Survey Spratlys before it's too late, Philippines urged

From Rappler (Sep 22): Survey Spratlys before it's too late, Philippines urged

China's artificial islands in the South China Sea can 'make it impossible' to settle the Philippines' historic case against the Asian giant, a US-based analyst says

JEOPARDIZING CASE? The Philippines fears China is turning Mabini Reef in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) into an island. This image dated Feb 25, 2014 shows ongoing reclamation activities. Photo courtesy of DFA

 

The Philippines should work with Vietnam in “accurately surveying” the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea before China completes its artificial islands in the area, an analyst said.

In an interview published by Deutsche Welle on Friday, September 19, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyst Gregory Poling explained that these artificial islands can “make it more difficult, if not impossible” to settle the Philippines' case against China.

“In the meantime, the one thing this should get Manila and Hanoi to do is make a concerted effort to short-circuit China's attempts to hide the real status of features by accurately surveying them now before further reclamation works make it impossible to determine their original geography,” Poling said.

The Philippines claims parts of the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea. Vietnam also says it owns parts of the disputed waters. (READ: Vietnam to Philippines: United, we will win)

Poling, a Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies fellow at the Washington-based CSIS, made his suggestion as China continued its reclamation activities in the South China Sea.

Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said he fears China is building a military base in the West Philippine Sea through its reclamation activities.

'Changing facts on the ground'

In fact, on September 9, the Philippine Navy said it has seen structures resembling lighthouses on two reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

On the same day, the BBC also put the issue in the global spotlight after it published “China's Island Factory,” a much-shared multimedia report on “new islands” being made “by the might of the Chinese state.”

Poling said it “was no accident” that China chose to build artificial islands on 5 features in the South China Sea, “the status of which (as islands, rocks, or low-tide elevations) are all part of the Philippines' case against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.”

“It seems Beijing is trying to change facts on the ground to make it more difficult, if not impossible, for the court to decide what the original status of these features may have been,” he said.

He added: “Potential access for small aircraft or patrol vessels might also be a benefit, but it is too early to say. We should regard the alarm bells from Manila and elsewhere about military bases in the Spratlys to be premature at best. These features are unlikely to be capable of hosting any substantial facilities in the near future on the level of those Taiwan maintains at Itu Aba or the Vietnamese have at Spratly Island.”

No legal effects, experts say

Poling, however, said he doubts if reclamation “could affect the legal status of these features.”

He explained: “The vast majority of legal scholars have come to the conclusion that reclamation cannot change the status of a feature; it can merely create an 'artificial island,' which, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, generates no entitlements. Of course, if reclamation makes it impossible for any court in the future to determine the original status of these features, then China's work could certainly stymie the legal process.”

In an interview with Rappler on June 26, maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal also said China's reclamation doesn't legally jeopardize the Philippines' case, contrary to a claim by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in May.

“The merits of the case were set when we filed the Statement of Notification and Claim. These activities are taking place after the case has been filed, they cannot affect the merits of the case as filed. Legally, it doesn't jeopardize it,” Batongbacal explained. (READ: Q and A: Case vs China 'not enough,' expert says)

Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said what jeopardizes the case is the “practical implication” involving China's “cabbage strategy.”

Quoting Major General Zhang Zhaozhong of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the New York Times said the cabbage strategy “entails surrounding a contested area with so many boats – fishermen, fishing administration ships, marine surveillance ships, navy warships – that the island is thus wrapped layer by layer like a cabbage.”

The Philippines has repeatedly protested China's reclamation activities, and has slammed the Asian giant for its “expansion agenda” in the South China Sea.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/69841-survey-spratlys-china-reclamation-philippines

2 captured soldiers renew appeal for truce to allow release by NPA

From InterAksyon (Sep 23): 2 captured soldiers renew appeal for truce to allow release by NPA



An image grabbed from a new video of Army privates Jerrel Yorong(left) and Marnel Cinches in NPA captivity

Two Army soldiers held captive by the New People’s Army in Mindanao have renewed an appeal for a suspension of offensive military operations to pave the way for their release.

Privates First Class Marnel Cinches and Jerrel Yorong, both of the 8th Infantry Battalion, issued the appeal on a video posted September 21 by the rebels on YouTube. The two were captured by the NPA in Barangay Buntongon, Impasug-ong town, Bukidnon, on August 22.

Speaking in Bisaya, the captives, who the rebels consider “prisoners of war,” addressed their appeal to their battalion and division commanders.

They also called on President Benigno Aquino III to order their commanders to implement the SOMO and also appealed to church leaders to help convince government to grant their request.

The two soldiers also told their families not to worry and that they were “safe” and “healthy.”

The video opens with footage showing the captives hiking through a forest with a rebel unit and ends with them sharing food with their captors.

On September 8, the National Democratic Front offered to release the two as a gesture of goodwill toward the resumption of peace talks. The release hinged on the military’s declaration of a 10-day SOMO, from September 10-20.

But this was rejected by the military, which ordered intensified operations to rescue the captives.

