This week let's look at a few fringe events of the insurgency. Events that are less about clashes and surrenders and more about circumstances surrounding the insurgency. The thing is that the Philippines is a magnet for terrorists. The 9/11 plot, if you believe the mainstream story and ignore the implosion of the WTC and the report of bombs exploding inside the buildings as well as the collapse of building number 7, was hatched in the Philippines. History repeats.
A Kenyan member of the Al-Shabaab militant group who received pilot training in the Philippines was to appear in a US court on Wednesday to face charges of conspiring to mount a 9/11-style attack in the United States.
Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, is charged with six counts of terrorism-related offenses, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Abdullah, who was arrested in the Philippines in July 2019, was brought to the United States on Tuesday and was to be presented before a magistrate in Manhattan on Wednesday, the department said.
Acting Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss said Abdullah obtained pilot training in the Philippines as part of an Al-Shabaab plot "in preparation for seeking to hijack a commercial aircraft and crash it into a building in the United States."
"This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab remain committed to killing US citizens and attacking the United States," Strauss said.
"Abdullah's plot was detected before he could achieve his deadly aspirations, and now he faces federal terrorism charges in a US court," she added.
According to the indictment, Abdullah attended flight school in the Philippines between 2017 and 2019 and eventually obtained his pilot's license.
While undergoing flight training, he allegedly conducted research into methods to hijack a commercial airliner and sought information on how to obtain a US visa.
Abdullah is charged with conspiring to murder US nationals, conspiring to commit aircraft piracy and other offenses. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
This guy was actually arrested in Zambales in 2019 which is just a little north of Manila. He was studying at All Asia Aviation Academy. It is a real interesting case because Al-Shabaab is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda and Al-Qaedea has ties to the Philippines via Abu Sayyaf and the MILF. Ramzi Yousef, who was the mastermind of the first WTC bombing in 1993 and the Bojinka Plot which is the precursor to 9/11 and was planned in Manila, helped train Abu Sayyaf fighters.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist Ramzi Yousef operated in the Philippines in the mid-1990s and trained Abu Sayyaf soldiers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Sayyaf
So how was he able to operate in the country for two years? Did he have help from ASG or any other groups? Are there more people like him? Those are important questions and the fact that this happened during and after the Marawi siege, 2017-2019, shows just how important the Philippines is as a hub for international terrorism. It is a worldwide threat that should not be dismissed. Cholo could have trained anywhere in the world but he chose the Philippines.
This man committed no actual crime but is only charged with planning to commit a crime on US soil while in the Philippines. It seems he had been under observation since 2012 and everything he did was watched.
In December 2016, Isiolo-born Cholo Abdi Abdullah enrolled in a flight school in the Philippines at the direction of a senior Al-Shabaab commander who was responsible for planning the January 2019 Dusit D2 hotel attack in Nairobi.
Before this, Mr Abdullah, 30, had left his digital footprints, having searched "Al-Qaeda propaganda around the September 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001. Between 2017 and 2019, Mr Abdullah attended the flight school on various occasions and obtained a pilot's training licence, ultimately completing the tests necessary to obtain his pilot's licence.
But, unknown to him, intelligence agent from the United States had been on his trail. All through his flight school training, Mr Abdullah was being watched, all his moves recorded. Everything he did, including the sites he visited online were being tracked, as was his "new interest in aircraft".
On October 8, 2018, while Mr Abdullah was training as a pilot, he logged on to a website that compiled propaganda around the 9/11 attack in the US, said the indictment.
In December of the same year, he once again logged in, researching on the security of aircraft, and particularly, how to breach the cockpit door of a commercial airliner.
In January last year, Mr Abdullah was researching on the tallest buildings in a major city in the US.
The next month, he was back again on the web, researching on how to obtain a US visa, and information on "aircraft hijackings".
Throughout his searches, FBI agents were watching, and armed with enough evidence, they prompted his arrest in the Philippines on July 1, 2019.
