10,000 to P20,000 from a city councilor; and P1,000 to P10,000 from a municipal councilor.

Col. Generoso Bolina, Solcom spokesperson, appealed to candidates to stand up and not submit to the coercion tactics of the NPA rebels.

He said the military and police are ready to provide security to candidates against harassment from the rebels.

The Communist Party of the Philippines, however, denied the collection of PTC fees.

In its statement, the rebel group advised candidates who wish to campaign within their so-called “revolutionary areas,” to strictly follow policies being promulgated by the NPA, “to ensure peace and order, avoid ‘dirty’ electoral practices and uphold the interests of the masses in the area.”

“Among these is the policy prohibiting the use of ”dirty money,” vote-buying and other ”dirty politicking” in the revolutionary areas. Revolutionary police powers will be applied to prevent such practices,” the CPP warned in the statement.

During the media forum, Ordoyo also disclosed the presence of suspected nine private armed groups in Batangas, two in Cavite and one in Laguna.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/389849/npa-still-a-big-election-threat-says-solcom

BMFI, PPOC work on Bantay Bayanihan IPSP implementation

From the Philippine Information Agency (Apr 13): BMFI, PPOC work on Bantay Bayanihan IPSP implementation

Balay Mindanao Foundation, Inc. (BMFI) is working closely with Misamis Oriental Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to implement Bantay Bayanihan’s (BB) Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) for 2011-2016 to further attain peace and development in the Province.

During the PPOC meeting on March 22, Sabrina F. Balais, BMFI Project Officer, shared that IPSP is a broad plan that shall guide the AFP in helping the nation attain and maintain internal peace and security in the near and medium-term.

“It also attempts to move away from the traditional paradigm where the protection of the state (and its legal representative, the government) is given priority at all cost and to a frame where people’s security takes center stage, and human rights is the bedrock of all actions of the AFP,” Balais added.

Furthermore, the IPSP’s end goals are targeted to national interests, ensure well-being for the people and institution, and guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity protection and enhancement through good governance, delivery of basic services, economic reconstruction and sustainable development, and security sector reform after the mutual support of private and public sectors.

Bantay Bayanihan is a vehicle for the Civil society as oversight mechanism on the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) implementation, venue for discussion on IPSP issues and related concerns, especially in the non-combat-combat aspect of the IPSP plan, and institutionalize the active partnership of civil society, and other civilian all stakeholders.

It hopes to catalyze, facilitate, and most importantly, institutionalize the active partnership of civil society groups and other security stakeholders in the implementation of the IPSP- Bayanihan.

According to Balais, conducting regular meeting every two months for local dialogues, round table discussions with dialogue partners twice a year, annual assessment of IPSP, and Joint Military-CSO capacity building are among the ways to move forward in fostering peace and security in Misamis Oriental.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=1461365742753

DVIDS: Philippine, US Marines learn jungle survival skills

From DVIDS (Apr 12): Philippine, US Marines learn jungle survival skills



Philippine Marine Staff Sgt. Calixton J. Deatras demonstrates a non-lethal animal trap during basic jungle survival training April 8 at Camp O’Donnell, Philippines. The survival training is part of Balikatan 2013, an annual bilateral exercise in its 29th iteration, which provides a venue for Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military forces to develop and continue to enhance interoperability across a wide range of military actions. The jungle survival training is just one portion of this year’s Balikatan exercise. Nearly 8,000 Philippine and U.S. service members are simultaneously participating in training centered around humanitarian civic assistance projects; a bilateral typhoon-based disaster relief scenario command post exercise; and knowledge sharing and interoperability field training exercises. Deatras is the armorer noncommissioned officer with Force Reconnaissance Battalion, AFP. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Courtney G. White/Released)

CAMP O’DONNELL, Philippines – Combined Philippine and U.S. Marines conducted basic jungle survival training April 8 at Camp O’Donnell, Philippines.

