AFP seeks MILF help in destroying Abu Sayyaf

From Rappler (Jul 15): AFP seeks MILF help in destroying Abu Sayyaf



The Armed Forces of the Philippines is looking at a "stronger alliance" with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to destroy the Abu Sayyaf Group.

"The encounter that transpired between combined forces of AFP and the MILF against ASG could be an avenue to build a stronger alliance to destroy the ASG organization," AFP public affairs chief Lt Col Ramon Zagala told reporters on Monday, July 15.

 

Zagala was referring to an incident in Al-Barka, Basilan, in May, when the MILF came to the AFP's rescue when they were ambushed by the ASG.

 

Al-Barka is a known territory of the MILF. The 32nd Infantry Battalion sought the MILF to help coordinate the pursuit operation. The military was in Al-Barka to assist the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) implement a project.

 

In another incident also in May, the MILF offered to mobilize its forces in Sulu to help soldiers run after the ASG and hold them accountable for the death of 7 Marines.

 

READ: MILF joins hunts for Abu Sayyaf in Sulu

 

Peace talks between the government and the MILF is showing progress. The government hopes to complete the agreement within the year.

 

READ: Bangsamoro talks: Last 2 annexes signed within the year

 

Screenshot of AFP presentation
 

ASG continues to engage in "guerilla operations" and "criminal activities for financial gains."

Zagala cited at least 4 major encounters with the ASG this year – 3 incidents in Basilan and 1 incident in Sulu. In an incident in Patikul, Sulu, in May, the AFP lost 7 soldiers.

A classified document obtained by Rappler executive editor Maria Ressa shows the Abu Sayyaf held up to 11 hostages as of January 2013. Australian Warren Rodwell has since been released, but foreign hostages remain with the ASG.

READ: The men Rodwell leaves behind with the Abu Sayyaf

Since the implementation of IPSP Bayanihan in 2011, AFP claimed it has "neutralized" a total of 175 ASG members. Another 26 members are facing cases in court and at least 25 bomb attacks were pre-empted.

But the Abu Sayyaf continues to recruit new members. Zagala earlier said the Abu Sayyaf has been able to "exploit Jihadi ideology" to "recruit followers and gain adherents and sympathizers."

Military intelligence put the ASG membership to 385 as of 2013. It's a small difference from its supposed 381 membership in 2011 and 398 in 2012.

Most of its members are confined in Sulu and Basilan and to, a lesser extent, in Zamboanga City and Tawi-Tawi.
 

 http://www.rappler.com/nation/33794-afp-milf-destroy-abu-sayyaf

Foreign, local activists launch probe of rights abuses in Central Luzon

From InterAksyon (Jul 15): Foreign, local activists launch probe of rights abuses in Central Luzon

Foreign human rights activists joined local counterparts and members of peasant organizations Monday in a mission to investigate human rights abuses in Central Luzon, particularly in the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport area and Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.

Eleven delegates from the Netherlands and Denmark will be joining the International Solidarity Mission-Central Luzon, which intends “to document and expose human rights violations of state forces” in the APECO area and Luisita, the vast estate owned by the Cojuangco clan, to which President Benigno Aquino III belongs, a statement from the organizers said.

The mission will also look into the murder of Dutch missionary and development worker Wilhelm Geertman on July 3 last year.

Geertman was gunned down at the office of Alay Bayan Inc., the nongovernmental organization he headed in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Although authorities have pointed to robbery as the motive -- the victim had just withdrawn money from a bank -- colleagues and human rights advocates believe Geertman, who had been vilified by security forces as a rebel sympathizer, was the victim of extrajudicial execution.

APECO, which was created by Republic Act 10083 sponsored by former Senator Edgardo Angara and his son, former Aurora Representative and now Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, covers 13,000 hectares in five barangays of Casiguran town.
Critics of the project say it threatens the displacement of farmers, fisherfolk and indigenous people in the affected areas.

While the Supreme Court has ordered the distribution of Hacienda Luisita to farmer-beneficiaries, the land has yet to be parceled out with activist farmers accusing Aquino’s family of attempting to “sabotage” the high court’s decision.

“The issue of APECO and Hacienda Luisita are major issues in the region, as (these affect) tens of thousands of poor farmers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk and other sectors” whose “rights to livelihood and obviously breached,” said Sister Cecille Ruiz, Central Luzon coordinator of the human rights organization Karapatan and spokesperson of the solidarity mission.