During his arrest inside room 28 of Rasca Hotel in Iba, Zambales, he was found in possession of deadly weapons, including a 9mm pistol with a loaded magazine, an improvised explosive device, an MKZ hand grenade and bomb-making material.
"We received foreign intelligence reports about Mr Abdullah, who they believe has been a member of the terrorist group since 2012. The reports described him as dangerous. The intelligence reports assisted the police in pinning down where he was staying and that they were worried he might have links to local terrorist groups," Philippines Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Major General Amador Corpus said at the time of his arrest.
Al-Shabaab's choice of the Philippines for Mr Abdullah's flight training is telling, given that the country has previously been a launching pad for deadly attacks.
The accused al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, told his interrogators that the plot to attack New York and Washington DC, was first mooted in the Philippines.
Mohammed lived in Manila in the 90s, together with his nephew Ramzi Yousef, who is serving life in prison for the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202012190001.html
That is a heck of a lot of detailed intelligence on just one man which was collected by the American FBI in the Philippines. Did they have his computer bugged? Was the FBI working jointly with Philippine authorities? It seems that way. There is much the Philippines can learn about collecting intel to prevent terrorism.
An intensified intelligence gathering and well-coordinated response efforts are needed to prevent a repeat of the attack by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday.
In a press conference in Camp Crame, PNP-Directorate for Investigation and Detection Management (DIDM) director, Maj. Gen. Marni Marcos, said this is the recommendation of the board of inquiry (BOI) tasked to probe the attack.
"There are identified gaps that need further enhancement, the coordination mechanism between the PNP and other government security forces at the ground level should be improved on the intelligence sharing and movement of troops," said Marcos, head of the BOI.
Citing the BOI report, Marcos said the Dec. 3 attack was staged by BIFF terrorists led by Muhidden Animbang alias "Commander Karialan" and Salahuddin Saguia alias "Sala Salik".
He added that based on the intelligence monitoring, the BIFF's plan to attack the town was mentioned in a report received by Datu Piang police chief, Capt. Israel Bayona, hours before the assault.
"There is a lack of appreciation in the gathered intelligence regarding the terror plans of the BIFF. No adjustment of the Datu Piang municipal police station personnel strength and capabilities and no strategic deployment of PNP mobile forces have been made," he said.
He added that there was no enough coordination and intelligence validation made by the police with their military counterparts.
Blah, blah, blah. It's the same thing over and over and over and over. Do these people learn NOTHING? Apparently not. It's the same song and dance we heard about the Marawi siege. The AFP knew what was coming and they did nothing. A lack of coordination between agencies and a lack of appreciation of intelligence. According to the book "The Battle of Marawi" the AFP even falsified reports!
Each unit has an After-Review Report, as officially required, but in some cases it didn’t always match with the truth (how boldly they could defy their seniors!) For the first time in covering a major military event, I had to take detours at length and dig elsewhere for more accuracy. One officer joked that it would take me ten years to get to the bottom of everything.
https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/09/book-review-battle-of-marawi-reveals.html
No one can read that book and still think the AFP is a spectacular fighting force. Far from it. They cannot even coordinate between branches and act on intel in a timely manner. Such incompetence makes this week's parade of assets look like empty showing off.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines celebrated its 85th Anniversary with a fleet review and wing flyby showcasing 63 air and naval assets on December 16 near the coast of Bataan.
The BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Davao Del Sur led the contingent from the Philippine Navy and three FA-50 and two Black Hawks headlined for the Philippine Air Force.
"The Fleet Review and Wing Flyby showcases the AFP's development into a world-class armed forces and a regional power through the modest but well-planned AFP modernization program," AFP Chief of Staff General Gilbert Gapay said.
Other naval assets include BRP Ramon Alcaraz, BRP Emilio Jacinto, BRP Batak, BRP Abraham Campo, and BRP Ang Pangulo.
Thirty six fixed wing and rotary aircraft also joined the FA-50s and the Black Hawks, including the two AW159 and three AW109.
On board BRP Batak, a Navy landing craft, is the Philippine Army's Simba armored personnel carrier and the Philippine Marine Corps' V-150.
