NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VII: He Say, She Say, NPA Guerilla or Simply a Martyr for the Masses?

The municipality of Arakan, in North Cotabato Province's Arakan Valley sits at the junction of three provinces:

1) Bukidnon

2) Davao del Sur

3) North Cotabato

Anf therefore it is a textbook NPA territory in that the New People's Army concentrates on such convergent borders as Operational Centres of Gravity. More simply put, such borderlands are the preferred operational area for the NPA. A rather isolated area despite it also being on the border of Davao City, a good amount of the population are Lumad, or Animist Hilltribesmen, Manobo and B'laan.

As I noted recently, the parish priest in Arakan, up until October 17th, 2011, anyway, was Father Fausto "Tatay Pops" Tentorio. An Italian priest of the PIME Order, he concentrated on working with Lumad and of course, culturally raped them as he tried to seduce them into converting to the "one true faith." Dangling minor infrastructural trinkets like bamboo framed and palm leaf thatched one room schoolrooms and potable water projects, tantalising enticements when the Government has been all but non-existent in most of the town's barangays. Like most PIME missionary priests capturing souls on Mindanao he co-operated with the multi-sectoral front groups of the Filipino Left. This in turn earned Tentorio a prominent placement on the Military's Order of Battle, or, "OB." OBs are used to collate targets in a given sector and priming them for neutralisation, ranks them according to importance. Father Tentorio ranked very high.

Be that as it may, as I noted in that aforementioned entry dedicated to Father Tentorio's murder, he most definitely was NOT killed by the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, the nation's military. As Tentorio himself admitted, local Right Wing Lumad paramilitaries had tried to murder him at least one time already and had never stopped harrasing him owing to his partisan involvement in the illegal logging issue. Like the Catholic Church as a whole in the Philippines- much to their credit- are very pro-environment. If anyone wanted him dead it was someone who profits had taken a hit due to Father Tentorio's anti-logging polemics.

Filipino priests are killed fairly often and virtually nobody knows their names. There are no international news crews, no representative from the Vatican delivering a hand written note of condolence from the Pope. White skin is worth its weight in gold here on Mindanao, with Filipinos tripping over themselves when a foreigner catches a bad break. This unfortunate reality became oh so apparent on October 20th, 2011, less than 35 hours after Father Tentorio's murder.

That morning 35 year old Noli Badol, the unofficial chief of Sitio Upper Lumbo, in Arakan's Barangay Kabalantian, stepped out of his home badly in need of a cup of coffee. Walking a short distance to the home of his friend Ramon Batoy, also aged 35. The two men, like just about every man in that sitio laboured hard as sharecroppers. Living and working on land owned by Mayor Van Doloroso Cadungon of the adjacent municipality of Antipas, half of everything they harvested went to their landlord.

As Ramon's wife Gemma, six months pregnant, brewed some coffee, she also began tending to the needs of her four young children. As she walked to and fro she chanced a glance out the open doorway and was shocked to see a very large detachment of AFP entering the village on foot and in full combat array. Nervously she tried to convince Noli, as the sitio "chief," to go outside and talk to the soldiers and find out what exactly was going on. Not having much of an argument not to, Noli left the house and approached the detachment's commanding officer, Second Lieutenant (2Lt.) Edemer Malucon, and introduced himself. Although Ramon and Gemma couldn't hear what was being said they clearly understood the jist of it as voices rose and body language turned aggressive. Without warning Lieutenant Malucon raised his M16 in the air and brought its stock crashing down upon Noli Badol's head.

Noli collapsed upon the ground as three soldiers moved in and began kicking him in the face and body. Within a minute 2LT.Malucon ordered them to hogtie the nearly unconscious Noli who was then left face down, tied and in the mud. Visibly angry Malucon and the three soldiers who had attacked Noli then approached the nearest house, that of Ramon and Gemma Batoy. Malucon informed the couple that he and his men would be searching the small home. Ramon asked the officer if he had a search warrant with him to which 2Lt.Malucon replied that in the case of suspected NPA guerillas a warrant wasn't necessary, and then took the palm of his hand and pressed Ramon's forehead roughly as if to move him out of the way. Propelled backwards, almost losing his balance and falling onto the floor, Ramon then ordered the four men out of his home. Told to go fuc* himself Ramon instead picked up his "bolo" (machete) and left a 2cm deep gash along the whole side of Malucon's neck. Had Ramon been able to fully connect he would have decapitated 2Lt.Malucon.