The Central Luzon activity, from July 15-17, is part of a nationwide solidarity mission preceding the International Conference on Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines, which will be held in Manila from July 19-21.

The ICHRPP will be attended by representatives of human rights groups from the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/66394/foreign-local-activists-launch-probe-of-rights-abuses-in-central-luzon

Political prisoner goes on 12-day hunger strike until SONA

From InterAksyon (Jul 15): Political prisoner goes on 12-day hunger strike until SONA

A political prisoner detained at the military’s Central Visayas headquarters has gone on a 12-day hunger strike that will last until President Benigno Aquino III’s state of the nation address on July 22.

Ramon Patriarca, who authorities say was a finance bureau officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said in a statement issued by human rights groups on Monday that he is protesting what he called the government’s failure to honor its commitment to release detained consultants of the National Democratic Front, including himself.

He also blasted the government for terminating peace negotiations with the communists by portraying rebel demands for the consultants’ release “is nothing but a ‘precondition’ capriciously imposed by the NDF, instead of the GPH obligation that it really is.”

Patriarca, who is detained at Camp Lapu-Lapu, the Cebu City headquarters of the Central Command, cited a joint statement signed by government and NDF negotiators in Oslo in February 2011 in which the government agreed “to release ‘most, if not all,’ detained NDF peace consultants in order to resume in earnest” the peace talks.

The Oslo Joint Statement, he said, would have been “a yardstick on the Aquino government’s willingness to actually fulfill GPH obligations made on the negotiating table with the NDF, and consequently, on its readiness to confront the three more difficult substantive agenda of the GPH-NDF formal peace negotiations regarding socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and cessation of hostilities and redisposition of forces.”

However, he said, “Halfway through his six-year term, there is no doubt that President Aquino has failed miserably in advancing the cause of a just and lasting peace in the country.”

Patriarca said none of the NDF consultants’ court cases was ever reviewed.

“Instead, the illegal arrest, torture and detention of social activists and suspected revolutionaries were intensified, such that the number of political prisoners nationwide has almost doubled now to more than 400,” he said.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/66392/political-prisoner-goes-on-12-day-hunger-strike-until-sona

Rights group urges release of ailing political prisoner

From InterAksyon (Jul 15): Rights group urges release of ailing political prisoner

A human rights group on Monday called for the release of a peasant leader who suffered a stroke at the Manila City Jail, where he has been detained for three years now on charges filed over the discovery of an alleged rebel mass grave in Leyte.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chair of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, or SELDA, said Oscar Belleza, 56, of Samar was transferred to the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center only on Monday morning, three days after he was taken to the jail infirmary when he fell unconscious.

Enriquez, in a statement, said Belleza only regained consciousness at the hospital and “can speak a little,” although his “attending doctors suspect possible brain hemorrhage.”

“We demand that Belleza be immediately released on humanitarian grounds. His condition does not give any justification for him to be brought back to jail,” Enriquez said in the statement, adding that the Manila City Jail management should shoulder the medical expenses for the detainee’s hospitalization.

“Poor conditions in the jail, including the inadequate budget allotted for nutrition and healthcare services for prisoners, have aggravated Belleza’s condition,” Enriquez said.
“We cannot tolerate another loss of life. He was a victim of a trumped-up case because he fought for genuine land reform. He should be released before it’s too late,” Enriquez said.

Belleza is a co-accused of former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo and Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison.

She cited the case of another political prisoner, Crisanto Fat of Negros Occidental, who died in 2011 after constant hospitalization due to a heart ailment.

Fat, a union organizer, was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, accusations his family maintain were made up by the military.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/66405/rights-group-urges-release-of-ailing-political-prisoner

CLASHES AMID PEACE TALKS | Moro rebels' try to block highway foiled; earlier clashes kill 11

From InterAksyon (Jul 15): CLASHES AMID PEACE TALKS | Moro rebels' try to block highway foiled; earlier clashes kill 11

Government forces Monday were able to thwart attempts by renegade Moro rebels to block the Maguindanao portions of the Cotabato City-Gen. Santos City highway, an Army official said.

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the rebels for the second day tried to establish road blockades in Barangay Bagan, Guindulungan, Maguindanao at 5 a.m. Monday.

