As I often explain, the MILF offers very little financial support to its military organisation, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, or the BIAF in shorthand. This has two very important detrimental results, both for the MILF/BIAF and for its unfortunate stakeholders. First, the BIAF is forced to find ways in which to creatively fund itself. Unlike the NPA which enjoys considerable earnings from multi-national mining and lumber concessionaires, the BIAF almost always operates in areas bereft of natural resources. Therefore, the "Revolutionary Taxes" collected by the BIAF- usually under a religious sheen as "Zakat," (charity), one of five compulsory acts incumbent upon all adult Muslims (how convenient)- is far too paltry to support the organisation above and beyond basic sustenance.
In 2004 the BIAF's Field Divisions were converted to their current form, the ostensibly mobile "Base Commands." Each Base Command operates independently of all other Base Commands and so they each raise their own funds. In order to be able to provide for weaponry, etc., most resort to illegal activities although such activities vary according to the particular Base Command and the "pickings" available within their individual AORs, or Areas of Responsibility (military-speak for Areas of Operation). In the case of some Base Commands, the 102, 103, 105, 113, 114, and 118, this involves heavy amounts of both commercial extortion (Protection Rackets), and KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom. Among the most active in those two activities is the 113.
The 113 Base Command's main camp sits atop a small mountain, a hill really, Bundok Payong (Mt.Payong) which lends its name to the surrounding barangay, now known simply as Barangay Payong. Located in the municipality of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, formerly known as Karomatan, in Lanao del Norte Province, directly bordering the Zamboanga Peninsula and its three constituent provinces:
1) Zamboanga Sibugay
2) Zamboanga del Sur
3) Zamboanga del Norte
The 113's AOR, apart from Sultan Naga Dimaporo, consists of the entire Zamboanga Peninsula proper, and some of its offshore islands. Other offshore islands, including those belonging to Zamboanga City, belong to the 114 Base Command which is centered in Basilan (and of which I have written about relating to the latest violence in the municipality of Al Barka). This close proximity sometimes leads to commerce between the two adjacent Base Commands, mostly consisting of the 113, the more prolific of the two, seling KFR victims to the 114 which then reaps a profit from simply ransoming them.
Authorities aren't stupid (well some anyway). If I, a foreigner, am this knowledgeable about the ins and outs of that little corner of hell you can bet your bottom barong that both the PNP and AFP (Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines) know the same information and in a precious few cases, even know a lot more (usually because they too profit from payoffs and sometimes direct involvement). My last rejoinder of course explains just why these degenerate scumbags aren't prosecuted for their literally thousands of major crimes. On April 5th, 2011, that changed in a major way.
One of the 113 Base Command's major extortion targets, Rural Bus Lines, refuses to bow down and hand over its hard earned profits to a bunch of social parasites. The result of course is that the 113 Base Command regularly targets the company, and this usually involves shooting and burning busses that pass through BIAF-controlled communities. As a result of these frequent attacks which have been targeting that particular company for 5 years and three other similarly reluctant bus companies for nearly as long, the AFP extended its SCAA Program to include bus companies.
SCAAs, or Special Citizen Active Auxiliaries are a variant within the CAA Protocol. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries, are the post-Marcos equivalent of the CHDF, or Civilian Home Defense Force. In the AFP's COIN (counterinsurgency) program the AFP clears rebel-controlled communities. At that point it is up to the original CAA entity, the CAFGU, or Citizens Active Force Geographical Unit, to "Hold" the community- in other words, to keep the insurgents from re-infiltrating and eventually re-controlling the community. CAFGU are geographically fixed, manned by citizens of specific barangays who aren't supposed to ever operate outside those particular barangays. Of course the reality is alot different but that of course is besides the point.
Seeing a need for a localised force dedicated towards "Holding" the areas of operation for big businesses, the AFP then created the SCAA. The SCAAs are receuited by and paid for by a specific company but armed, trained, and ostensibly under the control of an AFP detachment known as a "cadre battalion" (as are CAFGU). Eventually SCAA were utilised in other ways, such as using them to serve as "Bus Marshals" here on Mindanao. A passenger taking a trip on a targeted company's bus will usually see two young men in camouflage fatigues, cradling M1, M14, or M16 assault rifles, sitting in staggered positions. Unfortunately the SCAA soldiers, known as CAAs, usually take the very same seating arrangement each and every time, one dead centre on the rear bench, the other at the midway point on eaither side depending on the demand of passengers for specific seats.
On the day in question, April 5th, 2011, four young men boarded Rural Bus Lines unit #9342 in the municipality of Roseller T.Lim (RT Lim) in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Like the majority of bus passengers on Mindanao these four men flagged down the bus as it sped down National Hwy, heading into Zamboanga City, in Zamboanga del Norte Province, from the town of Ipil (the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay Province).
As the bus entered the municipality of Tungawan's Barangay Upper Tungawan, one of the four men suddenly stood. Quickly, a second one stood as well. Almost as if on cue the two pulled 45 caliber pistols, the first man quickly pivoting and with pinpoint accuracy shot the CAA sitting on the bus' rear seat right between the eyes, killing Lito de la Cruz instantly. His companion drew down on the second CAA, Frederico A.Luchaves, nodding his head slowly as if to warn him against moving a muscle. Sitting next to the dead CAA in the rear was AFP Major Julistidi Arasid, the EXO (Executive Officer, as in Second in Command) of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion), stationed in Ipil. Major Arasid's wife Sitti Alaya Jundam Arasid and their 15 year old son had travelled all the way from their Zamboanga City homes just to meet the Major as he came off of rotation in Ipil, so that they could travel home to Zamboanga City together. It was a special week for the couple, their eldest son, the 15 year old joining them, was about to graduate from highschool (most Filipinos do so by age 16).
Though not in uniform Major Arasid, like most AFP personnel, always carried his AFP-issued sidearm, a 45 caliber pistol. Perhaps fearing for his and his family's life Major Arasid, sitting immediately to the left of the just killed CAA, suddenly, perhaps instinctually, reached for his pistol. Just as suddenly both he and his wife were shot in the head and immediately killed. Pandemonium broke out as passengers began screaming and some quickly rushed towards the front trying to exit the closed door. As this took place the second gunman who had been training his pistol on CAA Luchaves saw the man suddenly move and promptly dropped his with a single round, wounding him. Major Arasid's 15 year old son took that as an opportunity to dive out the open window beside him and run for dear life.
