Abu Sayyaf surrenderers reach 117

From the Sun Star-Zamboanga (Oct 4): Abu Sayyaf surrenderers reach 117

THE number of Abu Sayyaf bandits who surrendered to the government have reached 117 since January this year as three more bandits have surrendered in Sulu province last Sunday, October 1, the military reported Wednesday.

 

Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana, Joint Task Force Sulu commander, identified the three surrenderers as Jimil Inggan, 25; Madjidul Asari, 47; and, Alex Issan, 38.

 

Sobejana said the three Abu Sayyaf members, who yielded two Garand rifles, surrendered in the village of Bonbon, Patikul town, to the troops of the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion headed by Lieutenant Colonel Jaran Abdula.

 

“Inggan and his companions are currently undergoing custodial debriefing facilitated by our intelligence operatives,” Sobejana said.

 

Of the 117 Abu Sayyaf surrenderers, 65 surrendered in Basilan, 29 in Sulu, 21 in Tawi-Tawi, and two in Zamboanga City.

 

 Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez Jr., Wesmincomm commander, said they will gladly welcome the bandit-surrenderers “as we prepare them to live in the mainstream” of the society.

 

“Rest assured that our Joint Task Forces will continue to keep guard as they sustain the conduct of combat and intelligence operations in their joint area of operations,” he added.

 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/10/04/abu-sayyaf-surrenderers-reach-117-567682

 

Rebels bomb NGCP tower in South

From the Mindanao Examiner (Oct 4): Rebels bomb NGCP tower in South

Suspected rebels bombed a steel pylon owned by the privately-owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in Carmen town in the province of Maguindanao in the restive Muslim autonomous region.

The attack occurred before midnight Tuesday and effectively cut off electricity in many parts of the troubled province. Power was restored shortly before noon Wednesday.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the bombing that toppled Tower 106, but suspicion fell heavily on Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and rogue members of the rival group Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

NGCP steel pylons had been previously bombed by rebels in others parts of the region, accusing the corporation of encroaching on ancestral domain, an allegation strongly denied by its officials.

China has a stake with the NGCP, a consortium, which holds the 25-year concession contract and the 50-year franchise to operate the power transmission network, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy, Jr., Calaca High Power Corporation led by Robert Coyiuto, Jr., and the State Grid Corporation of China as technical partner with four of 10 seats in the board of directors.

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/rebels-bomb-ngcp-tower-in-south/

Asian nations urged to curb Daesh at its roots

From Arab News (Oct 5): Asian nations urged to curb Daesh at its roots



Daesh must be countered at its inception and the conflict in the Philippine city of Marawi is an “eye opener” from which other countries should learn how to defeat violent extremism, a senior adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte has told Arab News.

 The terrorist group “should not be allowed to incubate and mutate. And more importantly, the root cause as to why so many people, especially the youth, are attracted to or resort to violent extremism, must be addressed,” said Jesus Dureza.

 Fighting is raging in the Mindanao island city between Philippine security forces and two Daesh affiliates, the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf. It began in May, when government forces launched an offensive to capture the Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.

 Violent extremism is an emerging problem for the Philippines and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Dureza said. ASEAN, established in 1967 and comprising the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, is scheduled to meet in November.

 Even when the Marawi crisis is over, “the problem has only begun,” Dureza said.

“It is not only the physical reconstruction of destroyed Marawi. The more difficult task is the social healing and mending of broken relationships resulting from violence.”

Earlier, at a regional symposium on humanitarian issues in the ASEAN region, Dureza said the Marawi siege was an “eye opener” on a “new game that has no rules on humanitarian law, human rights or respect for non-combatants.

“We should draw lessons from this so we can improve on how to jointly handle similar situations that will eventually become bigger and more threatening if we, in the ASEAN, continue to consider it less important,” he said.

 Dureza said modern technology had been an effective tool in countering extremists in combat, but at a great price. “We see missiles, smart bombs and drones able to kill the enemy efficiently and quickly. With all this technological advancement, we lose the humanity part. Sometimes, we forget what effect it has on victims, especially innocent civilians.”