In a statement written in Bisaya that accompanied the video, Cesar Renerio, spokesman of the National Democratic Front North-Central Mindanao Region, reiterated the rebels’ call for a SOMO in San Fernando, Cabanglasan, Malaybalay City, Impasug-ong, Manolo Fortich and Malitbog in Bukidnon; and Claveria, Balingasag and Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental.

However, he did not specify a timeframe for the truce.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/95961/2-captured-soldiers-renew-appeal-for-truce-to-allow-release-by-npa

Alleged top Panay rebel leader captured

From InterAksyon (Sep 23): Alleged top Panay rebel leader captured



The military said it captured Tuesday one of the highest ranking communist rebels on Panay Island, describing the feat as a “big blow” that “will add to the leadership crisis” supposedly besetting the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army.

Brigadier General Arnold Quipao, commander of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said Norberto Castor, alias “Marlon” and “Greg,” was captured by agents of his unit and police in Barangay Calaboa, Leganes town around 5:30 a.m.

The capture of Castor was also confirmed by Colonel Eric Uchida, commander of 301st Infantry Brigade, who said: “The arrest of Castor is certainly a big blow against the CPP-NPA hierarchy and will add to their leadership crisis. This will contribute to the peaceful environment in the provinces of Panay Island.”

He said Castor is allegedly the deputy secretary of the Central Front of the CPP’s Regional Party Committee on Panay.

Castor was served a warrant of arrest for charges of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder issued by the Regional Trial Court in Iloilo City.
Castor is in the custody of Police Regional Office-6.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Director Benjamin Magalong said Castor carried a P2.3-million bounty for his capture.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/95971/alleged-top-panay-rebel-leader-captured

Malaysia alarmado sa Abu Sayyaf, BIFF at IS alliance

From the Mindanao Examiner BlogSpot site (Sep 22): Malaysia alarmado sa Abu Sayyaf, BIFF at IS alliance (Malaysia alarmed over Abu Sayyaf, BIFF and IS alliance)

Alarmado ngayon ang Malaysia sa grupong Abu Sayyaf matapos itong manumpa sa IS (Islamic State) na nakikibaka sa Iraq at Syria upang maitatag ang isang Islamic caliphate doon at sa ibang bahagi ng mundo.

Naghigpit na ng siguridad ang Kuala Lumpur sa pangambang magkaroon ng alyansa sa pagitan ng Abu Sayyaf at Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia at iba pang grupo na may simpatya sa IS, kabilang ang Jemaah Islamiya.

Ngunit matagal ng may alyansa ang Abu Sayyaf at Jemaah Islamiya, gayun rin ang Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, at ang Abu Sayyaf rin ang kumukupkop sa mga miyembro nitong nagtatago sa Mindanao. Ngunit ang pangamba ng Malsysia ay baka magkaroon ng coordinated attacks ang mga ito sa naturang bansa.

Matatandaan noon nakaraang buwan lamang ay nanumpa si Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon sa IS, gayun rin ang Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, sa Mindanao at inilagay pa sa YouTube ang video ng kanilang pledge of alliance kay Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ang pinuno ng IS.

Mahigpit na rin ang siguridad sa border ng Sabah upang matiyak na hindi makakapasok doon ang Abu Sayyaf na ilang beses ng lumusob sa mga resorts sa Semporna, Sandakan at Tawau upang mandukot ng mga dayuhan at Malaysian citizens.

Nitong Hunyo lamang ay nadakip ng Malaysian authorities sa Sandakan ang tatlo nitong nationals at isa sa kanila ay sinanay pa ng Abu Sayyaf.

Nabatid na sila’y na-recruit ng Jemaah Islamiya o IS para sa isang bombing mission sa India, ngunit nabasyo naman ng sila’y bumalik sa Sabah. Ang isa pa sa tatlo ay napag-alaman na miyembro ng Malaysian Navy.

Dedma pa rin ang militar sa balitang may mga recruitment ang IS sa Mindanao, ngunit ang sentro ng simpatya sa IS ay sa Marawi City sa Lanao del Sur, isa sa 5 lalawigan ng Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.net/2014/09/malaysia-alarmado-sa-abu-sayyaf-biff-at.html

MILF: BIFF rejects invitation to Bangsamoro law congressional hearings

Posted to the MILF Website (Sep 22): BIFF rejects invitation to Bangsamoro law congressional hearings



MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on Friday again rejected invitations to participate in congressional hearings on the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).  

“We cannot join in any peace process that falls short of our bid for an independent Moro state,” the group’s spokesman, Abu Misry Mama, announced over Catholic station dxMS in Cotabato City.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the 75-member House committee now working on the proposed law, earlier said they want the BIFF’s reclusive chieftain, Imam Ameril Ombra Kato and Nur Misuari of the Moro National Liberation Front to participate in the BBL deliberations.

The draft BBL, once enacted into law and ratified via a plebiscite, will pave the way for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a new, more politically empowered Bangsamoro self-governing entity based on the March 27, 2014 final peace compact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Kato, now debilitated as a result of a hypertensive stroke in 2011, started as chief of the MILF’s 105th Base Command, but was booted out in 2010 due to insubordination and other offenses.

“We better keep on fighting the military in the field than engage in any hearing on that draft BBL. That is purely an initiative of the MILF and the government,” Mama said.

