It is August 2019 which means that Marawi is cleared of all unexploded ordnance and rebuilding can finally begin. At least
that was the plan if you remember. But the AFP is not quite there yet.
The military on Saturday will detonate unexploded bombs recovered through the ongoing clearing of debris in war-torn Marawi City as the government prepares for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Lanao del Sur capital.
Authorities estimated that 30 more bombs were needed to be recovered to ensure the safety of teams conducting clearing operations and to avoid problems in rebuilding work.
On July 23, soldiers found a 260-pound bomb in Barangay Moncado Colony. This bomb, the fifth recovered in the city since March, was buried some 9 meters deep.
Let's do the math. If 5 bombs were recovered in a 5 month time span between March and July and 30 more need to be found then that means 30 more months of work or about two and a half years which is well beyond the scheduled date for the finished reconstruction of Marawi since rebuilding cannot take place until all the ordnance is cleared. Just goes to show that setting dates for a project as extensive as the rebuilding of an entire city is a bad idea.
The AFP is disposing of these bombs by tossing them into a deep hole and lighting the fuse which is better than storing them haphazardly in a wooden shed where they could suddenly explode.
Viñas said more than 50 pieces of assorted ordnance, including court evidence, vintage mortars dating back to the Second World War, and unexploded bombs from Marawi City, were stored in a shed made of wood and galvanized iron sheets.
Oh wait that is exactly what they have been doing with some of the unexploded ordnance from Marawi. I'm not a bomb technician but I don't think a wooden shed is the safest place to store bombs. Nice to know they have been storing vintage World War 2 mortars instead of defusing them and putting them in a museum or destroying them altogether. If the PNP is storing 80 year old bombs what can we expect from their handling of any future ordnance found in Marawi?
The past always comes back to bite us or explode in our wooden shed. This proverb is exemplified in the news that this week a Jordanian man who was a "henchman of Osama Bin Laden's brother-in-law" and was deported back in 2003 was deported again after finding his way back to the country.
A Jordanian man tagged as a former henchman of Osama Bin Laden’s brother-in-law, was arrested in Mindanao and will be deported by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for illegally entering the country.
“We are going to deport him for being an illegal entrant as he has no record of arrival after he was arrested and deported in 2003 for being an undesirable alien,” the BI chief said.
Morente stated that Abedeljalil assumed a fictitious name which enabled him to reside in the country.
It was learned that authorities started monitoring the Jordanian’s activities when he and his Algerian companion were flagged down at a military checkpoint in Zamboanga in August last year.
During questioning, Abdeljalil claimed that he returned to the country in 2007.
He admitted being arrested and deported by the BI in 2003 for involvement in clandestine terrorist activities as a Palestinian under the name Mahmood Afif.
When he was arrested 16 years ago, the BI said the Jordanian served as the point man of Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, a Saudi businessman and Bin Laden’s brother-in-law, in managing several charity organizations in Mindanao that funneled money to Al Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Three years after he was deported, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas froze Khalifa’s bank accounts to prevent funds from being laundered further to the said terrorist groups.
Authorities also alleged that even after Khalifa was killed in 2007, Abdeljalil continued to extend financial support to the Abu Sayyaf using as fronts several mosques and Madrasah schools that he built in Mindanao.
The authorities were aware of this man's presence since last year but continued to let him be to monitor his activities. What did they find? Hopefully letting him run free was not for naught and some hefty intelligence was gathered which will lead to the downfall of Abu Sayyaf. What about those mosques and madrassas? Have they been shut down and their funds frozen? There is a lot we are not being told here which is fine and dandy as long as the AFP and PNP are acting on this information. History says they are not.
Snuffing out the finances of terrorist groups is one way to shut them down. No money means no way to finance operations. The Philippine government is trying this approach with the CPP-NPA.
"So we went to Europe to tell them about this, and to also ask that they stop funding fronts of the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army) because this funds that they were giving out fronts were being used to finance terrorism and poverty to our country," Badoy said during the Saturday news forum at Annabel's Restaurant in Quezon City.
"I’m very happy to report to you that a lot of this, close to 100 percent of those we approached have stopped funding," she said.
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The NPA probably has lots of hand grenades lying around in their various lairs.
Government troops on Sunday overran a New People’s Army (NPA) training and indoctrination lair in Sitio Lagmak of Barangay Pagsangahan, General Nakar town in Quezon province.
According to report that reached Camp Capinpin, the firefight lasted for over an hour and has left heavy casualties on the side of the NPA based on the heavy traces of bloodstains found on the rebels’ escape routes.