The survival training is part of Balikatan 2013, an annual bilateral exercise in its 29th iteration, which offers an opportunity for the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military forces to share knowledge unique to their services.

It is the seemingly simple age-old skills of survival training that could determine whether a Marine from either nation may live or die in the jungle.

“The survival training is to instruct the Marines on the basic skills to survive in a jungle setting,” said Philippine Marine Sgt. Bimbo R. Busico, an instructor with Force Reconnaissance Battalion, Armed Forces of the Philippines. “They learned how to make traps and snares, produce fire using bamboo, create a shelter, and find food.”

The U.S. Marines were also briefed on a number of useful plants, which can be found in the Philippines and in jungle settings throughout the Asian-Pacific region, said Busico.

“Many plants can be used for food and medicine,” added Busico. “Knowing how to tell the difference between edible plants and poisonous plants could mean all the difference in your survival.”

Bamboo, a common plant found in the Asian-Pacific jungles, has a multitude of uses which can help the Marines survive, explained Philippine Marine SSgt Calixton J. Deatras, the armorer non-commissioned officer with Force Reconnaissance Battalion.

“Bamboo can be used to make traps, cook food, and create a shelter,” said Deatras. “It is a staple item which can help Marines a lot if they are ever lost.”

The Philippine Marines are very patient and thoughtful instructors, said U.S. Marine Cpl. Joi G. Pierce, a supply administration clerk with 3rd Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force.

“They are very passionate about what they teach,” said Pierce. “The training was very thorough, and I just wish we had the opportunity to stay out in the jungle for a few days and really put the skills we learned to the test.”

The jungle survival training is just one portion of the knowledge sharing and interoperability field training exercises during this year’s Balikatan exercise.

Along with the field training exercise, nearly 8,000 Philippine and U.S. service members will be simultaneously participating in training centered around humanitarian civic assistance projects and a bilateral typhoon-based disaster relief scenario command post exercise.

http://www.dvidshub.net/news/105073/philippine-us-marines-learn-jungle-survival-skills

Trial of MNLF members moved to Cebu City

From the Cebu Daily News (Apr 12): Trial of MNLF members moved to Cebu City

THE trial of at least 30 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) over the roadside bombing that killed two US Navy personnel and a Philippine Marine soldier in Indanan town in Sulu four years ago will be moved to Cebu City for security reasons.

The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the transfer of the trial venue Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 4 in Parang, Sulu to the Cebu City RTC.

Security concerns and safety of the witnesses were cited as reasons by the High Court for ordering the transfer of the trial venue.

Representatives from RTC Branch 4 in Sulu went to the Palace of Justice in Cebu City yesterday to transmit the records of the case which shall raffled off to a Cebu City court branch.

The accused were purportedly behind the death of American soldiers Jack Martin and Christopher Shaw as well as Private First Class Jerwin Jose Estrada of the Philippine Marines.

The offense is non-bailable.

Armed with various high-powered firearms, the accused allegedly “assembled, laid-out, and planted improvised explosive devices (landmines)” at barangay Kagay, Buanza, Indanan in Sulu on Sept. 29, 2009.

The victims were part of a contingent in a humanitarian mission to construct a clinic, a school and a barangay hall in the area.

Martin, Shaw, and Estrada were on board a military jeep when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded. The blast was reportedly caused by an IED which had a pressure switch for a trigger. The victims sustained blast wounds which caused their death.

A group which claimed to be allied with the MNLF earlier admitted to be responsible for the bombing that killed the two US Navy personnel and the Filipino marine in Jolo.

The attack was reportedly made in retaliation for the continued operations of the US and Philippine military against the MNLF in the southern province of Sulu.