Kato, who studied Islamic theology in Saudia Arabia in the 1970s as a scholar of then President Ferdinand Marcos, had issued a communiqué reaffirming their group’s firm stand against the GPH-MILF peace initiative.

“We can only tell Congressman Rodriguez thanks for the invitation. None from the BIFF can join the hearings,” Mama said.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/1223-biff-rejects-invitation-to-bangsamoro-law-congressional-hearings

MILF: Sema to ARMM officials: ‘Support BBL’

Posted to the MILF Website (Sep 22): Sema to ARMM officials: ‘Support BBL’



Maguindanao 1st District and Cotabato City Representative Bai Sandra Sema has urged the officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to support the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) during the Congress pre-plenary Budget Hearing of the ARMM 2015 Budget on September 16 at the House of Representatives in Batasan Hills, Quezon City.
  

“We are happy because we continue with the struggle. Because we have produced good leaders and that we are now part of history, willing and committed to continue with the Bangsamoro. The Bangsamoro(government) gives (national) identity. It determines the future of all of us, not for MILF alone. We must unite and promote the BBL,” Sema said.

Sema, the Vice Chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, presided over the hearing for the pre-plenary approval of the proposed P24.299 billion budget of the ARMM for 2015.

On his part, House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Rep. Pangalian M. Balindong lauded the ARMM official for their readiness to relinquish their posts to provide a smooth transition to the new Bangsamoro entity.
The Bangsamoro once formed it will render the ARMM abolished.

Meanwhile, ARMM Regional Governor MujivHataman stressed out that the budget hearing may be the last one because the budget appropriation for the incoming new political entity is thru a Block grant, automatic appropriation.

House of Representative members Zajid Magudadatu, 2nd district of Maguidanao, Ruby Sahali, lone district of Tawi-Tawi, Ansaruddin Adiong, 2nd district of Lanao del Sur and Sitti DjaliaTurabin-Hataman, Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Partylist were in attendance during the budget hearing.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/1222-sema-to-armm-officials-‘support-bbl’

NPA leader freed on bail

From Tempo (Sep 22): NPA leader freed on bail

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol – A high-ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) was released from the Bohol Detention And Rehabilitation Center (BDRC) on order of a trial court here after he posted bail worth nearly half a million pesos, officials said.

Roy Erecre, the leader of NPA’s Komiteng Rehiyonal Sentral Bisayas (KRSB) who had carried a P5.4- million bounty on his head, was freed from BDRC jail compound in Cabawan District, Tagbilaran, Friday, after his lawyers – City Councilor Adam Relson Jala and Victor Dela Serna (former O-I-C Bohol governor) – showed the release order reportedly signed by Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Suceso Arcamo to BDRC warden, Jail Chier Inspector Jose Rusylvi Abueva.

The lawyers immediately whisked Erecre away, on board Jala’s SUV cars, from the prison camp, which had become Erecre’s home since May this year.

Abueva said Erecre, a Boholano, was brought to Jala’s posh residence at Dao District, this city, for a dinner and reunion with the rebel leader’s family.

Before Erecre was arrested on May 6, 2014 in Davao City by combined elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Philippine National Police (PNP), the Boholano NPA commander had been groomed to lead the entire operations of the NPA in the Philippines after the March 22, 2014 arrest of Tiamzon couple created a vacuum in the NPA national leadership.

Benito Tiamzon, chairman of the CPP-New People’s Army (NPA), and his wife Wilma Tiamzon, CPP-NPA secretary-general, were arrested in Cebu last March 22 by virtue of warrants of arrest for crimes against humanity, including murder, multiple murder, and frustrated murder charges.

The sudden twist of Erecre’s fate shocked both the military and the police here, as well as provincial officials.

Erecre was arrested on May 6, 2014 by virtue of several non-bailable warrants of arrest from regional trial courts in Cebu and Bohol for atrocities against civilians and government forces in Bohol in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a military report said.

http://www.tempo.com.ph/2014/09/npa-leader-freed-on-bail/

WATCH: NPA rebels show captive soldiers

From ABS-CBN (Sep 22): WATCH: NPA rebels show captive soldiers

[Video report: Pagbuhi sa 2 ka POW sa Bukidnon isibog, deklarasyon sa SOMO/SOPO paabuton

Human ang 10 ka adlaw nga tanyag sa National Democratic Front of the Philippines – North Central Mindanao Region alang sa luwas nga pagrelease sa duha ka prisoners of war sa New People’s Army sa Bukidnon, gikasubo namong ipahibalo sa pamilya ug kahigalaan nilang Pfc. Marnel Cinches ug Pfc. Jerrel Yorong nga masibog ngadto sa walay tinong panahon ang gikatakdang pagbuhi kanila. Isip dugang pagpakita sa among sinseridad sa kaakuhan sa gitanyag og kalinaw, paabuton namo nga madeklara ang napulo ka adlaw nga Suspension of Offensive Military and Police Operations (SOMO-SOPO) nga padayong ginalihok sa Third Party Facilitators ug mga mahigugmaon sa kalinaw nga mga upisyal sa GPH.