A leading security expert, Col. David S. Maxwell, said Daesh was struggling to survive defeat in Syria and Iraq, and was therefore “trying to keep its ideology alive by spreading to other countries where it is taking advantage of the conditions of political resistance that weaken governments and provide safe havens for training, recruitment, and eventual resurrection of its quest for the caliphate.

“This is what appears to have attracted them to Mindanao,” Maxwell said in a recently published article. He said Abu Sayyaf and the Maute group had embraced Daesh ideology “to enhance their legitimacy and gain recruits, resources, and respect.”

Maxwell is associate director of the Center for Security Studies in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is a retired US Army Special Forces colonel who served in the Philippines.

 In his article, Maxwell said the nature of the problem in the Philippines was not solely a security threat, and while the Marawi siege was a lightning rod that brought focus on Daesh, “it is only a symptom of the underlying problem.”

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1172426/world

Troops kill 6 more Maute rebels in Marawi battle area

From GMA News (Oct 5): Troops kill 6 more Maute rebels in Marawi battle area

Six more members of the pro-ISIS Maute terrorists have been confirmed killed in the main battle area in Marawi City, bringing to 759 the rebels' body count since the battle began last May 23.

Early on Thursday, Colonel Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the Joint Task Group Ranao, confirmed that six more bodies from of rebel group have been recovered from the battle site.

On Wednesday, Col. Edgard Arevalo, Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief, said that the number of confirmed fatalities from the side of the rebels was at 753, while the number of fallen troops remained at 155.

But Brawner said there might be more rebel bodies in the war zone but retrieval operation was difficult as holdover Maute forces are still putting up fierce resistance.

No fatality was reported from the government side in the early Thursday skirmishes, Brawner added.

Moreover, he said that ground troops will give a report to President Rodrigo Duterte on the situation in Marawi City this Thursday.

Also on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that 17 civilians held captive by the Maute group were rescued—nine males and eight females, with ages ranging from 18 to 75.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/628356/troops-kill-6-more-maute-rebels-in-mawari-battle-area/story/

VLOG: U.S. agents check for most wanted terrorists among Marawi bodies

From Rappler (Oct 2): VLOG: U.S. agents check for most wanted terrorists among Marawi bodies

The American agents will help identify the cadavers of foreign fighters who joined the local terrorists in Marawi City



The Philippine National Police (PNP) conducts an autopsy on the bodies recovered from the battle area in Marawi City.

The results could confirm if leaders of the Maute Group were among those killed in earlier firefights with the military.

United States agents are also in Iligan City, supposedly to help identify the cadavers of foreign fighters who joined the local terrorists.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/184117-vlog-united-states-agents-terrorists-marawi-bodies

Palace hits NPA attacks, doubts leaders’ sincerity

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Oct 3): Palace hits NPA attacks, doubts leaders’ sincerity
 

Members of the underground movement troop to Mendiola during the 44th anniversary of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Malacañang on Monday condemned the recent spate of attacks launched by communist rebels in the Visayas and Mindanao, saying these raised doubts about their leaders’ sincerity in pursuing peace talks with the government.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the attacks by fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), only raised “doubts” among the people about the resumption of peace negotiations.

Counterinsurgency

“The NPA attacks in Sarangani, South Cotabato, Surigao del Sur, Palawan and Masbate fuel the public’s doubt about the talks with the group,” Abella said in a statement.

He said the communist rebels recently disarmed officials involved in the counterinsurgency program in Sarangani and South Cotabato.

They then abducted a tribe leader and a Cafgu (Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit) member in Surigao del Sur and ambushed a military convoy in Palawan, Abella said.

“[They] … also killed a policeman in Masbate,” he said.

Appropriate steps

“The government will undertake appropriate steps to deal decisively with these forces that seem to have lost their sense of nation-building,” he added.

Formal peace talks between the government and the CPP were supposed to resume last month, but President Rodrigo Duterte got angry after the NPA ambushed a convoy of the Presidential Security Group in Arakan, North Cotabato in July.
Ceasefire first

Mr. Duterte insisted that there should be a ceasefire first before peace talks could proceed.

On May 27, the government peace panel withdrew from the fifth round of peace talks with the rebels in the city of Noordwijk, the Netherlands, after the CPP ordered the NPA to step up attacks against security forces.

