Last year the U.S. DoD ended its Operation Pacific Eagle counterterrorism project with the Philippines. Despite assisting the AFP for nearly two decades, starting with Operation Enduring Freedom which ran from 2002 -2015, the assessment from the DoD was bleak.
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| https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/report-multiyear-counterterror-operation-has-failed-to-dislodge-extremists-from-philippines-1.641543 |
Islamic extremists remain a stubborn problem in the Philippines despite a multiyear U.S. military effort to combat the threat, according to a recent report to Congress.
Operation Pacific Eagle — Philippines, an overseas contingency operation led by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has been ongoing since Sept. 1, 2017. Three years later, there are still 300-500 Islamic State-affiliated fighters in the Southeast Asian nation, according to the latest assessment by Defense Department acting inspector general Sean O’Donnell.
“There has been little change in the capabilities, size, financing, and operations of [the Islamic State in East Asia],” O’Donnell wrote in the most recent report on the operation, which covers April 1 through June 30.
The failure to make progress eliminating the militant group comes despite the U.S. budgeting $72.3 million for the operation in the current fiscal year, according to the report. It cost more than $100 million in each of the previous two years, Voice of America reported Aug. 12.
“In general, efforts to reduce extremism in the Philippines do not appear to have made a substantial difference since the launch of [Operation Pacific Eagle],” he wrote.
A previous counterterrorism effort, Operation Enduring Freedom–Philippines, ran from 2002-2015. But in May 2017 a force of about 1,000 Islamic State militants seized the southern city of Marawi on the island of Mindanao, the center of Islamic culture in the Philippines.
A Philippines expert at the University of Hawaii said the inspector general’s assessment of counterterrorism efforts in the country sounds disingenuous.
“If you compare how much the U.S. has spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Philippine share is a pittance,” Patricio Abinales told Stars and Stripes via email Friday.
Islamic terrorism will remain an endemic problem in the Philippines given the fact that the U.S. offers only technical support to local forces and the difficulty of policing the border and limiting military corruption, he said.
The erratic policy of pro-China Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte toward the U.S. military doesn’t help, Abinales said.
That assessment from "a Philippines expert at the University of Hawaii" is rather strange. The Philippines kicked the US military out of the country when they closed down Subic Naval base in 1992. The Philippines does not want anything more form the U.S. than technical support. If American troops landed and started fighting the communists and Muslims the people would not cheer. As it is the DND feels the need to keep much of what the U.S. does secret.
Anyone, even an expert, who blames the Philippines' terrorism problem on the lack of support from the USA had better check again. The USA offers billions in support of all kinds from training to hardware. The real problem is the incompetence of the AFP. They ignore intel, falsify reports, and do not learn lessons from previous encounters. All of that is detailed in the book "The Battle of Marawi" which I would urge everyone to read. It is not the job of the U.S. military to fight the AFP's battles even though they remain an important partner in the fight.
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| https://ipdefenseforum.com/2021/02/philippines-works-with-u-s-to-counter-terror-threats/ |
The U.S. has mounted a sustained campaign to help the Philippines counter terror threats. It donated U.S. $18 million worth of precision-guided munitions to the Philippines in November 2020. The Philippines is also looking to acquire five Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft to improve its transport capabilities.
The modernization effort comes in response to domestic terrorism concerns as well as encroachments on Philippine territory by the People’s Republic of China.
“The Philippines is by far the top military assistance recipient of the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific,” said Don McLain Gill, an international affairs researcher based in the Philippines. “This comes at a time when China is increasing its assertiveness in Southeast Asia, thus adding to ongoing traditional and nontraditional border and internal threats.”
Government forces in Caraga Region and parts of Northern Mindanao have killed eight communist rebels and seized 18 firearms in armed encounters in the last two months of the year, the Army’s 402 Infantry Brigade (402Bde) said Monday.In a statement, 402Bde said government forces also seized three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and dismantled 12 communist New People’s Army (NPA) hideouts in January, February, and early part of the month.“We will show the NPA the futility of their armed struggle. If they will not heed our call to voluntary surrender and lay down their firearms, we will use all available resources to stop their atrocities for wanton disregard of human rights,” Brig. Gen. Maurito L. Licudine, 402Bde commander, was quoted as saying.
