Tabak Division gets 138 news soldiers

From the Mindanao Examiner (Dec 15): Tabak Division gets 138 news soldiers





Awarding of candidates soldiers who finish Jungle Warfare Mountaineering Operation Course.

PAGADIAN CITY – Some 138 candidate soldiers finished Sunday the Jungle Warfare Mountaineering Operation Course at an army base in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, officials said.

Officials said candidate soldier Rodel Babao, of Isabela City in Basilan province, topped the course and was followed by Richard Aninion and Nover Rillera, both from Molave town in Zamboanga del Sur province.

Captain Jefferson Somera, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said the class which opened in June originally had 144 candidate soldiers and only 138 graduated the rigors of military trainings and discipline.

He said among the 138 candidate soldiers, 42 of them were college graduate, 62 college level and 28 finished vocational courses. He added that 25 were high school graduates, but proved to be deserving candidates as they possessed the skills required to qualify for enlistment.

Brigadier General Felicito Virgilio Trinidad, Jr, the division commander, praised the soldiers. “You are the new breed of the Philippine Army under the Army Transformation Road Map. We are expecting from you as your parents and relatives do, to perform your duty to the best of your ability. You are now a soldier of the people, serve them well,” he said.

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20131215053600

DND to acquire drones, surveillance equipment

From ABS-CBN (Dec 15): DND to acquire drones, surveillance equipment

The Department of National Defense (DND) will acquire drones and other surveillance equipment to boost the Philippine Marines’ security and search and rescue operations.

The items form part of the Marine Forces Imagery and Targeting Support System Acquisition Project worth P684 million, according to a bid bulletin released by the agency.

The project involves the acquisition of six sets of drones or small unmanned aerial vehicle sub-systems, nine sets of target acquisition device sub-systems, 12 kits of tactical sensor integration sub-systems, and an integrated logistics support package.

The equipment will be used by the three Marine brigades in Sulu, Central Mindanao and Palawan.

 Navy spokesman Lt. Commander Gregory Fabic said on Friday drones can be used for surveillance and for search and rescue efforts.

“It will serve as our eye in the sky without the risk of personnel casualty,” Fabic said. “Since a drone has a camera, the area to be covered by reconnaissance operations will be wider. It can also help us detect missing persons.”

The DND is now inviting companies to bid for the project. The equipment will be acquired through competitive bidding in line with the implementing rules of the procurement law.

Bidders should have completed within five years from the date of the submission of bids a contract similar to the project. The deadline for the submission of bids is on Jan. 6, 2014.

The goods to be offered should have been used by military forces of the countries of origin of the suppliers or by the armed forces of at least two other countries.

Late bids as well as those that exceed the approved budget of P684 million will be rejected.

Interested parties may buy bid documents from the bids and awards committee secretariat for P75,000.

They may also be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System but the bidder will have to pay for them before the submission of bids.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/15/13/dnd-acquire-drones-surveillance-equipment

NPA kills one soldier, injures another

From ABS-CBN (Dec 15): NPA kills one soldier, injures another

Alleged members of the New People's Army (NPA) killed one elite soldier and injured another during an ambush in San Fernando town in Bukidnon on Saturday night.

Earlier in the day, the rebels also raided the Don Victoriano Chiongbian town police station in Misamis Occidental and sequestered a number of firearms which include an M203 grenade launcher, nine handguns, a cal. 60 machine gun, seven armalite rifles, and various ammunition.

According to Captain Christian Uy, spokesman of the Philippine Army's 4th Infantry Division, the ambush in San Fernando happened at 8 p.m.

Uy said that the troops were sent to Barangay Bunakaw in San Fernando after the army received reports confirming the rebels’ presence in the area. When they were already returning to their camp, they were attacked by roughly five rebels.

"The rebels withdrew as the troops returned fire," said Uy.

Uy reported that the soldier who was killed is a private first class while the injured holds a corporal rank.

The army refused to reveal the soldiers’ identities until their families have been duly notified.

Uy said the series of attacks is part of the celebration of the 45th foundation anniversary of the NPA’s political arm, the Communist Party of the Philippines, on December 26.

