Like last year, the AFP has gone and set an ambitious agenda it hopes to accomplish.
The goal for 2017 was to eradicate Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group by mid-year. (Please hold all laughter until the end of this article.)
The goal for 2018 is to reduce the number of NPA commie rebels by half.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Lt. Gen. Rey Guerrero estimates there are currently about 3,700 communist rebels.
"We intend to reduce that number by half for 2018," Guerrero said during the annual New Year's Call on Tuesday.
The AFP intends to eliminate 1,850 rebels by the end of the year. That is 5 rebels a day whether arrested or killed. Can they do it? The NPA does not think so.
The communist party said the AFP chief’s promise was also contrary to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s statement that finishing off the rebels in a year is “far-fetched.”
Secretary Lorenzna thinks such a plan is far-fetched? Does he not have faith in the AFP? Why would he think such a thing?
“To finish the communist terrorists in one year is far-fetched. It’s a tall order and we may not be able to do it,” Lorenzana told reporters.
He said the goal was to instead “degrade their capability to conduct large-scale attacks.”
Lorenzana said he could not say for now if this could mean yet another recommendation from the military to extend martial law.
“Maybe towards the end of 2018, we will know if there’s (still) a need for martial law or not. But as of now, hindi pa natin masasabi yan (we can't say yet),” he said.
Lorenzana has not give any specifics at all why such a mission would be far-fetched. He does not discuss AFP capability (or incapability) or the fact the the NPA is dispersed all over the country and not limited to Mindanao which would increase the difficulty of eradicating them. But he does throw out a hint that martial law could be extended once more at the end of 2018 if the NPA is still around. This is the martial law in perpetuum via extensions that some have warned about. January is barely halfway over and already there are whispers of perhaps more martial law in 2019. Lorenzana has made no secret of his love affair with martial law but someone is putting the cart before the horse. The Supreme Court has not even heard arguments from the various challenges against the new year-long extension.
The Supreme Court has set the oral arguments on the petitions against the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao on January 16 and 17.
I predict the AFP will make no major moves before the issue is fully decided. There will be no large scale offensive or all out war. The generals will bide their time, make plans for whatever the outcome, and in the meantime the AFP will maintain a defensive posture thereby keeping the nation safe and secure.
“We cannot discount the possibility of foreign fighters surreptitiously able to enter the country given our vast and porous borders,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Edgard Arevalo said in a press statement.
The AFP has verifying the presence of foreign fighters for months now. Months. They still don't know one way or the other. And it's such an overwhelming task that they need the people's help.
The public is encouraged to report “new faces in the neighborhood” as a deterrent against foreign terrorists who may take advantage of “our vast and porous borders” to enter the country, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Friday.
Seeing as how all the terrorism is taking place in the ARMM that means the AFP is hoping the Muslims who inhabit this area will turn into snitches. Not likely!
All this sounds good but let's not get carried away. It is too easy to fall into the trap of believing and propagating the narrative here. Frankly none of these dogs hunt.
The AFP, Calida, and Lorenzana eager to smash the terrorists and prevent another Marawi? Hardly!
How can martial law prevent another Marawi when without martial law the AFP KNEW about the Marawi attack a full month in advance and yet did NOTHING to prevent it from happening?
Martial law is not needed to prevent another Marawi. What is needed is a proactive DND and military. Verifying intel reports to assess the exact nature and timing of the threat and all that. How about preventative measures like stopping the flow of weapons into the area which Duterte himself said was allowed to happen because of the government's soft attitude to terrorists because of the peace process?
Duterte said the government was aware that firearms were being stockpiled in Mindanao but took it for granted because of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
“We have adopted a very soft policy towards the rebels and this came about because they were bringing firearms. Since we are thinking of getting peace with the MNLF and MILF. The game there involves firearms. We took it for granted. We just allowed it to happen because we never knew until that time who was really the enemy,” Duterte told the troops in Butuan City.
Never, ever, ever, ever forget these words of Duterte. How does the government not know who the enemy is? They are ALL enemies! MNLF, MILF, Maute, Abu Sayyaf, NPA, etc., etc. All of these armed groups are enemies of the state and the people. Every time you read about martial law and how it will keep everyone safe by preventing terrorism and another Marawi and how the AFP and PNP are bravely protecting the country from terrorists never forget that they all KNEW about the Marawi attack in advance, did nothing to stop it, and in fact all their policies ALLOWED this horrible event to occur. Never forget that.
Look at some more of this mess:
Even with martial law the ARMM and the rest of Mindanao remain areas of violence. The AFP already has a mandate to fight rebels and terrorists without martial law. Protecting the country is literally their job. Are we really to believe that the military is so inefficient that they cannot do their job without the writ of habeas corpus being suspended? How does that help a soldier get a bead on some terrorist's head and pull the trigger? Again without martial law the AFP KNEW about the Marawi attack a month in advance which means their intelligence capabilities are not impeded without martial law. The problem is that the AFP failed to act on the information they had.
How about the antics of SolGen Calida?
These are the acts of a desperate man. Calida is grasping at any straw he can to defend the year-long extension of martial law. The powers that be do not want martial law to go gentle into that good night and so they are raging against the dying of the light. Calida is telling the Supreme Court to sod off because they have already ruled that rebellion exists in Mindanao and Congress alone has the power to extend martial law and he wants the SC to dismiss the suit on a mere technicality for not being attached to the right paperwork. It would be funny if so much were not at stake.
Why should anyone believe the Duterte administration is sincerely committed to defending the safety and security of the Philippines when those in charge knew about the Marawi attack in advance and did nothing to stop it? What nonsense for any of these people to say martial law is needed to prevent another Marawi when without martial law they had the power to prevent the first!
In other martial law in Mindanao news the Department of Energy has donated 200 E-trikes to Marawi City.
"Marawi residents will soon experience e-trikes for transport and livelihood opportunities. To ensure sustainable operations, Marawi City shall establish charging stations on the road," Roque said in a press conference in Cebu.
Each e-trike can fit up to 6 passengers and can be charged through common electrical outlets, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.
"More than having an energy-efficient mode of transportation, the DOE E-Trikes for Marawi will provide livelihood to its beneficiaries and jumpstart economic activities in the area," Cusi said.
Wow! It's just what the citizens of the war torn pile of rubble formerly known as Marawi need to rise up from the ashes!