The remaining two gunmen quickly revealed themselves and ordered all passengers and the bus driver, Crispin Lozada, to empty out all their valuables onto their seats and then slowly move towards the front, as they had Mr.Lozada open the door to allow passengers out. Once all passengers were lined up on the side of the road, two of the gunmen trained the newly captured M14s taken from the two CAAs, and trained them on their terrified captives as a third gunman went down the line checking for secreted valuables. Inside the bus the gunmen who had killed the three victims at the rear of the vehicle trained his pistol on the painfully wounded CAA, Luchaves. Kicking the man as he crawled, he forced the badly wounded CAA off of the bus and onto the roadside. As bad as Frederico Luchaves surely felt I guarantee that he felt much better after witnessing which took place shortly after he tumbled down the steps and onto the pavement.
The lone gunman inside of the bus doused the interior with gasoline that had been brought aboard in a jerrycan by one of the four gunmen. Walking to the bus' entrance he threw a lit matchbook down the aisle and immediately set the whole interior aflame. The three bodies inside the bus were charred beyond recognition when authorities finally doused the flames nearly two hours later. Had CAA Luchaves not crawled out of the bus he too would have ended up burned beyond recognition.
So ends this entry, a prelude to the recent AFP operation in the municipality of Payao. I will continue this sad tale in "Part 2."
Showing posts with label 1ID. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1ID. Show all posts
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
GPH-NDFP Peace Process, First Quarter of 2011, Part III: The Release of Angie Ipong
Since the re-initiation of the GPH-NDFP Peace Process (Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines) the most pressing issue, at least for the NDFP, has been JASIG. JASIG, or the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees is designed to offer all NDFP members connected with the Peace Process legal protection from arrest and prosecution as well as freedom of movement. While initially, just after the Peace Process re-re-opened [sic], JASIG seemed to be of little concern, it has since turned into the proverbial white elephant.
President Aquino ensured that NDFP Peace Panel Chairman Luis G.Jalandoni and his wife, NDFP Peace Panelist Connie Ledesma each had their names removed from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) Persona Non-Grata List so that both could re-enter the Philippines (and then leave again when desired). Like virtually all of the chief ideologues of the CPP/NPA, of which the NDFP is merely a front, the couple remains ensconced in voluntary exile in the city of New Utrecht,in the Netherlands. Unlike the rest though, Jalandoni and Ledesma took Dutch citizenship years ago. In this way the couple has a much greater advantage than the rest of the CPP/NPA leadership because unlike their comrades (pun intended) they are somewhat free to travel, as long as it isn't to the Philippines. I say "somewhat" because in 2004, after lobbying by then-President Arroyo, the United States placed the CPP/NPA onto its list of terrorist organisations. Meanwhile, Jalandoni's elderly mother was near death and so the Government offered the ability to travel to and from the Philippines as a Good Will Gesture, though it was far short of the NDFP's "suggestion" that Aquino receive Jalandoni at the Presidential Palace.
President Aquino then enabled the BID modification for the couple and as he did so he took great pains to portray himself as taking the neccessary steps to re-implement JASIG. After the US declaration of the CPP/NPA as a terrorist entity the NPA had withdrawn from the Peace Process. The following year the Government unilaterally suspended JASIG, something it wasn't legally able to do since it is a bi-lateral agreement (though this being the Philippine Government that facts borders on irelevant). While the BID gesture was great in the immediate sense, the fact of the matter is that it seriously jeapordised all JASIG-protected persons.Though the re-implementation of JASIG merely amounted to the Government unilaterally deciding to recognise it.
Then, just hours before Round I of the Formal Talks began in Oslo on February 15th, 2011, the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) arrested yet another JASIG-protected person, CPP General Secretary Alan Jazmines. The AFP, when informed of Jazmines' status as a Consultant to the NDFP's Peace Panel offered this little gem, "To hell with JASIG." That about nails the GPH policy on the agreement to a tee. To smoothe things over, so to speak, GPH Peace Panel Chairperson Alexander "Alex" Padilla had Panelist Pablo "Pablito" Sanidad intercede in the case of one of the then eighteen JASIG-protected persons sitting in detention, Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Ipong.
Angie Ipong,a native of Bicol, obtained a BA in History from Ateneo de Naga University and then joined her husband Boy in performing lay missionary work for various Catholic organisations. Feeling unfufilled at her job reading History at Assumption College in Quezon Province's Lucena City, she and her husband Boy decided to devote themselves fulltime to their Catholic Faith. By the late-1970s the couple decided to move south, to Cebu City. While in Cebu the couple drifted into Liberation Theology, a variant of Catholicism that advocates direct Church involvement in the political process (Whatever happened to "Render unto Caesar"?), and while not condoning violence outright, offering plausability and rationalisation for it so as to allow a great many adherants to cross the fine line from multi-sectoral front partisanship right into violent activity and outright rebellion. Among the people the couple met while in Cebu were a group of radicalised priests from a Maryknoll Residence in Tagum (now Tagum City) in Mindanao's Davao del Norte Province. At the priests' invitation the Ipongs relocated to Tagum and took positions at the Maryknoll "Christian Formation Center".
It was in Tagum that the couple drifted closer to crossing that aforementioned fine line. Not long after, they left Tagum to work with "Rural Missionaries of the Philippines," or (RMP). Then, as now, RMP is a thinly verneered NPA multi-sectoral front organisation.Unlike most other front organisations that exist to serve a multitude of purposes benefiting the CPP/NPA, RPM exists chiefly as a format for political indoctrination directly into the CPP,and as a conduit into the NPA itself.
On November 20th, 1983 Boy Ipong joined scores of Church functionaries and lay people for a ferry ride to Cebu City to attend a Church gathering. The ferry, the Dona Cassandra, left Nasipit in Agusan del Norte Province overloaded and just as Typhoon Orchid began touching down in the Visayas Region. Early on the 21st, as the ship traversed the Surigao Strait in the Leyte Sea, the ferry capsised with at least 167 deaths out of a passenger and crew manifest of 387 people. Among the 167 was Boy Ipong.
Though Ms.Ipong eventually took the plunge and became a full-fledged member of the NPA, she tended to concentrate on the ideological end of the equation. Known to fellow NPA members as "Ka Nilda," Ms.Ipong focused her efforts on bringing more and more people into the fold. In fact, on March 8th, 2005 she had been conducting a forum on the CARHRIHL,or Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law facet of the GPH-NDFP Peace Process to a group of newly indoctrinared people gathered at a private home in Anastacia Missionary Village, in Barangay Lumbayao in the municipality of Aloran in Misamis Occidental Province. At 145PM she took a break and just as she began a light lunch a group of ten men, in military fatigues and skimasks (known locally as "bonnets") and carrying M16s entered the house and immediately surrounded the shocked women. Tying her hands behind her back and blindfolding her the men,a combination of AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) soldiers and officers from the PNP's (Philippines National Police) CIDG-10 (Criminal Investigations and Detection Group-Region-10) then led her out of the house and into incognito.