As the blood poured out of the officer's neck one of the three soldiers with him shot Ramon to death. Soldiers outside, hearing gunfire, did what most AFP soldiers do in such situations, they immediately opened fire on everything around them, badly strafing seven homes, all full of people. As a medic tended to Malucon's neck the three soldiers inside the Batoy home dragged Ramon's lifeless body out of the house and threw it in the mud, face down, next to Noli.

Noli's eight months pregnant wife quickly learned that her husband was being detained and knowing all that that entails she got hysterical and tried to rush past the AFP cordon around Noli and Ramon's body, causing the nervous soldiers to once again let loose. Ramon's wife Gemma had managed to get three of her kids out of the house before that last strafing but turned hysterical herself when she realised that her eldest, an 8 year old son, was still inside their plywood shack. She was soon joined by Ramon's mother, 76 year old Elena Filomeno Batoy and Ramon's brothers Celso, 47 years old, and 44 year old Roger, who had been wounded in his left foot during that last strafing. The three began yelling at the soldiers which promptly earned both brothers a beat down that ended up with them being hogtied and joining Noli and Ramon's lifeleSs body.

At 11AM, as Ramon's body was already well into decomposition under the tropical sun, the soldiers commandeered a villagers "caraboa" (water buffalo) and cart and loaded their three hogtied prisoners and Ramon's now putrid body into the back to transport into the more populated section of Barangay Kabalantian where their military transports awaited them. First however, they propped up Ramon's body to a sitting position, despite his intestines hanging out, and strapped an M1F to his body before taking photos. They then began the long trip back towards "civilisation."

The soldiers taking part in that sordid affair were a composite deatchment from the 57IB (Infantry Battalion), 38IB, and the 5th Company of the 3SFBn (3rd Special Forces Battalion, aka "Airborne"), the last being 2Lt.Malucon's battalion. Ramon's body was deposited at the municipal compound where it was laid upon a tarp on the town basketball court. The three prisoners:

1) Noli Badol

2) Celso Batoy

3) Roger Batoy

were all taken to 57IB Headquarters for interrogation where all three claim to have been tortured. Roger, with a bullet in his foot, was released late that first night. The next morning Noli was driven to a local radio station where he was made to confess live on the air and implicate Ramon who he stated was an NPA irregular, a member of the NPA's Milisya ng Bayan (Protective Militia) under the NPA's Front 51. As the AFP now sold it, it had received a tip from "concerned villagers" (despite the sitio not have either cellular NOR landline phone service). The tipsters had warned that Front 51, the Matanggol Roque Command of the SMRC, or, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, had set "at least two landmines" in the sitio as it prepared to hold an "Educational Session" there. Of course Front 51 operates nowhere near Arakan, based on the Davao City side of Mount Apo. The municipality of Arakan is under the jurisdiction of the NPA's Front 53, the Herminio Alfonso Command of the SMRC. The part about "landmines" is typical AFP propaganda (both sides use semi-retarded propaganda). Command controlled IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, as in "Bombs") are neither landmines nor are they prohibited under any extant international treaty.

The AFP says that when that composite detachment responded to villagers' concerns it encountered a large number of NPA guerillas and in the subsequent 30 minute firefight Ramon Batoy was killed and 2LT.Malucon was critically wounded. The AFP also claims to have captured one M16, one M14, and one Garand M1 from the two prisoners and Ramon, though they didn't explain how the only wound received by the AFP had been a sliced neck.

In truth Ramon certainly must have been an NPA irregular given his position as the organiser of a multi-sectoral front group, "Bantay Katubigan" (the phrase applies to a water nymph but idiomatically it means "Protection of the Waterways") and a high ranking member in one of Father Tentorio's pet projects (not suprising at all), "Bantay Kalikasan Mount Sinaka" (Protection the Environment of Mount Sinaka). Meanwhile, that first evening, October 20th, fourty-three families became "bakwits" (IDPs, as in Internally Displaced Persons, as in Refugees), taking shelter at Binoongan Elementary School in Arakan's Barangay Binoongan. The next morning, October 21st, another ninety-three families joined them for a total of 136 families. Of course the number taking shelter with family, friends, or going deeper into the bush is easily two times that number. With the majority of residents demanding that the AFP pull out of Arakan having reached critical mass after Father Tentorio's murder it should come as no suprise that the sentiment reached fever pitch after Ramon Batoy's death.

The Killing of Father Fausto Tentorio in North Cotabato Province, Business as Usual

Just yesterday I posted about the villagers in Valencia City's Barangay Guinoyuran marking the 20th Anniversary of Father Nerilito "Neri" Satur's brutal murder. Father Neri, the Assistant Parish Priest for Guinoyuran who had been concurrently serving his adopted community as a "Forest Guard," Filipino-speak for "forest ranger," died on October 14th, 1991. Neri had been appointed as one of five Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Bukidnon, by its then-Bishop Gaudencio Rosales, to serve as Forest Guards. Bishop Rosales had done so in order to enforce Bukidnon Province's moratorium on logging, implemented by the DENR (Department of Energy and Natural Resources) in late-1986.