The CPP issued the order after the President declared martial law in Mindanao following the attack on Marawi City by fighters of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group, the Abu Sayyaf faction of Isnilon Hapilon and their allies.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/935082/palace-hits-npa-attacks-doubts-leaders-sincerity

‘Hostages-turned-terrorists will be treated as Maute’

From the Manila Times (Oct 2): ‘Hostages-turned-terrorists will be treated as Maute’

Hostages who have joined the Maute Group will be treated as terrorists like their adopted comrades, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) warned on Monday.

But AFP public affairs chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said the military cannot identify with certainty who among the hostages in the siege of Marawi City have turned into gunmen of the Maute Group, which is affiliated with the Islamic State (IS).

“If they will be the one shooting at us first, we have to continue our combat operations and then we have to also protect ourselves especially if we are the ones being shot at first [by the hostages forced to fight soldiers],” Arevalo told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo, the AFP’s general headquarters in Quezon City.

“They will be treated as part of the local terrorist group especially if we do not have information if that person was an enemy or a real Maute-ISIS fighter or that person was forced to fight,” he said, using another acronym for the IS—Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

The latest tally from the military showed that 749 terrorists and 47 civilians had been killed in the four-month-old fighting in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.

According to Arevalo, hostages forced to fight government troops and killed in combat would have to be counted as Maute casualties.

Government forces are communicating with the hostages inside the main battle zone in order to determine whether any hostage has turned into a terrorist.

Forty-three hostages remain inside the battle zone, according to Arevalo.

He called for more patience from the public as the fighting had entered the month of October, citing challenges being faced by troops in the field.

Last week, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the fighting could be over as the month of October approached but that deadline was not met as clashes continued on Sunday, October 1.

Arevalo said the military would be needing “a few more days” to finish the war and in clearing strongholds of the Maute bandits.

“We saw that there was a great reduction of strength and capability from the Maute to withstand the onslaught of our personnel but we also cannot belittle [them]. What we are saying is that we have the upper hand, we gained the momentum, the operational tempo is with us,” he added.

“We are just as eager as you are in finishing this war, we are just as interested as everyone else to ensure that we would be able to finish this and to get into full swing the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Marawi,” Arevalo said.

About eight to nine hectares of a highly-urbanized area with tall buildings remain as maneuvering ground of the Maute Group in Marawi, according to him.

Consequences

The AFP public affairs chief said the military is confident that Omarkhayam Maute and Southeast Asian “emir” of the IS group Isnilon Hapilon are still within the main battle area, citing reports.

He called on the two top Maute leaders to surrender to authorities, assuring them that they will be treated “humanely.”

Hapilon and Omarkhayam, however, would have to face consequences of their actions in aiming to establish an independent Islamic state in Marawi City, Arevalo said.

The military would also prefer to have Hapilon and Omarkhayam alive once they are found by the government within the area but Arevalo said the two terror leaders will not let themselves to be captured alive.

“But, if we will be able to capture them alive, that will be good so that we can have our chance to ask them about other information that would come straight from them, but if in any case, they already see that they are on the losing end, that they should surrender now,” he added.

http://www.manilatimes.net/hostages-turned-terrorists-will-treated-maute/354145/

Duterte signals end of negotiations with Left

From the Business Mirror (Oct 3): Duterte signals end of negotiations with Left

PRESIDENT Duterte on Monday night signaled the end of negotiations with the Left after announcing to soldiers in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, to prepare for the next war the government will wage—the war against the New People’s Army (NPA).

In his sixth visit in war-torn Marawi City, the President told government troops to remain vigilant even as the fighting against Islamist extremists is reported to end within October. Duterte said soldiers will face the NPA next, which have conducted successful—and successive—offensives in different parts of the Philippines, mostly in Southern Mindanao.

“I was assessing the terrain of the peace talks, and it appears our negotiations with the NPA are bound to fail. Keep your guards up because, from my briefer, there are about 15 to 20 encounters with the NPA every day,” the President said.

“Our next target are the NPAs, because they have killed many of our soldiers,” Duterte added.

