Is time circular or is it one straight line? Is there an eternal return where all events play out again or does life only happen once? For Mindanao at least it seems that time is cyclical. Maybe not time itself but the same events keep happening again and again. People keep doing the same things.
A student was killed by stray bullets after warring families in the borders of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces figured in armed clashes anew on Friday, June 21, police said.
About 20 families from Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato also fled to safer grounds when armed families traded bullets, according to Police Major Nathaniel Panaguiton, Lake Sebu town police chief.
Panaguiton said those involved in the armed confrontation were Moro families locked in “rido” (clan war) due to territorial dispute.
The warring clans are the families of Mike Binago and Adlam Saliod, who have relatives in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), two rebel groups operating in Palimbang.
Last April, more than 200 families or about 1,000 individuals from remote communities along the borders of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat also fled to safer grounds after the same warring clans figured in armed clashes, police and disaster officials said.
Local leaders from both local governments and the military are trying to bring the protagonists to the negotiating table for a peaceful settlement of their dispute, Panaguitan said.
Protagonists? More like antagonists! Last April their feud displaced 1,000 people and this time it has resulted in the death of an innocent bystander. But who cares because ancestral domain and this land is my land!? The AFP has successfully brought an end to a few ridos. Can they do the same with this one? Or will we witness more clashes and more innocent dead?
Remember a few weeks ago when the AFP said they will now be preparing to go all out on Abu Sayyaf because the last hostage was dead? Well those plans have been put on hold!
Filipino kidnap-for-ransom gangs raided two fishing boats and abducted 10 crew members Tuesday in waters off Borneo island, a Malaysian official and a maritime watchdog said.
The kidnapping, which came after a 6-month lull of such activities, renewed concerns about security threats in Malaysia’s Sabah state, which is a short boat ride from the southern Philippine bases of Muslim militants and kidnapping gangs.
The fishermen’s nationalities weren’t confirmed. Sabah police couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
After six months Abu Sayyaf is at it again! Maybe they were out of hostages. Eventually the nationalities of the hostages were confirmed and it's too weird to be true. They are "sea gypsies."
The nine men were later identified as those taken from a fishing boat by the Abu Sayyaf on Tuesday. They are all believed to be Bajau Laut, a community of sea gypsies who are mostly without documents.
"They were released by their captors since they have no money or anything to give as ransom," the Joint Task Force Sulu said in its report.
Philippine security officials had identified the nine men, aged between 17 and 60, as Malaysians. But Sabah police chief Omar Mammah said they were Bajau Laut, not Malaysians.
The Bajau Laut community is a subgroup of the Sama-Bajau people who traditionally hail from the many islands of the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines. Most of them are stateless and live at sea off Lahad Datu and Semporna.
Some of those abducted are believed to possess Lepa-Lepa cards. These cards, purportedly signed and issued by village chiefs, are a form of recognition for their existence, allowing them to live at sea in Malaysian waters. They are not legal identification documents as they are not recognised by the authorities.
Seems as if the joke is on Abu Sayyaf. How did they make the mistake of capturing poor sea gypsies? Aren't they familiar with the peoples in the area? Here is a picture of where these people live:
It's a real life Waterworld down there. If you want to read more about these interesting people see
here and
here.
Now that the hostages have been released the AFP had best speed up their intensive offensive against Abu Sayyaf before ASG abducts more fishermen or birdwatchers. It is no time to relax.
Probers are eyeing a personal grudge as the motive for the killing of Tiblan, whom the bandits suspect as a military informant.
Killing informants. With no informants the AFP will be even more blind than they are. Remember the DND had a mole inside Maute until he was killed. Informants are an important source of intel.
What the Philippines needs and oddly enough does not have despite being an island nation is a navy capable of patrolling its southern waters. They still don't possess a ship that can fire missiles.
The Philippine Navy's first ever missile-capable warship, the future BRP Jose Rizal, hit the water on Thursday, May 23, during a launching ceremony in South Korea.
The 107-meter long frigate will be fitted with anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and electronic warfare operations capabilities. It has a maximum speed of 25 knots and can stay at sea for 30 days.