"They just want to project that they are still a force to reckon with when their strength continues to decline. They usually do this when their anniversary is approaching. What they want to celebrate is the number of people they kill.”

The incident is the third encounter between the rebels and the government soldiers since the former attacked the Kibawe town police station in Bukidnon last Thursday.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/12/15/13/npa-kills-one-soldier-injures-another

One soldier killed, another injured in Bukidnon clash

From the Philippine Star (Dec 15): One soldier killed, another injured in Bukidnon clash

A soldier was killed and another was wounded in a clash between government troops and leftist rebels yesterday, the military said today.

The firefight in San Fernando town of Mindanao's Bukidnon province happened just days after New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas attacked a police station in Kibawe town, also in Bukidnon, which left two policemen dead, said Christian Uy, regional army spokesperson.

Soldiers from the army's 2nd Scout Rangers Battalion were on their way back to camp from a combat patrol when they chanced upon an undetermined number of NPA insurgents, triggering a ten-minute clash, Uy told Xinhua in a text message.

"One soldier was killed and another was wounded. We're conducting pursuit operations (against the rebels)," said Uy.

This was the third attack by NPA rebels since Thursday. Over a dozen firearms were carted and two other policemen were wounded as dozens of NPA guerrillas stormed the Kibawe police station on Thursday. Early on Saturday, the leftist rebels also attacked a police station in Misamis Occidental province, taking away weapons, although there were no immediate reports of police casualties.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/12/15/1268443/one-soldier-killed-another-injured-bukidnon-clash

JICA extends $184-M loan for PCG vessels

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Dec 15): JICA extends $184-M loan for PCG vessels

Amid ongoing territorial disputes with China, President Benigno Aquino III on Sunday said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will loan $184 million for the purchase of 10 Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels.

The President, in a press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, announced that the agreement with JICA has been signed.

“Nalagdaan na po ang 184 million dollars na pautang mula sa Japan International Cooperation Agency, para makabili ng sampung Coast Guard vessels na magbabantay sa ating mga baybayin,” he said.

(“The $184-million loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, for the purchase of ten Coast Guard vessels that will guard our shores, has been signed,” he said.)

Aquino was recently in Japan for the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit.
He said the vessels, which are expected to be delivered by 2015, will boost the country’s maritime security.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) said the PCG will receive ten 40-meter multi-purpose vessels.

“With the purchase of new vessels, the PCG could upgrade its current fleet that will strengthen its task of defending the country’s exclusive economic zone. The new sea crafts, once turned over to the PCG, will do patrols in several contested territories in the West Philippine Sea,” the report said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/546817/jica-extends-184-m-loan-for-pcg-vessels

Al-Qaeda more dangerous than ever

From InterAksyon (Dec 15): Al-Qaeda more dangerous than ever



Al Qaeda chieftain Ayman al-Zawahiri (AFP/Getty Images files)

More than two and a half years after US commandos shot dead Al-Qaeda figurehead Osama bin Laden, the global extremist network is more dangerous than ever, American experts and counterterrorism officials warned this week.

Thanks notably to a flood of recruits flowing to join Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist forces fighting in Syria's civil war, the group is back on its feet, and securing territory from which it could once more threaten Europe and the United States.

Bin Laden's former lieutenants in Al-Qaeda's historic leadership have been killed by US Special Forces or in drone strikes, or else are isolated and on the run in the tribal badlands on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

But armed groups in Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and West Africa have flocked to his banner and Al-Qaeda is rebuilding its influence and recruiting fighters across the region.

"Their leadership has been hit very hard, but this brand is still growing. And it's growing from an increased number of safe havens," said retired US Marine Corps general James Mattis.

Between 2010 and earlier this year, Mattis led US Central Command, in charge of prosecuting Washington's long war against extremists in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa.

Now he has hung up his uniform, but admits the war is far from over, warning: "The congratulations that we heard two years ago on the demise of Al-Qaeda were premature and are now discredited."

Speaking at the Jamestown Foundation's annual conference on terrorism in Washington, Mattis said: "Al-Qaeda is resilient, they adapted. We have to think strategically before we act, not only act tactically."

