US and Philippines happy to keep on defying China

From the People's Daily Morning Star (Feb 4): US and Philippines happy to keep on defying China

THE US ambassador to the Philippines indicated yesterday that the two nations’ forces would continue to traverse Spratly Islands waters and airspace in defiance of Chinese territorial claims.

Ambassador Philip Goldberg said the US and the Philippines both had deep interest in ensuring freedom of navigation and refused to rule out joint patrols in the disputed South China Sea archipelago.

“I am not going to announce beforehand what we do in terms of freedom of navigation,” Mr Goldberg told a media forum.

“But suffice it to say that the United States will follow international law, will continue to enjoy our rights under international law to sail through international waters or fly to international air space.”

Filipino Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said last week that officials discussing possible joint patrols were looking at an area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

While the US is not among the six nations laying claims to parts of the two island chains, it has aggressively confronted China over the issue as part of Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” policy.

US warships have twice violated China’s claimed territorial waters off islands in the Spratly and Paracel archipelagoes since October.

Earlier last year a US radio spy plane flew over one of the islands, prompting a challenge from military air traffic controllers there.

Manila protested when a commercial Chinese aircraft landed recently on one of several reefs Beijing has built up to islands through land reclamation.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-9018-US-and-Philippines-happy-to-keep-on-defying-China

Ambassador: US to Continue South China Sea Flights, Sail-bys

From Voice of America (Feb 3): Ambassador: US to Continue South China Sea Flights, Sail-bys



U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg, right, is presented a Chinese New Year scroll by journalist Wilson Flores during a forum Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 at suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines.

The U.S. ambassador said Wednesday joint patrols with the Philippines are possible in the South China Sea, where the United States has asserted its freedom to navigate by sending planes and ships into China-claimed areas.

Manila protested when a commercial Chinese aircraft landed recently on one of several artificial islands Beijing has built in the Spratlys, and officials say China has essentially declared an air defense identification zone over the sea by issuing "provocative" challenges to Philippine military flights in the area.

Ambassador Philip Goldberg said the U.S. and the Philippines both have deep interest in ensuring freedom of navigation and he is not discarding the possibility of joint patrols in the area.

Two U.S. warships have sailed by China-claimed islands in the Spratly and Paracel island chains since October.

"I am not going to announce beforehand what we do in terms of freedom of navigation, but suffice it to say that the United States will follow international law, will continue to enjoy our rights under international law to sail through international waters or fly to international air space," Goldberg told a media forum.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said last week the officials discussing possible joint patrols were looking at an area within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

"I am not going to prejudge what we are going to do and when we are going to do it, whether we are going to do it with the Philippines or with others, but we do discuss that principle with the Philippines and so I am not discarding that possibility," Goldberg added when asked if a proposal for U.S. joint patrols with the Philippines has been approved.

Tensions have risen in the last two years after China built islands on disputed reefs in the Spratly Islands chain that China's neighbors fear could be used to threaten their territories. China and Taiwan have nearly identical claims to almost the entire South China Sea while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei say parts of the sea belong to them. The United States does not claim part of the territory but says it has interest in the peaceful settlement of the disputes and in freedom of navigation in waters that are critical for world trade.

"We seek the best possible relationship with China but we would also like to see the engagement of the entire region on solutions that are rules-based and not unilateral," Goldberg said. Forging of a code of conduct in the area "to us is the way to go," he added.
http://www.voanews.com/content/ambassador-says-us-to-continue-south-china-sea-flights-sail-bys/3174717.html

US buildup in Philippines raises stakes in region

From the Stars & Stripes (Feb 3): US buildup in Philippines raises stakes in region

 

A plan to put U.S. military forces on Palawan, a Philippine island near disputed territory in the South China Sea, could herald a new era of brinkmanship with China, defense experts say.

While the move would likely ease concerns of U.S. allies over China’s aggressive expansionism in the region, it also would move an American presence right on the edge of what Beijing considers its backyard.

