It seems that the mainstream media in the Philippines does not report on everything regarding the insurgency. Kalinanews.com reports on incidents that the other outlets do not cover.
According to Major General Juvymax R. Uy, Commander, Joint Task Force Central and 6th Infanry (Kampilan) Divison, government operating troops discovered an improvised explosive device (IED) cache in Brgy Pimblakan, Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Tuesday (September 15) at 6:00 in the morning.
Major General Uy said that recovered were the following: One emylo receiver, One 9 volt battery (HW brand), One cap, blasting (converted electric), Half kilo flash powder, Assorted nails (Cut into small size used as shrapnel) and One 750ml empty bottle (zonrox) as a container of flash powder. He further said that when assembled, it can be very devastating if used in terroristic bombing attacks.
Upon the discovery, 34th Infantry Battalion troops immediately cordoned the area, while the Army’s 3rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team successfully disrupted the IED.
“The discovery of this IED is part of the campaign of the government against terroristic act. The prompt response of our ground forces led to the successful disruption of war materials”. Major General Uy added that the Joint Task Force Central will never cease to pursue these lawless groups in the area and prevent them from conducting terroristic attacks.
In light of the recent suicide attacks in Sulu this would
seem to be a rather important
story. But
maybe
it's not really. Except the next day 1 Marine was killed and 4 Marines injured when they drove over an IED in the same area.
A Marine was killed while four others were injured late Friday when a bomb hit their vehicle while en route to a secluded area to reinforce Army troops fighting Dawlah Islamiya bandits.
The fatality, identified only as Private Angot, belonged to the Navy’s 5th Marine Battalion under the 1st Marine Brigade securing neighboring towns in the border of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur provinces.
The bomb went off while the vehicle carrying Angot and other Marines was motoring through a road leading to a hill in Barangay Limpongo in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said Saturday their combatants are trying to cordon in an upland area in Datu Hofer since Friday morning a group of Dawlah Islamiya terrorists tagged in deadly bombings in central Mindanao in the past five years.
The powerful improvised explosive device used in Friday night's attack, detonated from a distance using a mobile phone, was packed with metal fragments with jagged edges.
The AFP is after a group of terrorists responsible for deadly bombings over the past five years. That sounds like a big story. Even bigger if they can actually catch those people. In Sulu more explosive material was found near the site of the recent suicide bombing.
The Philippine Coast Guard discovered abandoned explosive materials in Barangay Walled City in Jolo, Sulu Saturday evening, nearly a month after the twin blasts in the same village on August 24 that killed 15 people and wounded more than 70 others.
Lt. Col. Alaric delos Santos, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines – Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the Explosives Ordnance Division of the Philippine Coast Guard was conducting area paneling at the Jolo pier when they discovered a suspicious item abandoned in between the Harbor Master and Maritime Police Office at 6:02 p.m., September 19.
“The PCG personnel were prompted when the bomb-sniffing dog sat beside the item,” Delos Santos said.
Upon inspection, they discovered two electric blasting caps, one rifle grenade, one spark plug, and concrete nails.
Clearly Abu Sayyaf still has plans to wreck havoc in Sulu.
Here's another story
I did not see in any of the mainstream outlets. By mainstream outlets I mean PNA, Inquirer, GMA, ABS-CBN, and Sunstar among others. The Manila Times and Manila Bulletin too.
Former Rebels condemn the New People’s Army (NPA) in a Peace Rally at Mawab last September 11, 2020.
A total of one hundred fifty (150) people composed of former NPAs and Underground Mass Organization members assembled at Mawab Bus Terminal.
They burned the flag of the CPP-NPA-NDF (CNN) and the effigy of Joma Sison. Further, they signed a declaration of persona non-grata for the communisty terrorist group. The CNN is no longer welcome in their communities.
This also served as an avenue for the former NPA rebels to show their support in helping the government achieve peace and development.
The said event was in partnership with the local government unit of Mawab, provincial government of Davao de Oro, national government agencies, and in coordination with the 71st Infantry (KAIBIGAN) Battalion.
This rally was held in partnership with the local government and the AFP? That sounds like a huge story! Why didn't the mainstream media cover it? Why is the AFP supporting a rally like this? Is it propaganda? Psy-ops? It cannot be grassroots if the military and local government are involved. Is this a way for the AFP to persuade more rebels to surrender?
Brigadier General Ignatius N. Patrimonio Philippine Army, Commander 1102nd Brigade programs continue to bear fruits . Abu Sayyaf Group ranks reduction continue to face a snowball of surrenders as another of their member yield to the government last 10 September 2020 at Brgy Buhanginan, Patikul Sulu.
“Indeed, the snowballing of surrender is a manifestation that our peace initiaves with the LGU of Patikul is effective. And, we expect more as the programs of Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (MTF-ELCAC) Patikul continue to reach them out. This positive response however , will not make us rest on our laurels but rather push ourselves further until we trully bring the ASG on the brink of collapse,” stated by Brig. Gen. Patrimonio PA, under Joint Task Force Sulu.
Surrender seems to be exactly what the AFP wants. But why? One AFP commander says those who have surrendered deserve a better life.
Members and mass supporters of the New People’s Army (NPA) who decide to abandon the communist rebel movement deserve the "utmost support" of the government for them to return normalcy back into their lives, a military official said Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Reynald Romel A. Goce, commander of the Army's 26th Infantry Battalion (26IB), issued the statement a day after the surrender of 321 NPA members and mass supporters in the town of Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
Goce, together with Agusan del Sur Governor Santiago Cane and Esperanza Mayor Leonida M. Manpatilan, welcomed the surrenderers in a ceremony held at the school gymnasium in Esperanza town.