The NPA indoctrination lair has at least 20 fully-built huts and two lecture halls.
Col. Alex Rillera, Commander of the 202nd Infantry Brigade, said the encounter is a manifestation that the NPA no longer enjoys mass base support.
Rillera also assured the people of Region 4A (Calabarzon) that their soldiers “will be unrelenting in pursuing our goal of winning the peace even if it means putting our lives on the line and facing the horrors of conflict.”
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo B. Burgos Jr., Commander of the 2nd Infantry “Jungle Fighter” Division (2ID), commended the government forces their successful operation against the NPA, an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“The encounter shows that your soldiers are on top of the security situation and that we are always a step ahead of the enemies of the state. Thus, I urge the remaining members of the NPA to surrender, lay down your arms and live peaceful lives with your families because you are waging a futile war against the duly constituted government and its people,” Burgos said.
Here we have two AFP Officers making two very different statements. Col. Rillera indicates that the AFP will hunt the NPA to the bitter end with the ultimate goal of winning the peace. Meanwhile Brig. Gen. Burgos pleads with the NPA rebels to surrender and live peaceful lives with their families. These are two very different approaches at winning the war against the communist insurgency and they do not mesh. Let's look at a different and even bolder contrast in the Philippine government's policy of handling the NPA.
“I will give you tit for tat, that’s what I told the military. Give them what they deserve,” Duterte said.
“You are killing everybody there. Everyone that is anti-communist or does not want communism, you kill,” he added.
The President said the Philippines has been “infested” with NPA rebels, which he described as parasites.
“You communists, you have crossed the red line. The countryside is infested with parasites like you,” he said.
He slammed the communists for torturing and killing of four policemen in Negros.
“I will not take it sitting down. I told the military gawin mo sa kanila, do it to them also,” he said.
These harsh words are in response to the NPA's kidnapping, torture, and murder of four policemen. They admitted to this deed calling it a legitimate act of war. Duterte says the AFP should kill them. Now just imagine if the men responsible for this atrocity surrendered to the AFP. What can they expect? How about a free trip to Hong Kong!
These beneficiaries from Eastern Mindanao, composed of four males and 84 females, are currently undergoing integration process.
“The purpose of the tour, which includes a visit to historical spots in Hong Kong, is to allow the FRs (former rebels) to experience the life in a modern urban setting and provide them a better and another perspective in life,” said Balagtey.
He couldn’t say how much was spent for the entire trip. The beneficiaries also received allowances for the tour.
President Rodrigo Duterte promised these former rebels a foreign trip during their visit in Malacañang in February last year.
EMC commander Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. said the trip adds to the “continuing therapy” and “integration process” of these formal rebels as they go back to their normal lives.
The government offers the E-CLIP (Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program), a financial assistance program, for the communist rebels who wish to surrender their arms.
Now perhaps it is ludicrous to think that the NPA rebels who murdered four PNP officers would be given all the benefits of the E-CLIP program if they surrendered. Maybe. But the principle here is what matters. All those former rebels are guilty of who knows what crimes and they are being feted by the government at the expense of the taxpayer. While hospitals remain filthy and the poor go uncared for these NPA rebels are getting a free trip to Hong Kong. You can't have a policy of "kill them" and "give them benefits if they surrender" it doesn't work that way. It is an unjust policy that rewards rebels and punishes Filipinos.
Rewarding rebels flips justice on its head. Most egregious is the treatment the MILF is receiving via the normalisation process.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said in a statement that the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the armed component of the MILF, will be trained to be part of the Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST), in line with the normalization and decommissioning process under the 2014 peace deal between the government and the MILF.
He said that the training would be the gateway for the former MILF combatants to join the AFP and the PNP in maintaining peace and order in the Bangsamoro region.
Based on the Normalization Track, 30% or 12,000 MILF combatants and their weapons will be decommissioned this year. At least 35% will undergo the same process next year, while the remaining fighters would be decommissioned by 2022 in time for the signing of the Exit Agreement under the CAB.
What decommissioning process? These MILF fighters are still fighters but with a different title. Instead of the MILF they will be the JPST and then maybe part of the AFP and PNP. They will still be armed. They will still be fighters. And seeing how the ultimate goal of the MILF is secession of the whole of Mindanao as per their belief in ancestral domain who knows but these "allies" could become enemies once more.
Believe it or not there is dark side to all these surrenderees.
The military has joined Basilan local leaders in demanding an explanation from the Philippine National Police’s 84th Seaborne Special Action Force (SAF) for the killing, in a raid on Friday, of three of its military assets.