Immediately driven by van to 1ID (1st Infantry Division) Headquarters in the municipality of Labangan's Barangay Pulacan in Zamboanga del Sur Province.Arrested by virtue of warrants issued in Pagadian City and the town of Molave, both in that same province, as well as additional warrants in Misami Occidental Province's Oroquieta City, she was slapped with the usual generic charges applied to any and all mid to upper echelon NPA arrestees: Rebellion, Multiple Frustrated Murder, Arson, and so on. Barely subjected to interrogation while at Division Headquarters she was deemed high value enough to warrant a prompt transfer on March 12th to SOUTHCOM, the then unitary command responsible for all of Mindanao and its island possessions, at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte Province. It was there that Ms.Ipong's interrogation began.
As far as interrogations go it was a by the book (if THE book was at least 50 years old) almost anti-climatic affair. The first inquisitor was a junior officer who left her blindfoled (to re-inforce her vulnerability) and changed his rythym several times to keep her tense and off balance, berating her and often screaming threats. Ms.Ipong also claims to have been punched in the side during this and subsequent rounds of questioning.
Round II offered the first inquisitor's foil, the "good cop" of the well known "good cop:bad cop" routine. Removing Ms.Ipong's blindfold the senior officer acted enraged to find that she had been sleeping on a concrete floor and brusquely ordered inquisitor number one to immediately provide the detainee with a bed and took great pains to "admonish" the junior officer in the detainee's presence, warning him that he would be brought up on serious disciplinary charges if he ever came close to mis-treating any prisoner again. Of course this was entirely for her benefit since both inquisitors were running a standard interrogation technique. It is a very simple endeavour. Working with very basic human psychology, they soften up a subject by isolating them, removing any emotional footholds he or she may have retained. This is accomplished by interrupting the sleep pattern, serving a sub-standard diet, screaming at and insulting the subject and so on. Then, a new personality is introduced into the dynamic,a more senior officer so as to convey stability and reliability and instill trust. This senior officer "rights" most of the "wrongs" dished out by the first inquisitor. This naturally a initiates desire within the subject to please inquisitor number two, to show gratitude but mostly to avoid a repeat of the first round of interrogation.The inquisitors are alternated over a series of days,as was the case with Angie Ipong.
Round III saw the return of the first inquisitor, "Mr.Bad Cop." The junior office angrily ordered subordinates to remove the bed given to her by the second inquisitor, "Mr.Good Cop." Again her interrogator punched her in the side. Then the officer stepped it up a notch by ordering subordinate personnel to "strip" the then 60 year old woman naked. With her hands tied behind her back, and a blindfold over her eyes, Ms.Ipong maintains that the junior officer and his subordinates began touching her, squeezing her breasts and touching her genitals. Terrified Ms.Ipong pled with her tormentors, asking them to remember that she was 60 years old and that she was no different from their mothers or sisters. This caused the soldiers to laugh derisively, turning up the air conditioning to its maximum setting to offer even further discomfort. It was at this point that Ms.Ipong lost consciousness.
Coming to her senses the next morning, it took a few moments to realise she was naked, having been left exactly where she fell though sometime afterwards her blindfold had been removed. Hands still tied behind her back, but only loosely, as if to allow the prisoner to release herself when alone. Having gotten her hands free Ms.Ipong quickly dressed herself only to find just as she finished, that the callous junior officer had returned. That morning, March 13th, Round V of her interrogation began. Though she had been lying on the concrete floor all night a bed had been re-installed. Making a point to have it removed the officer had the blindfold re-applied and the hands re-bound, after having a subordinate forcefully pinion the detainee's hands behind her back. After punching her in her side once again the officer began his questioning.
By mid-morning her inquisitor exited and almost immediately the emphatic, courteous senior officer entered the room in tag team fashion. Round V began with the sentence again markedly demanding that her bed be re-installed he called the junior officer into the cell and threatened to have him court martialed for his "abuse" of Ms.Ipong. Dismissing him brusquely he downshifted and spoke tenderly to the frightened woman. He promised to have the junior officer docketed for his unseemly behavior but noted that he couldn't be on site 24 hours a day to protect her. He then played his hand; asking Ms.Ipong to "help" him, he offered to personally write down her answers, thus ensuring that they would be accurately recorded without omission OR embellishment and offered that this was the only way to neutralise the immediate threat posed by that abusive junior officer. If Ms.Ipong agreed to help him together they could ensure that no other prisoners would suffer from that same heartless treatment and abuse. Were the prisoner to question the correlation between her providing information and the disciplining of the unruly junior officer, the calm and reasonable senior officer would simply reply that were he to docket the abusive subordinate for his mistreatment of Ms.Ipong, his own superiors would assume that Ms.Ipong was lying or exaggerating about her mistreatment, something the senior officer wasn't able to personally witness. The powers that be would assume that the detainee was being manipulative but moreover, dishonest. However, IF he could show that the detainee had voluntarily provided even a scant modicum of information it would leave senior staff unable to make that point. Never having been arested or imprisoned Ms.Ipong had no way of knowing that this "kindly" senior officer was just as callous and manipulative as his junior counterpart.
With the completion of Round V Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Ipong was served with formal charges, delivered to SOUTHCOM Headquarters by a State Attorney on the afternoon of March 13th. Much to her suprise the 60 year old woman was notified that she was being saddled with Rebellion, Arson, Double Frustrated Murder, and Triple Frustrated Murder charges in three different venues. The three jurisdictions were:
1) Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur Province
2) Molave, Zamboanga del Sur Province
3) Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental Province
The next day, March 14th, 2005, Ms.Ipong, sitting in a wheelchair, was subjected to the obligatory show and tell. The social hall at SOUTHCOM Headquarters was packed with leering media and grinning AFP officers who congratulated themselves on a job well done. With that anti-climatic apex the issue quickly devolved into one in which SOUTHCOM was being besieged by Leftis groups, both domestically and from abroad. Although the AFP can arrest people it cannot detain them passed tactical interrogation (though in reality it happens most of the time, my favorite case being a 10 year old boy who was brought to a battalion headquarters for questioning and then forcibly made into a houseboy for the post chaplain for four years). Interrogation having ended the AFP being under pressure, transferred custody of Ms.Ipong to the BJMP, or Bureau of Jail Management and Prisons, at its facility in the town of Ramon Magsaysay in Zamboanga del Sur Province. The problem with that ridiculous idea is that BJMP facilities are only allowed to detain sentenced prisoners. Pre-trial and trial detainees are relegated to LGU (Local Government Unit, as in municipalities and provinces) managed facilities.