Among the accused in the case filed in court were Commanders Khaid Abjibon, Ahadon Adak, Abaraham Juel, Jun Ajibon, Kira Adain, a certain Commander Tahil Sali, a certain “Mahan,” “Radzmir”, “Salip Anwar”, “Khalib Sali,” “Aziz Jihili”, “Beji Jihili” and several other members of MNLF. Of the accused, only two were arrested, representatives of the RTC Branch 4 in Sulu said. They said the two detainees will also be transferred to Cebu City pending resolution of the case.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/389711/trial-of-mnlf-members-moved-to-cebu-city

Military denies earlier reported US troops deployment in Pablo areas, but groups wary of cover-up

Posted to the pro-CPP Davao Today (Apr 13): Military denies earlier reported US troops deployment in Pablo areas, but groups wary of cover-up

Activists in the Davao region are outraged by the reported presence of troops from the United States Armed Forces in Pablo-affected areas in Compostela Valley ahead of the formal opening of the 2013 RP-US Balikatan Exercises in Central Luzon.

The Philippine Military however, through its spokesperson Major Jake Obligado of the Civil Military Operations Battalion belied that Balikatan will be held here and accused Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Southern Mindanao leader Sheena Duazo for making up the story.

But Duazo in a separate interview said Obligado’s reaction does not surprise them.

Duazo cited the local newspaper Mindanao Times’ report last April 3 where Eastern Mindanao Division deputy commander Capt. Severino David disclosed a Joint US Military Advisory Group (Jusmag) conducting a site survey for about a week last month in New Bataan, Monkayo and Laak in Compostela Valley Province.

The newspaper report went on to say David announced the Jusmag’s intention to help in rebuilding schools in the said Pablo-ravaged areas although a schedule of the actual reconstruction activity has not yet been given.

The Jusmag is also going to survey the towns of Cateel, Baganga and Boston in Davao Oriental, areas first hit by the typhoon, the report further disclosed.

Question of transparency

Duazo said they find it unfortunate that little is known about the conduct of RP-US Military Exercises by virtue of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which guarantees the US government confidentiality in such matters.

“These are matters that people are supposed to be given the right to know, but sadly we have to make do with the limited declarations of US and Philippine embassy officials on that matter in the media,” Duazo said, pointing that the holding of Balikatan Exercises in the country is an issue of transparency.

“For all we know, the US troops might have been here the whole time, if not for the scandals of which the US troops’ misdeeds have been exposed, such as the Gregan Cardeño murder in Marawi City in 2010,” Rendell Cagula, Davao coordinator of the patriotic League of Filipino Students said.

Cardeño was a Zamboanga resident hired by US troops as an interpreter, but was found dead later in the US camp in the AFP’s Camp Ranao in Marawi City. While military authorities prevailed that his death was a suicide, the victims’ family suspected foul play on Cardeño’s murder. The family attested that Cardeño called them hours before his death sounding troubled.

The Balikatan 2013 set on April 6-27 is the 29th RP-US military exercises conducted in the country since 2002, four years after the VFA was passed into law by the Senate in 1998.

Military exercises, according to newspaper accounts, are slated in Camp O’Donnell and Crow Valley in Tarlac, Subic Bay and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, with some 4,000 American troops taking part in military drills and trainings, along with Filipino troops.

More US rotations this year

Foreign affairs secretary Albert Del Rosario announced that aside from Balikatan, they are looking at having more US forces rotate in the country throughout the year.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. referred to these as “increased rotational presence of troops” which he said his government wanted to start by concentrating on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, with the goal of enabling troops’ quick response to typhoons.

Bayan SMR’s Duazo however, believes this is just hype. “We know that they are again pushing their military-economic agenda in the guise of typhoon disaster action support.”

Deploying US troops to Pablo-affected areas, as Duazo said, is a greater disservice to the victims who are already rendered homeless and hungry due to government neglect and corruption of rehabilitation funds.

“Bringing Balikatan to these areas would be like bringing back pestilence to their lives again,” Duazo said noting the record of abuses of US troops since the war exercises began in 2002.