 

The Supreme Court of the Philippines gave the green light last month to an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement allowing U.S. forces to build facilities, store equipment and rotate forces through the nation’s military bases. The agreement grants the U.S. access to five military airfields, two naval bases and a jungle training camp, Philippine military spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

 

The facilities include three on the main island of Luzon — Basa Air Base in Pampanga province, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province and Clark Air Base in Pampanga; two on the central island province of Cebu — the Cebu naval base and Benito Ebuen Air Base; one on Mindanao island — the Lumbia airfield in Cagayan de Oro; and a naval base and the Antonio Bautista Air Base on Palawan facing the South China Sea.

 

In addition, the U.S. is seeking access to three civilian seaports and airfields on Luzon, including the port at Subic Bay, a former U.S. Navy base, a senior Philippine defense official told Reuters.

 

This would give the U.S. its first large-scale military presence in the Philippines since 1992, after negotiations on a new lease agreement for American bases broke down and the last of 40,000 U.S. personnel stationed in the country left Subic Bay.

 

The agreement is dependent on the outcome of May’s presidential elections in the Philippines because a new administration could scrap the deal regardless of the court ruling.

 

If the deal stands, however, it will put real teeth into America’s “Pacific pivot” policy, David Johnson of the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

 

The presence of American forces beyond Japan and South Korea would affirm the U.S. commitment to the Western Pacific and serve as a Cold War-style “trip wire” guaranteeing a U.S. response to military aggression against U.S. partners in the region, Johnson said.

 

U.S. officials have publicly downplayed the strategic implications of an American military return to the Philippines, a former colony, perhaps to avoid worsening relations with China.

 

Marine Corps Forces Pacific spokesman Chuck Little said the Marines aren’t interested in having a permanent presence of operational forces in the Philippines.

 

“For the Marines, this means we should be able to visit the Philippines more often to train with more Philippine military units at more locations,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

 

The Marines’ MV-22 Ospreys proved their ability to deploy rapidly for relief efforts after Typhoon Haiyan battered the islands in 2013. The Okinawa-based tilt-rotor aircraft will allow Marines to get to the Philippines and other parts of the Pacific more rapidly than in the past, Little said.

 

“We plan to come to train with our partners in the Armed Forces of the Philippines from our bases in Japan, and in the near future Guam, and then return to those bases when the training is complete,” he said.

 

The Marines also want to travel occasionally to the Philippines from bases in California, either for major exercises or when Marine Expeditionary Units are embarked aboard amphibious ships in the region, he said.

 

However, Johnson said that although “rotational forces” include occasional training visits, they might also involve a longer-term presence. Claims that U.S. forces are going there to help with counterterrorism or to prepare for disaster-relief missions “aren’t fooling anyone,” he said.

 

In fact, the Chinese — engaged in bitter maritime disputes with the Philippines and several other nations in the region — could regard missiles carried by U.S. ships rotating into Palawan the same way Americans thought about Russian missiles in Cuba in the 1960s, he said.

 

From Manila’s perspective, the agreement boosts its position in the dispute with China, he said.

 

“When implemented, it will vastly increase the risk of U.S. involvement in a regional conflict with China over issues that may not be of vital national interest to us, creating a near permanent state of brinksmanship, but, on the other hand, be a very strong signal of our commitment to the national interests of regional allies,” Johnson said.

 

Jan Van Tol, a senior fellow at another Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said that operating from bases on Palawan would put U.S. forces close to the disputed Spratly Islands, where China has been reclaiming land and building airfields and other facilities.

 

“More visits to the Philippines means more ships in the South China Sea,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Littoral combat ships rotating through Singapore will likely visit ports in the Philippines in the near future, he added.

 

“What’s important isn’t so much the ship type as the American flag,” Van Tol said.

The basing agreement reversed a longtime Philippine policy of keeping foreign forces off its soil and reflects its level of concern over Chinese expansionism as well as U.S. resolve to remain a major player in East Asia, he said. It is part of an effort that includes freedom-of-navigation operations the U.S. Navy conducted in the South China Sea last week, he said.

 

Down the road, the agreement will lead to more U.S. forces in and near the South China Sea and more training with partner militaries in the area. It will help counter perceptions that U.S. security guarantees might not be credible in the region, Van Tol said.

 

“Increased presence, and in particular increasing numbers of freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea to continue to assert our rights under international law, as the secretary of defense just indicated would be happening, will be important signals of increasing peaceful resistance to Chinese coercive activities,” he said.