Opposing Father Neri's environmental partisanship were a group of Higaon-on Tribal CAAs, or Civilian Armed Auxiliaries, more commonly called "CAFGUS" in reference to the most common of the CAA entities, the Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit, though at the time it signified Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit. This detachment, the Guinoyuran Post, had gravitated towards organised criminal activity. Even today, 20 years later, that part of the island is still very remote and so the CAAs made money in the tablon-tablon, or illegal logging trade that fed three full time saw mills in just Valencia alone (which hadn't been made a city at that point in time.

By October of 1991 Father Neri had confiscated nearly 7,000 board feet of prime timber, an astounding amount and all the more so when one realises that the then-30 year old priest had but 11 months guarding the jungle around his adopted village. On the day in question, October 14th, 1991, Neri left the rectory where he lived in Valencia proper and picked up his friend and assistant, 20 year old Jacqueline for the long ride over the 18 kilometer dirt track leading uphill to Barangay Guinoyuran. The barangay was holding its patron saint fiesta at which Father Neri was scheduled to perfom a Mass. Finishing by the early afternoon Jacquelin and Neri gathered their few belongings and began their long ride down hill into the centre of Valencia. The sordid tale is told in its entierty in the post entitled, "Remembering Father Nerilito "Neri" Dazo Satur."

Ironically, while lamenting a time and place which relegates people who devote their lives towards helping others (or so the story goes) as mere game or a hunted quarry, I learned that yet another Catholic priest had lost his life to Mindanao's almost senseless violence just that very morning. Father Fausto Tentorio, known to his parishoners as "Tatay Pops" (Father Pops), an Italian priest who has lived and worked on Mindanao for well over three decades was shot to death as he was about to leave his parish on the Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, and North Cotabato Provincial borders for the long hard ride to North Cotabato's capital, Kidapawan City for the Diocesan Monthly Presbyterium at the Bishop's Residence.

A member of PIME, or the Pontificium Institutum Missionum Exterarum (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions from the original Latin), a Vatican-based Order devoted to missionary work, he arrived at PIME's Regional Headquarters in Mindanao's Zamboanga City fresh from Rome in 1978, just a year after his ordination. First assigned to Zamboanga City's Barangay Ayala in that same province of Zamboanga del Norte as an Assistant Parish Priest Father Fausto immersed himself in the local culture. Two years later, in 1980, as the Archdiocese of Zamboanga began preperations to launch the Prelature of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, where most PIME priests were then serving in the municipality of Aurora, the Archbishop of Zamboanga felt that PIME had fufilled much of its mandate in developing new and/or struggling parishes and converting whatever Lumad (Animist Hilltribesmen) hadn't already been strong armed and shoved into the faith of "love and compassion." Needing new Lumads to ruin, Zamboanga's Bishop took the bulk of PIME's recruits, pointed them towards Kidapawan (not yet a city) in North Cotabato Province and screamed, "Go! ...Besides, the Bishop of the then-Prelature of Kidapawan was to become the Bishop in Ipil. As a Jesuit he naturally wanted to associate with Jesuits and so the Archbishop of Zamboanga obliged him by shuffling the deck. PIME, as foreigners with a negligible presence were organisationally expendable. PIME (most) moved to Kidapawan while Jesuits in Kidapawan moved to Zamboanga Sibugay Province (if Catholics cannot even get along amongst themselves how can they try to preach to the rest of us? Just a thought).

Father Fausto, with most other PIME missionary priests transferred to the Archdiocese of Cotabato and its Prelature of Kidapawan with its headquarters in the town of the same name. The Archbishop assigned Fausto to the municipality of Columbio in the neighbouring province of Sultan Kudarat where he was soon made its Mission Director. In 1985 Father Fausto was again transferred, this time to the municipality of Arakan in the province of North Cotabato, where he stayed until his death. Arakan sits in a deep valley in the foothills rising out of Maguindanao Province and leading into the bordering the aforementioned provinces of Bukidnon and Davao del Sur.