He is saying they will kill the NPA if they do not surrender. And why wouldn't they surrender? The government is offering chic packages. But some don't so the AFP fires away.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134732 |
Eight suspected members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) died while several weapons were seized in a three-hour firefight with government troops in Barangay Trinidad in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental on Tuesday afternoon.
A media release from Pancito said 62nd Infantry Battalion soldiers encountered more or less 40 combined armed members of the Sentro de Grabidad (SDG) Platoon and the Sandatahang Yunit Pampropaganda (SYP) of the Central Negros 1, Komiteng Rehiyon Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor (KR-NCBS) in Sitio Agit of Barangay Trinidad.
The soldiers were responding to reports of a “threatened populace” due to the presence of the armed men, the media release said.
A gun battle ensued and lasted for about three hours that resulted in the death of the eight members, whose bodies were recovered later.
Seized from the site of the clash were six M-16 rifles, two M14 rifles, one M4 rifle, one M60 machine gun, one KG-9 sub-machine gun, two improvised explosive devices and paraphernalia, six M14 magazines with ammunition, two backpacks, and “subversive documents”.
Pancito said while there is no clear evidence yet that the NPA will be launching attacks in the wake of its upcoming anniversary on March 29, the merger of the two platoons signals “they are up to something”.
“We don’t know yet but whether it is for the anniversary or not, our directive to our units is to conduct relentless pursuit operations so that they cannot have the upper hand,” he said in mixed Cebuano and English.
"Relentless pursuit operations." That is what the AFP said led to the rescue of several Indonesian fisherman.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134702 |
Relentless military operations in Sulu played a role in the successful rescue of four kidnapped Indonesians as their efforts forced the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) to move out of their comfort zones and mass bases, said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief-of-Staff, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Monday.
“The kidnap victims have been held captive by the ASG for more than a year and through the AFP’s relentless efforts, the ASG who were based in Sulu, were driven out of their comfort zones and mass base, which eventually led to the successful rescue operation last week in Tawi-Tawi,” Sobejana said.
Perhaps the most relentless ops recently have been against the BIFF.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134553 |
Government forces killed 14 combatants of the lawless Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters while 25 others were wounded in six days of running gun battle with military troops in Maguindanao, the Army here said Tuesday.Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar, the 6th Infantry Division (6ID) spokesperson, said the skirmishes that started on March 18 also resulted in the wounding of three military personnel.“Their comrades immediately buried the slain BIFF combatants according to Islamic rites,” Baldomar said, adding that villagers in the affected areas of the so-called SPMS box pinpointed the burial sites of the slain extremists.The SPMS box is a military term for Shariff Aguak, Pagatin (Datu Saudi), Mamasapano, and Datu Salibo, where the BIFF mainly operates.Skirmishes between government forces and the BIFF erupted after villagers reported the presence of some 30 terrorists in Barangay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, at 10 a.m. on March 18.
He said the soldiers managed to thwart on the same day a plot by the BIFF to assault a Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST) outpost in the village.A JPST outpost is manned by composite teams from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Army, and police deployed to function as peacekeeping forces in six government acknowledged MILF camps in Central Mindanao.
14 of 30 BIFF members killed in clashes was just the beginning.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1135063 |
Four more members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed in separate clashes in Maguindanao, the military here said Saturday.
Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said with the four latest BIFF fatalities, the number of terrorists killed has risen to 20 since intermittent clashes with government troops began on March 18.
Uy said the battle-tested members of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion (1SRB) clashed with about 40 BIFF gunmen in Barangay Saniag, Ampatuan, Maguindanao on Friday.
“The villagers alerted the Army about the presence of the terrorists in their community,” he told reporters here in an interview.
A report by Lt. Col. Raymond Rapi, 1SRB commanding officer, said the clash site, which had several foxholes, served as an advance command post leading to a BIFF bomb-making hideout in the interiors of the village.
In the same report, Rapi said his men found three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) ready for disposal and bomb-making components, mobile phones, and personal items in the hideout located some 500 meters away from the BIFF command post.
4 out of 40 BIFF men slain and several IEDs recovered. The BIFF are still very active and out to cause trouble. They are especially known for using IEDs and blowing up their intended targets.
Despite the U.S. DoD's bleak assessment about the threat of terrorism not changing notwithstanding massive counterterrorism operations, the AFP is well at work fighting the NPA and the Muslim insurgents. Of course it is a long, slow war of attrition.
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