Insurgency: ISIS Still A Threat In Southeast Asia

Let's start off with something big that should be a no-brainer.

https://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com/2023/03/isis-still-threat-in-southeast-asia.html

THE PHILIPPINES remains an attractive site for Islamic State (IS) operations now and in the future, Nikkei Asia quoted Mimi Fabe, a professor of financial terrorism at the National Police College of the Philippines, as saying.

“The ISIS HQ still regards Philippine terrorist organizations as reliable conduits for terrorism financing, recruitment of combatants and child soldiers, involvement of women in terrorist smuggling of weapons as well as ammunition, a place to get multiple identities and, in certain areas, as safe havens for foreign terrorist fighters,” Fabe said. 

One of the most notorious organizations in the Philippines is the jihadi and kidnap-for-ransom group Abu Sayyaf, which has two factions. One of them is allied with IS and is the largest IS-linked group in the Philippines. “All of these groups are operating in Mindanao Island, while two other transnational organized crime groups which are sympathetic to ISIS-linked groups have a footprint in Luzon,” Fabe said. 

Fabe said the IS headquarters is fully supportive of the Abu Sayyaf factions. The support comprises terrorism financing and the transfer of training techniques, including the sending of IS fighters to train newly recruited combatants and child soldiers in Mindanao. 

“IS is opportunistic and will continue to look for openings to rebuild its networks throughout Southeast Asia,” said Clarke. “IS has continued to spread propaganda and recruit ... and there are some concerns about the group making inroads in Singapore.” 

Clarke said IS is in rebuilding mode at the moment. “Its goal is to remain relevant and look for power vacuums it can exploit. It is also likely seeking to rebuild its external operations capabilities, because conducting successful attacks is the most effective recruitment tool. ... It proves relevance when many analysts are claiming that the group is finished,” Clarke said, adding, IS is strong in Africa and Afghanistan but suffering significant losses elsewhere. 

ISIS is still looking to build inroads to Asia through the Philippines. So why has Sulu, a hot bed of ISIS recruitment been ranked number one in peace and order?

https://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com/2023/03/sulu-ranked-no-1-in-improved-peace-and.html

Governor Sakur Tan said Sulu is now ranked Number 1 in improved peace and order situation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and he commended authorities and the public for strongly supporting the peace and development efforts of the provincial and municipal governments.

Tan, chairman of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), recently convened the body to provide the public with updates on the security situation, issues of social concern and other matters relevant to public order and safety. 

“We are now number ranked Number 1 in peace and order. Maganda ang sitwasyon natin dito sa Sulu, mas marami tayong pwedeng magawa ngayon. Magtulong-tulong tayo na mas pagandahin pa ang ating probinsiya. Bigyan natin nang oportunidad ang pag-unlad dito sa Sulu,” Tan said after receiving reports from the police and military, and other stakeholders. 

In light of the much improved peace and order situation, Tan encouraged all stakeholders not to be complacent, rather to seize the moment, and double the resolve to move forward and increase productivity to create better opportunities for everyone. 

The PPOC also recommended the following: Strengthen programs on education as a catalyst of peace and development in every enabling environment; a progressive practice of culture and tradition to help eradicate so-called gun culture mentality, and to help prevent clan war or family feud; to further improve the traffic situation in the capital town of Jolo; aggressive campaign on motorcycles with loud muffler, and to promote four stroke or Euro 4 compliant motorcycles; to maintain the cleanliness program in all municipalities. 

It also adopted the position of the five governors in the BARMM who called for the postponement of the Barangay elections until the implementation of the full decommissioning of weapons of Moro Islamic Liberation Front members; the condemnation of the February 17 ambush on Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr that wounded him and killed four of his aides. 

On what basis has Sulu been declared number 1 in improved peace and order? One of the recommendations is to eradicate gun culture mentality. That goes for the whole nation really where violence is seen as a solution to every kind of problem. President Marcos says he is committed to pursuing peace and order in the BARMM.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1198250

The administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is committed to fulfilling all agreements under the Bangsamoro peace process.

"Under the Marcos Administration’s banner of unity, the national government is determined more than ever to fulfill the commitments it had made under all signed Bangsamoro peace agreements. It shall not waver from this commitment," OPAPRU acting chief Secretary Isidro L. Purisima said in a statement for the observance of the ninth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) on Monday.