Bin Laden's death in May 2011 triggered a wave of optimism that the United States and its allies might have broken the back of the jihadist threat, but today officials here are under no illusions.

Since the audacious commando strike that took out Al-Qaeda's apparently largely symbolic chieftain, the black banner of his movement has been raised more widely than ever.

Militants inspired by or linked to Bin Laden's brand of armed jihad have sacked a US consulate in Libya and stormed a shopping mall in Kenya.

Attacks are on the rise once again in Iraq, Al-Qaeda has reportedly begun operating in Egypt's Sinai desert and violent extremist groups are now the most powerful elements in the rebel coalition fighting in the Syrian civil war.

Bruce Hoffman, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, told the Jamestown conference that collapsing states in the Middle East were opening up space for extremists.

"The oxygen that Al-Qaeda depends on is access to sanctuaries and safe haven. And unfortunately over the past two years it gained greater access to more ungoverned spaces," he said.

"The success of the attack in Nairobi and earlier in Mumbai suggests that this groups have now within their capacity the ability to fulfill one of Bin Laden's last commands or operational desires, which was to stage Mumbai-style attacks in Europe."

For the experts gathered in Washington, Syria's civil war -- which has attracted Islamist volunteers from Muslim communities in Europe as well as Arab countries -- has worked greatly to Al-Qaeda's advantage.

"The Al-Qaeda affiliated groups have created an alliance which disposes of 45,000 guerrilla fighters across the country," said David Kilcullen, a renowned counterinsurgency expert who has advised US forces in the field.

"It's a very significant number, almost twice as many as we see in terms of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan," he said. "We're seeing a recovery on all fronts for Al-Qaeda."

For Bruce Riedel, a three-decade CIA veteran who now works for the Brookings Institution, Al-Qaeda's resurgence is proof that it has managed to ride out and ultimately profit from the revolts that have roiled the Middle East and North Africa.

"Al-Qaeda's narrative was challenged in 2011 by the Arab Spring. Peaceful demonstrations succeeded in toppling dictators. Al-Qaeda's narrative was at risk. Terror had not produced change, Twitter had," Riedel said.

"But today, everything is different. Al-Qaeda's narrative is validated in 2013, most notably in Egypt. The counterrevolution has succeeded, the army has overthrown the elected government.

"For those who want to join Al-Qaeda's movement, events in Cairo, in Damascus have validated what they long said: Jihad is the only solution to the problem of change in the Muslim world today."

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/76860/al-qaeda-more-dangerous-than-ever

Rebels attack Misamis Oriental police station, 12 firearms taken

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 15): Rebels attack Misamis Oriental police station, 12 firearms taken

Units from the 1st Infantry Division are now hot on the trail of the 30 or more New People's Army (NPA) fighters who raided the police station in Don Victoriano Chiongbian town, Misamis Oriental early Saturday morning.

Capt. Jefferson Somera, 1st Infantry Division spokesperson, said the raid took place around 5 a.m.

"Some of the rebels arrived on a white Toyota Revo while the others were on foot," he added.

Although no one was hurt nor killed in the rebel raid, the NPAs succeeded in stealing 12 firearms, including six Armalite rifles and a light machine gun.

Somera said that responding military units clashed with the NPA's "blocking force" in the neighboring town of Josefina while on the way to reinforce the Don Victoriano Chiongbian police.

The rebels detonated a landmine during the clash with members of the 55th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Tudela before withdrawing, but no one was injured, Somera said.

The raid in Don Victoriano Chiongbian town came just two days after NPA members carried out an attack in another police station in Kibawe, Bukidnon, on Thursday.

One policeman was killed and three others were injured in the earlier incident, where rebels also seized a total of 13 firearms from the Kibawe police.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=596887

Aquino signs Japan loan for acquisition of new vessels for Philippine Coast Guard

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 15): Aquino signs Japan loan for acquisition of new vessels for Philippine Coast Guard
 
President Benigno S. Aquino III said the US$ 184-million loan to acquire 10 multi-role vessels from Japan as additional sea assets of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is a done deal.