Aron masegurong luwas ang duha, kinahanglan og igong panahon ang custodial unit sa pagbalhin kanila ngadto sa lugar nga relatibong layo sa ginalunsad nga rescue operations sa AFP. Sa ingon, dili usab mahiktan ang ubang mga units sa New People’s Army sa pag-atubang sa mga tropa sa AFP.

Subay sa una na namong gipamahayag, subli namong pangayuon nga mapailalum sa SOMO/SOPO ang 2 ka syudad ug 7 ka lungsod sa Bukidnon ug Misamis Oriental. Subli usab namong pasalamatan ang mga upisyal sa lokal nga gobyerno sa duha ka probinsya ug crisis committee sa ilang langkub sa padayong pagpaningkamot nga makatabang sa pagpangayo nga mapailalum sa SOMO/SOPO ang mga gitakdang lugar sa ilang tagsa-tagsa ka probinsya. Dalayegon ang ilang kaikag nga mahimong kabahin niining kahigayunan alang sa kalinaw.
Sa hingtungdang mga pamilya, sa Third Party facilitators, mga mahigugmaon sa kalinaw nga upisyal sa GPH ug sa publiko sa kinatibuk-an, gipasalig namo ang makitawhanong pagtratar sa duha ka POW ug gigarantiyahan namo ang ilang mga katungod subay sa CARHRIHL ug sa mga internasyonal nga balaud sa gubat. Kung dunay sayo nga deklarasyon sa SOMO/SOPO, mapahigayonusab ang sayo nga pag-release kanila. Himuon lang ang pagpailalum kanila sa pormal nga imbestigasyon ug posibleng pagtaral ubos sa rebolusyonaryong sistema sa hustisya kung klarong walanay kahigayunan bisan gamay nga madeklarar sa GPH ang SOMO/SOPO.

Pinirmahan,
Cesar Renerio
Tigpamaba
NDFP-NCMR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU_E_WdBn2o

BUKIDNON- The communist New People's Army (NPA) has released a video clip online showing two captive government soldiers.

The video posted on YouTube shows Pfc Marnel Cinches and Pfc Jerrel Yorong, who have visibly lost weight and shackled.

Their guards are heavily armed.

The two soldiers urged suspension of military and police operations to facilitate their release.

They were abducted by communist rebels last August 22 in Bontungan, Impasug-ong Bukidnon while they were going to a market.

The NPA has called for a 10-day suspension of military and police operations but the military wants unconditional release of the soldiers.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/09/22/14/watch-npa-rebels-show-captive-soldiers

2 cops hurt in landmine explosion in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat

From InterAksyon (Sep 23): 2 cops hurt in landmine explosion in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat



MAP FROM WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Two policemen were hurt in a landmine explosion in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat Mnday afternoon.

Police Officers 1 Angelo Vilo and Ritchi Cabillo, members of the 2nd Platoon of the Provincial Public Safety Company, were on board a motorcycle when a landmine exploded, said Sultan Kudarat Provincial Director Supt. Rex Dela Rosa.

Both sustained wounds in the feet and now being observed in a hospital in General Santos City.

Authorities believe that the New People’s Army was responsible for the explosion.

Before the incident, members of the 39th IB patrolled the area as armed groups were spotted in the isolated parts of Barangay Datalblaw.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/95945/2-cops-hurt-in-landmine-explosion-in-columbio-sultan-kudarat

ISIS Goes to Asia

Posted to Foreign Affairs (Sep 21): ISIS Goes to Asia by Joseph Chinyong Liow 

Extremism in the Middle East Isn't Only Spreading West



A man prays in a mosque outside Kuala Lumpur. (Courtesy Reuters)

As the United States sought in recent weeks to assemble an international coalition to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS, also known as the Islamic State), it looked mostly to the Middle East and Europe, regions that it said face a direct threat from the militant Islamist group. But other parts of the world are just as anxious about ISIS -- above all, Southeast Asia. The governments of that region have not publicized their concerns very loudly, but they are acutely aware that ISIS is a menace. Their top concern is that its extremist ideology will prove attractive to the region’s many Muslims, lure some of them to the Middle East to fight as part of the group, and ultimately be imported back to the region when these militants return home.

There is a clear precedent for this scenario. During the 1980s, many young Muslims from Southeast Asia went to Pakistan to support the Afghan mujahideen’s so-called jihad against Soviet occupation. Many of these recruits subsequently stayed in the region, mingling with like-minded Muslims from all around and gaining exposure to al Qaeda’s militant ideology. Many eventually returned to Southeast Asia to form extremist groups of their own, including the notorious al Qaeda­–linked organization Jemaah Islamiyah that was responsible for several high-profile terrorist attacks in the region over the last 15 years. With evidence now surfacing of Southeast Asians among the ranks of ISIS casualties, it’s only natural that governments in the region are feeling a sense of déjà vu.

