They say adversity makes strange bedfellows. Could anything be more stranger than the AFP and the MNLF working together against a common enemy the Abu Sayyaf?
The Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) welcomed on Thursday the help of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to rescue a physician seized by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits in Sulu.
Maj. Arvin John Encinas, Westmincom spokesperson, said they welcome any assistance from all stakeholders to rescue Dr. Daniel Moreno who was seized by ASG gunmen from his clinic in Barangay Walled City, Jolo, Sulu, on February 4.
However, Encinas clarified that the military leadership will not allow nor sanction any rescue operation that may be launched by the MNLF or any other non-government entity.
MNLF Central Committee chairperson Yusop Jikiri said Wednesday they have created an anti-kidnapping and anti-terrorism task force to monitor the whereabouts of Moreno in the hinterlands of Sulu.
Jikiri clarified the task force will only establish the location of Moreno to pave way for the military forces to launch a rescue operation.
Won't allow or sanction any rescue operation launched by the MNLF? Then why accept their help? This is not the first time the MNLF offered the AFP their assistance.
"I will accept Nur's offer," said Duterte on Saturday, May 27, during a speech in front of soldiers in Jolo, Sulu.
"Nur Misuari sent me a letter. He said, 'My men, take them'...He said, 'Take my fighters in the MNLF," said Duterte.
He even read to soldiers the letter Misuari had sent him.
The letter, as read by Duterte, supposedly went:
"Message from Nur Misuari:
Good evening. Assalamualaikum. A truly auspicious opportunity has risen for your brothers to show their mettle in helping their beloved President and the people to restore peace in Mindanao, specifically in Marawi, which is under siege by some organized criminal groups, some of them are being drug lords (sic).
For this purpose, we would like to suggest that the number of (inaudible) officers be formed or at least 500 to 700 of their men, to be drawn from the AFP Division 1 and Division 4. That they will be allowed to form their common post under [the] MNLF founding chairman, major camps in Lanao, specifically Lanao Jabal Nur in Ganassi and Maguing. That they will be allowed to invite MNLF volunteers."
Marawi under siege by drug lords? I suppose Misuari would know who was doing the besieging of Marawi but was it really drug lords? Regardless the MNLF never showed up nor did the NPA when they were asked to help fight in the Marawi siege.
"I will hire you as soldiers - same pay, same privileges, and I will build houses for you in some areas," Duterte said, according to a video of his speech made available on Sunday.
He made the unconventional offer to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). He also asked the communist New People's Army (NPA) to abandon its protracted guerrilla war and work with his government.
Despite Duterte's pleas to the MILF, MNLF, and the NPA to assist the AFP nobody came to the assistance of the Philippines in Marawi more than the USA.
So when Duterte spouts off nonsense about how the Philippines has to choose between being self-reliant, a colony of the USA, or a province of China in a preposterous attempt to justify his rash decision to abrogate the VFA you know he is full of it.
“Kasi ‘pag hindi natin kaya (If we can’t do it), we have no business being a Republic. You might as well choose,” Duterte said, speaking at the oath-taking of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts officials and presentation of Ani ng Dangal awardees. “We can be a territory of the Americans or we can be a province of China.”
Duterte said this as he recalled asking the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) whether the Philippines could survive without the U.S. over the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
“Ang tanong ko lang sa Armed Forces (My question to the Armed Forces), ‘Mabubuhay ba tayo kung wala ang Amerika? (Can we survive without the Americans?) Can we fight the wars?’,” Duterte asked.
“Tayo, isang bayan (We are a nation). Sa (In the) Republic of the Philippines, do you need a powerful country—the most powerful country, at that United States? Do we need America to survive as a nation? Do we need America now to fight a rebellion in our entire country? Do we need their arms?” Duterte further asked.
Duterte is framing the argument wrong and presenting a false dilemma. Does South Korea need the USA? Germany? Japan? They all have US bases on their soil yet none of the countries would consider themselves as colonies of the US or that they are not self-reliant. There are no US bases in the Philippines. The US military is only providing necessary material support to the AFP. They are not directing any operations. That is left up to the AFP. How is the AFP not self-reliant? How does the VFA take away from their self-reliance?
One thing the AFP has said needs to be changed so they can do their job better is the Human Security Act of 2007. Thankfully the Senate has listened to their advice and has crafted a new bill to assist them in their fight against terrorism.