 

Indirectly, a larger and more frequent U.S. presence there may give increased confidence to partner states such as Australia to conduct similar operations asserting their rights under international law, which would be useful in countering depictions of what’s going on as a primarily U.S.-China competition, Van Tol added.

 

Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, another Washington-based think tank, said by email that the basing agreement won’t make much difference at first, but it will emphasis Washington’s commitment to its alliance with the Philippines as the U.S. presence becomes more consistent and more common.

 

“That does not answer the question of what we would do about a specific territorial dispute,” he said. “It is no magic elixir for resolving such matters or for guaranteeing a favorable outcome for Manila in any showdown with Beijing. But it should, at least, reduce any Philippine worries that China would escalate a dispute to a direct attack on a main populated island. I would think that such escalation, unlikely in the first place, will become harder for China and much riskier.”

 

http://www.stripes.com/news/us-buildup-in-philippines-raises-stakes-in-region-1.391912

Under EDCA: US to construct 5 military facilities

From the Manila Times (Feb 5): Under EDCA: US to construct 5 military facilities

DEFENSE Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirmed on Thursday that the United States will build five military facilities in various areas under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which was recently declared legal by the Supreme Court.

Gazmin’s confirmation came a day after US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg disclosed that the US will fund the construction and upgrading of five facilities inside military camps.

He said the “agreed upon sites” are Palawan, Lumbia in Cagay an de Oro City, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Basa Air Base in Pampanga and Cebu. The Defense chief disclosed that discussions on these projects are halfway through.

He, however, could not say what the first project will be since this will depend on the priority of US authorities.

On Wednesday, Goldberg said the construction of military facilities is one of the provisions of EDCA.

“Everything that we will do under EDCA will be mutually agreed. We agreed to certain military construction to help upgrade those facilities using the US military construction funds. It will all be jointly decided and that’s why we’re in the process of doing that now we have a favorable Supreme Court ruling,” he added.

Col. Noel Detoyato, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office, clarified that the construction projects will involve the upgrading of facilities in existing military camps, not building separate military bases.

But the official could not say what kind of facilities will be built or enhanced “because it has to be mutually agreed based on inspection of camps to be jointly used for training.”

Earlier, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesman, said the US and the Philippines may complete installation of a US facility in the country not for military use but for humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR).

He added that the US can establish such facility in the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo (Quezon City), Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, some camps in Central Visayas, Mactan Air Base or Camp Lapu Lapu both in Cebu and Camp Peralta in Jamindan in Capiz.

These camps, Padilla said, are being considered as jumping boards for disaster response.

 US authorities will be allowed to store and keep items related to HADR operations, he added.

The items include power generators, lightings, water purifiers and mobility equipment like trucks, heavy lifters and forklifts.

“The storage of equipment right now is limited to HADR equipment, so no tanks, no war fighting equipment for the moment,” Padilla said.

Goldberg said no timetable has been established for the construction of the facilities.

“We’re in discussions constantly with our colleagues from the Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs to actually watch out exactly on how and when we are going to do this. It is a process that will involve both sides agreeing to carrying out EDCA terms,” he told reporters.

“What we do in military construction funds and things that we have available are also subject to appropriations by our Congress so we don’t know fully what will be offered. In the previous time, we have about $66 million for the military funding in process for the Philippines and we expect there will be additional sources of funds for carrying out EDCA through military construction funds,” the US ambassador said.

He noted that through EDCA, the Philippines will be able to modernize its Armed Forces.

“In large part, it is to address the 21st century challenges, not just the challenges of the past,” Goldberg said.

These “21st century challenges” involve maritime security and maritime domain awareness.

“I know that Japan and Australia and others are also participating in helping the Philippines as it goes about building this defense,” Goldberg said. “Other countries have a role to play in the development of the Philippines’ military sector but the EDCA agreement is between the United States and the Philippines and the other countries don’t play a role in that.”

The ambassador said the US is very committed in helping the Philippines.

“The United States and the Philippines are treaty allies, we have a mutual defense treaty from 1951. It makes it the oldest defense treaty that we have in this region and we have commitments to the Philippines and the Philippines has commitments to the United States under that mutual defense treaty,” he noted.

The ambassador said the US will consider joint patrols with the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) as part of efforts to ensure freedom of navigation in waters claimed by China.