It was that same year, 1985, that another PIME missionary priest assigned to North Cotabato Province became a bizarre footnote in Philippine History. Father Tullio Favali was an Assistant Parish Priest in the municipality of Tulunan where he served beside yet another PIME missionary, the infamous Father Peter "Pads" Geremia. For the sake of brevity I will try to keep this short and sweet by only offering the scantest of outlines, though I am also composing a companion entry on the murders and kidnappings of other PIME missionary priests that have taken place on Mindanao; when people discuss Father Tullio they always talk about his having been killed by Ilaga paramilitary leader Norberto Manero Jr. The story goes that Manero killed Father Tullio and then, in line with his cultic religious beliefs he and his group ate Father Tullio's brain. The story has become iconic of the anarchy always associated with our fair isle, Mindanao. The problem though is that none of it is true. Norberto Manero Jr. did NOT kill Father Tullio. Norberto Manero Jr. did NOT cannabalise Father Tullio, let alone eat his brain. Again, that will be discussed in the companion entry I will post just after this one goes up. Likewise, the KFR, or Kidnapping for Ransom of PIME Fathers Giancarlo Bossi and Giuseppe Bendetti and the murder of Father Salvador Carzedda will also be discussed at length in that same entry.

Father Fausto himself had been no stranger to the wanton violence and two faced gross assaults that characterise life on Mindanao. On October 6th, 2003 Fausto and four lay assistants drove by motorcycle to the municipality of Kitaotao in Bukidnon Province to speak to a Barangay Captain about Fausto's then-nascent organisation, TIKULPA (Tinananon Kulamanon Lumadong Panaghiusa). Once in the town's Barangay Poblacion they switched to ponies for the ride up country to the town's Barangay Sagundanon. Arriving at the midway point in Barangay Kabalantian at 3PM he was told by villagers that Alamara paramilitary soldiers were waiting at their intended destination of Barangay Sagundanon to ambush and kill Fausto, the Barangay Captain being the father of two Alamara leaders and an uncle to the highest ranking Alamara in that municipality, Kumander Bansilan.

Alamara is one of several tribal-based force multipliers co-opted under the CAFGU programme though run under an entirely different protocol according to a sub-directory (OPlan Alsa Lumad) of the formerano COIN (Counterinsurgency) blueprint Bantay Laya II. Taking tribes existing in the hinterlands and using elements within them as a counterweight to the Maoists (NPA) sounds real good on paper and indeed, if properly managed it could be just that, the reality is quite different. Taking cultures that thrive on violence and giving them the means to create even more sophisticated violence must be micro-managed. In any event, I digress too much as usual, back to the show...


Villagers in Barangay Kabalantian saved Father Tentorio's life by warning him of what awaited him and his four layworkers. Too far up country to make it back to the town proper safely before nightfall the nervous missionary priest availed himself to the villagers' hospitality. Shacking up with the layworkers and more than a dozen villagers nervously excited to have a rare visitor amongst them, all the more so that it was a priest, a person of respect, they all catiously laid awake praying to survive the long night ahead. At nightfall the Bagani solders walked out of the jungle having skirted the rutted trail as they moved downhill from Father Tentorio's original destination in the hopes that they would be able to waylay the priest and his companions.

As the paramilitary soldiers began searching the villager's homes a quick thinking man suggested that the Bagani join him and other villagers who were heading to another barangay for a party. At first reluctant the soldiers stomachs did the final convincing when that same villager promised that "lechon baboy" (roast pig) was on the menu. In the end a yearning for pork saved Father Fausto and as soon as the Bagani had left guided by that same quick thinking villager, the group rushed headlong down the trail on their ponies and back into the town proper.

PIME, Father Fausto's Order is a product of the Church liberalisation that grew out of Vatican II where the Roman Catholic Church sought to engage non-Catholics with inter-faith encounters and a greater respect for other ways of life. Priests such as Father Fausto sought to "protect" indigenous cultures although, since they are also evangelising (as in "converting") they too are engaging in a large amount of hypocrisy. Moreover, wherever PIME goes division and anomosity follows. Though, like the majority of Catholic institutions in the Philippines PIME supports environmental causes, it often does so without respecting traditional practices like the typical slash and burn farming upon which most Lumad Tribes subsist. While PIME supports indigenous languages it does so by using these languages to try and change fundamental aspects of tribal culture.

There is a tendency amongst many Westerners to see indigenous groups as somehow more authentic, more in touch with their own environments, and somehow more wiser and noble than other more adaptative cultures and outlooks. Truth be told, every Lumad Tribe practiced slavery well into the 1960s and most practiced human sacrifice well into the 20th Century. Most continue to engage in child marriage, most disdain modern educational systems, and most continue to live in unhygienic environments where less than 10% have sufficient nutrition. So what do foreign priests like those of the PIME Order hope to accomplish? They don't concentrate on THOSE aspects...Of course they are no different than the Bible-thumping Protestant missionaries who rail against indigenous values. In the end both hope to bring the "poor" and "backwards" Lumad to Christ. In doing so the Lumad will lose the richest part of their culture, the spiritual aspect. In other words, PIME priests can learn five languages, dress the part (Father Germia is famous for wearing a B'laan turban) and even smile as shaman bless tribal festivities but in the end they are EXACTLY like their chauvenistic Protestant counterparts.