The past days saw consecutive NPA attacks in Sarangani, South Cotabato, Surigao del Sur, Palawan and Masbate, dealing the military heavy blows in its counterinsurgency program.

The NPA claimed responsibility for disarming officials involved in military operations in Sarangani and South Cotabato. The communist rebels were also reported to have taken as prisoners of war a tribe leader and a militiaman in Surigao del Sur.

The NPA also ambushed a military convoy in Palawan and killed a policeman in Masbate. The string of attacks, in the words of Presidential Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella, only “fuels the public’s doubts about the talks with the group”.

Abella on Monday said the public need not worry, as government troops are doing everything in their power to neutralize the communist rebels.

“The government will undertake appropriate steps to deal decisively with these forces that seem to have lost their sense of nation building,” Abella added.

But the President said he had enough of “communist atrocities”. He advised government troops to be wary of their environment once they return home after the conflict in Marawi City.

“If you return to your provinces, you only go in buddies, not in groups. The NPA might ambush you right in front of your house,” Duterte said.

Negotiations with communists are suspended upon the orders of the Chief Executive, after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in May ordered its armed wing, the NPA, to heighten offensives and accelerate recruitment as a response to the martial-law declaration in Mindanao.

Backchannel efforts to revive the peace talks failed due to an NPA ambush in Arakan, Cotabato, which claimed the lives of one militiaman and five members of the Presidential Security Group.

The CPP stated it is still open to negotiating with the government, even as it no longer expects the peace talks to bring about substantive reforms that will benefit the majority of the people.

“While open to resuming peace talks with the Duterte regime, revolutionary forces are no longer hopeful that anything substantive will come out of it in the face of Duterte’s subservience to the interests of [United States] imperialism and other big foreign capitalist countries,” the CPP said in a statement on September 19.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/duterte-signals-end-of-negotiations-with-left/

6 NPA rebels surrender, yield firearms to government

From Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Oct 3): 6 NPA rebels surrender, yield firearms to government

AT LEAST six communist rebels have yielded their guns and surrendered to the army's 26th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, the military reported on Tuesday, October 3.

 

Captain Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the army's 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said the six members of the New People’s Army (NPA) belong to the same guerilla front encountered by the government soldiers in KM 46, Barangay Binicalan, San Luis, Agusan del Sur last September 29.

 

The military, over the weekend, also recovered two unidentified bodies of suspected communist rebels believed to be fatalities of the said firefight.

 

"Anxious for their life and security, the rebels decided to surrender and leave the revolutionary movement," the 26IB said in a statement.

 

The former NPA rebels surrendered 11 firearms of different calibers including two Garand rifles, UZI pistol, a shotgun, an Ingram, a caliber 45 pistol, three caliber 38 revolvers, a caliber 357, hand grenade, and several bullets.

 

The military said the six were presented to Talacogon mayor Jesryl Masendo so they would be given immediate assistance by the local government unit. The former rebels are now undergoing processing for facilitation of benefits and financial aid covered by the government's Comprehensive Local Integration Program so they can start a new life.

 

"The recent firefight was a major debacle to the NPA's Guerilla Front 88. It demoralized their ranks which led to the surrender of their members. We are certain that more of them are confused and afraid for their lives. We have intensified our pursuit operations towards the fleeing rebels and we are calling upon them to surrender to the folds of the law for their self-preservation," Lieutenant Colonel Rommel Pagayon, 26 IB commanding officer said.

 

Andred Centino, 401st Infantry Brigade Commander Colonel, emphasized that the six rebels are apparently experiencing hardships within the revolutionary movement and are now willing to avail the opportunities offered by the government.

 

"These are product of collaboration of efforts of the different stakeholders with a common purpose of attaining peace and further development for the communities," Centino said.

 

4ID commander Major General Ronald Villanueva lauded the six for heeding to the call for peace and unity. Villanueva reiterated to the remaining NPAs who are still fighting to surrender to the government. 

 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2017/10/04/6-npa-rebels-surrender-yield-firearms-government-567590

NPA rebels kill N. Cotabato village exec

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Oct 3): NPA rebels kill N. Cotabato village exec

Suspected New People’s Army rebels on Tuesday killed a village official who actively supported the military’s peace and development program in North Cotabato, the military said.