Washington angered Beijing in recent months by sending US warships and warplanes on patrols near artificial islands built by China to bolster its claim to most of the sea.
The Philippines, one of five claimants to parts of the waterway, has backed Washington’s military actions and last month suggested joining US patrols.

“The United States… will continue to enjoy our rights under international law to sail through international waters or fly through international airspace. So I’m not going to prejudge what we’re going to do or when we’re going to do it. Whether we’re going to do it with the Philippines… I’m not discarding that possibility,” Goldberg said.

When asked later if he thought the US would say “yes” if the Philippines formally asked to take part in joint patrols in the South China Sea, he replied, “I think so.”

“I don’t think there are any limitations on what the US can do,” Goldberg said.

http://www.manilatimes.net/us-to-construct-5-military-facilities/243180/

US to build facilities in old CDO airport in 2016

From Rappler (Feb 5): US to build facilities in old CDO airport in 2016

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin says once the required documents are processed in the coming months, US troops can 'move in' to begin construction of their facilities    



JOINT FORCES. Military troops from the Philippines and the US during the opening of the Philippines-US Exercise Balikatan in Quezon City in April 2015. File photo by EPA

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The US military will build facilities in the old Lumbia airport in this city under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirmed.

Gazmin, who was in the city earlier this week to attend the 46th Founding Anniversary of the army’s 4th Infantry Division, said that construction to upgrade the city airport will start within the year.

The defense chief said as soon as the required documents are processed in the coming months, US troops can "move in" to begin the construction of their facilities.

The Lumbia airport, the city’s old commercial airport, is now under the control of the 10th Tactical Operations Group of the Philippine Air Force, though the land belongs to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines-Department of Transportation and Communication.

Gazmin said that the Lumbia airport is one of the selected sites agreed upon by the Philippine government.

Under the EDCA, US forces are allowed to set up storage facilities and station forward personnel to maintain such facilities. These facilities must be being use by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

(READ: SC rules: PH-US deal constitutional)

The US military calls these facilities pre-positioning areas wherein supplies, equipments ordnance and vehicles can be pre-positioned in storage in preparation for possible conflict.

Warning

Cesar Renario, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front-Northern Mindanao warned that the presence of US forces in Lumbia town would be disastrous for the city.

“Under the EDCA...US forces are allowed all forms of operations and activities in the agreed areas,” Renario claimed.

He said that EDCA allows the US military to station an unlimited number of troops, US military contractors, warships, fighter planes, arms including nuclear arms, without payment to the host government.

Renario also noted that Philippine authorities cannot even access these US facilities, just like the Joint Special Operation Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) compound inside Camp General Basilio Navarro, headquarters of the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City where 700 American forces are stationed.

He added that US forces have used the Philippines as it staging area for its Asian pivot, which puts the Philippines as the next conflict area. “The US is protecting its Asian interest, not the interest of the Philippines,” Renario said.

The New People’s Army had earlier released a statement that US soldiers and facilities are legitimate targets of communist rebels.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/121459-gazmin-us-facilities-cagayan-de-oro-edca

Task force formed to address attacks on transmission towers

From MindaNews (Feb 5): Task force formed to address attacks on transmission towers

Government has formed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Security of Energy Facilities to address the series of attacks on transmission towers of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and right-of-way claims in Mindanao.

In a press conference on Thursday, Energy secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada said Mindanao’s power problem is now more of transmission than supply due to attacks on NGCP towers.

She said the attacks and ROW issues are now becoming a national interest because it affects the growth of the country in general.

“Mindanao is a major part of the country. It pulls up the growth of the Philippines, so there should be power to fuel the development,” she said.

The secretary said the task force brings more focus to how government should respond [to the attacks] with the May 9 elections and the continuing El Nino phenomenon.

“There is nothing new in what we do. What this task force does is coordination, more synergy to our efforts,” she said,

Members of the task force included DOE, National Transmission Corp., NGCP, Mindanao Development Authority, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Department of Interior and Local Government, National Power Corporation, Department of Justice, and Land Registration Authority.

Monsada said different task groups will focus on the transmission lines of the Agus-Pulangui hydropower complex, security, legal issues, and information campaign.