RADICAL CHIC

Singapore has already revealed that several of its nationals have made their way to the Middle East to battle with ISIS, and the Philippine government has suggested that local ISIS sympathizers are attempting to recruit from among the Bangsamoro populations in the country’s southern islands. But the greatest concern comes from Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, has already confirmed that more than 50 of its citizens are currently fighting in Syria and Iraq; Malaysia has suggested that between 30 and 40 Malaysians are doing the same. In both cases, the actual numbers could be much higher if we consider those who may have traveled to the conflict zones from other destinations. Indonesian authorities have already noted that several of their nationals have been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria. On May 26, a Malaysian suicide bomber killed himself in an ISIS attack in Iraq. Another Malaysian fighter who died fighting for ISIS in Syria several months later has been celebrated as a martyr by leaders of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, the same party that had earlier dismissed him after he departed for Syria. Intriguingly, three Malaysian women were also alleged to have left for Syria to wage a “sexual jihad” (jihad al-nikah), offering their bodies to ISIS fighters to “boost their morale.”

ISIS’ reach in Southeast Asia is based on several factors. First, certain devout Muslims feel a theological affinity for the militant group. They see parallels between ISIS’ mission and prophecies in Islamic holy texts of the eventual creation of a Khilafah Minhaj Nebuwwah (“end-times caliphate”) following the fall of dictators in the Arabian Peninsula; they are also reminded of the apocalyptic struggle that is said to be fated between the forces of Imam Mahdi, an Islamic messiah figure who is supposed to fight under a black flag, and those of the Dajjal, or Antichrist. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this millenarian perspective is growing in Indonesia and Malaysia with radical clerics such as Aman Abdurrahman, who, though in jail, are expanding their reach through the Internet and radical tracts -- including a book titled Strategi Dua Lengan (Two-Armed Strategy) -- increasingly finding their way into Indonesian translation.

Another reason for ISIS’ appeal is its sectarianism. The ISIS challenge is seen in some quarters as an extension of the Sunni-Shiite schism. To wit: The group’s struggle against Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite regime is considered legitimate in fundamentalist Sunni-Salafi circles. In much the same way, ISIS militancy in Iraq is seen as a consequence of Sunni grievance against the Shiite-led government of Nouri al-Maliki. This support needs to be understood in the context of Southeast Asia’s own problems with sectarianism: Shiite Islam is banned in Malaysia and is not widely accepted in Indonesia.

Finally, the question of the recruitment of Southeast Asians into ISIS cannot be divorced from the larger context of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. The universal sympathy for the Syrian people among Southeast Asia’s sizable Muslim populations has undoubtedly prompted a large number of humanitarian missions to depart for the conflict zone. Many members of these missions may well have set off with noble intentions. But once they arrive in territory held by ISIS, it is not difficult to imagine how they would be exposed to ISIS indoctrination and recruitment.

FALSE ANALOGY

In many ways, Southeast Asia seems to be seeing a repeat of its experience with Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s. The most familiar aspect is ISIS’ recruiting efforts, mostly undertaken by Southeast Asian sympathizers rather than ISIS leaders based in the Middle East. In 2012, ISIS’ appeal started to grow among Indonesian and Malaysian civil society groups that had mobilized in response to Syria’s humanitarian crisis by creating local awareness and fundraising. Within a year, several Islamic preachers in Indonesia had pledged allegiance to ISIS’ caliphate, and about half a dozen graduates from Indonesia’s Ngruki Islamic boarding school, previously a hotbed of Jemaah Islamiyah membership ideology and recruitment, are believed to have left to join the jihad in Syria (often with funding from Jemaah Islamiyah and other affiliated extremist groups). ISIS has also been actively recruiting in Malaysia through Islamic study groups known as usrah. In turn, those Malaysian recruits are believed to have attempted to recruit from Singapore. It is still not yet known exactly how successful these recruiting efforts have been. But it is clear that ISIS has been able to promote its jihad through sympathizers plugged into the region’s local Islamic communities and networks, just as Afghan militants did in earlier decades.

But there are also significant differences between the present-day jihad and the earlier one in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. While the Afghan mujahideen’s struggle was widely embraced, ISIS has proven extremely divisive in Southeast Asia, even among extremist groups, some of which have rejected and virulently condemned the organization. Jemaah Islamiyah, for one, has accused ISIS of being takfir (Muslims who pass judgment on fellow Muslims of being un-Islamic ) and dismissed its members as khawarij (extremists). Other groups, such as the conservative Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (Indonesian Mujahideen Council), have cast doubt on ISIS’ religious credentials, proclaiming that it is an organization and not a caliphate and hence has no legitimate claim to the loyalty of Muslims. Furthermore, they have also argued that ISIS’ process for appointing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as caliph was in violation of Islamic law, as it did not take place before a religious council that represents the entire Islamic community. As the terrorism expert Sidney Jones has rightly pointed out, the existence of this divergence of opinion on ISIS speaks to a split within Indonesia’s extremist community between those who support ISIS and others who remain loyal to al Qaeda and the al Nusra Front. Unsurprisingly, the other major difference from the days of the jihad in Afghanistan is ISIS’ use of social media. ISIS has consistently used Twitter and Facebook to amplify its message and broaden its reach. Also, the fact that authorities in Indonesia have been reluctant to shut down radical websites that carry ISIS propaganda, such as al-Mustaqbal.net, despite already imposing a ban on the group’s jihadist teachings (likely because of a misplaced concern for its religious credibility in the eyes of the vocal radical Islamist community), has only enhanced its visibility in the region.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