So it was that on March 20th that the AFP was compelled to transport Ms.Ipong once again, this time to the Pagadian Reformatory Jail, the Pagadian City managed facility. It was here that Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Impong would spend the bulk of her imprisonment. Initially placed in a cell with nine other women, all incarcerated for criminal acts (as opposed to the Mass Murders Ms.Ipong was accused of commiting, which in her deluded mind, and the equally delusional minds of her NPA "comrades" constituted "political acts"), Ms.Ipong protested to the jail's administrative staff that such conditions were beneath her. For a moderate bribe she was allowed to sleep in the chapel for the rest of her time there. Bored beyond reason she then turned her attention towards gardening. Getting a parcel of land belonging to the jail Ms.Ipong began raising produce and flowers which she then began selling (so much for capitalism being evil). Finally joined by her fellow female inmates she then started a new venture, producing clothes via sewing machines and soon Ms.Ipong was controlling her own prison sweatshop, one of two businesses she began while still a prisoner. A third venture eventually followed, involving the manufacture of greeting cards that included pressed flowers from her prison garden.
After nearly four and a half years in the Pagadian Reformatory she was cleared of Rebellion in Court, with the prosecutor citing a lack of evidence.With that charge withdrawn it was time to travel to the next venue,Oroquieta City where she was lodged in the Misamis Occidental Provincial Jail. Not long after her arrival Ms.Ipong was able to have a foreign NGO donate three new sewing machines, enabling the then 64 year old woman to launch yet another prison-based garment business.The busy woman was also able to find the time needed to wite a book as well, though in reality it was written by Leftists in Manila and merely included a few recipes attributed to her and a couple of dozen "inspirational" letters written from prison. "The Letters and Diary of Angie B.Ipong," (Manila:InPeace) (2010) published via the Women and Children Concerns Committee of the NGO InPeace was an 85 page diatribe cum salad recipe compendium (I am 100% serious). The volume has been yet another moneymaking scheme with Ms.Ipong's supporters boosting sales with tales of suffering and oppression under the claim that all proceeds would be deposited in her legal support fund to pay for lawyers. In reality Ms.Ipong received absolutely free legal representation from local attorney Emiliano "Emil" Deleverio,Vice Chairperson of the multi-sectoral legal organisation UPLM (Union of People's Lawyers in Mindanao).
Fast forward to the February Talks in Oslo in 2011. As I have repeated ad naseum, the NDFP Peace Panel has been extremely focused upon contraventions of JASIG, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees. With the CPP's General Secretary Alan Jazmines being arrested mere hours before Round I began on February 15th the GPH Panel tried to appear magnanimous by having at least one of the eighteen JASIG-protected "Consultants" released. GPH Panel Chairperson Padilla chose the easiest choice, Ms.Ipong, who at 66 had become the nation's oldest "Political Prisoner."Panelist Pablo "Pablito" Sanidad was assigned to the task and immediately faxed a letter to Judge Bernadette S.Paredes Echinareal of Regional Trial Court (RTC) #36 in Oroquieta City where Ms.Ipong was dealing with the last of her criminal charges. Fully aware that that the defendant would be freed in a matter of weeks, Chairman Padilla viewed the Ipong Case as a win:win gambit. Needing a JASIG quick fix, he found a detainee whose release was imminent and simply had the release expedited.
On February 18th, 2011, Day 3 of the GPH-NDFP Peace Process, Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Ipong was released and re-gained her freedom, her dignity,and her life.
President Aquino ensured that NDFP Peace Panel Chairman Luis G.Jalandoni and his wife, NDFP Peace Panelist Connie Ledesma each had their names removed from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) Persona Non-Grata List so that both could re-enter the Philippines (and then leave again when desired). Like virtually all of the chief ideologues of the CPP/NPA, of which the NDFP is merely a front, the couple remains ensconced in voluntary exile in the city of New Utrecht,in the Netherlands. Unlike the rest though, Jalandoni and Ledesma took Dutch citizenship years ago. In this way the couple has a much greater advantage than the rest of the CPP/NPA leadership because unlike their comrades (pun intended) they are somewhat free to travel, as long as it isn't to the Philippines. I say "somewhat" because in 2004, after lobbying by then-President Arroyo, the United States placed the CPP/NPA onto its list of terrorist organisations. Meanwhile, Jalandoni's elderly mother was near death and so the Government offered the ability to travel to and from the Philippines as a Good Will Gesture, though it was far short of the NDFP's "suggestion" that Aquino receive Jalandoni at the Presidential Palace.
President Aquino then enabled the BID modification for the couple and as he did so he took great pains to portray himself as taking the neccessary steps to re-implement JASIG. After the US declaration of the CPP/NPA as a terrorist entity the NPA had withdrawn from the Peace Process. The following year the Government unilaterally suspended JASIG, something it wasn't legally able to do since it is a bi-lateral agreement (though this being the Philippine Government that facts borders on irelevant). While the BID gesture was great in the immediate sense, the fact of the matter is that it seriously jeapordised all JASIG-protected persons.Though the re-implementation of JASIG merely amounted to the Government unilaterally deciding to recognise it.
Then, just hours before Round I of the Formal Talks began in Oslo on February 15th, 2011, the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) arrested yet another JASIG-protected person, CPP General Secretary Alan Jazmines. The AFP, when informed of Jazmines' status as a Consultant to the NDFP's Peace Panel offered this little gem, "To hell with JASIG." That about nails the GPH policy on the agreement to a tee. To smoothe things over, so to speak, GPH Peace Panel Chairperson Alexander "Alex" Padilla had Panelist Pablo "Pablito" Sanidad intercede in the case of one of the then eighteen JASIG-protected persons sitting in detention, Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Ipong.
Angie Ipong,a native of Bicol, obtained a BA in History from Ateneo de Naga University and then joined her husband Boy in performing lay missionary work for various Catholic organisations. Feeling unfufilled at her job reading History at Assumption College in Quezon Province's Lucena City, she and her husband Boy decided to devote themselves fulltime to their Catholic Faith. By the late-1970s the couple decided to move south, to Cebu City. While in Cebu the couple drifted into Liberation Theology, a variant of Catholicism that advocates direct Church involvement in the political process (Whatever happened to "Render unto Caesar"?), and while not condoning violence outright, offering plausability and rationalisation for it so as to allow a great many adherants to cross the fine line from multi-sectoral front partisanship right into violent activity and outright rebellion. Among the people the couple met while in Cebu were a group of radicalised priests from a Maryknoll Residence in Tagum (now Tagum City) in Mindanao's Davao del Norte Province. At the priests' invitation the Ipongs relocated to Tagum and took positions at the Maryknoll "Christian Formation Center".