During Tuesday's activity, the former NPA regulars and supporters pledged their allegiance to the government and burned the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and NPA flags to symbolize their abandonment of the communist rebel movement in the area.
"We sympathize with the NPA supporters who have already realized the deception of this terrorist group, that is why our doors remain open in accepting them back to the fold of the law,” Goce said.
With their decision to leave the communist movement, Goce said the government is ready to provide them with basic services that would enable them to uplift their economic conditions.
Why do NPA surrderrees deserve support from the government? Why don't they deserve prison time or even death? Millions have been spent on providing for these people. They get money for education, job training, housing, and even to start a business while many people in this nation live in poverty and filth. How exactly is the money allotted for this cause being spent? Some think the NTF-ELCAC should be audited.
“We are looking into it, kung kelangan ng special audit (if special audit is needed),” Aguinaldo said in response to interpellation by Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate.
The state auditor noted that the fund allocation granted to NTF-ELCAC is “quite big.”
“This is quite big (funds given to NTF-ELCAC)…we have to look at it carefully because the amount involved is not typical,” Aguinaldo admitted.
Zarate claimed that for 2020, the task force created by President Duterte received P36.34 billion fund coming from various agencies of the government.
“The NTF-ELCAC, being an Executive-created body, must be transparent and accountable to Congress and to the people for the public funds that they are given for their operations. It seems though that it is not the case,” he said.
For its 2021 operations, the anti-communist task force is getting P16.44 billion for its Barangay Development Programs.
The Barangay Development Programs are part of the whole-of-nation approach to ending the insurgency. If the people are given proper services from the government then the people will not was to rebel is the thinking underling this program. DILG Secretary Año says the money for the barangay development programs are to be spent only on those projects.
The barangays that will receive funds from the proposed P16 billion development project for communities cleared of insurgency will not be allowed to deviate the funds from the menu of programs specified by the government, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday.
Año issued this remark when asked in an ABS-CBN News Channel interview if the funds can be used by barangays for other initiatives against insurgency, including propaganda campaigns against communist rebels.
“No, they cannot do that. There is a specific menu for projects: farm-to-market roads, water and sanitation system, agriculture and livelihood and technical vocational training for the barangay people. These are specifics. You cannot do other things other than specified in the menu,” he said.
Asked if the budget can be used for intelligence funds, Año replied: “No, definitely not.”
During a House hearing on the budget proposal of the Department of the Interior and Local Government for 2021, Año said a total of 822 villages which were affected by insurgencies due to lack of social services and programs from the national government will benefit from the said project of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
He denied that the proposed budget for the program is a form of “pork barrel”.
“This is not a pork barrel or lump sum because projects are itemized and there will be strict monitoring and evaluation of these projects,” he said.
If everything is itemized and there will be strict monitoring of the projects then it should not be so hard to do an audit. Even so the COA says such a task is too difficult.
"We are having difficulty also tracing what budget was actually used by the different departments (in the NTF-ELCAC budget)," Aguinaldo told the House of Representatives on Wednesday during deliberations on COA's 2021 budget.
In the case of Duterte's intelligence funds, Aguinaldo said they are hard to audit precisely because they are confidential – citing as an example the case of informants whose identities will never be revealed because of the sensitive nature of their roles. This makes it impossible for auditors to check the agency's reimbursements and payments for these informants.
The NTF-ELCAC was created in Decemer 2018 through Duterte's Executive Order No. 70, and was tasked to implement a whole-of-nation approach to end communism.
Its budget however is difficult to trace because the expenses are charged against the specific departments that carry out the tasks.
NTF-ELCAC is composed of officials from different agencies, such as its spokesperson, Lorraine Badoy, who is an undersecretary of Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Zarate said it's like the NTF-ELCAC is given a discretion to come up with a menu of its projects, and award it to different agencies.
Aguinaldo said it was not unusual for a task force created by the President to charge expenses against the department. For example, if a task force is made up of different Cabinet secretaries, the expense of one secretary is charged against his department.
"But this (proposed budget) is quite big, so it's something we have to look at carefuly, the amout of money involved is not typical when you have a task force involving different departments, those are issues we will really be looking at," said Aguinaldo.
It may be difficult but it's certainly not impossible. What the COA really needs to do is check up on all those terrorists who have surrendered and been given millions in aid.
More than P5.985 million cash assistance and livelihood support were received by 113 former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Surigao del Sur.
The former rebels (FRs) were composed of 65 NPA regular members and 48 militias or members of the milisyang bayan (MB), 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division (4th ID) Public Affairs Office (PAO) chief Maj. Rodulfo S. Cordero, Jr. told The Manila Bulletin on Thursday.
Gov. Alexander T. Pimentel of Surigao del Sur handed over the assistance during the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) awarding ceremony spearheaded by the Caraga Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in Tandag City on Tuesday.
The Caraga RTF-ELCAC is chaired by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles who is also the Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security for Caraga.
Each NPA regular member received at least P65,000 (P50,000 for livelihood assistance and P15,000 immediate cash assistance), while the militia received P15,000 cash assistance. A total of 5.985 million pesos were awarded to 113 FRs, Cordero said.
Those who surrendered their firearms also received P5,000 for low powered and up to P60,000 for high powered firearm.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Agriculture also distributed livelihood assistance to the beneficiaries.
That is a lot of money that could go to law abiding citizens. The people deserve to know exactly how the funds allotted to the NTF-ELCAC are being spent and if those projects are worthwhile.
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