People wonder how someone could think to kill a priest. If one is aware of the dynamics involved the thought then becomes, "Who would anyone NOT want to kill a priest?" Before Father Fausto arrived in Arakan in 1985 the Manobo Lumad living there were fully united. There was no division. Yes, they suffered from periodic encroachment, from both Maguindanowans (Muslims) and Illongos (Christian lowlanders), but united they were able to retain their core values, those things that mattered most to them. Today? Even those organisations founded by Father Fausto himself have fractured into hate-filled factions. The change brought by PIME has irrevocably harmed the Manobo of Arakan AND IF we are to truly discuss the life of Father Fausto we must honestly consider that irrefutable truth.

By 1985, the year Father Fausto arrived in Arakan the Kidapawan Diocese had already had 70 members murdered for Church-related activities. Like most Dioceses in Mindanao Kidapawan was riddled with adherants of Liberation Theology, a creed that grew out of the social unrest of early-1960s Latin America and fixated upon Marxism as the proper orientation for social change. This is what led to the aforementioned murder of Father Tullio Favali in that same year. Ironically it was Father Peter "Pads" Geremia who had been the actual target. Safe to say that many within the Diocese had already made the short hop out of Liberation Theology and into bonafide armed "resistance." Many PIME missionary priests made it onto AFP Orders of Battle, lists of targets for neutralisation although one should not assume that this necessarily relegates neutralisation to violence. Revocation of one's Immigration status, as just one example, works just as well.

At the same time the hunger for land meant that such priests had become the walking targets for businessmen and politicians in both the Muslim and the Christian communities. How much more so when mining and timber concessions enter the mix? The list of those who would like to see such priests disappear, by any means possible, is long indeed.

On the day in question, Monday, October 17th, 2011, at 730AM Father Fausto Trentorio walked from the "convento," the rectory in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish compound to the building's carport and opened the door to his burgandy Suzuki Jimmy. As he opened the door he turned to face a man wearing a full motorcycle helmet who quickly raised his right arm and in quick succession fired ten rounds from his 9MM pistol. The first three rounds, conventional ball peen bullets all struck Father Fausto in his abdomen, causing him to collapse onto the SUV's front seat. The final seven, all hollow point, struck his neck and head killing him immediately. Running the 50 meters from the carport to the road the gunman hopped onto the back of an idling motorcycle which quickly drove out of Arakan's Barangay Poblacion and into nearby Davao City. Assistants rushed Father Fausto to the neighbouring municipality of Antipas and its small public hospital but of course he was declared DOA, probably having died just after falling from the first rounds.

There are at least two eyewitnesses now being "guarded," and I use that word very loosely, by the PNP, or Philippine National Police. Directly across the street from the church compound is an elementary school whose staff and students had been in the middle of a school function outside when the murder took place. Moreover, soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (Airborne), the element now with Operational Control over Arakan, were on hand and yet nobody raised an eyebrow as ten rounds were fired. The shots were heard, as both students and staff had remarked about them but nevertheless, nothing. This of course has ignited a firestorm of rumor and innuendo in which the AFP, or the Armed Forces of the Philippines gets to wear the Guilty Hat as it so often does.

It is no secret that Father Fausto was a Leftist, and that his name WAS on past Orders of Battle for the 57IB (Infantry Battalion), the element with previous Operational Control over the municipality. However, that is a far cry from culpability. The 3rd SF (Special Forces) isn't going to dirty itself in such a localised objective. They aren't there for the long haul and couldn't actually care less about Father Fausto. SOCOM, or Special Operations Command operates in tactical mode. Killing someone who doesn't pull the trigger is not a tactical operation. Strategic Operations are an entirely different ball game. The 57IB? They definitely have strategic concerns but with that sector removed from their playing field the killing of a priest has a pis* poor cost benefit ratio. Of course that doesn't mean the 57IB still doesn't harbour some ill feelings but I don't think it is plausible. Not suprisingly Father Fausto's buddies in the NPA don't agree with me with the NEMRC, or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee going so far as to accuse the 57IB outright. Of course Arkan lies within the SMRC (Southern Mindanao Regional Committee), NOT the NEMRC and the NEMRC seems to be unaware that Arakan is now outside the 57IB's Area of Responsibility. Propaganda, no matter the source, is usually geared towards such semi-retarded backfill.