He also added that OPAPRU "shall ensure" to push forward, sustain and build on the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process.

Purisima also said this would be the key to building a better, brighter and more progressive future for the Bangsamoro people.

"As we commemorate the 9th Anniversary CAB’s signing, let us remember what has brought all of us to this moment — our willingness to let go of the past, go beyond our differences, and walk shoulder to shoulder in the name of peace," he added.

Purisima also said the signing of the CAB put an end to decades of armed conflict between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He added the occasion was historic not only for the Bangsamoro people but the Filipino nation as a whole as the weapons of war fell silent.

"And residents who used to wake up to the sound of mortar fire would start hearing the hum of bulldozers, trucks and farming equipment," the OPAPRU chief recounted.

"From the grounds of Malacañang where the CAB was forged, to the sprawling flatlands of Central Mindanao and the island provinces which used to be the site of fierce gun battles, our people rejoiced because they knew in their hearts that a new chapter in the nation’s history was dawning," Purisima stressed.

Let's not forget the CAB or Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is revision on the Memorandum on Ancestral Domain.

As for the historical injustices the ARMM and BARRM were and are supposed to rectify, what are they? Colonisation! The MILF wants the whole of Mindanao given to the Moro people because of ancestral domain claims. They want the invading kafir, the Christians, gone. That was the sum and substance of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain which the government actually signed but the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. No, the BARMM has laid down a future war. Even the BARMM Chairman Ebrahaim Murad has said that decommissioning does not mean surrender. 

The NPA recently celebrated its 54th anniversary. The AFP says they remain irrelevant.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1749858/npas-54th-anniv-cpp-touts-steady-advance-afp-sneers-at-irrelevant-movement

The 54th founding anniversary of the communist New People’s Army on Wednesday, March 29, prompted a war of words between both sides of the conflict.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) touted the government’s failure to fully crush the NPA, but the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the Maoist movement is nearing its end.

“The NPA has steadily advanced and surmounted every disadvantage and setback at every historical juncture,” the CPP Central Committee said in its anniversary message.

“It has frustrated the enemy’s campaigns of encirclement and suppression one after another.”

The CPP, while stressing that the AFP’s encirclement campaigns “largely failed to attain its declared objective” of crushing the NPA, admitted that some regions or guerrilla fronts suffered from losses or significant setbacks “due to internal weaknesses and shortcomings.”

On the other hand, AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said the NPA has no reason to celebrate its founding anniversary.

“Communist Insurgency is [nearing] its end. With few remaining of its hardcores and deceived supporters, the CPP could hardly find a reason to celebrate the 54th founding anniversary of the NPA,” AFP spokesperson Medel Aguilar said in a statement.

“Let us pray that there will be no more 55th to think about,” Aguilar added.

Aguilar also said the CPP should accept its “irrelevance”, other than the fact that the communist movement made the government realize its shortcomings.

“The most difficult challenge and a bitter pill to swallow is the realization of the CPP of its irrelevance in the life of the Filipino people.

“As a consolation, the party can partly take credit in making the government realize its shortfalls in governance, particularly in the delivery of basic services, and in pushing it to do more and serve its people better.

The official said if the CPP wants to survive, it has to disband the NPA “and submit to the will of the Filipino people.”

Government estimates show that the NPA is now down to around 2,000 fighters with some 1,800 firearms in its arsenal.

Funny that the AFP acknowledges that the CPP has made "the government realize its shortfalls in governance, particularly in the delivery of basic services, and in pushing it to do more and serve its people better." Can it be safe to assume that without the CPP the government would care less about the people and in delivering basic services? 

That article links to an article from July, 2022 that says there are around 2,000 NPA fighters left but that same number was given in January, 2023. That means the number of NPA fighters has remained the same for almost a whole year despite numerous alleged surrenders throughout the nation. Here are a few of the latest statistics from the AFP.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1198476

The communist New People’s Army (NPA) lost some 270 members and 121 firearms during the law enforcement operations conducted by the Police Regional Office in the Caraga Region (PRO-13) from Nov. 2, 2022 to March 15 this year.

Brig. Gen. Pablo Labra II, PRO-13 director, said 210 surrendered to them during the period, while 69 others were arrested.

“The 121 firearms were either seized during the arrests or voluntarily handed over during surrenders in the same period,” Labra said in a statement Wednesday (March 29).