Capt. Silver Belvis, speaking for the 39th Infantry Battalion, said Valeriano Birondo, councilman of Barangay Mahongkog in Magpet town, was on a motorcycle on his way home when the rebels blocked his path and took him to a secluded place where he was hacked to death.

Belvis, quoting statements from residents, said they overheard the armed men as saying that Birondo was executed for his crimes against NPA’s Guerilla Front 72.

Meanwhile, a certain Ka Chui of Guerilla Front 72, in a statement, said the alleged NPA sub-leader who yielded with his rifle to the 39th Infantry Battalion over the weekend was no longer part of the movement since 2015.

Antonio Gawelan, alias Commander Banate, turned himself to 39th IB with the help of Indigenous Peoples tribal leader and handed over his M16 rifle, the military earlier reported.

Gawelan claimed unfulfilled promises of the NPA leaders led him to surrender to the government. He lamented that injured red fighters were abandoned after clashes with government forces.

But Ka Chui said Gawelan was injured in an encounter with government forces in Magpet, North Cotabato early this year. He was advised to rest to his home in Kitao-tao, Bukidnon and was dropped from the roster.

Belvis said Gawelan was qualified to receive government livelihood assistance after his surrender.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/935182/npa-rebels-kill-n-cotabato-village-exec

2 foreigners, 2 Pinoys hurt in suspected NPA attack in Negros Occidental

From ABS-CBN (Oct 3): 2 foreigners, 2 Pinoys hurt in suspected NPA attack in Negros Occidental



Suspected members of the New People’s Army fired at a police patrol car in Negros Occidental, Tuesday. Barbara Mijares, ABS-CBN News

Two foreigners, their driver, and a tricycle driver were wounded when suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed a police patrol vehicle in Negros Occidental on Tuesday.

The policemen were on their way to Sipalay City to serve a warrant of arrest when they were attacked by around 30 members of the NPA.

Chief Insp. Gary Resuma, Cauayan police chief, said the foreigners' vehicle was near the patrol car when the rebels fired at the cops.

The police identified the victims as Swedish citizens Juliana Palmero and Karl Christer Arvidsson. They sustained minor injuries.

Their driver was identified as Jason Tumayao of Bacolod City who sustained multiple injuries. As of this posting, the tricycle driver has not been identified.

The victims have been brought to a hospital in Bacolod for treatment.

Resuma said there were no injuries on the part of the police.

Provincial Police Director Senior Supt. Rodolfo Castil Jr. said they received reports that the rebel side sustained three injuries.

Security checkpoints have been placed in neighboring towns and cities following the incident.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/03/17/2-foreigners-2-pinoys-hurt-in-suspected-npa-attack-in-negros-occidental

Philippines: 3 Abu Sayyaf terrorists surrender in south

From Anadolu Agency (Oct 4): Philippines: 3 Abu Sayyaf terrorists surrender in south

Efforts continue to rescue hostages, contain bandits in Sulu

Three Daesh-linked militants have surrendered to government troops in the southern province of Sulu, where over a dozen hostages remain in captivity.

The surrender of the Abu Sayyaf terrorists was announced late Tuesday by Army Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu.

Sobejana said the bandits gave up to troops of the Philippine Army's 32nd Infantry Battalion in Bonbon village in Patikul town. They also laid down their high-powered firearms.

The militants, who hail from the village of Liang, also in Patikul, are followers of the late Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Ninok Sappari, who was head of the "Lucky 9” group in Sulu.

Sappari's group assassinated military personnel and kidnapped both locals and foreigners in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Sappari had been wanted for 32 counts of murder.

"The surrendered Abu Sayyaf members are currently undergoing a custodial debriefing facilitated by our intelligence operatives," said Sobejana.

Army Lt. General Carlito Galvez, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, welcomed the surrender of the terrorists, saying they will prepare them for reintegration into mainstream society.

Galvez, however, said the military offensives will continue despite the mounting number of terrorists who are now deciding to lay down their arms.

"Efforts are ongoing to rescue the hostages and contain the bandits in the province," he added.