“Bago tayo lumipad pauwi, tuloy pa rin ang pagdating ng good news. Nalagdaan na po ang US$ 184 million na pautang mula sa Japan International Cooperation Agency para makabili ng sampung Coast Guard vessels na magbabantay sa ating mga baybayin,” the President said in his arrival message at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 Sunday.

The President arrived from Japan after attending the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit.

The President said that he expected that after the bidding process, the first shipment of the newly-acquired 40-meter multi-purpose vessels would arrive in the country in 2015.

With the purchase of new vessels, the PCG could upgrade its current fleet that will strengthen its task of defending the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The new sea crafts, once turned over to the PCG, would do patrols in several contested territories in the West Philippine Sea.

 http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=597020

NPA ransacks police station in Misamis Occidental

From Rappler (Dec 14): NPA ransacks police station in Misamis Occidental

The New People's Army ransacked the Don Victoriano Chiongban police station in Misamis Occidental at 5 am Saturday, December 14, sparking a 25-minute exchange of fire with the Philippine Army (PA) an hour later.

According to Lt Col Rommel Almaria, commanding officer of the 55^th Infantry Battalion which has jurisdiction over the area, the incident was a revenge attack by the "communist terrorists" for the death of one of its leaders during a similar clash last September.

The September encounter, which happened in the village of Gala in Tudela town of the same province, resulted in the death of NPA leader Henry "Jongjong" H. Celajes.

Celajas, said Almaria, was "responsible for the burning of numerous road engineering equipment and chicken farms" as well as "extortion activities in Misamis Occidental and Zambaonga del Sur in the past years."

The NPA attackers were clad in military uniform on Saturday, taking with them guns and ammunition. Among those carted away were: a caliber 60 machine gun, an M203 grenade launcher, 7 armalite rifles, 9 short fire arms, and numerous ammunition of different calibers.

The Army troopers who responded ambushed the get-away car at around 6 am. They knew that the rebels withdrew in the direction of the hinterland of Josefina town in Zamboanga del Sur using a white Revo.

The ambush occurred in the village of Bag-ong Tudela in Josefina, resulting in a gunfight.

NPA members dispersed after the fire exchange and detonated a prepared land mine. No casualty was reported from either side.

In Zamboanga del Norte, operating troops from the 20th Special Forces Company under the 6th Special Forces Battalion were able to recover a Garand rifle, various ammunition, and subversive documents from the NPA.

The recovery came after a similar encounter between Army troopers and the NPA, also on Saturday.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/45928-npa-ransacks-police-station-misamis-occidental

Police foil NPA take over

From the Sun Star-Zamboanga (Dec 14): Police foil NPA take over

THE police foiled Saturday an attempt of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels to take over the police station in the town of Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur, the police reported Saturday.

Police earlier clashed with the lawless group in the town of Dinas, also in Zamboanga del Sur.

Zamboanga Peninsula Police information officer Ariel Huesca said the vigilance of Josefina's police team thwarted the NPA's plan.

Huesca said at least 30 NPA rebels arrived around 6:15 a.m. Saturday at the Josefina Police Station and pretended to arrest a wanted person.

Huesca, however, said the policemen were able to detect the intention of the NPA rebels as they failed to properly identify themselves that prompted the Josefina policemen to position themselves in strategic positions.

The NPA rebels fled upon sensing the arrival of reinforcement after Josefina policemen contacted the Zamboanga del Sur Police Provincial Office and “requested for back-up.”

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2013/12/14/police-foil-npa-take-over-318842

Point man for ‘closure’ with MNLF named by Palace

From the Gulf Times (Dec 13): Point man for ‘closure’ with MNLF named by Palace

Malacañang yesterday said it has begun the “closure process” with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) of Nur Misuari, who ordered his fighters to attack Zamboanga City in September in retaliation for the government’s failure to fully implement the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF.

In a press briefing, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said President Benigno Aquino third has appointed Zenonida Brosas as deputy director general of the National Security Council (NSC) in charge of carrying out “closuremodalities for existing peace agreements.”