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1198460

In partnership with the Task Force on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC), the Army's 4th Infantry Division (4ID) said it has dismantled eight New People’s Army (NPA) guerilla fronts and "neutralized" more than 800 rebels operating in Northern Mindanao and Caraga in the past two years.

In a statement on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Jose Maria R. Cuerpo II, commander of the 4ID commander, said since 2021, an NPA sub-regional committee and an independent rebel platoon were also dismantled.

Among those dismantled were the NPA North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee and North Central Mindanao Regional Committee (NCMRC).

“The people are fed up and tired of the deception and exploitation of the NPA. People are more interested and focused on the peace and developmental projects, as well as the various services that the government has delivered,” Cuerpo said.

In addition, 362 government-initiated encounters have led to the neutralization of 885 NPA combatants.

In military parlance, “neutralize” includes the capture and surrender of an NPA rebel, as well as the seizure of firearms.

Cuerpo said the 4ID managed to seize 766 firearms and overran 234 NPA hideouts during the period.

The latest in the series of encounters transpired in remote Barangay San Juan, Bayugan City on March 27, which resulted in the death of two more rebels.

"More (NPA) members and even leaders have given up and surrendered,” Cuerpo said.

With the support of residents, the Army official assured that the 4ID would continue its intensified focused military operations against the communist rebels and collaborate with other government agencies under the TF-ELCAC.

In Zamboanga 66 NPA fighters allegedly surrendered in one day. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1198656

Sixty-six New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have surrendered in Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay provinces as they withdrew their support from the communist group, a top police official said Friday.

Brig. Gen. Neil Alinsañgan, director of Police Regional Office-9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), said 57 of the rebels surrendered in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur, and the remaining nine in Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay.

During a combined surrender ceremony on Wednesday, they took their oaths of allegiance administered by Zamboanga del Sur Governor Victor Yu at Camp Abellon which houses the provincial police office in Pagadian City.

Alinsañgan said the NPA surrenderers belonged to the Guerrilla Front Big Beautiful Country of the NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee.

They turned over two .38-caliber revolvers and a Garand rifle.

Alinsañgan said the PRO-9 and Army’s 1st Infantry Division facilitated the surrender.

That is 1,145 NPA fighters neutralized in the past two years and yet for eight months the number of NPA fighters has remained stable at 2,000? Clearly the AFP has no idea how many NPA fighters are left. That number does not include two or three who are killed each week in encounters with the AFP.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1198645

Communist rebels operating in the Caraga Region lost three of its key leaders during a series of military operations by the Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID) on March 27 to 30.

The military operations were conducted to protect the communities in the region from the atrocities of the outlawed New People’s Army (NPA) that celebrated its 54th founding anniversary on March 29.

In a statement Friday, the 4ID identified the high-ranking NPA leader killed as Emmanuel Balano “Salem” Anub Sr., secretary of the NPA Sub-Regional Committee Westland who served in a concurrent position as the secretary of the Weakened Guerrilla Front 21 under the North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee.

Anub was killed during an encounter on Thursday in Sitio Hugmakan, Barangay San Juan, Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur.

“Based on the report of the 401st Infantry Brigade based in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, the troops of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion encountered around 20 NPA rebels at the mountainous area of Sitio Hugmakan,” the 4ID said.

The skirmish lasted for 25 minutes which resulted in the death of Anub and the seizure of an AK-47 rifle with ammunition, the statement added.

Meanwhile, an encounter in Sitio Vertudazo, Barangay San Juan, Bayugan City on March 27 also led to the killing of two ranking NPA leaders in the region.

They were identified only as a certain Dano, the regional finance officer, and Zig, the regional medical staff.

Recovered at the encounter site were an M4 carbine rifle, a modified Carbine rifle, ammunition, and other war materials.

"The ever-increasing support that we are gaining from the local government units, other government agencies, and the communities is the key to this enormous achievement,” Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo II, the 4ID commander, said.

He stressed that the 4ID will continue their operations against the remnants of the NPA in their area of responsibility without letup.

The fact is Joma Sison is dead and yet the CPP-NPA continues on. They are not irrelevant. I am not here to apologize for them but the NPA cannot and should not be discounted and dismissed because they remain a very real threat. But dismissing them is what the AFP does every single week much to their detriment.