In the interest of presenting all the facts however, I need to add the following: Just two days before the killing a PNP checkpoint in the municipality stopped a motorcycle whose driver had a rice sack with nine M16s in it. Taking him to the MPO, or Municipal Police Office as police stations are called, handed him and his "sack" to the town's Police Director received an SMS (text) from the CO, or Commanding Officer of the 3rd SF garrison informing him that the rifles were his. Why the AFP would transport a squad worth of rifles by a civilian carrying a rice sack is, I admit, questionable but one must remember that this IS Mindanao were both the AFP and the PNP regularly sell their weaponry, as well as rent it out.

Then, the evening before Father Fausto's killing two AFP trucks were slowly moving through Barangay Poblacion. When concerned residents questioned the PNP they were informed that it was simply SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for impending PDOs, or Peace and Development Operations.

Under the current ISP (Internal Security Plan), Oplan Bayanihan (Operational Plan Helping Each Other) the AFP has reversed the previous paradigm of 80:20 Tactical:CMO (Combat:Hearts and Minds type community service operations) to the inverse 80:20 (CMO:Tactical, with Tactical now predominantly being intelligence driven as opposed to the former manner which was almost entirely reactive). In other words, where as the AFP concentrated on winning insurgencies by force it now aims to do so by eliminating insurgency's root causes, things like poverty, poor hygeine, lack of infrastructure, etc. In doing this the Army is concentrating its deployments on PDTs, or Peace and Development Teams. The only problem with the answer offered to residents by the PNP is that PDTs do not work at night.

Still, I do not see this as an AFP-connected action. More likely than not it is simply a member of one of those opposing factions I mentioned. When Father Fausto arrived in Arakan in 1985 there was an organisation known as "LUMAD-Mindanao," then standing on its last legs. Like most such groups it was organised by multi-sectoral front organisations as a way in which to both recruit new members for the NPA as well as to serve as an above board arm of the movement and a way in which to funnel materiel support to the Left. Then Father Fausto helped found a successor organisation, "PANAGTAGBO," (Encounter), and finally its current incarnation, "MALUPA," (Manobo Lumadnong Panghiusa), the sister-organisation to the previously mentioned "TIKULPA" in Bukidnon Province. MALUPA, in 2004, began fracturing into its current two main factions, Father Fausto led one faction.

As for Father Fausto's environmental concerns, Arakan is not blessed with great mineral wealth nor is there much room for heavy logging with its virgin timber and most second growth being long gone, though he did lead re-forestation efforts but THAT isn't something that would generate high levels of anomosity. I am always saddened to see ignorance spread as when self described "Anti-Mining Advocates" start blaming incidents such as this murder on the victim's "opposition to mining." Not only does Arakan not have a single commercial mine, it doesn't even have small-scale, so called Artisinal Mining! In fact, in the entire province of North Cotabato there are merely two pending EXPLORATION applications, neither which come anywhere near the Arkan Valley, not to mention the town of Arkan!

With Father Fausto Tentorio now laid out in a blue coffin for his wake inside the parish church, Father Peter "Pads" Geremia who now serves as Diocesan Co-ordinator of Tribal Activities in addition to his recently re-shouldering parish responsibilities in Columbio, in Sultan Kudarat Province, convinced Father Fausto's parishoners that a more suitable coffin could be fashioned from one of the mahogany trees Father Fausto had planted within the compound. As the coffin is being fashioned the PNP has somehow convinced PIME, Father Fausto and Geremia's Order, to allow the PNP's PRO-12, or Police Regional Office for Region 12, to perform one of two autopsies planned for the priest's remains. His death has become not only a national matter but an international cause celebre as well. The Vatican says that each year 30 to 35 missionary priests are murdered or killed in war the world over. PIME has 80 fallen priests all on its own so that Father Fausto's death is neither a suprise nor even unusual and yet it seems to shock even Filipinos when a foreigner is killed.

NPA Armed Contacts,Second Quarter of 2011,Part IV:More Killing in ComVal

ComVal,or Compostela Valley Province,was created out of the northern portion of Davao del Norte Province.While still included in the Davao Region it directly abuts Agusan del Sur Province which is a part of Caraga Region (Region 13).Dominated by the Diwata Mountain Range the area is home to some of the world's richest gold fields.As I noted in my preceding NPA entry,"NPA Armed Contacts,Second Quarter of 2011,Part III,"the presence of gold has created a lot of difficult problems both in governance as well for the people living there.To a lesser extent illegal logging also presents a vexing problem,one that increases a great deal as you move north into Caraga.