She said this is like adding insult to injury upon the victims whose communities were heavily hit by flash floods in the Pablo disaster as a consequence of the plunder by US-backed multinational mining companies such as Augustine/Russell Mines Inc. and Apex Mines in the gold-rich mountains of Compostela Valley.

Duazo said notwithstanding the danger posed by their war games on people, the past experiences in RP-US Balikatan Exercises showed that countless other human rights violations have been committed against Filipinos as US troops carried out attacks side by side with Philippine Army in hunting down their avowed enemies in Philippine territories through these so-called military exercises.

It is no secret, Duazo pointed out, that Southern Mindanao is home to the fiercest opponents of US imperialism, the New People’s Army (NPA) for that matter, which the Aquino administration is targeting for its end-game plot via its counter-insurgency measure Oplan Bayanihan.

“And we know how much the US government shares in the plot, as much as we know that the victims of these kinds of military operations launched against the NPAs are the hapless civilians in the communities that they indiscriminately attacked,” Duazo said, mentioning the case of Roque Antivo, an eight-year-old boy who was killed by Philippine military fire in Crossing Kidaraan, Anitapan village in Mabini town, Compostela Valley just last week.

Duazo said the “humanitarian mission” is a lame cover. “It is something that the people have already recognize as a sham with all that we have gone through with these RP-US Balikatan exercises,” she said.

A contingent of 400 victims from areas affected by typhoon Pablo stormed the Eastern Mindanao Command Headquarters in Panacan early this week to show opposition to the upcoming Balikatan exercises.

Blame on one-sided VFA

Duazo said they will not stop, as they always have “faith in the people,” just as their massive protests led the Philippine Senate to end the RP-US Bases Military Agreement in 1992.

Sadly, Duazo noted that such patriotic act shown by people was put to waste six years later, in 1998, as the Ramos administration managed to sneak in the VFA in its desperation to bring back US financial aid.

The VFA’s constitutionality was assailed many times, on the ground that it violates Article 18 Section 25, a provision in the 1987 Constitution which supposedly prohibits foreign military bases, troops or facilities after the 1991 expiration of the Military Bases Agreement, except under a treaty.

The VFA, as argued, cannot be considered a treaty, because it was not concurred in by the Senate of the State of the contracting party, the United States, hence, it is called an “executive agreement.”

The VFA is largely viewed as a lopsided agreement, granting not only immunity to erring troops but “secrecy” as well to the US Government in the movement of troops and war facilities in the country.

Cagula, meanwhile, lamented that the leadership of the Philippine government under President Aquino continues to turn a blind eye while the VFA is being blatantly used to absolve the atrocities of US troops in the country, among others the rape of Nicole by US servicemen in 2006, the dumping of toxic waste in Subic last year, and lately, the damage brought by the minesweeper USS Guardian that rammed through one of the Philippines’ remaining marine ecosystem, the Tubbataha Reef.

“This is the problem with the VFA. We are being abused without the benefit of demanding accountability from the actions of US troops in our land. In other words, VFA has become a tool with which the US Government commits wanton acts of violations against our people with impunity. We have all the right to be indignant against the coming of the US Troops. At stake is our dignity, our patrimony and our sovereignty. It is therefore, just right that the people should oppose Balikatan and move for the junking of VFA at all cost,” Cagula said.

http://davaotoday.com/main/2013/04/13/military-denies-earlier-reported-us-troops-deployment-in-pablo-areas-but-groups-wary-of-cover-up/

DVIDS: EOD technicians share knowledge at Balikatan

From DVIDS (Apr 13): EOD technicians share knowledge at Balikatan



Explosive ordnance technicians with the Philippine Air Force utilize pieces of equipment from the Marine Corps hook and line system to lift an ammunition can from the ground at Clark Field, Philippines, April 10. Filipino and U.S. Marine Corps EOD technicians trained together during exercise Balikatan 2013, an annual bilateral exercise in its 29th iteration that is aimed at ensuring interoperability of the Philippine and U.S. militaries during planning, contingency and humanitarian assistance operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Kasey Peacock/Released)

CLARK FIELD, Philippines – Explosive ordnance technicians with the Philippine Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps shared knowledge through training at Clark Field, Philippines April 10.