It was in Tagum that the couple drifted closer to crossing that aforementioned fine line. Not long after, they left Tagum to work with "Rural Missionaries of the Philippines," or (RMP). Then, as now, RMP is a thinly verneered NPA multi-sectoral front organisation.Unlike most other front organisations that exist to serve a multitude of purposes benefiting the CPP/NPA, RPM exists chiefly as a format for political indoctrination directly into the CPP,and as a conduit into the NPA itself.
On November 20th, 1983 Boy Ipong joined scores of Church functionaries and lay people for a ferry ride to Cebu City to attend a Church gathering. The ferry, the Dona Cassandra, left Nasipit in Agusan del Norte Province overloaded and just as Typhoon Orchid began touching down in the Visayas Region. Early on the 21st, as the ship traversed the Surigao Strait in the Leyte Sea, the ferry capsised with at least 167 deaths out of a passenger and crew manifest of 387 people. Among the 167 was Boy Ipong.
Though Ms.Ipong eventually took the plunge and became a full-fledged member of the NPA, she tended to concentrate on the ideological end of the equation. Known to fellow NPA members as "Ka Nilda," Ms.Ipong focused her efforts on bringing more and more people into the fold. In fact, on March 8th, 2005 she had been conducting a forum on the CARHRIHL,or Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law facet of the GPH-NDFP Peace Process to a group of newly indoctrinared people gathered at a private home in Anastacia Missionary Village, in Barangay Lumbayao in the municipality of Aloran in Misamis Occidental Province. At 145PM she took a break and just as she began a light lunch a group of ten men, in military fatigues and skimasks (known locally as "bonnets") and carrying M16s entered the house and immediately surrounded the shocked women. Tying her hands behind her back and blindfolding her the men,a combination of AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) soldiers and officers from the PNP's (Philippines National Police) CIDG-10 (Criminal Investigations and Detection Group-Region-10) then led her out of the house and into incognito.
Immediately driven by van to 1ID (1st Infantry Division) Headquarters in the municipality of Labangan's Barangay Pulacan in Zamboanga del Sur Province.Arrested by virtue of warrants issued in Pagadian City and the town of Molave, both in that same province, as well as additional warrants in Misami Occidental Province's Oroquieta City, she was slapped with the usual generic charges applied to any and all mid to upper echelon NPA arrestees: Rebellion, Multiple Frustrated Murder, Arson, and so on. Barely subjected to interrogation while at Division Headquarters she was deemed high value enough to warrant a prompt transfer on March 12th to SOUTHCOM, the then unitary command responsible for all of Mindanao and its island possessions, at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte Province. It was there that Ms.Ipong's interrogation began.
As far as interrogations go it was a by the book (if THE book was at least 50 years old) almost anti-climatic affair. The first inquisitor was a junior officer who left her blindfoled (to re-inforce her vulnerability) and changed his rythym several times to keep her tense and off balance, berating her and often screaming threats. Ms.Ipong also claims to have been punched in the side during this and subsequent rounds of questioning.
Round II offered the first inquisitor's foil, the "good cop" of the well known "good cop:bad cop" routine. Removing Ms.Ipong's blindfold the senior officer acted enraged to find that she had been sleeping on a concrete floor and brusquely ordered inquisitor number one to immediately provide the detainee with a bed and took great pains to "admonish" the junior officer in the detainee's presence, warning him that he would be brought up on serious disciplinary charges if he ever came close to mis-treating any prisoner again. Of course this was entirely for her benefit since both inquisitors were running a standard interrogation technique. It is a very simple endeavour. Working with very basic human psychology, they soften up a subject by isolating them, removing any emotional footholds he or she may have retained. This is accomplished by interrupting the sleep pattern, serving a sub-standard diet, screaming at and insulting the subject and so on. Then, a new personality is introduced into the dynamic,a more senior officer so as to convey stability and reliability and instill trust. This senior officer "rights" most of the "wrongs" dished out by the first inquisitor. This naturally a initiates desire within the subject to please inquisitor number two, to show gratitude but mostly to avoid a repeat of the first round of interrogation.The inquisitors are alternated over a series of days,as was the case with Angie Ipong.
Round III saw the return of the first inquisitor, "Mr.Bad Cop." The junior office angrily ordered subordinates to remove the bed given to her by the second inquisitor, "Mr.Good Cop." Again her interrogator punched her in the side. Then the officer stepped it up a notch by ordering subordinate personnel to "strip" the then 60 year old woman naked. With her hands tied behind her back, and a blindfold over her eyes, Ms.Ipong maintains that the junior officer and his subordinates began touching her, squeezing her breasts and touching her genitals. Terrified Ms.Ipong pled with her tormentors, asking them to remember that she was 60 years old and that she was no different from their mothers or sisters. This caused the soldiers to laugh derisively, turning up the air conditioning to its maximum setting to offer even further discomfort. It was at this point that Ms.Ipong lost consciousness.
Coming to her senses the next morning, it took a few moments to realise she was naked, having been left exactly where she fell though sometime afterwards her blindfold had been removed. Hands still tied behind her back, but only loosely, as if to allow the prisoner to release herself when alone. Having gotten her hands free Ms.Ipong quickly dressed herself only to find just as she finished, that the callous junior officer had returned. That morning, March 13th, Round V of her interrogation began. Though she had been lying on the concrete floor all night a bed had been re-installed. Making a point to have it removed the officer had the blindfold re-applied and the hands re-bound, after having a subordinate forcefully pinion the detainee's hands behind her back. After punching her in her side once again the officer began his questioning.
By mid-morning her inquisitor exited and almost immediately the emphatic, courteous senior officer entered the room in tag team fashion. Round V began with the sentence again markedly demanding that her bed be re-installed he called the junior officer into the cell and threatened to have him court martialed for his "abuse" of Ms.Ipong. Dismissing him brusquely he downshifted and spoke tenderly to the frightened woman. He promised to have the junior officer docketed for his unseemly behavior but noted that he couldn't be on site 24 hours a day to protect her. He then played his hand; asking Ms.Ipong to "help" him, he offered to personally write down her answers, thus ensuring that they would be accurately recorded without omission OR embellishment and offered that this was the only way to neutralise the immediate threat posed by that abusive junior officer. If Ms.Ipong agreed to help him together they could ensure that no other prisoners would suffer from that same heartless treatment and abuse. Were the prisoner to question the correlation between her providing information and the disciplining of the unruly junior officer, the calm and reasonable senior officer would simply reply that were he to docket the abusive subordinate for his mistreatment of Ms.Ipong, his own superiors would assume that Ms.Ipong was lying or exaggerating about her mistreatment, something the senior officer wasn't able to personally witness. The powers that be would assume that the detainee was being manipulative but moreover, dishonest. However, IF he could show that the detainee had voluntarily provided even a scant modicum of information it would leave senior staff unable to make that point. Never having been arested or imprisoned Ms.Ipong had no way of knowing that this "kindly" senior officer was just as callous and manipulative as his junior counterpart.