Without downplaying the ISIS threat to Southeast Asia, there are nevertheless limits to the effectiveness of its recruitment in the region. Despite huge investments from Arab governments, particularly Saudi Arabia, in Islamic education across Southeast Asia over the past three decades, the lingua francas of the region’s Muslim communities remain Malay and Indonesian, not Arabic. The vast majority of Muslims from the region are insufficiently literate in Arabic to even appreciate ISIS’ propaganda without translation, much less fully integrate with ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria. In Afghanistan during the 1980s and 1990s, this problem was in part surmounted by the creation of dedicated training camps for Southeast Asians; although the situation may change, this does not seem to be the case in Syria or Iraq at the moment, where Southeast Asian recruits are thrown onto the front lines with everyone else. Second, Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia enjoy social and economic conditions far better than those of their coreligionists in the Levant (or even in Europe, where there is a palpable sense of alienation and marginalization among Muslim immigrant populations). By and large, Southeast Asians simply have fewer incentives to travel to Syria or Iraq.

Finally, unlike the immediate aftermath of the Afghan conflict in the 1990s, terrorist recruitment in Southeast Asia today has lost the tactical advantage of surprise. With regional security and intelligence agencies alert to the potential threat emanating from Iraq and Syria -- thanks precisely to the lessons they learned from the 1990s -- conditions are considerably more difficult for the kind of clandestine recruitment that went on two decades ago. Two other factors are instructive in this regard. First, whatever its shortcomings, the Indonesian state today is not nearly as weak as it was in the late 1990s, when radical groups flourished after the fall of former President Suharto. Second, the apparent resolution of the long-standing conflict in the Philippines between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has potentially opened the way for cooperation on counterterrorism.

That said, it’s understandable that the governments of the region are concerned that ISIS might spawn a new generation of jihadist leaders, fighters, and ideologues in the region. Afghanistan still casts a long shadow over discussions in Southeast Asia -- and with good reason. But regional policymakers would be well advised to appreciate not only the similarities between the former challenge and the present-day conflict but also the very significant differences.

[JOSEPH CHINYONG LIOW is Senior Fellow and Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at the Brookings Institution and Professor and Associate Dean at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University]

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142004/joseph-chinyong-liow/isis-goes-to-asia

No evidence on ISIS recruitment in Eastern Mindanao

From the Philippine Information Agency (Sep 22): No evidence on ISIS recruitment in Eastern Mindanao

DAVAO CITY -- The military in Eastern Mindanao has no evidence regarding the recruitment of Islamic States of Iraq and Syria in its area of coverage.

Major General Aurelio Baladad, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command said they have no way to confirm that such recruitment exists.

He said that communities in Eastern Mindanao are not conducive on the alleged recruitment.

Baladad said both the Muslims and Christians here are peace-loving and supportive of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, a proposed measure being deliberated in Congress.

He affirmed that the military supports the BBL which is the anchor of the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Baladad said he also observes that their counterparts in the MILF are supportive of attaining peace in Mindanao.

“We are one with them, we support peace,” he said.

Baladad said one way to promote peace in Mindanao is the realization of good roads in the countryside to the centers of trade and industry.

He said the military now provides data and confers with their counterparts in the local government units in order to come up with infrastructure that will benefit the residents in far-flung areas.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=2381411366240

Manila open to renewed talks with communist rebels

From UCANews (Sep 22): Manila open to renewed talks with communist rebels



Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro on Sunday leads peace advocates in calling for the resumption of negotiations between the government and communist rebels (Photo by D'Jay Lazaro)

The Philippine government on Monday said it is open to renewed talks with the communist-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Government peace adviser Teresita Deles made the statement in response to calls from religious groups on Sunday for the government and the rebels to go back to the negotiating table. 

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, the largest ecumenical network of various church leaders in the country, called on the government and the front "to return to the negotiating table to address the substantive issues that remain as the root cause of armed conflict in our country".

"Peace may be elusive, but it can be achieved if the parties [involved in] the conflict engage in principled negotiations," said Bishop Deogracias Iniguez of Kalookan, a platform member.

Deles told ucanews.com that the government is "willing to resume talks" but that they should be "agenda-bound and time-bound".

"We want talks that will prosper," she said.

The government signed a landmark deal with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao in March, but formal talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, have stalled since 2011.

"We have discussed possibilities [with mediators]. If they will be able to find a way that will not be contradictory to our direction, then we can have talks," said Deles.

In a statement, rebel spokesman Luis Jalandoni blamed the government for the impasse. He said government negotiators refused to honor previous agreements on human rights, security and immunity guarantees entered into by both parties in the 1990s.

The impasse saw the suspension of the next substantive issue on the negotiating table, the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms.

Deles said the agenda for the talks should be on "doable reforms" because "peace talks are about political settlement" and it is important for people's concerns to be brought out during the negotiations. 

The Philippines military estimates that the country's communist movement has about 4,000 armed men under its command, compared to more than 26,000 at its peak 30 years ago.