During the training, Marine EOD technicians shared the capabilities of the HAL hook and line system, used for basic rigging and transporting, with Filipino technicians through video presentations and practical application.

The training conducted was part of exercise Balikatan 2013, an annual bilateral exercise, in its 29th iteration, aimed at ensuring interoperability of the Philippine and U.S. militaries during planning, contingency and humanitarian assistance operations.

“As EOD technicians, we have to deal with a lot of dangerous situations,” said PAF Staff Sgt. Gerald T. Alamay, an EOD technician with the 772nd Explosive Ordinance Disposal Squadron, 710th Special Operations Wing. “When you are working with other EOD technicians, there is always a bond because of the danger you could potentially face. I have had many experiences training with the Marines during prior exercises and every opportunity is a great one for the squadron.”

The HAL kit is comprised of different ropes, pulleys, levers and fulcrums that can be used to safely open doors and remove hazardous items.

After brief demonstrations from the Marines, the Filipino technicians quickly took to utilizing the HAL equipment by using it to open the door of a Humvee and extract simulated hazardous objects from it.

While the training was primarily to familiarize the Filipino technicians on the equipment, it was also a great opportunity for the Marines to refresh their skills, according to U.S. Marine Sgt. Timothy J. Firestone, an EOD technician with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force.

“Throughout the week we have demonstrated many of our different capabilities to the Filipino technicians, which is great for both militaries,” said Firestone. “While our training is taken very seriously, we have had a lot of fun getting to know the Filipino technicians through our time spent with them.”

Despite not working with the equipment very often, the Filipino technicians quickly caught on and received lasting knowledge and training that could be used in the future, according to U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Jose Acevedo, an EOD technician with MWSS 172, 1st MAW.

“I was impressed while watching them work with the equipment,” said Acevedo. “What they lacked in their equipment, they made up for in experience as most of them have been in the EOD field for many years.”

Several different units with the 710th Special Operations Wing are conducting training with various Marine units across the Philippines during the exercise. These training operations consist of humanitarian civic assistance, ground military training operations and a natural disaster response command post exercise.

The Balikatan series of events focuses on training both Philippine and U.S. armed forces to provide relief and assistance in the event of natural disasters and other crises that endanger public health and safety. Additionally, military service members from both countries will conduct combined staff exercises to improve interoperability and contingency planning.

The exercise is scheduled to conclude April 17.

http://www.dvidshub.net/news/105145/eod-technicians-share-knowledge-balikatan

MILF: MILF tells gov’t: Time is ticking away

Posted to the MILF Website (Apr 13): MILF tells gov’t: Time is ticking away

The clock is ticking away on the peace process, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) told government on Thursday, April 11, as the formal talks in Kuala Lumpur ended without any agreement.

This was the statement of Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator and head of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), during the closing program of the GPH-MILF Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur on April 9-11.

He cautioned the government against prolonging the talks further.

Earlier, Prof. Miriam Ferrer-Coronel, government peace chief negotiator, told media reporters that the comprehensive peace agreement will be signed in March this year, which she changed to April after the parties failed to beat the timeline.

The two parties set the next round of talks after the May 13 Philippine elections.

Meanwhile, Datu Antonio Kinoc, alternate member of the MILF peace panel, told Luwaran that he could not understand why government always changes position, which he explained as the real cause of the delays.

“I do not know where the problem lies - in the negotiating team or in their principal,” he confessed.

Maulana Alonto, senior MILF Panel member and also a member of the BTC admitted that their negotiating team was taken aback by the failure of the GPH Panel to sign at least the Annex on Wealth-Sharing, the text of which was already agreed on and initialled by the two Parties during the 36th GPH-MILF Exploratory Talks last February.