She said among the major concerns are the issues namely, unpaid claimants and the vegetation, and the bombings.

“But these claimants cannot be paid outrightly because they have to follow a process, which involves the documentation that they own the property where the towers stood,” she added.

The task force met for the first time at the MinDA office in Davao City on Thursday to plan on how they can resolve the transmission issues.

“Next week. we will be reporting to the president regarding our outputs,” Monsada said.

In 2015, 16 towers were bombed, nine of which were toppled.

In December 2015 alone, seven towers were bombed: Towers 25, 19, 95, 68, 168, and 153.
Last month, two towers – 50 and 63 – were attacked.

Asked how much the power issue has been affecting the business community in the island, Mindanao Business Council chair Vicente Lao said “it is very difficult to quantify the costs when there are brownouts all over the grid.”

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2016/02/05/task-force-formed-to-address-attacks-on-transmission-towers/

Sayyaf rigs military post with IED in Philippines

From the Mindanao Examiner (Feb 5): Sayyaf rigs military post with IED in Philippines

Suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels have rigged a military detachment with an improvised explosive in the southern Philippine town of Patikul, a day after they bombed a convoy full of soldiers on a village there.

The explosive device – assembled from mortar bombs – was discovered in the village of Bonbon and immediately disarmed by soldiers.

Just on Thursday, Abu Sayyaf rebels detonated a roadside bomb while a convoy of military trucks were passing and wounding 7 soldiers, according to the military.

The wounded soldiers – all members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10 – were brought to Zamboanga City.

It was not immediately known why the military failed to prevent the bombing despite a series of Abu Sayyaf attacks on government troops there. The military has sent thousands of troops to Sulu to fight the Abu Sayyaf ahead of the May elections.

The town’s mayor Khabir Hayudini cannot be reached for comment on the spate of violent attacks in Patikul. The Abu Sayyaf is fighting for a separate Islamic state and has pledged allegiance with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/sayyaf-rigs-military-post-with-ied-in-philippines/

USAID inaugurates new classrooms, livelihood facilities in Tacloban

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): USAID inaugurates new classrooms, livelihood facilities in Tacloban

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has turned over on Thursday new classrooms, grains warehouse and solar dryer in this city as part of the US government’s USD143 million post-Yolanda recovery assistance.

USAID Chief Financial Officer Reginald Mitchell led the turnover of four-classroom disaster resilient school building at the Tacloban City National High School (TCNHS) in Bagacay village.

“These classrooms are part of the more than 250 classrooms that the US government, through the US Embassy Manila’s USAID, is building in Leyte province to help restore normalcy in education in typhoon Yolanda-affected areas,” Mitchell said.

“USAID’s priority in building classrooms is done in recognition of the critically important role of education in poverty alleviation.”

Joining the top USAID official in the inauguration of fully furnished classrooms were Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Department of Education Eastern Visayas regional director Luisa Yu, and TCNHS school principal Lydia Umacob.

After the classroom’s inauguration, officials proceeded to Tagpuro village to inaugurate a new grains warehouse and solar dryer facility. The new structures will help 120 members of local farmers’ organization.

“These two structures are two of the more than 30 agri-fishery support facilities being constructed by USAID to support farmers and fisher folks affected by typhoon Yolanda. Other facilities which are currently being constructed across the province include trading centers, warehouses, solar dryers, and irrigation facilities,” Mitchell said.

As USAID’s chief financial officer, Mitchell is responsible for the oversight of the accounting and financial reporting functions of the agency.

Mayor Alfred Romualdez thanked the US government for the continuing support to the recovery of this typhoon-ravaged city.

“The American government and the American people never left. You’ve always been part of us and we are very grateful for your support.

Umacob said the new classrooms will inspire teachers and learners who have lost some of their love ones when super typhoon Yolanda hit the city on November 8, 2013.

In addition to the school buildings and livelihood facilities, USAID is also constructing 12 health centers to help restore access to quality health services.

In partnership with US companies, Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, USAID is also constructing 1,000 sari-sari stores to help small entrepreneurs to get back on their feet.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=854167

Battalion of elite police unit arrives in Masbate for loose guns, PAGs

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): Battalion of elite police unit arrives in Masbate for loose guns, PAGs

With the rising number of killings involving village officials and other political leaders in towns and villages tagged as political hot spots in Masbate, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Bicol regional office on Thursday sent a battalion of elite police unit to prevent the growing political tension prevailing in that Bicol island-province.