The Senate on Wednesday (Feb. 26) voted 19-2 to pass Senate Bill No. 1083, or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, sponsored by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. It was envisioned as a “strong legal backbone to support the country’s criminal justice response to terrorism.”
The bill sought to repeal the Human Security Act of 2007, which Lacson said was ineffective in fighting terror.
“A stronger legislative measure against terrorism will enhance our defenders’ capacity to make our communities safer and more secured,” said Arsenio Andolong, Department of National Defense spokesperson, in a statement.
“We thank the Senate for recognizing the need to strengthen the institutions that are tasked to safeguard our nation,” he said.
Key features of the bill included life imprisonment “without parole” for anyone who would “propose, incite, conspire and participate in the planning, training, preparation and facilitation of a terrorist act.”
The same penalty awaits those “who will provide material support to terrorists and recruit anyone to be a member of a terrorist organization.”
The measure also introduced a section on foreign terrorist fighters to apply also to Filipino nationals who commit terrorist acts abroad.
The bill would also allow police or military to conduct 60-day surveillance on suspected terrorists, which may be go on for another non-extendable period of 30 days if allowed by the Court of Appeals.
“The lawmakers have better empowered and capacitated the AFP and other government security forces in their campaigns to protect and secure our people against the global menace of terrorism,” said AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo in a separate statement.
Have lawmakers better empowered and capacitated the AFP to fight against terrorism? Hear what Sen. Lacson has to say about the old anti-terrorism law.
The existing Human Security Act has done “virtually nothing” to prevent participation in the plotting of terrorist acts, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who sponsored the bill, earlier said.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/02/26/1996264/senate-approves-monster-anti-terror-bill
Does he think terrorists follow the law? Of course they don't! Right now terrorists are plotting mayhem in Mindanao.
According to the 57IB, a brief firefight ensued after the BIFF opened fire on approaching lawmen at 6 a.m. at the periphery of Shariff Saydona Mustapha town, but the rebels quickly fled deep into the marshland, leaving behind their bomb-making materials and complete explosives.
Lt. Col. Edwin R. Alburo, 57IB commander, said the troops found eight improvised hand grenades, roadside improvised bombs, eight live hand grenades, bomb-making components such as black powder, cut nails, cut metals, switchboard, electrical wiring, ammonium nitrate and documents at the BIFF hideout.
“A well-coordinated operation led to the recovery of high explosive materials and eventually foiled bombing plots by BIFF,” Alburo said in a statement. He added the IEDs are ready for deployment by the BIFF but the military could not say where and when it would be brought by the radicals.
Does Lacson think the BIFF cares about the law? Maybe the strength of the law is that suspected terrorists can be held longer making it easier to have more information "solicited" from them. Some lawmakers say the law will be a pretext for a de facto martial law. Some say the terms are vague. So just what is in this law? The bill's definition of terrorism is as follows:
Sec. 4. Terrorism. - Subject to Section 49 of this Act, terrorism is committed by any person who within or outside the Philippines, regardless of the stage of execution;
(a) Engages in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, or endangers a person’s life;
(b) Engages in acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place or private property:
(c) Engages in acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage or destruction to critical infrastructure;
(d) Develops, manufactures, possesses, acquires, transports, supplies or uses weapons, explosives or of biological, nuclear, radiological or chemical weapons; and
(e) Release of dangerous substances, or causing fire, floods or explosions
when the purpose of such act, by its nature and context, is to intimidate the general public or a segment thereof create an atmosphere or spread a message of fear, to provoke or influence by intimidation the government or any of its international organization, or seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental political, economic, or social structures of the country, or create a public emergency or seriously undermine public safety, shall be guilty of committing terrorism and shall suffer the penalty of life imprisonment without the benefit of parole and the benefits of Republic Act No. 10592, otherwise known as “An Act Amending Articles 29, 94, 97, 98 and 99 of Act No. 3815, as amended, otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code”: Provided, That, terrorism as defined in this Section shall not include advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political rights, which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person’s life, or to create a serious risk to public safety.
That definition seems rather clear cut so do all the other provisions but as with any law the interpretation can change on a whim so that the original intention of the law is done away with. It's probably a matter best left the courts and lawyers. What is sure is that it is doubtful this law will stop terrorism or that it will greatly empower the AFP in their fight against terrorism. As I have written time and again the AFP has been grossly
incompetent in their handling of both the NPA and the Muslim terrorists even going so far as to
deny the very real presence and threat of ISIS.