With the completion of Round V Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Ipong was served with formal charges, delivered to SOUTHCOM Headquarters by a State Attorney on the afternoon of March 13th. Much to her suprise the 60 year old woman was notified that she was being saddled with Rebellion, Arson, Double Frustrated Murder, and Triple Frustrated Murder charges in three different venues. The three jurisdictions were:
1) Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur Province
2) Molave, Zamboanga del Sur Province
3) Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental Province
The next day, March 14th, 2005, Ms.Ipong, sitting in a wheelchair, was subjected to the obligatory show and tell. The social hall at SOUTHCOM Headquarters was packed with leering media and grinning AFP officers who congratulated themselves on a job well done. With that anti-climatic apex the issue quickly devolved into one in which SOUTHCOM was being besieged by Leftis groups, both domestically and from abroad. Although the AFP can arrest people it cannot detain them passed tactical interrogation (though in reality it happens most of the time, my favorite case being a 10 year old boy who was brought to a battalion headquarters for questioning and then forcibly made into a houseboy for the post chaplain for four years). Interrogation having ended the AFP being under pressure, transferred custody of Ms.Ipong to the BJMP, or Bureau of Jail Management and Prisons, at its facility in the town of Ramon Magsaysay in Zamboanga del Sur Province. The problem with that ridiculous idea is that BJMP facilities are only allowed to detain sentenced prisoners. Pre-trial and trial detainees are relegated to LGU (Local Government Unit, as in municipalities and provinces) managed facilities.
So it was that on March 20th that the AFP was compelled to transport Ms.Ipong once again, this time to the Pagadian Reformatory Jail, the Pagadian City managed facility. It was here that Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Impong would spend the bulk of her imprisonment. Initially placed in a cell with nine other women, all incarcerated for criminal acts (as opposed to the Mass Murders Ms.Ipong was accused of commiting, which in her deluded mind, and the equally delusional minds of her NPA "comrades" constituted "political acts"), Ms.Ipong protested to the jail's administrative staff that such conditions were beneath her. For a moderate bribe she was allowed to sleep in the chapel for the rest of her time there. Bored beyond reason she then turned her attention towards gardening. Getting a parcel of land belonging to the jail Ms.Ipong began raising produce and flowers which she then began selling (so much for capitalism being evil). Finally joined by her fellow female inmates she then started a new venture, producing clothes via sewing machines and soon Ms.Ipong was controlling her own prison sweatshop, one of two businesses she began while still a prisoner. A third venture eventually followed, involving the manufacture of greeting cards that included pressed flowers from her prison garden.
After nearly four and a half years in the Pagadian Reformatory she was cleared of Rebellion in Court, with the prosecutor citing a lack of evidence.With that charge withdrawn it was time to travel to the next venue,Oroquieta City where she was lodged in the Misamis Occidental Provincial Jail. Not long after her arrival Ms.Ipong was able to have a foreign NGO donate three new sewing machines, enabling the then 64 year old woman to launch yet another prison-based garment business.The busy woman was also able to find the time needed to wite a book as well, though in reality it was written by Leftists in Manila and merely included a few recipes attributed to her and a couple of dozen "inspirational" letters written from prison. "The Letters and Diary of Angie B.Ipong," (Manila:InPeace) (2010) published via the Women and Children Concerns Committee of the NGO InPeace was an 85 page diatribe cum salad recipe compendium (I am 100% serious). The volume has been yet another moneymaking scheme with Ms.Ipong's supporters boosting sales with tales of suffering and oppression under the claim that all proceeds would be deposited in her legal support fund to pay for lawyers. In reality Ms.Ipong received absolutely free legal representation from local attorney Emiliano "Emil" Deleverio,Vice Chairperson of the multi-sectoral legal organisation UPLM (Union of People's Lawyers in Mindanao).
Fast forward to the February Talks in Oslo in 2011. As I have repeated ad naseum, the NDFP Peace Panel has been extremely focused upon contraventions of JASIG, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees. With the CPP's General Secretary Alan Jazmines being arrested mere hours before Round I began on February 15th the GPH Panel tried to appear magnanimous by having at least one of the eighteen JASIG-protected "Consultants" released. GPH Panel Chairperson Padilla chose the easiest choice, Ms.Ipong, who at 66 had become the nation's oldest "Political Prisoner."Panelist Pablo "Pablito" Sanidad was assigned to the task and immediately faxed a letter to Judge Bernadette S.Paredes Echinareal of Regional Trial Court (RTC) #36 in Oroquieta City where Ms.Ipong was dealing with the last of her criminal charges. Fully aware that that the defendant would be freed in a matter of weeks, Chairman Padilla viewed the Ipong Case as a win:win gambit. Needing a JASIG quick fix, he found a detainee whose release was imminent and simply had the release expedited.
On February 18th, 2011, Day 3 of the GPH-NDFP Peace Process, Angelina "Angie" Bisuna Ipong was released and re-gained her freedom, her dignity,and her life.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Developments Within the Military,Last Quarter 2010,Part II:Carlos Garcia's Woes Continue, Dolorfino Retires and Nonoy does Nam
On December 30, 2010 4ID (Infantry Division) gave the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army) an anniversary present to commemorate the CPP having turned 42 on December 26. What did the Division offer? The same hokey propaganda that makes most rational people not listen to a word the AFP says. The Armed Forces of the Philippines are its own worst enemy and the best weapon the Maoist Insurgency could hope for. New CO (Commanding Officer), Major General Victor Felix released the year end statistics for his IBs (Infantry Battalions). According to the Major General Felix, his men have killed 22 NPA guerillas this year (almost true), wounded 27 (purely an arbitrary number from supposed "bloodstains" seen in fire zones, 38 captures (absolute lie), 76 surrenderees (another absolute lie, even with the non-NPA members they convince to pose as guerillas). In addition, the esteemed General captured 78 camps (lying through their teeth, ask the CMO,the Civil-Military Officer, how many guerillas were captured or killed in those camps,then ask for their locations and see the huge discrepancies, most camps are non existent since the NPA does not engage in static encampments), and best of all, among the many dozens of weapons vouchsafed during the year the Division claims it captured 16 anti-personnel mines, 15 Claymores and 10 anti-tank mines. I have just one small acronym to lay down: IED. As long as the AFP insists on labeling IEDs, or Improvised Explosive Devices, as a "mine" of any kind noone with even a cursory knowledge of the Philippine Insurgency(ies) us going to 86 even the most basic claims made by the AFP as baseless military propaganda.