More than a dozen hostages including Vietnamese, Malaysian nationals, a Dutchman and Filipinos are believed to be held captive by the Abu Sayyaf group in remote jungles of Sulu.

WestMinCom records show that from Jan. 1, 2017 to date, 117 Abu Sayyaf terrorists have surrendered with their firearms.

 

http://aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/philippines-3-abu-sayyaf-terrorists-surrender-in-south/926382

Opinion: Mother lode of info on fighting extremism

Opinion piece by Macabangkit B. Lanto in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Oct 4): Mother lode of info on fighting extremism

The “Conference on Peace and Prevention of Violent Extremism in Southeast Asia” was held on Sept. 22-23 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila. But the organizers might as well have called it a conference on the war in Marawi City because the subject was on everybody’s mind and dominated the discussions. It was in fact the focal point and driving force that led to the holding of the conference.

I was the eleventh-hour substitute speaker for the mayor of Marawi, who had to beg off. I was informed of the task only 48 hours before the conference, but I didn’t complain. I have always been prepared to speak, even impromptu, on anything concerning my hometown. All I needed to do was to recall, collate and arrange in my mind the commentaries I have written on the subject for Inquirer Opinion. It was fairly easy, and even inspiring, to speak about an issue close to my heart.

I spoke at the Special Briefing Workshop on Marawi, one of the breakout sessions of the conference, through the eyes of one who personally experienced the calamity and the agony of a victim—a bakwit, if you may. It was an insider’s perspective of the tragic war. I spoke of the historical and geopolitical importance of the city; its strategic geography; its being the nerve center of the religious, cultural, economic and educational life of the Maranaw; and the factors that make them vulnerable to the Salafi-Wahabbi ideology and its inroads into moderate Islam.

I traced the gestation and transformation of Islamic fundamentalism (Ansarul Islam) to radicalism and finally extremism (Dawla Islamiyah) among the Maranaw. I suggested some immediate as well as long-term measures that the government can institute to address the creeping radicalism and prevent a repeat of the Marawi tragedy in other places. I mentioned in passing a Marshall-Plan-like rehabilitation of the city through Administrative Order No. 03 creating Task Force Bangon Marawi and the assistance of foreign governments, especially altruistic Arabs. (I have discussed all these in my contributed commentaries to Inquirer Opinion.)

The conference was a mother lode of information on best practices and strategies of Asean countries in fighting faith-based extremism. Present were Asean delegates and experts sharing their experience and their government’s strategy in countering violent extremism — food for thought for our defense and security authorities.

I was particularly impressed by the expertise and profound knowledge of Dr. Rohan Gunaratna of Singapore, who talked about the nascence and progression of the extremist campaign globally and regionally, particularly in the Philippines. He talked about the divide between Abu Sayyaf leaders Sahiron and Ispilon Hapilon, and how the Maute group metastasized into what it is now. He asserted that there was no intelligence failure on the part of Philippine authorities but that they are guilty of operational failure — a fact which our authorities will be hard put to deny. He also correctly observed that President Duterte had publicly acknowledged the presence in the country of the Islamic State, while previous administrations were in denial.

Gunaratna also remarked on the influence of foreign fighters on the strategy employed by the Mautes, like when they bought two drones in Davao City a day following the start of the siege in May, to monitor the movement of the military. These and other revelations are unknown to many.

There was unanimity in admitting that the alien IS ideology has gained a foothold in the region, and that employing a regionwide approach to this threat to peace is imperative. Asean stakeholders must continue sharing intelligence information and technical capabilities including tested and effective practices to arrest radicalism.

Kudos to the organizers for a successful conference.

* * *
[Macabangkit B. Lanto (amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com), UP Law 1967, was a Fulbright Fellow in New York University for his postgraduate studies. He has served the government as congressman, ambassador, and undersecretary, among other positions.]

 http://opinion.inquirer.net/107614/mother-lode-info-fighting-extremism

US troops inspect IS dead

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Oct 4): US troops inspect IS dead

DNA samples collected by American soldiers to identify foreign jihadis who fought in Marawi City





US soldiers join Philippine police forensics examiners in Iligan City as Philippine Marines (top photo) continue clearing Marawi City of remnants of Islamic State followers. —RICHEL V. UMEL AND JEOFFREY MAITEM

US soldiers had joined Philippine police forensics teams in checking some of the bodies of fatalities in the ongoing war on terror here to help identify foreigners who fought alongside members of two homegrown groups that sought to establish an Islamic State (IS) province in this predominantly Muslim city.