On Saturday, the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade also foiled attempts by about 500 Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to take control of the highway in an effort to disrupt the peace and order situation in Maguindanao while peace talks between the GPH and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were ongoing in Malaysia.

Hermoso said that while the Army successfully foiled the attempt, two soldiers perished and four others wounded in action while government forces clashed with the guerrillas.

Nine BIFF forces were killed and five others were hurt during the sporadic skirmishes Saturday and Sunday, Hermoso said.

Hermoso identified the slain infantrymen as Private First Class Rheonel Rey Agcaoili and Private First Class Richel Pangibitan, both of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade. Wounded were Cpl. Jonathan Mark Balajo, Cpl. Marlon Amay, Pfc. Reniel F. Regal, and Pfc. Ian Cajeta.

The four soldiers wounded in the attack are now undergoing medication at the 6th ID’s Camp Siongco in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

They were on their way to Barangay Kateman in Guindulungan from their command post when the bandits, positioned at one side of the road, fired assault rifles and rockets at their four-wheel drive light truck, triggering a gun battle.

Hermoso identified some of the slain BIFF rebels as Mastura Mutin, Taya Mama, and Zainudin Abdul. Three of them were arrested identified as James Abdul, Saddam Abdulatip, and Salahudin Abdulatip.

Soldiers confiscated from their possession one M-16 Armalite rifle with ammunition; rounds of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs); and a motorcycle.

Hermoso said the rebels also attempted anew to occupy the highway but alert infantrymen prevented them from coming near the national road now guarded by four armored personnel carriers with mounted Cal. 60 machineguns.

He said government forces drove the rebels deep into the forest of Maguindanao.

Bakirin Sason, a resident of Guingulungan, told soldiers that the BIFF forces were running out of food supply and attempted to occupy the highway to conduct highway robbery targeting passenger bus and jeepneys.

Sason said the Muslim communities have been mad at the BIFF for conducting atrocities while they are observing the fasting month of Ramadhan.

"They are supposed to be praying but they are attacking soldiers and that displaces civilian communities during fasting," Hermoso quoted Sason as telling government forces.

Major General Romeo Gapuz, 6th ID chief, lauded the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade for the aborted atrocities by BIFF along the highway.

He also led 6th ID officers and men in honoring the two slain soldiers who offered their lives to protect Muslim communities and the general public in Barangay Guindulungan, Maguindanao.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/66384/clashes-amid-peace-talks--moro-rebels-try-to-block-highway-foiled-earlier-clashes-kill-11

Ex-Philippine rebels free hostages

From the Mindanao Examiner blog (Jul 15): Ex-Philippine rebels free hostages

Moro National Liberation Front gunmen have freed Monday all their 8 hostages following the release of three abducted daughters of the gang’s leaders in Basilan province in southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said MNLF leader Hassan Duwalay alias Commander Addang released the hostages in Tipo-Tipo town a day after his daughters Umma, Kelma and Pubu Duwalay – who had been abducted also on July 9 in Lamitan City in Basilan province – were freed.

“The release of the hostages is the result of joint efforts between the military and other stakeholders and we are glad it’s all over and peacefully settled,” Brig. Gen. Felicito Virgilio Trinidad, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

The former rebels abducted a dozen people in a raid on the village of Bohe Baca on July 11. Among those taken by the raiders were 7 minors, including an infant, who were earlier freed following a negotiation led by Lieutenant Colonel Paolo Perez, commander of the 18th Infantry Battalion, and village officials.

Capt. Jefferson Somera, a regional army spokesman, said the abductions were triggered by a long family feud that stemmed from a land conflict.

http://mindanaoexaminer.blogspot.com/2013/07/ex-philippine-rebels-free-hostages.html

Tadian town sets ‘rally for peace’ on July 15

From the Philippine Information Agency  (Jul 14): Tadian town sets ‘rally for peace’ on July 15

The peace-loving people of this town will converge at their municipal hall ground on July 15 for a “Rally for Peace” as an offshoot of the ambush by the New People’s Army of police scout trainees here recently.

In a communication sent to the local media, mayor Anthony Wooden said their Municipal Peace and Order Council which he also chairs, agreed to hold a rally for peace to show that the people of Tadian are peace-loving people and abhor violence.