A short ceremony was also held on site presided by Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenza on board BRP Tarlac that served as the viewing deck for defense officials and senior military officers attending the activity.
"We are truly grateful to our Commander in Chief, President Rodrigo Duterte, for the unprecedented support to our modernization," General Gapay added.
"This showcase of our reliable and modern assets is our gift to the Filipino people. This is where your taxes go. The AFP as protector of the people and the state shall continue its judicious use of its resources and protect the trust and support the people have vested on us," General Gapay concluded
"Our gift to the Filipino people?" "The AFP as protector of the people?" Unless the AFP can coordinate amongst themselves and other agencies and act on intel in a timely manner they are no protectors of the people and all that gear is a waste. The main threat, we are told, is the NPA and they are not a maritime power. They are guerrillas hiding out in the jungles and mountains. Using jets to bombing them is not a tactic the AFP or even Duterte prefers.
“Nakikita kayo sa drone, helicopter,” (You are visible to drones, helicopters) the President said Wednesday in a speech in Dimasalang town in Masbate province. “Maraming tumutulong … Israel, USA,” (Many are assisting us … Israel, the USA) he also said.
“Gusto nila na titirahin kayo diyan sa taas. Ako lang ang tiga-pigil. Sabi ko, huwag na,” (They want to hit you from the air. But I stop them. I tell them ‘Don’t.’) Duterte added.
“The waging of war, kinokontrol ko ‘yan, lalo na paggamit ng bomba. Kasi alam mo pagka-bomba, bomba. Kung i-landing diyan ‘yang isa, ubos tayo dito lahat. Eh paano ‘yung mga civilian?” (I control the waging of war, especially in the use of bombs. With bombs, land one here and we’re all goners. Now, how about civilians?) he said.
“Kung wala lang civilian, medyo matagal na sigurong malinis ito. Hulugan ko na lang ng bomba,” (Had there been no civilians, this would have long been over. I’ll just bomb them.) he said.
Collateral damage in other words.
It seems the last time the AFP bombed an NPA camp was last year, October 2019.
The military has denied allegations by militant groups that the rights of local farmers were violated during the conduct of airstrike against New People’s Army (NPA) camps in Northern Samar last week.
Maj. Gen. Pio Diñoso III, commander of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan, said the airstrike in Las Navas early morning of 26 October was in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law.
“The operation was planned meticulously and executed precisely to ensure that only the terrorist camp is destroyed in order to stop the bomb making activities of the NPA and also to stop them from further terrorizing helpless civilians,” Diñoso said.
Diñoso added the Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and will never put the lives of Filipinos in danger.
"The protector of the people." It's like a propaganda phrase. DND Secretary Lorenzana spoke at this display and had this to say:
In his speech, Lorenzana said the annual fleet review, wherein 63 assets were displayed, is a way to show to the public "where their taxes go."
"More than being a display of capability and resources of our Armed Forces, of our force providers, this annual fleet review is ultimately our way of being accountable and transparent to the Filipino people," he said.
The event also showed the solidarity among the AFP's major services, he added.
In an ambush interview, Lorenzana said the event was not a show of force against other countries but to showcase the AFP's capability and a way to prove to the public that the military continues its modernization program.
"This is not a show of force because if you compare our assets abroad here in the region it is small ... but importantly, we want to show the Filipino people that our AFP continues to upgrade," Lorenzana said.
He said this would also boost the morale of the Filipino troops.
"Our AFPs also have a high morale that they already have ... the Air Force knows their assets, the Navy knows their assets but not all AFPs see the whole thing," he said.
Lorenzana said the military's modernization fund for 2021 is P27 billion, which will be used in acquiring more assets such as unmanned aerial vehicles, attack helicopters, radars, howitzers, Blackhawk helicopters, wheeled-armored personnel and fast attack interdiction craft with missiles, among others .
He says they had this display to show the people where their taxes go. Sure. Right. Was this available to watch on TV? Does the average person really care? Again without the skills to use these assets in the field the AFP is worthless. Modernization does not mean just having shiny new equipment. It means having the latest skills and Lorenzana has admitted that the AFP is lacking in some skills because they intentionally stopped training for those skills.