Caraga,encompassing both of the Agusan and Surigao Provinces (del Sur and del Norte for each) as well as the newly certified island province of Dinagat,is the most heavily forested Region in the nation.Just as an over-abundance of natural resources creates a lot of misery in ComVal,likewise those forested mountains and valleys in Caraga bring with it a huge amount of misery.As I have noted in my last couple of Development Aggression entries,on February 2nd,2011 President Aquino issued Executive Order #23 (EO#23),which put the brakes on all logging of First and Second Growth Forests across the entire nation.Of course this admirable Executive Decision does absolutely nothing to put a dent in the astronomically huge business of illegal logging.

Towards that end Regional DENR (Department of the Environment and Natural Resources) Offices have begun undertaking aggressive action to try and lessen the damaging impact of what really does amount to a scourge on the nation.DENR-13,or as it is known locally,DENR-Caraga,enlisted the help of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) with the knowledge that a fair number of illegal logging outfits in Caraga are tied into well armed paramilitaries.Though these private armed groups are obstensibly pro-Government they are much more so pro-profit.If it is a choice between the flag and their bank book the former hasn't a chance,ergo the big guns of the AFP.

On June 7th,2011 DENR-Caraga rendevouzed with elements of the AFP's 26IB (Infantry Battalion) and the 3SFBn (3rd Special Forces Battalion,known as"Airborne"despite the lack of parachute accumen), 9 COY (9th Company) at CAA 2nd Platoon Garrison in the municipality of Laak's Barangay Melale,in ComVal. (CAA being Civilian Active Auxiliary,collectively a group of entities that serve as geographically localised Reserve Forces,in this case the element being CAFGU,the Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit.CAA is the cornerstone of the AFP Counterinsurgency Programme).After a Briefing the troops rolled out,heading into Caraga,just over the border in the municipality of Loreto,in Agusan del Sur Province.The Airborne contingent boarded an M35 truck and left a bit after their compatriots from the 26IB.

As the truck crossed into Barangay Belmonte it entered the jungle.As the sun began to appear on the horizon a fussilade rang out from the trees around them hitting 5 soldiers almost immediately.Within minutes the shooting stopped and the NPA's Front 34,Davao-Agusan Command,withdrew further into the jungle.Aside from 3 soldiers critically wounded,2 had been killed:

1) PFC.(Private First Class) Werlito de Claro,22,of Esperanza in Sultan Kudarat Province,shot in the chest

2) PFC.Jefferson Galang,from Baguio City on Luzon,shot in the head.

Though off to a tragic start the DENR Operation lasted until June 10th and was violent in and of itself but I will relegate that to another Development Aggression entry.

In my last NPA Armed Contacts AND Development Aggression entries I focused on the municipality of Pantukan,also in ComVal.It has been a rough couple of months for that small town.On Good Friday,April 23rd they were hit with a devastating landslide that killed scores of small scale miners.There have also been several Extra-Judicial Killings related to mining that I haven't even begun to discuss and then of course,the NPA which like a leech attaches itself to any money making venture within its AOR (Area of Resoinsibility,in this case synonymous with Area of Operation).As should be expected then the town is racking up more Contacts than any other municipality on the island.On June 19th,in Pantukan's Barangay Napnapan,in Sitio Paisusuan,a column from the 71IB under 1Lt.(First Lieutenant) Abelardo Silva was on patrol when they walked into an NPA ambush by roughly 70 guerillas from Front 2,the Crucifino Uballas Command.Silva and 7 of his men were hit,with 1 soldier,Guyre P.Puyao of Benguet Province on Luzon dying.

That same day,June 19th,in ComVal's capitol of Nabunturan,PDT (Peace and Development) Teams 4 and 6 from the 25IB were working in Barangay Bayabas' Sitio Handuromug when they were ambushed.After a 45 minute firefight the NPA brokeoff and withdrew.Miraculously no casualties came out of it.PDTs are a new innovation,first implemented by the AFP in September of 2010.After what the AFP considers to be a smashing success in Savao Region they have entered operations in 3 of Mindanao's ensconced IDs (Infantry Divisions).They are simply stock CMOs,or Civil-Military Operations.In teams of 9 soldiers each they enter targetted villages,or barangays,and after an initial intelligence gathering euphamistically dressed up as a"Census to assess the needs of under-served villagers"the team(s) fan out and paint a school,etc.There is nothing wrong with having soldiers serve communities,all able militaries engage in CMOs,but the AFP hasn't changed its mindset.The same deep-seated problems that have allowed insurgency to fester on Mindanao for a full half a century persist and worsen regardless if the one roomed school house has a dazzling new coat of army-olive acrylic paint.