Police Senior Insp. Maria Luisa Calubaquib, PNP Bicol spokesperson, said a battalion of police force coming from the newly reactivated Regional Service-Oriented Task Group (RSOTG) arrived on the same after the PNP Central Command and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued the green light for the RSOTG to prevent political violence that might disrupt and mar the May elections.

Calubaquib said the special task group was created to ensure that peace and order will reign in the province that was declared by the Comelec as among the priority provinces in the election watch-list areas (EWAs).

Police Chief Supt. Augusto Marquez, PNP Bicol regional director, assigned Police Senior Supt. Lito Pitallano, deputy regional director for operation (DRDO), as commander of the RSOTG.

The RSOTG will provide security measures that would be needed during the election period.

The group will also track down loose firearms holders and private armed groups (PAGs), including the communist rebel group operating in the province.

The battalion-size PNP task force came from the police forces from Bicol’s six provinces, Regional Public Safety Battalion and a company of Special Action Force unit from the PNP national headquarters, Calubaquib said.

Meanwhile, another sizable unit of the Philippine Army will join the RSOTG to enhance the security force of the task group.

A series of killings has taken place since January to date, the police reported, bringing the death toll to seven persons gunned down by unidentified assailants in the towns of San Jacinto, Placer, Monreal and Masbate City.

In the 2013 Election, the TF Masbate was formed to oversee the security operations in the province tagged by military and police as a “hot spot” area due to intense political rivalries and the presence of PAGs and communist rebels.

Masbate has been consistently been tagged as an election hot spot in previous elections because of the intense political rivalries among clans there, including election-related violence, that have claimed the lives of hundreds of people in the province.

In past election events, the Comelec and the PNP have identified the provinces of Masbate, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte as election areas of concern due to intense political rivalries and the presence of PAGs and the NPA rebels.

Based on the list, Masbate has the most number of villages that have been placed under Comelec control, with 40 villages in 18 towns.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=854355

DILG-6 releases P52.8-M PAMANA fund for peace sites in Negros Occidental

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): DILG-6 releases P52.8-M PAMANA fund for peace sites in Negros Occidental

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 6 has released a P52.8-million financial assistance to the Province of Negros Occidental from the agency’s Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) Fund.

The check was turned over by DILG-6 Regional Director Anthony Nuyda to Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. in rites held Thursday at the Provincial Capitol witnessed by DILG-Negros Island Region OIC-Regional Director Margie Biligan and Provincial Engineer Ernie Mapa.

The fund will be used for the implementation of programs and projects in peace and development community sites of the province.

PAMANA is the government’s flagship program for peace and development which aims to promote community resilience by reducing poverty and vulnerability. The program also seeks to improve governance, and strengthen capacities of communities to address peace and development issues through activities that promote social cohesion.

 http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=854306

DND, AFP to acquire 44.5-M rounds of 5.56mm ball ammunition

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): DND, AFP to acquire 44.5-M rounds of 5.56mm ball ammunition

The Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are in the market for 44.5 million units of 5.56mm ball, linked SS 109 cartridges.

The latter is one of the types of ammunition used by the M-16s and R-4 automatic rifles in Filipino military inventory.

The budget for the project, totaling Php102,419,991.23, will be sourced from the FY 2015 General Appropriations Act and Philippine Army Appropriations for CY 2015.

Winning bidders are required to deliver the items within 180 calendar days upon receipt of the Notice to Proceed.

Bidders should have completed, within the last five years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a single largest similar completed contract equivalent to at least 25 percent of the contract.

Bidding is open to both local and foreign manufacturers.

The DND Bids and Awards Committee will conduct a pre-bid conference on Feb. 10, at 11 a.m. at the DND BAC Conference Room, Basement, DND Building, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Bid opening is set on Feb. 23, at 11 a.m. at the same venue.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=854103

PHL armored battalions fill-out rate to hit 90%

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): PHL armored battalions fill-out rate to hit 90%

With the commissioning of the refurbished 114 M-113A2 armored personnel carriers (APCs) Thursday, Filipino mechanized infantry battalions armored vehicle complement will hit the 90 percent fill-out rate.