But the rebels still hold considerable sway in poor, rural areas where they receive material and moral support from a population that has endured the brunt of the Philippines' widening divide between rich and poor.

http://www.ucanews.com/news/manila-open-to-renewed-talks-with-communist-rebels/72004

Filipino government, separatists to negotiate arms laydown in Malaysia

From the Malaya Mail Online (Sep 22): Filipino government, separatists to negotiate arms laydown in Malaysia

Representatives from Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will hold talks in Malaysia to set the terms for decommissioning of firearms by MILF fighters in the restive South Philippines region.

A Philippines government official told Filipino news portal GMA News Online that negotiating panels from both sides will meet in Kuala Lumpur from September 27 to 29 "to pull everything together".

Government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said part of the meeting agenda will have to finalise the composition of the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) and the International Decommissioning Body (IDB), it reported.

 The TJRC will be tasked with studying and recommending "the appropriate mechanisms to address legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people, correct historical injustices, and address human rights violations through land dispossession", as outlined under the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) signed by the government and the MILF in March, it added.

The IDB, on the other hand, will consist of three foreign experts and four Filipinos who will validate the inventory of weapons and fighters that will be submitted by the MILF. Coronel-Ferrer said in the report that experts from Brunei, Turkey and Norway have been invited to attend the three-day meeting, and expect the TJRC and IDB to be established within a month.

“But the most important thing, the first order of business, is for the MILF to produce a list of weapons and combatants and submit it to the IDB," she was reported as saying.

Meanwhile, MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal told the news portal that the former paramilitary group has already prepared a list of firearms and names of combatants for the IDB.

He declined to reveal the final tally of weapons, but volunteered that "the firearms are combinations of high-powered and light-powered" weaponry.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/filipino-government-separatists-to-negotiate-arms-laydown-in-malaysia

Opinion: Disposition of firearms

Opinion piece from the SKETCHES column by Ana Marie Pamintuan in Philippine Star (Sep 22): Disposition of firearms
 

There was no mention of “decommissioning” or “normalization” in the 1996 peace treaty with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

But two administrative orders implementing the agreement provided for the “disposition of firearms,” covering MNLF members who wanted to be integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police. Those with no firearms to surrender were disqualified from integration into the AFP or PNP.

The camp of former President Fidel Ramos sent me documents to show that the peace treaty, which his administration signed with the MNLF, did involve turning over weapons to the state, even if there was no mention of disarmament, decommissioning or normalization. What’s important in a peace process, FVR wrote, is implementation, not semantics.

MNLF rebels were required to turn in their weapons upon reporting to the AFP training center where they would undergo a six-month course.

The government compensated the MNLF member for every weapon turned over, with the amount set under the AFP “Balik-Baril Project.” But the government could “re-issue” the guns to the rebel returnees during their training or upon deployment.

That looks like the MNLF fighters were made to present their guns, they got paid for doing so, and then they got their weapons back. Not exactly laying down their arms, but at least the government was able to account for thousands of weapons.

“All firearms still in the possession of MNLF members not integrated into the military or police service shall be subject to existing firearms laws, rules and regulations,” according to Section 7 (b) of Administrative Order No. 295, dated Oct. 7, 1996, which covered integration into the AFP.

Similar provisions are found in AO No. 297 dated Oct. 15, 1996, on the integration of MNLF members into the PNP.

I read that to mean registering all loose firearms, either for possession at home or for a permit to carry the weapon outside the home.

Among those who didn’t want to be part of the AFP or PNP, how many actually turned in or registered all their weapons? We may never know. The picture becomes murkier if we try to make an accounting of all the firearms amassed by MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari when he was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). But Misuari was not the only local politician who built up an arsenal for use by his virtual private army.

FVR, who thinks we’re finding fault in his peace treaty with the MNLF “to play up and heap praises” on President Aquino’s administration and his peace negotiators, points out that from 1996 to 2000, 5,750 MNLF mujahedeen’s were integrated into the AFP and 1,750 into the PNP.

None of the MNLF returnees, once re-armed, ever turned against their fellow soldiers or policemen, FVR wrote. Among the most outstanding, he pointed out, was Yusoph Jikiri, who reached star rank and became deputy commander of the AFP Southern Command in charge of the MNLF integration program. Jikiri later became Sulu governor. Another standout was MNLF chief of staff Muslimin Sema, who won three consecutive terms as mayor of Cotabato City.

Those are impressive stories indeed. I also know other MNLF members who have embraced the ways of peace.

So if the peace process achieved a sufficient measure of success, why do we need another peace agreement? And how many more peace pacts lie ahead with other groups before peace actually comes to the conflict areas of Mindanao?

*      *      *

Jikiri’s province remains one of the most unsafe and least developed places in this country. It is seen as the base of Abu Sayyaf bandits and MNLF militants loyal to Misuari. Sulu is the subject of several travel advisories warning foreigners against visiting Mindanao.

Some quarters in P-Noy’s government believe the peace process with the MNLF had fallen into the quicksand of Misuari’s ego from which it was no longer possible to get out. That ego is beyond the control of FVR, and no one is blaming him for what happened many years after the peace treaty was signed.