The word"Mine"in and of itself really isn't the problem.The crux of the issue is"Detonation," or to be more specific,"Command Detonation."The central thesis of the AFP is that "NPA mines" are an overt contravention of the Ottawa Treaty, ergo a violation of LOAC/IHL (Laws of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law). The central problem is that the Ottawa Treaty is only binding upon those entities that have signed and than ratified the document, all of whom are sovereign nations. The NPA of course is a Non-State Actor. More to the point, the treaty addresses Anti-Personnel Mines, not Anti-Armour Mines,etc.,etc. Finally, the NPA uses Command Controlled Detonation. Its IEDs. Are wired so that a guerilla must actually flip the circuit before the device detonates. Using a detonating cable they are on site, watching and waiting and they therefore control the detonation so that it only assaults security personnel. The NPA utilises its IEDs as the initial primer of a classic 2-Step Ambush. 1 guerilla detonates the IED just as an AFP or PNP vehicle or element passes by and then barrels into a salvo with long arms, strafing survivors. The NPA doesn't bury an IED in the dirt to be tripped by pressure, etc.
Though my preceding paragraph was quite caustic I am by no means an NPA supporter (perish the thought). Indeed they are just as full of shi*. It is simply that the Filipino People do not need more fairytales. The people need truth, which is the main reason why I began this endeavour. However, when the AFP actually releases statisticss showing anti-personnel mines having been captured from the NPA, well that needs to be exposed as the boldfaced lie it is. The NPA has no external conduit for weapons. Ergo. It obtains virtually all its arms from its tactical (and rarely its defencive) operations against the AFP. IF the NPA has mines it would have had to have gotten them from the AFP, PNP or the Philippine Government..
The 4ID is headquartered at Camp Evangelista in Barangay Patag, CDO (Cagayan del Oro City) in Misamis Oriental Province. It is 1 of 4 IDs on Mindanao, the others being the 1st, 6th and the 10th. 4th AOR (Area of Responsibility) covers its home province, Agusan del Norte. Agusan del Sur (most), Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte (including Siargo Island which is no longer a province after a recent Supreme Court Ruling), and part of Bukidnon Province. In terms of overall area it covers the largest patch but within this AOR 2 provinces are entirely pacified (Surigao del Norte and Misamis Oriental), at least in official terms. Though the base (Evangelista) abuts the border of the MILF 102 Base Command's AOR, the Division only deals with the NPA (since the other Communist Insurgency,the RPM-M signed its Final Peace Agreement more than 3 years ago). As for the NPA, there are 2 Regional Commands within that AOR, NCMRC (North Central Mindanao Regional Command which is on shaky legs at the moment, barely fielding 2 Fronts (a "Front" is a military detachment, for the sake of all precious brevity I will leave it at that) and NEMRC (Northeast Mindanao Regional Command). NEM holds the largest number of Fronts (NPA detachments) on the island.
In my previous AFP entry I had very briefly mentioned the retirement of Lieutenant General Ben Dolorfino. Benjamin Mohammad Dolorfino is proof positive that despite the AFP being decrepid to the point of being years past euthanasia, it can still produce true military icons (or perhaps the more likely scenario is that DESPITE the AFP these men rise to the top).
On November 10, 2010 Lieutenant Dolorfino retired having reached the AFP's mandatory age of retirement on his 56th birthday. At retirement he concurrently held Command of the Marine Corps as well as being in Command at WESMINCOM, 1 of 2 Mindanao Regional Commands. He had only been at WESMINCOM for a bit more than a year but had still managed to piss the right people off (in Command, if you aren't making enemies you aren't doing your job correctly). His most controversial move came during Eid al Fit'r when Dolorfino, a convert to Islam, ordered a heavy aerial bombing over Jolo Island in Sulu Province. While the OV-10s did strike known ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) position the MNLF's Kummander Ustadz Habir Malik insists that the bombs were meant for him. Malik after all had taken Dolorfino hostage back in 2007.
Though Asked his plans upon retirement Dolorfino swore that it would not involve actual participation in the political system since he doesn't want his hands "tied by politicians." He is sure that his future lies with an NGO committed to bringing peace to Mindanao though as yet he doesn't have a particular one in mind. Asked what stands out most from his long service with the AFP and he recalls the name of a mate from his Class at PMA (Philippine Military Academy), Class of 76. The classmate, 1st Class Cadet, Jan Efre Muyargas was killed soon after their graduation during their 1st Tour together on Basilan. Dolorfino dedicated his recent book, "Peacemakers, Peacekeepers and Peacebuilders" to Muyargas. Lieutenant Arthur Tabaquero has since been named Dolorfino's successor at WESMINCOM, the OIC (Officer in Charge, aka "Acting Commander") was Major General Romeo Lustestica, CO of 1ID, a choice of utility more than anything else since 1st Division is HQd in that same municipality, Zamboanga City.
That same day, November 10, 2010 it was revealed that President Aquino's recent trip to Vietnam has paid off with a Defence Pact that involves both Expert and Educational Exchanges. Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin accompanied the President on the 2 day State Visit that took place on October 25 and 26. Gazmin concluded the afore mentioned MoA (Memorandum of Agreement) with his counterpart, Minister of Defence , General Phung Quang. The 2 men also discussed contentions over the Spratly Islands, a group of mostly uninhabited atolls and reefs that are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, China and Vietnam.
The day before the Agreement was announced, November 09, Gazmin was forced to abort a landing in 1 of the AFP's 3 functioning C130s on one of the Spratlys, Pagasa Isle due to a badly deteriorating airstrip. It was to be Gazmin's 1st trip while serving as Secretary of National Defense. With him was AFP Chief of Staff, General Ricardo David and WESCOM CO, Lieutenant General Juancho Sabban Upon landing at WESCOM headquarters on Palawan he said that he will priortise an upgrade and rehab of facilities in Pagasa so as to consolidate GRP claims on the group of islands. Back at WESCOM Gazmin mentioned that his Department is currently working on a multi-year budget to the tune of 5 Billion Pesos for modernisation of the entire AFP. He also revealed that talks are ongoing with DOE (Department of Energy) as to whether his Department will receive royalties from the MGPP (Malampaya Gas Pipeline Project) on Palawan. Secretary Gazmin hopes to use such royalties to help fund the AFP's push for modernisation.