“Before we flew to Kuala Lumpur for the 37th Exploratory Talks, expectations were

high that the Panels would be able to put closure to further discussions on the Annex on Wealth-Sharing since the text was already initialled by both sides last February 25th. Of course, the Panels had the right to bring it back to their respective principals for a cursory review, but we were thinking this was merely routine because the Panels had already concurred on the language of the initialled text and that consultations were made with their principals before the initialling took place. We were not prepared, however, for the sudden announcement by the GPH panel that they needed more time to revisit and review the Wealth-Sharing Annex despite the fact that more than a month is an ample time to make such a review. I therefore share the sentiment of my team mates in the MILF Panel that something is wrong. A very serious problem now on the question of credibility has come to the fore. We are racing against time but the way things are turning out, time might outrun us,” Maulana Alonto lamented.

For his part, Abdulla Camlian, another MILF peace panel member and likewise a TC member, gave an abbreviated comment by saying that these uncertainties would boil down to what President Benigno Aquino III has in mind.

“I think there is much traffic between him and his negotiators and we may be looking at communications problem between them as the culprit,” he surmised.

“Let us wait for certainly the real score will be known sooner or later,” he added.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/308-milf-tells-gov’t-time-is-ticking-away

ANAD: Reestablishment of the CPP--Strategic Stalemate

From the Facebook page of the anti-communist/anti-CPP ANAD party-list political party (Apr 13): Strategic Stalemate

PADEPA 101

LESSON FOR THE DAY: April 13, 2013

... THE REESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PHILIPPINES

By Arthur J. Tariman
National Council Member, ANAD Party-list

Strategic Stalemate

Preconditioning the ultimately failure of its current peace talks with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH), the Maoist CPP-NPA-NDF has come up with a five-year plan to advance the so-called people’s war from the stage of strategic defensive to strategic stalemate.

The strategic stalemate stage should not be taken literally to liken the condition to the evenness of government and terrorist forces but on the condition where state apparatus including the local government units, armed services and law enforcement agencies would be afraid and restrained or would perceive to have been restrained from performing their official duties and functions due to the threats and/or influence exerted by the Maoist CPP-NPA-NDF on the duly-constituted authorities.

In its 42nd anniversary message to the NPA on March 29, 2011 entitled, “Fight and defeat the US-Aquino regime and fulfill the requirements for advance toward the strategic stalemate,” the CPP Central Committee boldly warned that:

“The Aquino regime cannot take comfort from the notion that the revolutionary movement cannot yet be the ruling system in the next five years or from any scheme for the counter-revolutionary armed forces to destroy the revolutionary movement render it inconsequential or make it capitulate.”

The CPP CENCOM added:

“The revolutionary mass movement is capable of removing the Aquino ruling clique from power in the same manner that the Marcos and Estrada ruling cliques were removed and the Arroyo ruling clique was almost removed. Lessons must be learned from the failure to overthrow the Arroyo ruling clique despite its extreme isolation and unpopularity. Errors must be reviewed and rectified so that the revolutionary mass movement can realize the full potential of the favorable objective situation.”

It further announced that:

“The crisis conditions, the growing strength of the revolutionary movement, the rapid rate at which the Aquino regime is being expose as anti-people, anti-national, anti-democratic, corrupt and brutal are such that the revolutionary forces can build a broad united front and generate a mass movement to isolate and remove the Aquino ruling clique from power in a relatively short period of time.”

TOMORROW’S LESSON: CPP Five-Year Plan (2010-2015)

https://www.facebook.com/anadpartylist

CPP: CPP denounces Aquino regime for extending access in support of US war against DPRK

From the CPP Website (Apr 13): CPP denounces Aquino regime for extending access in support of US war against DPRK

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denounced the Aquino regime for proposing greater US military presence in the Philippines should armed conflict break out in the Korean peninsula.