The rally for peace, which also coincides with the Cordillera Day celebration, will start with a parade around the town’s business district and ends at the municipal hall grounds for a Eucharistic Mass and a program.

With a theme “Sustained Peace, Progress and Development,” speakers from the various sectors in the municipality are expected to air their sentiments regarding the ambush incident as well as suggest measures to maintain peace and order in their municipality.

Political leaders, religious leaders and employees of agencies and the academe and the men in uniform in the province were also invited to attend the activity.

It will be recalled that last June 28, 95 police scout trainees and four of their instructors were on their regular early morning jogging exercises on a national road at sitio Am-o, Poblacion, Tadian, when they were attacked by suspected NPA rebels killing one trainee and wounding nine others.

The Leonardo Pacsi Command of the NPA in Mt. Province claimed responsibility of the ambush.

On July 2, the provincial government led an indignation rally at the provincial plaza that saw the participation of thousands of placard-bearing students, local officials, employees of the national and local agencies and the private sectors to denounce the latest NPA atrocities.

Aside from the messages in the rallyists’ placards and streamers, various speakers including congressman Maximo Dalog, Sr., governor Leonard Mayaen, EDNP Bishop Brent Alawas, mayor Franklin Odsey, Tadian Mayor Wooden and Sagada Sanguniang Bayan Indigenous  Peoples representative Jaime Dugao took turns in denouncing the ambush staged by the NPA rebels to the helpless and armless police trainees.

Board member Alfonso Kiat-ong, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan committee on peace and order, also read a resolution strongly condemning the ambush incident perpetrated by the armed groups to the police trainees.

The Tadian MPOC earlier came out with their strongly worded resolution “strongly condemning the latest NPA ambush” which they said breached the peace and order of their municipality.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=131373614200

Guerrilla leader, land reform champion gets place of honor

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 14): Guerrilla leader, land reform champion gets place of honor


DR. ROMEO Taruc, the only son of Hukbalahap supremo Luis Taruc, celebrates his father’s 100th birth anniversary in San Luis, Pampanga. E.I. REYMOND T. OREJAS/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

SAN LUIS, Pampanga—The late Huk supremo Luis Taruc—renowned guerrilla leader, agrarian reform champion and socialist—is this farming town’s new hero.

A municipal ordinance describes Taruc as a role model for the youth  and has named a public park after him on his birth centenary. Taruc was a native of Barangay Sta. Monica here.

The town also unveiled a plan to build a museum for Taruc’s memorabilia.

The son of a poor corn farmer and fish vendor, Taruc was one of the founders of the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap), which fought the invading Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.

He became the leader of an agrarian uprising that the United States helped quash. He was elected congressman in 1946 but was unseated, along with five other lawmakers, due to alleged election fraud and terrorism.

He again pursued armed struggle, but he surrendered in 1954. He was jailed for 14 years until his pardon by the dead dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1968. He was a primary advocate for agrarian reform since his release.

He died on May 4, 2005, at the age of 91.

“Ka Luis, in fighting for the peasants of Pampanga and the whole Philippines, has made a distinct solid contribution toward the advancement of the interest of the agricultural working class,” Bishop Nilo Tayag of the Philippine Independent Church, former chair of the militant Kabataang Makabayan, said during the recognition program.

Young courier

Vivencio Tizon, an 80-year-old World War II veteran, shared accounts of Taruc as a charismatic leader among peasants. At the age of 8, Tizon served as a courier in the Hukbalahap.

He said Taruc held meetings with the Banal regiment in the Tizons’ home in Barangay Lourdes in Minalin.

The province’s leading poets, Eufrosinia Peña and Frank Guintu, paid homage by reading their works on Taruc’s hard life as freedom fighter.

“The Hukbalahap supremo was a very important example to our youth,” Representative-elect Juan Pablo Bondoc said in the program.

“This monument reminds us of the sacrifices of Ka Luis but his contributions are beyond Pampanga,” Bondoc said.

The pork barrel of outgoing Rep. Anna York Bondoc-Sagum funded the construction of the park three years ago.

From being the “nest of the revolution,” San Luis is now in a better state, boasting a zero-crime rate, Bondoc said.

Gov. Lilia Pineda said Taruc’s fight for social justice through agrarian reform was unfinished.