The word"Mine"in and of itself really isn't the problem.The crux of the issue is"Detonation," or to be more specific,"Command Detonation."The central thesis of the AFP is that "NPA mines" are an overt contravention of the Ottawa Treaty, ergo a violation of LOAC/IHL (Laws of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law). The central problem is that the Ottawa Treaty is only binding upon those entities that have signed and than ratified the document, all of whom are sovereign nations. The NPA of course is a Non-State Actor. More to the point, the treaty addresses Anti-Personnel Mines, not Anti-Armour Mines,etc.,etc. Finally, the NPA uses Command Controlled Detonation. Its IEDs. Are wired so that a guerilla must actually flip the circuit before the device detonates. Using a detonating cable they are on site, watching and waiting and they therefore control the detonation so that it only assaults security personnel. The NPA utilises its IEDs as the initial primer of a classic 2-Step Ambush. 1 guerilla detonates the IED just as an AFP or PNP vehicle or element passes by and then barrels into a salvo with long arms, strafing survivors. The NPA doesn't bury an IED in the dirt to be tripped by pressure, etc.
Though my preceding paragraph was quite caustic I am by no means an NPA supporter (perish the thought). Indeed they are just as full of shi*. It is simply that the Filipino People do not need more fairytales. The people need truth, which is the main reason why I began this endeavour. However, when the AFP actually releases statisticss showing anti-personnel mines having been captured from the NPA, well that needs to be exposed as the boldfaced lie it is. The NPA has no external conduit for weapons. Ergo. It obtains virtually all its arms from its tactical (and rarely its defencive) operations against the AFP. IF the NPA has mines it would have had to have gotten them from the AFP, PNP or the Philippine Government..
The 4ID is headquartered at Camp Evangelista in Barangay Patag, CDO (Cagayan del Oro City) in Misamis Oriental Province. It is 1 of 4 IDs on Mindanao, the others being the 1st, 6th and the 10th. 4th AOR (Area of Responsibility) covers its home province, Agusan del Norte. Agusan del Sur (most), Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte (including Siargo Island which is no longer a province after a recent Supreme Court Ruling), and part of Bukidnon Province. In terms of overall area it covers the largest patch but within this AOR 2 provinces are entirely pacified (Surigao del Norte and Misamis Oriental), at least in official terms. Though the base (Evangelista) abuts the border of the MILF 102 Base Command's AOR, the Division only deals with the NPA (since the other Communist Insurgency,the RPM-M signed its Final Peace Agreement more than 3 years ago). As for the NPA, there are 2 Regional Commands within that AOR, NCMRC (North Central Mindanao Regional Command which is on shaky legs at the moment, barely fielding 2 Fronts (a "Front" is a military detachment, for the sake of all precious brevity I will leave it at that) and NEMRC (Northeast Mindanao Regional Command). NEM holds the largest number of Fronts (NPA detachments) on the island.
In my previous AFP entry I had very briefly mentioned the retirement of Lieutenant General Ben Dolorfino. Benjamin Mohammad Dolorfino is proof positive that despite the AFP being decrepid to the point of being years past euthanasia, it can still produce true military icons (or perhaps the more likely scenario is that DESPITE the AFP these men rise to the top).
On November 10, 2010 Lieutenant Dolorfino retired having reached the AFP's mandatory age of retirement on his 56th birthday. At retirement he concurrently held Command of the Marine Corps as well as being in Command at WESMINCOM, 1 of 2 Mindanao Regional Commands. He had only been at WESMINCOM for a bit more than a year but had still managed to piss the right people off (in Command, if you aren't making enemies you aren't doing your job correctly). His most controversial move came during Eid al Fit'r when Dolorfino, a convert to Islam, ordered a heavy aerial bombing over Jolo Island in Sulu Province. While the OV-10s did strike known ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) position the MNLF's Kummander Ustadz Habir Malik insists that the bombs were meant for him. Malik after all had taken Dolorfino hostage back in 2007.
Though Asked his plans upon retirement Dolorfino swore that it would not involve actual participation in the political system since he doesn't want his hands "tied by politicians." He is sure that his future lies with an NGO committed to bringing peace to Mindanao though as yet he doesn't have a particular one in mind. Asked what stands out most from his long service with the AFP and he recalls the name of a mate from his Class at PMA (Philippine Military Academy), Class of 76. The classmate, 1st Class Cadet, Jan Efre Muyargas was killed soon after their graduation during their 1st Tour together on Basilan. Dolorfino dedicated his recent book, "Peacemakers, Peacekeepers and Peacebuilders" to Muyargas. Lieutenant Arthur Tabaquero has since been named Dolorfino's successor at WESMINCOM, the OIC (Officer in Charge, aka "Acting Commander") was Major General Romeo Lustestica, CO of 1ID, a choice of utility more than anything else since 1st Division is HQd in that same municipality, Zamboanga City.
That same day, November 10, 2010 it was revealed that President Aquino's recent trip to Vietnam has paid off with a Defence Pact that involves both Expert and Educational Exchanges. Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin accompanied the President on the 2 day State Visit that took place on October 25 and 26. Gazmin concluded the afore mentioned MoA (Memorandum of Agreement) with his counterpart, Minister of Defence , General Phung Quang. The 2 men also discussed contentions over the Spratly Islands, a group of mostly uninhabited atolls and reefs that are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, China and Vietnam.
The day before the Agreement was announced, November 09, Gazmin was forced to abort a landing in 1 of the AFP's 3 functioning C130s on one of the Spratlys, Pagasa Isle due to a badly deteriorating airstrip. It was to be Gazmin's 1st trip while serving as Secretary of National Defense. With him was AFP Chief of Staff, General Ricardo David and WESCOM CO, Lieutenant General Juancho Sabban Upon landing at WESCOM headquarters on Palawan he said that he will priortise an upgrade and rehab of facilities in Pagasa so as to consolidate GRP claims on the group of islands. Back at WESCOM Gazmin mentioned that his Department is currently working on a multi-year budget to the tune of 5 Billion Pesos for modernisation of the entire AFP. He also revealed that talks are ongoing with DOE (Department of Energy) as to whether his Department will receive royalties from the MGPP (Malampaya Gas Pipeline Project) on Palawan. Secretary Gazmin hopes to use such royalties to help fund the AFP's push for modernisation.
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