Brosas will also handle the administrative operations of the NSC and the Presidential Situation Room.

A briefer distributed by the Palace indicated that Brosas will represent the council in the joint meetings of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Philippine government and the MNLF.

She will also chair the technical working group on the normalization annex of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro. The group will draft the annex for the decommissioning of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) forces and arms.

Brosas will also be in charge of “monitoring the government’s peace programmes and serves as technical resource person to the Peace Panels specifically on the drafting and preparation of peace agreements … and the implementation of closure modalities for existing peace agreements,” the briefer indicated.

Brosas’ appointment came after the government and MILF panels signed the power-sharing agreement, a step closer to the signing of the final pact with the MILF, which includes the establishment of a Bangsamoro political entity.

This means the 1996 peace deal would be set aside in favour of the new agreement with the MILF, something that could further infuriate Misuari and his MNLF followers.

Believing that the pact MNLF signed with then President Fidel Ramos in 1996 would be junked, Misuari declared independence and announced the establishment of a Bangsamoro Republik.

On September 9, MNLF forces marched into Zamboanga City and occupied several barangays. It took almost a month of bloody clashes before government troops drove them out.

Misuari has since gone into hiding and was even reported to have fled the country.
Misuari had railed at the reported plan of the Aquino government to put a closure to the tripartite review that will implement the 1996 peace agreement, a task that now rests on Brosas’ shoulder.

The MNLF was worried that the negotiations with the MILF would undermine the MNLF’s political influence.

Miriam Coronel Ferrer, an official of the government peace panel, said Misuari has only himself to blame for failing to see fruition of the 1996 peace agreement because of “ignorance.”

She stressed the agreement has been largely implemented with the creation of the Southern Philippine Council for Peace and Development, the amendments to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao law, the integration of MNLF forces into the military and police organisations and the introduction of livelihood programs for MNLF base commands.

“They missed out on what was common sense to a lot of ordinary people: that Misuari had been given the chance to prove his worth as a leader of the ARMM but failed,” Coronel Ferrer said.

Aside from her role as OIC representative and architect of the “disarmament” of MILF forces, Brosas is “basically in charge of the preparation of the daily information and intelligence requirements of the President and the National Security Adviser, which involves the monitoring and assessment of local and foreign developments bearing on national security,” the Malacañang briefer said.

As executive director of the President’s situation room, she will also be responsible for “monitoring of events and situations bearing on national security and providing he President situational awareness 24 hours, seven days a week.”

An economic degree holder from the University of the Philippines, Brosas holds various certificates in security studies abroad, including the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. Hawaii; the Swedish National defence College in Stockholm; the Norwegian Defense International Center on Norway; and she also studied in Germany, Brussels and Geneva.
http://www.gulf-times.com/asean-philippines/188/details/374533/point-man-for-%E2%80%98closure%E2%80%99-with-mnlf-named-by-palace

Navy to air-drop X’mas presents to soldiers on old shipwreck

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Dec 14): Navy to air-drop X’mas presents to soldiers on old shipwreck
The Philippine Navy announced on Friday it will send an aircraft to Ayungin Shoal in the disputed Spratlys before Christmas to air-drop gifts and donations pooled by volunteer groups for soldiers stationed on a shipwreck to guard territory claimed by the Philippines.

The air drop has so far been the main method used by the Philippine military in Palawan to resupply the small contingent of soldiers deployed in Ayungin Shoal, which is also being claimed by China and several other countries.

Naval officials said because there is no more scheduled supply run to the Kalayaan Island Group in December, they would organize the air drop operation solely to bring the gifts to the soldiers.

“We don’t often use this method of resupply anymore because it poses a greater risk both to the airmen and the people who are the recipients, but we want to value the efforts of these groups,” said naval pilot Lt. Herbert Estabillo.

The gift packages were donated by former cadets and solicited from various social networking sites, primarily Facebook. The donations include  food, personal sanitation kits, batteries, flashlights, reading materials and personal letters.

“These packages will be sent through air drop by pilots and crew of the Naval Air Group, Philippine Navy,” Estabillo added.