Aquino critics, echoing Misuari’s argument, believe the original peace treaty has not been fully implemented and P-Noy just wants to tout a peace pact under his watch.

From the peanut gallery, a common question is whether peace can be possible in a region bristling with guns.

We have tough gun laws, but the laxity of enforcement – in fact the overall weakness of law enforcement – makes the reluctance of a rebel group to lay down arms understandable.

Even civilians feel the need to carry guns, believing the police, AFP and “force-multiplying” militias do not have sufficient capability to keep the public safe. Worse, some cops, soldiers and militias may themselves be engaged in crime.

Back in 1996, the MNLF was threatened with a fully armed breakaway group plus other security risks. Those threat groups weren’t laying down their arms, or being forced to disarm by the government; could the MNLF afford to do it first?

This time the Moro Islamic Liberation Front faces a rogue MNLF faction plus the Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, and other quarters that the MILF might have wronged when it was still actively engaged in violent separatism. Can MILF members afford to lay down their weapons, especially in a region teeming with kidnappers, armed robbers and experts in improvised explosive devices?

The Bangsamoro may hurdle all the roadblocks to its creation. Whether the new entity will be a zone of peace and development is less certain. Will two peace treaties prove better than one?

Creating a secure environment for peace to take root has always been a challenge in many parts of Mindanao. Confronting that challenge will be more than the Bangsamoro government can handle.

As it is, Filipinos don’t feel secure, even in Metro Manila.

http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2014/09/22/1371715/disposition-firearms

Don’t keep Misuari out of Mindanao peace deal—Duterte

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Sep 22): Don’t keep Misuari out of Mindanao peace deal—Duterte

Nur Misuari. FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Mayor Rodrigo Duterte warned Sunday that the government should not keep Nur Misuari out of any new peace settlement in Mindanao, saying that the leader of the Moro rebels at the height of their secessionist revolt in the 1970s was “still a man to reckon with” and had an equally valid and internationally recognized peace agreement with the government.

“We might succeed in convincing everyone to agree on the Bangsamoro, including the courts, but the problem is, what about Misuari?” Duterte said on his local television show “Gikan sa Masa, para sa Masa (From the Masses, for the Masses)” on Sunday.

Duterte was referring to the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law which Congress has been asked to pass as the charter of the proposed Bangsamoro, the name of a broadened politically autonomous entity envisioned to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that was created under the so-called Final Peace Agreement signed by the Moro National Liberation Front under Nur Misuari and the Philippine government under President Fidel Ramos in 1996.

The Final Peace Agreement was the culmination of peace talks in furtherance of the Tripoli Peace Agreement of 1976 but which frequently broke down over the years. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had split from the MNLF in the late 1970s, was not a party to the 1996 peace accord.

The Tripoli agreement introduced the concept of regional autonomy for Filipino Muslims, who had been fighting for secession.

Rodrigo said the government cannot now just ignore Misuari, who can still invoke the Tripoli Agreement as a valid agreement brokered by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, then called Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“If ever, if at all, there will be talks again, you cannot ignore Misuari and the Tripoli Agreement, a valid treaty signed by Imelda Marcos in behalf of the Philippine government, we have to honor that, and we have to talk to Misuari,” Duterte said.

“I’ve been telling the peace panel ever since, do not forget Misuari. If I were to be there to talk about peace, I would like to include everyone because Misuari, for all of his faults, is still a man to reckon with,” he added.

“I mean, there are enemies that you cannot kill,” he said, adding that the government has to eventually give him clearance to renew the negotiations.

“If you remove Misuari, who will you talk to?” he asked. “The Abu Sayyaf? There’s no one else, there’s no emerging leader there who could really hold sway over the population.”

Duterte said that if the government really wants to talk peace, it may have to go to the extent of “forgetting the Zamboanga fiasco,” a reference to nearly a month of heavy fighting in September last year between government forces and MNLF guerrillas protesting the Bangsamoro peace process from which they felt left out. More than 200 people were killed in the fighting, which razed sections of Zamboanga City.

Duterte said he had some “misgivings” about the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law but he believed the legal infirmities in the crafting of the bill could be threshed out and fixed.

“I have my misgivings but I would rather say to you now that as a Mindanaoan hungry for peace, I hope and I pray that it would pass Congress,” Duterte said.

“Eventually if there are questions in the Supreme Court, about issues that still need threshing out, such as the creation of a territorial entity, whatever, in the Bangsamoro draft, whatever needs to be corrected, would follow constitutional amendment,” he said.

That is why, Duterte said, he was worried by a statement made by Senate President Franklin Drilon that Congress was running out of time for Charter change.

“Personally, I want the BBL to pass for lasting peace in Mindanao, not only in Davao City,” he said.

He said that some of the questions that might be raised to the Supreme Court involve issues of territory, wealth sharing and the maintenance of a regional police force.

“So you still need to reconcile that, and the mechanism to transcend these objections is to amend the Constitution, but Drilon said there’s no more time for the Cha-Cha,” he added.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/639882/dont-keep-misuari-out-of-mindanao-peace-deal-duterte