"We will incorporate these armor assets into our existing mechanized infantry battalions. We expect that our fill-out rate on armor vehicles will reach at least 90 percent," Army spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao said.

The country's Mechanized Infantry Division has five existing armored battalions which theoretically should have between 36 to 40 APCs in strength.

But due to repairs, maintenance and attrition, some of these battalions are known to operate 26 to 28 APCs only.

These refurbished APCs were acquired through the United States Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program.

The EDA program grants excess US military equipment, without cost, to qualified allied countries.

The transfer is a result of a formal request made by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to assist in their defense modernization efforts.

The M-113A2 was developed to provide a survivable and reliable light tracked vehicle that allows for troops to be brought forward under armor for dismounted operations.

Commissioning of these vehicles will greatly boost the numbers of the 343 armored vehicle-strong MID.

The AFP virtually got these additional armored assets for free saved for the shipping costs which amounted to Php67.5 million and refitting of .50 caliber machine guns to the APCs.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=854108

Army conducts annual Senior Leaders' Conference

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): Army conducts annual Senior Leaders' Conference

Senior leaders of the 85,000-strong Philippine Army (PA) were present at the annual Senior Leaders' Conference held in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City Friday.

Army spokesman Col. Benjamin Hao said conference started with the year-end, fiscal year 2015 Program Performance and Budget Execution Review (PPBER) in the morning and the first semester command conference in the afternoon.

All 10 infantry division commanders were present, to include the Army major combat support and service support unit commanders, he added.

In line with this, Army commander, Lt. Gen. Eduardo M. Año ordered his field commanders to assume a non-partisan stance and ensure a safe and fair election in May 2016.

He reminded his field commanders that other threats to peace and security in the communities arise during the campaign period.

More importantly, Año advised his Army field commanders to concentrate all their efforts in ending the insurgency by 2016.

"The Army headquarters will prioritize its support to units who are directly engaged in operations at the national priority areas," he added.

"Everyone will contribute to the defeat of the NPA and the Abu Sayaff Group in Mindanao," the Army chief stressed.

The Senior Leaders Conference is a gathering of senior Army major unit commanders together with the members of the coordinating staff at the Headquarters Philippine Army.

Also present in the conference were representatives from the Department of National Defense and the General Headquarters, Armed of the Philippines.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=854341

18-year-old water station attendant gunned down in Sulu

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): 18-year-old water station attendant gunned down in Sulu

Motorcycle-riding gunmen shot and killed an 18-year-old water station attendant in Jolo, Sulu Friday morning.

Joint Task Group Sulu commander Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, in a message to the PNA, identified the fatality as Eddie Tanola, single and a resident of Alicia town, Zamboanga Sibugay.

The shooting took place at 6:25 a.m. as the victim was about to open the water station in Marina St., Barangay Walled City, Jolo when motorcycle-riding gunmen appeared out of nowhere and shot him once in the head, killing Tanola instantly.

The suspects immediately escaped even as investigators are now determining the motive for the killing.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=854145

Joint Task Group Sulu keeping a tight watch against alleged ASG bombing attacks

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 5): Joint Task Group Sulu keeping a tight watch against alleged ASG bombing attacks

Units of Joint Task Group Sulu are now keeping a tight watch on their areas-of-jurisdiction after receiving an intelligence report claiming that six Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) trainees will conduct bombing attacks in Jolo.

Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, Joint Task Group Sulu commander, citing intelligence reports said the trainees are from the group of ASG sub-leader Majan Sahidjuan alias "Apo Mike".

"Allegedly, they were instructed by 'Apo Mike' to conduct bombing(s) in Jolo as pre-condition to become a regular members of the ASG. Among their targets are naval vessels, commercial establishments, PCG Station, Jolo Cathedral, Jolo Wet Market, videoke bars along Jolo Airport Road and business establishment(s) frequented by AFP/PNP personnel," he added.

Arrojado said that intelligence reports also disclosed that these trainees were also instructed to conduct roadside bombings along Jolo-Tagbak MSR (main supply route) targeting AFP convoys.

He also stressed that these are retaliatory efforts of the ASG against their ongoing operations against the bandit group in Sulu.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=854346