"These ships are fully equipped with Surface to Air and Surface to Surface Missiles, torpedoes, launchers, and weapon systems for four-dimensional warfare," Navy spokesman Captain Jonathan Zata said in a statement.
"The Philippine Navy's desire for acquiring state-of-the-art and highly capable warships is soon within reach. It further provides leverage for the navy's bid of becoming stronger and more credible force that the Philippines as a maritime nation can be proud of," Zata said.
The keel laying ceremony for the second frigate, the future BRP Antonio Luna, coincided with the launching ceremony of the first unit.
The frigates are expected in the Philippines by September 2020 and March 2021, respectively.
South Korea is building two frigates for the Philippines but they won't be available until 2020 at the earliest. How many more fisherman will be kidnapped before then? But of course two ships is not enough. Not at all. The Philippines needs many more ships.
The Philippine Navy said it is set to acquire 25 to 30 warships in the next decade in a bid to strengthen maritime security.
A decade is a long time to wait to secure the coasts. The AFP is beset on every side. Abu Sayyaf in the ocean, NPA and Muslims on the land. Back to the cyclical theme it's kind of weird that Executive Order 70 is being brought up again by the AFP.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines – Western Mindanao Command (AFP-WestMinCom) said Friday that President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) No. 70, providing for the creation of a national task force and the adoption of a national peace framework to end local communist-based armed conflict in the country.
AFP-WestMinCom said that under E.O. No. 70, the national task force is meant to formulate and implement a national peace framework anchored on the whole-of-nation approach to address insurgency.
The framework pushes for inter-agency convergence and addresses insurgency through sector participation and peaceful mechanisms, complementing the peace efforts of local government units and national agencies.
Colonel Arnulfo Bajarin of the AFP Peace Development Office presented the implementation plan during a meeting held in Camp Navarro, Calarian on Wednesday morning, June 19.
Why is this EO being trotted out like it is something new? Executive Order 70 was issued in December 2018 and I wrote about it
here after the framework for implementing it was agreed upon in April. EO 70 is not just for the military. It is a whole-of-nation approach to end the insurgency which basically means rendering services to the people. All sectors of the government are involved. But the military is taking a decidedly non-military approach to combating terrorism anyway.
“The challenge to end insurgency now does not only involve the Armed Forces of the Philippines but espouses the whole of nation agenda in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace and security in the country,” Dino stressed
With the framework for the 'whole-of-nation' approach to end terrorism, he urged everyone to work hand-in-hand with the local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, civil society organizations and all other stakeholders in implementing the national government program.
The 74th Infantry (Unbeatable) Ranger Battalion has conducted lectures on cultural sensitivity awareness in Zamboanga City.
The program Tuesday, June 18, was held as part of the military’s campaign in preventing and countering violent extremism and terrorism, according to the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom).
The activity, in partnership with the Muslim Student Association Council of Elders Foundation, was attended by the Unbeatable troops at the headquarters of the 74th IB in Barangay Pasonanca.
Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega, Westmincom Command chief, said military troops sustain not only their focused operations but also their programs to end violent extremism and terrorism in the joint area of operations.
Surely this cultural sensitivity training is in line with EO 70 but what tangible results will such training really achieve? Let's end with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process' explanation why there is still a ceasefire agreement in effect despite the BARMM having been passed.
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Assistant Secretary Dickson P. Hermoso explained that there is still a ceasefire deal as part of the adjustment period.
“Wala na tayong giyera with the Moro National Liberation Front and MILF so ano pa ang ating ceasefire? Nandiyan pa rin dahil sa adjustment period dahil hindi pa naiintindihan ng lahat sa ground,” he said.
“Kung may nag-commit ng crime, hindi niya p’wedeng sabihin na MILF siya,” the official added.
("We have no war with the Moro National Liberation Front and MILF so what is our ceasefire? It is still due to the adjustment period because everyone has not understood it on the ground, "he said.)
("If someone committed a crime, he would not be able to say that he was MILF," the official added.)
Despite any cultural sensitivity training violence is still very much a reality in Mindanao. The cycle will continue!