“The high cost of inputs and usury makes life hard for our farmers,” she said, announcing the provincial government would help farmers pay amortization to  Land Bank of the Philippines.

“Let us be proud of Ka Luis and let us not forget the struggle of the masses to rise from poverty,” Pineda said, vowing that her second term would focus on agricultural development.

Hero of the masses

Ferdinand Llanes, commissioner of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, said Taruc was not an intellectual but was popular with the masses.

He said Taruc and the late labor leader, Felixberto Olalia Sr., opposed the “retreat for defense” policy of the merged old Communist Party of the Philippines and Socialist Party of the Philippines.

“The challenge for historians is to return to these personalities who became popular leaders among the masses,” Llanes said. “It is important for our youth to remember them and their contributions to the making of the nation.”

Taruc’s only son, Romeo, said he was overwhelmed by the tribute and honor given to his father.

“In his time, he never received any recognition because he was a rebel,” Romeo said, clarifying his father “always insisted he was a socialist and not a communist.”

Romeo told the audience that the Hukbalahap already liberated Central Luzon even before the Americans returned a few years after the Fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942.

Romeo, who was also a guerrilla, said the Huks also freed Americans imprisoned by the Japanese army.

Tayag said: “I feel elated because it is really high time that we recognize the contribution of people like Ka Luis Taruc to the revolutionary movement in the country. Whatever their ideological differences, what is important is they were able to mobilize the masses.”

“The agrarian laws we are enjoying today, although inadequate, [are] a result of this struggle. They had to struggle and fight for it. That’s why the Hukbahalap and even the New People’s Army had contributed to the legislation of agricultural reforms,” he said.

 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/444233/guerrilla-leader-land-reform-champion-gets-place-of-honor

NDFP slams local talks with rebs in Sorsogon

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 13): NDFP slams local talks with rebs in Sorsogon
An Utrecht-based official of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on Friday shot down a proposal by Sorsogon Gov. Raul Lee to start talks in the local level with communist rebels.

Localized peace talks are an “old and futile attempt” of the government to split the revolutionary movement, Luis Jalandoni, NDFP peace panel chief, said in an e-mail statement sent to the Inquirer from The Netherlands.

Jalandoni predicted that local peace talks “are bound to fail.” He said the communist leadership has repeatedly made it clear that only the negotiating panel of the NDFP is authorized to engage in peace negotiations.

Jalandoni said the localized peace talks are part of the the military’s counterinsurgency plan called Oplan Bayanihan.

Armed Forces Chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista on Thursday admitted that Oplan Bayanihan had failed in its goal to wipe out the communist rebels.

Jalandoni said the local peace talks concept is also in line with the so-called “new approach” of President Aquino, the AFP and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process under Secretary Teresita Deles.

On Wednesday, Lee, in a statement, said the local government would be willing to provide resources in local talks between the military and communist rebels.

Last week, Sorsogon took center stage in the 44-year-old communist rebellion after eight rebels were killed in a clash with soldiers in Juban town.

The rebel fatalities included Frankie Joe Soriano, better known by his pseudonym “Ka Greg Bañares,” the NDFP spokesperson in Bicol.

Last July 7, a university co-ed was wounded after suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels fired at police securing a fun run in Gubat, Sorsogon. The next day, communist guerillas under the NPA’s Celso Minguez Command clashed with soldiers in Irosin, Sorsogon.

The rebels admitted a comrade, Pinky Boticario, alias “Ka Gerald,” was also killed in the clash, but the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) insisted in a press statement that the rebels also killed eight Army soldiers in the clash.

Lt. Col. Neil Anthony Estrella, spokesperson of the military’s Southern Luzon Command based here in Camp Nakar, belied the CPP claim of killing soldiers.

Estrella called on local government officials to initiate localized peace talks to prevent more bloodshed, saying that doing so “could convince NPA rebels to surrender and live with their loved ones again.”

Peace negotiations between the communist rebels and the government have been stalled  since 2004.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/444227/ndfp-slams-local-talks-with-rebs-in-sorsogon

Camp arms itself with the world’s largest peace mural

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 14): Camp arms itself with the world’s largest peace mural

Artist AG Saño. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

 
Some call it street art, others graffiti.

Either way, bystanders and motorists cannot help but do a double take when they walk or drive past Camp Aguinaldo, the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa).