On Friday, August 2, around 3:30 a.m., police and NBI operatives raided the houses of Aljan Mande and two civilian militias in Sitio Kasanyangan, Barangay Candiis.
Mohammad Ajul mayor Ibrahim Ballaho said the raid resulted in the killing of brothers Aljan and Jamsid Mande, and Radjak Ammah, leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the barangay.
Encinas said all three victims “supported the military’s campaign in convincing more Abu Sayyaf bandits to return to the fold of the law.”
The Mande brothers used to be Abu Sayyaf members. They surrendered to the military two years ago and have since joined in the campaign to convince their former colleagues to turn their backs on banditry.
They were recipients of aid from the then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Program Against Violent Extremism that bridged them into normal civilian life.
After undergoing vocational training with the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority, the Mandes were enrolled with the Education Department’s Alternative Learning System program.
“This incident is serious. We worry about the others who surrendered and those who are still planning to surrender,” Ballaho said.
“The local government of Basilan worked hard to bring these people down to live normal lives,” said Dr. Arlyn Jawad Jumaoas, executive director of the nongovernment Save the Children of Basilan from War, expressing dismay at the incident.
Jumaoas noted that the bodies of the three victims were “riddled with bullets, (and) were all shot at the nape, heart, back and head.”
She said the bodies bore signs of torture.
“There were melted candles in the different parts of their bodies. Their heads and faces bore signs of hematoma, indications that they were beaten before they were shot,” Jumaoas explained.
“If these SAF have prior information about their renewed activities with the Abu Sayyaf, they should have informed the local authorities, or before operating, they should have inquired and coordinated with the security forces,” Jumaoas lamented.
Did these surrenderees return to terrorism? Was it a case of mistaken identity? Was it revenge? Who can say! But you live by the gun you die by the gun and these men died a most fitting death.
Duterte told the AFP to give the NPA tit-for-tat and the NPA is up to the game.
“The New People’s Army is not shaken by Duterte’s threats,” said CPP in a statement sent by e-mail. “The NPA can defend itself with arms,” it said.
CPP also called on NPA rebels in Negros Oriental to escalate attacks on government targets in response to Duterte’s tit-for-tat order. The order also covered DDS or Duterte Diehard Supporters “to punish those responsible for the killings of civilians.”
Will there actually be more bloodshed in Negros Oriental? Will any DDS actually end up a casualty in the 50 year insurgency? All the recent killings has the province caught up in fear.
“We are terrified to go out at night because it seems that life is cheap nowadays,” said the mother of three in Cebuano. She asked to withhold her last name for security.
The Defend Negros #Stop the Killings network has recorded 83 victims of extrajudicial killings in the whole of Negros Island from January 2017 to July this year.
Among the six cities and 25 towns in Negros Oriental, Guihulngan, near the northernmost tip of the province, had the highest number of fatalities—23.
Despite the violence both the AFP and PNP say they will not recommend martial law been though many have seen it has a remedy.
“From our level here, I don’t think at this time we need to implement martial law,” Lt. Gen. Noel Clement, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Central Command (AFP-Centcom), told defense reporters on Sunday.
“It (security situation) is still manageable,” Clement pointed out, adding, “Right now, we’re not inclined actually to recommend martial law.”
(We cannot recommend it now because we see that the situation there is under control, but the assessment of our political leaders might be different.)
The PNP are covering their butts because they know Duterte will do what he wants. Remember he declared martial law in Mindanao all on his own with no reccomenation from his advisors.
Now it's clear. President Rodrigo Duterte confirms he acted on his own when he decided to declare Martial Law in Mindanao.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Philippine Navy's brand new Landing Dock vessel BPR Davao del Sur, the President said there was no direct recommendation, but the police and military gave him enough information to convince him martial law is needed.
"While they did not say 'go ahead President Duterte,' they gave me sufficient informatjon and I asked them are we already in the critical level. And there was an almost unison and redundant even statement that delikado tayo sa Mindanao [the situation in Mindanao is dire] given the practice of the ISIS in the Middle East, just exploding everything in their hands," he said.
The President's statement comes after security officials, in a closed-door meeting with senators, said they didn't make any recommendation.
While his men do provide him with information it should be clear to everyone by now that Duterte does what he wants and when he wants it. The downside is that Duterte's independence also reveals just how ignorant he really is.
ISIS has been in the Philippines since 2014 and has attacked the nation several times most notably during the Marawi siege. With the new revelation of Filipino suicide bombers it is evident that ISIS is not going away anytime soon.