The clashes escalated into a full-blown war on May 23 when soldiers and policemen tried to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, the acknowledged head of IS in Mindanao.

Philippine security forces, however, were met by scores of gunmen belonging to the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf, local terror groups that had affiliated with IS. Foreigners were seen fighting alongside the local terrorists.

Maj. Gen. Rolando Bautista, Philippine Army 1st Division and Joint Task Force Marawi commander, last week told Inquirer that at least 10 foreign terrorists, mostly Malaysians and Indonesians, were still in the war zone.

Postmortem

On Monday, at least four US agents joined members of the Philippine police’s Scene of Crime Operations (Soco) agents who were conducting postmortem examination on 40 bodies being kept at Capin Funeral Home in Iligan City.

Senior Supt. Mary Leocy Mag-abo, head of the Soco team now based in Iligan, said “the US forces are interested to determine and know the possibilities that there are foreign terrorists, aside from Maute fighters, who fought and were killed by the military in Marawi City.”

The retrieval of bodies in the war zone continued even as soldiers have yet to wrap up clearing operations against the terrorists.

Zia Adiong, Lanao del Sur Crisis Management Committee spokesperson, said teams retrieving the bodies were being careful to preserve pieces of evidence that could be used in the future either to identify the dead or file criminal charges against those involved in the terrorist occupation of the city.

“We treat the area not only as a battle area but also a crime scene,” Adiong said.

He said bodies were being brought to Capin for forensic tests.
Since day one of the war on May 23, Adiong said 105 bodies and skeletal remains had been retrieved. Most were those of Maute gunmen.
Grim task

A funeral home owner in Iligan, however, said he had counted 114 bodies being brought to his morgue since the start of the fighting.

He said 11 of the dead brought to his funeral home had been buried in Iligan in June. At least 54 were buried in the Maqbarah, or Muslim cemetery, in Iligan.

Adiong said 40 skeletal remains and bodies in advanced states of decomposition were still in Capin. Fifteen of these were scheduled for burial this week, he said.

Of the 40 remains, according to Adiong, two were found in a shallow grave in the village of Norhaya here on Sept. 29. Their identities have not been determined.

Mag-abo, the Soco team head, said her team had conducted an autopsy on 25 bodies from the villages of Bangolo, Sabala Manao, Datu sa Dansalan and on two from the village of Norhaya.

She said DNA samples were collected from the bodies for future reference.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/935344/us-troops-inspect-is-dead

Army verifying 4 ‘casualties’ in clash

From the Sun Star-Bacolod (Oct 4): Army verifying 4 ‘casualties’ in clash
COLONEL Eliezer Losañes, commander of 303rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, said yesterday they are still verifying the reported four casualties in the encounter between a private armed group and the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) on October 1 in Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental.

Based on military reports, members of RPA-ABB led by a certain Alejandro Traya conducted patrol at the vicinity of Barangay Pinowayan when they encountered about 20 armed men with high-powered firearms led by Glen Saldoa and Julito Tanoco along the Tangkongan river between the boundary of Barangays Pinowayan and Bagong Silang around 6:40 p.m.

A firefight ensued for about 15 minutes and a certain Godofredo Bayog- ang, along with 13 members of RPA-ABB reinforced Traya's group.

Reports said there were four fatalities and one wounded on the part of the private armed group.

However, no bodies were retrieved. On the part of the police, Senior Inspector Jovito Bose, town police chief, said they retrieved a body from the encounter site near a river but they have yet to determine if the victim was a member of either group.

The fatality was identified as Robert Selendrun, 21, who went fishing in the river with his brother and cousin. They ran away, but Selendrun was hit and he died on the spot while his two companions were unharmed.

 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/bacolod/local-news/2017/10/04/army-verifying-4-casualties-clash-567625