Amid the traffic snarl and smoke, vibrant hues are now painted on the white walls of a military camp.

At one end of its perimeter wall, a nun, a member of the indigenous community, a priest and a Muslim imam link arms.

A couple of meters away, silhouettes of images from the Edsa People Power Revolution—that of soldiers and civilians flashing the “Laban” sign—contrast with the setting of the sun.

“It is easier to illustrate peace as a way of life with images like these, to paint our own stories and messages for others to understand and share,” said Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman, country director of the Asia America Initiative (AAI), a nongovernment organization.

The AAI is one of many groups behind the bid to paint the walls of Camp Aguinaldo with the longest peace mural ever at 3,770 meters.

Called “Lakbay para sa Kapayapaan sa Edsa (Journey to Peace on Edsa),” the project launched on May 26 has transformed part of the formerly white walls into peace-themed street murals.
 

 

Men from the Philippine Air Force work on the peace mural on Camp Aguinaldo’s perimeter fence starting from the People Power Monument to White Plains Avenue in Quezon City on Wednesday. When completed, the series of murals around Camp Aguinaldo will stretch for 4 kilometers and will be the longest peace mural in the world. RAFFY LERMA

For lead artist AG Saño, the murals illustrate that peace is neither grand nor abstract but as plain and simple as doing small but good deeds every day.

“For example, we have a painting of a driver letting pedestrians cross the road first. We also depicted bayanihan images of people coming together for rescue and relief efforts, for caring for the environment,” Saño told the Inquirer.

He said that with the images, they hope to inspire ordinary people to do good deeds.

“You don’t have to wait for conflict to happen or worsen. Peace is not just about the absence of war. We have a lot of positive Filipino values which contribute to peace,” Sano said.

The project is a joint effort of the AFP, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the Dolphins Love Freedom Movement and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Armed with paintbrushes

A handful of AFP personnel in athletic gear were seen armed not with guns but with paintbrushes during one of the painting sessions.

“The AFP has been planning to do a project like this and it was by a stroke of luck that AAI wanted to do a peace mural,” said Capt. Genesis Gabrido, who shed his uniform for a brown shirt and shorts that were later flecked with paint.

All the walls of Camp Aguinaldo will be adorned with peace-themed images—the 1.7 kilometer stretch along Boni Serrano Avenue, the 1.3 km stretch along Edsa and the 1 km on White Plains.

On the group’s Facebook account, called Project Edsa, the organizers asked netizens the name they preferred for the peace mural.

Most of the volunteers heeded the call for painters also through appeals made on social media, with AFP personnel comprising a third of the participants.

Lead artists would guide volunteers in using the right colors and strokes in each section of the mural to make sure even unexperienced hands could get the hues right.

“It’s amazing how many different people can come together for this effort—a peace mural,” said Gabrido, a soldier who joined the painting sessions. “Imagine how we can do a collaborative effort like this for other endeavors if we put our minds to it.”

The images, Sumndad-Usman said, were the product of an art workshop.

One part of the Edsa wall depicted women weaving different colored threads into one cloth.

In another other section, a blackboard bore the words, “Peace is a way of life,” side by side with Efren Peñaflorida’s “Kariton Klasrum.”

Depicting culture

To illustrate bayanihan, men and women were painted rowing a sarimanok (legendary bird)-themed longboat—together and in unison.

On Boni Serrano Avenue, the walls were adorned with images of popular tourist spots, like the Chocolate Hills in Bohol and the Mayon Volcano in Albay.

The same wall also features depictions of periods in Philippine history, such as the Spanish colonial period and Lapu-Lapu’s battle with Ferdinand Magellan.

Sumndad-Usman said the White Plains stretch focused on calls or efforts at peace-building, with lyrics from a song entitled “Children for Peace.”

“The murals are related to each other, but they can stand on their own. Motorists passing by can only glance at them one at a time and we want to be able to send a message,” said Sano.

Favorite

A peace advocate himself, Sano said they wish to beat a previous record set by Chile at 1 km for the longest peace mural.

His favorite depiction is the weavers. “Those women are not just weaving cloth but different cultures and religions of our country,” he said.

Near the Santolan Manila Metro Rail Transit station, four painters on wheelchairs also joined the fray, filling in colors of city landscapes.