Do you remember two years ago when Duterte and Bato were talking about forming an elite assassin team to go after the Reds?
President Duterte will create an armed civilian group that he hopes will counter the New People’s Army (NPA)’s Sparrow unit, a group of urban assassins blamed for the deaths of several security forces and former rebels.
The President said his “Duterte Death Squad” would be sent to transport terminals, eateries and other public places to kill suspected rebels and even loiterers and junkies.
“I will create my own Sparrow. Walang hanapin kundi mga istambay na mga tao, prospective NPAs at bibirahin sila (They will look mainly for idlers, prospective NPAs and kill them),” the President said yesterday during the turnover of military and police housing units in Bohol.
“I will match their talent in assassinating people. They have firearms, for sure. That’s my plan,” he added.
Duterte said he would be satisfied if each member of the armed unit would identify one or two NPA rebels for liquidation.
The President said he had tried to talk peace with the communists but the rebels continued to kill soldiers and policemen.
“What I lack is a sparrow unit. That’s their advantage... So I will create a sparrow – Duterte Death Squad against the sparrow. There’s no problem. They are the enemies,” he said.
With the recent spate of killings of alleged NPA members one has to ask if this death squad was not actually formed. The latest killing was of a doctor and her husband inside their house. Some Senators want to investigate these killings.
More than half the Senate wants to investigate the spate of unlawful killings that hounded the nation in 2020.
"The killings that occurred in the latter half of the year has set a trend of unidentified gunmen killing lawyers, doctors, journalists and activists in daylight and in public without fear of arrest of apprehension," the senators said.
"[The vigilantes] increasing brazenness and daring show how the law enforcement authorities have lost control of the country's peace and order and in doing so [caused] more families to lose their loved ones to lawless and unnecessary grief," they added.
The call for a probe was filed at the Senate just days after the murder of Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan, head of the COVID-19 task force in Guilhulngan City, Negros Occidental, and her husband, Edwin.
Allegedly this doctor was on a vigilante hit list.
A doctor who was allegedly placed in a hit list by an anti-communist vigilante group was shot dead along with her husband on Tuesday evening, rights group Karapatan reported.
Karapatan said a two people onboard a motorcycle shot Rose Sancelan and her husband Edwin Sancelan dead in Barangay Poblacion, Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental.
The rights group said the doctor, who also heads the city’s inter-agency task force against COVID-19, was number one on the hit list of Kawsa Guihulnganon Batok Komunista (Kagubak), a supposed anti-communist vigilante group which has been blamed for the spate of killings on Negros island.
The doctor was tagged as JB Regalado, spokesperson of the Leonardo Panaligan Command of the New People’s Army in Central Negros, Karapatan said.
The rights group noted that along with the doctor, lawyer Anthony Trinidad and Heidie Malalay Flores have also been gunned down after their names appeared on the alleged hit list.
“This is the extreme danger of being red-tagged,” Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares said in a statement. “State forces and their cohorts may just assassinate you with impunity.”
The existence of Kagubak was among the issues probed by the Senate public order committee in 2019, when it investigated the string of killings in Negros Island. Among its recommendations was to investigate the group so that appropriate charges may be filed against them.
Despite the killings, the Philippine National Police in 2019 said it found no evidence that Kagubak exists.
The PNP did not just say Kagubak does not exist but also that the group could be a fiction to make the government look bad.
Albayalde said probers have not established that there is a so-called Kawssa Guilhungan Bato Komunista or Kagubak.
Albayalde had earlier ordered the Central Visayas police to look into reports that Kagubak, an alleged anti-communist hit squad, is behind the killing of those they perceived as supporters of communist rebels.
He said the supposed existence of the vigilante group could have been made up to put the government in bad light.
It's rather absurd that the PNP can suggest that this vigilante group might be a plot to make the government look bad when the government contemplated forming death squads to take out the NPA. Somebody is killing these people. What if it is the AFP and PNP? What if they really did form the death squads they spoke of two years ago?