The donations include items raised by the Cadet Alumni Organization of the UP Military Science and Tactics Department and two Facebook groups, #pagasaKIG and #Timawa Donation Group.

“Through this kind of initiative the three organizations hope to encourage other private organizations to support Philippine soldiers detailed at the KIG,” Estabillo said.

 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/546071/navy-to-air-drop-xmas-presents-to-soldiers-on-old-shipwreck

Explosion rocked house of a city mayor in Basilan

From the Manila Times (Dec 14): Explosion rocked house of a city mayor in Basilan

SUSPECTED Abu Sayyaf (ASG) rebels bombed the house of a local official in Isabela City, Basilan province early dawn on Saturday, police reports said.

Police said that an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by suspected ASG militants went off in the house of Mayor Cherry Akbar in the downtown area of the city at about 2 a.m. Police added that the powerful explosion partly destroyed the concrete fence of the mayor’s house.

Senior Supt. Wilben Mayor, PNP spokesman, quoting reports, said no one was reported hurt in the said explosion, which are now being investigated by elements of the Isabela City Police Office.

Aside from the bombing of the mayor’s house, police also recovered another IED—fashioned out from an 81mm mortar— in a videoke bar located a few meters away from Akbar’s residence.

Reports said that prior to the said explosion, authorities have also recovered several types of explosives from a trading store also in the same city.

A police officer, who asked not to be named, said that the police are looking at possible ‘extortion attempt’ as the motive of the bombing.

Mayor Cherry Akbar is the wife for former representative Ustadz Wahab Akbar of Basilan, one of the four people killed by a bomb attack at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City on November 13, 2007.

http://manilatimes.net/explosion-rocked-house-of-a-city-mayor-in-basilan/60458/

‘Common grounds’ urged for peace negotiations

From the Manila Bulletin (Dec 14): ‘Common grounds’ urged for peace negotiations

The Council of Foreign Ministers has urged the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to exert efforts to find the “common grounds” between the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), and the 1996 Final Peace Accord.

The framework agreement was signed in Malacañang in October, 2012, by the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), while the Final Peace Agreement was signed by the national government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September 1996.

It can be recalled that the MILF is a breakaway group of the MNLF.

In a resolution adopted during the 40th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held from December 9 to 11 in Guinea, the body urged the OIC Secretary General to exert efforts to find common grounds between the FAB and the final peace pact regarding the implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Peace Agreement.

This, the council said, will ensure that the gains of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement and the FAB and its Annexes are fully implemented with the end goal of integrating the gains achieved in these peace agreements in the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The FAB serves as the blueprint for the establishment of the Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

It was learned that this can be achieved through ratification of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The OIC also recognized the peace efforts between the GPH and the MILF in reaching a comprehensive agreement that would help improve the situation of Muslims in the Mindanao region.

It also eyed that the FAB would be concluded in line with 1976 Tripoli Peace Agreement.

The OIC sits as an observer in the GPH-MILF peace negotiations.

It also facilitates the Tripartite Implementation Review of the 1996 FPA between the government and the MNLF.

The Philippine government was represented during the OIC meeting in Guinea by Department Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, Undersecretary Jose Lorena of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Undersecretary Nabil Tan of the Office of the Executive Secretary, Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Alex Lamadrid, and Atty. Zoilo A. Velasco of the DFA.

http://www.mb.com.ph/common-grounds-urged-for-peace-negotiations/

NPA rebels attack Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte

From the Manila Bulletin (Dec 14): NPA rebels attack Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte

Members of the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army, have attacked Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Norte dawn Saturday.

Initial report said the rebels attacked the police station of Don Victorian in Misamis Occidental and carted away the firearms of the policemen in the station at around 4 am.
Another attack was launched against the police station in Josefina, Zamboanga del Norte at around 5 am.

The police in the region have yet to determine if there were casualties and how many firearms were taken.

Earlier, some 40 rebels from Davao region attacked Kibawe Police Station in Bukidnon, killing one policeman and wounding three others.

The police station’s on-duty officers lost their firearms in the raid.

http://www.mb.com.ph/npa-rebels-attack-misamis-occidental-zamboanga-del-norte/