Marilou Deniega and other painters on wheelchairs used long-stemmed paintbrushes in painting the walls, bubbling with enthusiasm as much as the other volunteers.

“We want to show that even though we are persons with disabilities, we, too, can take part in promoting peace. If others can do it, so can we. We should all do our part,” she said.

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/113681/camp-arms-itself-with-the-worlds-largest-peace-mural

AFP cites Synetcom

From Tempo (Jul 14): AFP cites Synetcom

The Armed Forces of the Philippines, through its Communications, Electronics, and Information Systems Service (CEISSAFP), honored communications and IT solutions distributor Synetcom Philippines Inc. for its contributions to the integration of modern systems and capability upgrades of the AFP modernization program.

Synetcom provided AFP with free technical training and updates on the responsive, reliable, secure, and cost-effective solutions and information that will help enhance the country’s military strength in the areas of operations and communications.

Thirty officers and enlisted personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine National Police Personnel underwent the Siemens HiPath 4000 Basic Training under the AFP Digital Switch Operations and Maintenance Course 07-2013.

According to CEISSAFP Deputy Commander for Operations Capt. Vicente L. Cejoco, this is the first in the history of the unit that both personnel from the Coast Guard and PNP joined together to undergo a training program in preparation for the integration of the communication systems of other government agencies with the AFP.

Synetcom provided the much-needed detailed and informative technical knowledge and skills to the AFP personnel manning the network.

“To support AFP through technical training is our way of helping defend and protect our national sovereignty specially with the advent of cyber attacks and other network security threats that is becoming rampant nowadays,” Synetcom president and CEO Dennis Luyahan said.

http://www.tempo.com.ph/2013/07/afp-cites-synetcom/#.UeLWso7D9jo

Bomb threat causes traffic build-up in Gen San highway

From ABS-CBN (Jul 14): Bomb threat causes traffic build-up in Gen San highway

A suspected improvised explosive device (IED) placed inside a multicab caused a 10-hour delay for motorists passing by the Cotabato-General Santos City highway on Sunday.

According to SPO2 Akmad Manabilang, acting chief of police of Guindulungan, the multicab and four drums were allegedly placed by Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) members around 10:00 pm Saturday at the center of the national highway along Brgy. Macsampen, Guindulugan, Maguindanao.

The multicab prevented motorists from passing by the area.

Authorities placed a police line around the multicab and drums because they suspect there is an IED planted there.

Around 9:00 am Sunday, the army’s explosive ordinance disposal team went to the area for clearing operations.

The search revealed no explosive device inside the multicab and drums.

As of now, the Army is on alert in Maguindanao and is continuing its law enforcement operations following a series of attacks launched by the BIFF.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/07/14/13/bomb-threat-causes-traffic-build-gen-san-highway

Authorities warn against night travel along Maguindanao highway

From MindaNews (Jul 14): Authorities warn against night travel along Maguindanao highway

Authorities on Sunday cautioned traveling along the Maguindanao highway connecting the cities of Tacurong and Cotabato at nighttime due to the threats posed by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

A joint advisory from the 6^th Infantry Division, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and the Office of Civil Defense in Region 12 said that government troops have conducted security operations along the Tacurong-Cotabato highway due to recent attacks by the BIFF.

“All are discouraged to travel along the said highway today (Sunday) and during nighttime,” the first advisory issued at 6 a.m. said.

In the second advisory effective 10 a.m., it said that the Cotabato-Tacurong highway has been cleared of “obstacles and is now passable.”

Government troops, however, were still conducting security operations along the peripheries spanning Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao and Cotabato City, the second advisory said.

 

“All travel is discouraged during nighttime,” the second advisory added.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, 6ID spokesman, said that government troops have secured the Tacurong-Cotabato highway from security threats.

“The highway is passable and secured,” he said in a text message.

Hermoso particularly noted that the highway connecting the towns of Guindulungan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan has been cleared of lawless elements and “secured as of 9:30 a.m. Sunday.”

In August last year, the road stretching from Guindulungan to Shariff Aguak, the capital of Maguindanao, was closed to traffic after BIFF forces launched simultaneous attacks against government installations in the area.

Last week, five soldiers were killed as the BIFF, which broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), launched attacks against military targets in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces.