“The Filipino people demand a stop to US interventionism, provocation and aggression against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and denounce the Aquino regime for blindly supporting US warmongering and for allowing the Philippines to be used as a military outpost and instrument of US hegemonism in the Asia-Pacific region,” said the CPP.

The proposal to allow the entry of more US troops in the Philippines was voiced by Aquino’s Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin yesterday who said that increased US military troop presence would be allowed in the face of heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula. Gazmin further hinted at the possibility of setting up US military bases as an “extreme measure”.

“The Aquino regime is exhibiting extremeobseqiousness to its American overlords,” said the CPP. Earlier, Aquino’s Foreign Affairs Secretary insisted that in case of armed conflict between the US and the DPRK, the Philippines would be obliged to support the US under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

“As it is, the Philippines is already serving as a US military outpost as a result of the Aquino regime’s policy of providing full-access to the US military. US naval warships and fighter jets regularly dock and land in order to refuel, resupply and provide rest and recreation to US interventionist troops,” pointed out the CPP. “A large 700-strong contingent of US soldiers under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) is permanently stationed in Zamboanga.”

“US interventionism in the Philippines has now reached unprecedented heights since the dismantling of the US military bases in 1991,” added the CPP. “Aquino’s shameless puppetry to the US imperialists and policy of full access have resulted in the sharp depreciation of Philippine sovereignty and caused the complete subordination of the Philippines to the dominant power of the US.”

The CPP asserted that a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict in the Korean peninsula can only be achieved by the withdrawal of 30,000 American troops in US military bases in South Korea, the lifting of the economic blockade and respecting the right to self-determination of the DPRK and its right to technological development for economic and scientific advancement.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20130413_cpp-denounces-aquino-regime-for-extending-access-in-support-of-us-war-against-dprk

PMA has a new Superintendent

From the Philippine Information Agency (Apr 13): PMA has a new Superintendent

The premiere military school in Southeast Asia welcomed Thursday its new superintendent, Vice Admiral Edgar Abogado replacing Lt. Gen. Ireneo Espino who is set to retire on April 16, this year.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista presided over the turnover and change of command ceremony of the Philippine Military Academy at Fort Del Pilar here after the traditional military honors at the Sundial Area by the PMA cadets and officers.

During the time of Espino as Superintendent, the Pudang Kalis or Puso’t Dangal ng mga Kawal ng Lahing Nagkakaisa Class of 2013 graduated last month with 19 female cadets out of the 124-strong cadets, the largest number of female cadets since the acceptance of women in the PMA.

Espino, a member of “Matapat” Class of 1979, explained that the 19 female cadets of the Class of 2013, also has its own “Magnificent 7” or seven cadets receiving citations and awards including the four lady cadets belonging to the Top 10 of the class led by Maryam Balais of La Trinidad, Benguet who graduated as salutatorian.

Abogado in his speech underscored the immense responsibility of the position as the head of the military institution which trains future officers of the AFP and leaders of the country.

Many of the former members of the PMA cadet corps, referred at times as the "Long Grey Line," became not only as distinguished officers of the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) but also as national leaders.

Abogado, a member of “Mapitagan” Class of 1980, asked the cooperation and support of the faculty members and cadet corps for him to continue the excellent work of his predecessors as well as to live by and implement the PMA Roadmap.

He said he will be implementing all the curricular and policies of the academy duly set by authorities similar to the military's chain of command which emanates from the President of the Philippines, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the AFP.

Meanwhile, in an interview, Gen. Bautista denied that the PMA Superintendent post which is considered a critical and vital position in the Armed Forces, is a “gift” given to retiring officials of the AFP.

Such issue arose when then PMA Superintendent Major Gen. Nonato Peralta was replaced by Espino in November 2012 serving as the PMA top post for barely five months as he retires from the service.

“The AFP is watching over the PMA leadership and the PMA Roadmap,” said Bautista.

Abogado is also set to retire February next year, a month before the graduation of the PMA Siklab-Diwa Class of 2014.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=41365756292