The government is opening up a new line in their attempts to crush the insurgency: interfaith dialogue.
The Philippine Army underscored the role of interfaith dialogue in ending local communist armed conflicts in communities in Agusan del Sur.
On Friday (Feb. 28), the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Battalion (3SFBn) facilitated an interfaith dialogue among religious leaders held in Barangay Noli, Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur.
1 Lt. Krisjuper Andreo J. Punsalan, civil-military operations (CMO) officer of 3SFBn, told Philippine News Agency on Friday that participants to the activity discussed the role of the religious sector in the implementation of the provisions of Executive Order No. 70, which institutionalizes the "whole-of-nation" approach to End Local Communist Armed Conflicts (ELCAC).
Punsalan said 17 representatives from the Catholic Church, Islam, United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Iglesia Filipino Independiente (IFI) were present during the dialogue.
“The participants were given orientation on EO 70 as a peaceful concept to end any armed conflicts in communities by focusing on peace and development interventions in conflict-affected areas,” Punsalan said.
The participants were also encouraged to participate in the process of helping former rebels through the conduct of values formation and the strengthening of spiritual dimensions to denounce violence in resolving conflicts, he added.
“The members of the religious sector were also urged to help in the promotion of family and reconciliation, and the conduct of intensified information drives among the youth to protect the religious and other faith-based organizations from the communist infiltration and recruitment,” Punsalan said.
A little ironic because the Catholic Church has been accused of having communist sympathies and of course the Muslim terrorists are motivated by their religion among other things.
By far the government's favorite way to attempt to stomp out terrorism is through bribes. This week millions were finally released to decommissioned MILF terrorists.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)- Region 12 has released PHP137.6 million in grants to more than a thousand decommissioned combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Maguindanao, an official said on Friday.
Cezario Joel Espejo, DSWD-12 director, said the financial assistance was used for the second phase payout of the Bangsamoro Transitory Family Support Package (BTFSP), with each of the 1,376 MILF decommissioned combatants receiving PHP100,000 each in financial aid.
“This is just one of the promises of our government for the people of Mindanao. It only shows the government will never forsake them,” Espejo said in a statement.
That is a big claim from Espejo. As long as the money keeps flowing there is every reason to think former terrorists will be appeased. Whatever the government does to appease the insurgents one thing they should not do is actually arrest them and hold them accountable for their crimes.
Police have arrested former Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) leader Rodolfo Salas, also known as “Kumander Bilog” in Angeles City, Pampanga province on Tuesday early morning for murder.
Salas, 72, was served an arrest warrant for 29 counts of murder in connection with the Inopacan massacre in Leyte which were allegedly committed by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP in the 1980s.
Salas was first arrested in 1986 but was later granted amnesty by former President Fidel Ramos. He was released after eight years in detention.
The arrest of Salas for murders committed back in the 80s is due to Manila Trial Court Branch 32
issuing warrants for 37 ranking CPP members last September. But this arrest did not sit well with Joma Sison. He says it will put the peace talks in jeopardy.
Exiled Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison claimed that the arrest of former top rebel Rodolfo Salas a week ago has further jeopardized the possible resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the communist insurgents.
“The arrest of Salas on the baseless charge against him and others, including me, shows that those military officials who oppose the GRP-NDFP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines – National Democratic Front of the Philippines) peace negotiations will do anything to discourage and prevent these,” Sison said in an online interview from his base in Utrecht in The Netherlands.
If anything is putting the peace talks at risk it is not arresting a man for crimes he committed 30 years ago. The NPA's continuing rebellion is the big peace killer.
Government troops discovered 11 high-power firearms belonging to the New People's Army (NPA) in New Bataan town, Davao de Oro on Tuesday afternoon, an official said Wednesday.
Capt. Jerry Lamosao, head of the Public Affairs Office of the Army's 10th Infantry Division (ID), said in a press briefing here Wednesday that the recovered firearms consist of four M16 rifles, an M14 rifle, two AK47 rifles, a Garand rifle, a Carbine rifle, and two M203 grenade launchers.
Lamosao said the firearms were found in Sitio Danawan, Barangay Manurigao by 66th Infantry Battalion troops following a tip-off from two former NPA leaders and several concerned citizens in the area.
Nothing says "I am committed to peace" like waging a violent rebellion.