The military claimed that 18 BIFF fighters were killed in the ensuing firefights.
Thousands have been forced to evacuation centers in Datu Piang town due to the clashes between government and BIFF forces, reports said.

The BIFF attacks came ahead of the resumption of peace talks between the government and the MILF on July 8, which ended with the signing of the annex on wealth-sharing at 12:07 a.m. today, Sunday.

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2013/07/14/authorities-warn-against-night-travel-along-maguindanao-highway/

PHL lays down 3 conditions for continued presence in Golan Heights

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 14): PHL lays down 3 conditions for continued presence in Golan Heights

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has met United Nations officials and laid out conditions for Filipino peacekeeping troops to stay in the volatile Golan Heights, including providing weapons for their defense by October and allowing troops to be assigned in the dangerous region on a six-month rotational basis.

U.N. Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous pledged the world body "will be working with all stakeholders to provide what is needed" and "agreed that providing more robust self-defense capabilities for UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) personnel would be vital to the success of the mission," the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.

Del Rosario met Ladsous on July 12 to seek greater protection and security for the 343 Filipino troops, who are part of the U.N. mission monitoring the armistice line in Golan Heights between Syria and Israel following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were seized by rebels.Some 25 Filipino peacekeeping troops were seized in two separate occasions by rebels in March and May this year, prompting the Philippine government to re-assess its troop presence there.

“Secretary Del Rosario emphasized the conditionalities set by the Philippine government for its continued engagement in UNDOF. Secretary del Rosario, however, informed Under-Secretary Ladsous that Philippine troops would in the meantime remain in UNDOF until August 11,” the DFA said.

Del Rosario identified the following conditionalities:

 

--The UN is able to deploy UNDOF’s mandated full troop strength of 1,250 by October 2013;

 

-- The necessary equipment for the protection and defense of Filipino troops and other UNDOF are procured by October 2013;

 

-- The Philippines be allowed to deploy troops using a six month rotation.

UNDOF contingents are deployed by rotation cycles, usually every six months. However, the U.N., in early 2013, extended the cycle to one year.

The Philippines has a total of 742 police, military and jail personnel in eight U.N. peacekeeping operations, namely Haiti, Liberia, South Sudan, Cote d’ Ivoire, the disputed territory of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan, the India-Pakistan border and Afghanistan.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=543986

Army troopers, militiamen repel 30 NPAs in Calbayog City

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 14): Army troopers, militiamen repel 30 NPAs in Calbayog City

Troopers from the 52nd Infantry Battalion and supporting militiamen from the Pinamurutan CAA Detachment have successfully repulsed a group of 30 New People's Army (NPA) rebels reportedly on a extortion mission in Barangay Mabini, Calbayog City, Samar last July 12.

Belated reports from Capt. Amado Gutierrez, 8th Infantry Division, the mother unit of the 52nd Infantry Battalion, said government forces under Sgt. Charito L. Villamor were conducting a routine security patrol when they encountered the rebel band headed by one "Dado Baldonado".

A 25-minute firefight broke out between the opposing groups. This ended with the retreat of the rebels who sustained an undetermined number of casualties with no losses to the government side.

Gutierrez added that 52nd Infantry Battalion troopers recovered a homemade shotgun in the scene of the encounter.

Meanwhile, two NPA camps were discovered by operating troops of the 20th Infantry Battalion.

The first camp was discovered on July 11 in the outskirts of Barangay Toog, Lavasares, Northern Samar.

It was assessed by troops to have been abandoned by the NPAs three weeks ago.

Inspection revealed that it can accommodate 50 people, has 40 sleeping bunkers, three guard posts, two kitchens and two comport rooms.

While the second camp was discovered on July 12 at the vicinity of Barangay Luisita, Victoria, Northern Samar.

This camp can accommodate seven people. It was said to have been hastily vacated by the NPAs one to two days before it was discovered owing to the fresh signs of habitation in the camp’s periphery and military uniforms and civilian clothing recovered by the troops.

Both NPA camps were discovered by a platoon of soldiers led by 1st Lt. Alge Oronan.

“While the focus of 8th Infantry Division is to deliver community services to the people through its 'Bayanihan' Teams, your soldiers will continue to defend the people against the NPAs who continue to extort, intimidate and worst, even kill those who oppose them," Gutierrez concluded.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=544000