Also on June 19th,in the neighbouring town of Mabini,also in Comval,a sawmill owned by local attorney Henry Sembrano was burned to the ground by the NPA in Barangay Cuambog.Mr.Sembrano refused to pay his Revolutionary Taxes...I mean his extortion...I mean Revolutionary Taxes.

Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts, Second Quarter of 2011, Part I: Bombs Away

ASG,or the Abu Sayyaf Group,is a very small but volatile problem for the Philippine Government. Numbering less than 500 guerillas who are extremely factionalised and operating on only 2 of Mindanao's small island provinces (Basilan and Sulu) the organisation is approaching the 20 year mark with no end in sight. The different factions co-operate with one another but because of their relative isolation from each other are unable to forge a concerted ideological and operative front. In fact, the group has been almost entirely devoid of any ideology since 1999. Its activities centre upon KFR (Kidnap for Ransom) and Commercial Extortion. "Jihad" is used as a convenient rationale but that is where its Islamo-fascist leanings end.

One of the group's hallmarks is the use of ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil) primed IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices,as in"bombs"). Elsewhere in Mindanao ANFO is rarely utilised. Instead, bomb builders rely upon UXO (Unexploded Ordinance), especially mortar shells (the actualy substance is Compound B). Indeed, even within ASG AOR (Area of Responsibility, in this case "Area of Operation") one sees other groups using UXO. The typical ASG IED uses ANFO as the primer, TNT as the charge and 2 Nokia 3310 or 3315 cell phones as the powerpack and timer. Lately a second signature has been encountered on Basilan, which I will touch upon a bit later on in this entry.

April 9th, 2011 was much like any other Saturday Night at Spasky Lodging House. The 3 floored concrete building on the island province of Basilan's Barangay Maligaya in Lamitan City was rarely busy. Basilan has never been a tourist destination. With the majority of the islanders belonging to 1 of 4 Islamicised Tribes:

1) Yakan, the indigenous tribe of Basilan

2) Tausug, an Islamicised Bisaya Tribe centered upon Sulu Province's Jolo Island

3) Sama (Samal), the tribe indigenous to Sulu Province

4) Badjao (Bajao), a nomadic seafaring tribe known popularly as "Sea Gypsies"

there just wasn't a huge market for the sort of business most hotels depend upon. At 655PM 2 young men in their late teens or early 20s checked in carrying a large green plastic shopping bag. Requesting a room on the ground floor the young men were given the key to room #200. Just a few minutes later both men left, no longer carrying their shopping bag and hurried down Flores Street, away from the hotel. Just as the clock struck 710PM a powerful IED pancaked the entire building, 2 adjoining houses and everything inside them. As is almost always the case in Mindanao, the authorities refuse to discuss bodycounts. In fact, true to form, the official narrative has no casualties whatsoever. That is pretty amazing considering that at the bare minimum the desk clerk would have been crushed. Owner Jose Tejada had been receiving threatening SMS (Text) messages demanding monthly payments and just a week prior to the detonation he had been visited by 3 well armed ASG guerillas who again demanded a monthly protection fee. Mr.Tejada refused.

At a bit past 9PM that same night, Saturday April 9th, the 3rd Special Forces (Airborne) Battalion's COY 15 (15th Company) on foot patrol in Barangay Port Area [sic] of Basilan's provincial capitol Isabela City turned onto JS Alano Street. One keen soldier espied an abandoned shoulder bag sitting squarely against the exterior wall of an ice plant. Located just 10 meters from a street corner holding a petrol station and a videoke bar (known as the "Sofia Hotel") the AFP CO (Commanding Officer),1LT (First Lieutenant) Arizabel cautiously approached the bag and by carefully examining it found that it contained a small plastic doll (yep,go figure) and a cluster of wires. Ordering his men to set a perimeter to protect an unsuspecting public he then contacted the nearest EOD (Explosives and Ordinance Disposal), in this case the PNP SAF (Philippine National Police Special Action Force, the PNP Special Forces element). After vetting the device which consisted of 2 Nokia 3310 cellphones, a clear plastic lunch box-type container that held the ANFO slash TNT payload and was labeled "ABO SAYYAF" [sic], entirely in capitol letters, the EOD detonated it on site without incident.

At 10AM the next morning the 32IB (Infantry Battalion) was conducting a limited foot patrol with a K9 (bomb sniffing dog) to secure a mobile checkpoint in front of Lamitan Central Elementary School) on Quezon Blvd. The dog alerted and quickly uncovered a yellow plastic shopping bag which, except for it not having a plastic doll was exactly the same signature as the device found in front of the ice plant in Isabela City. The payload sat in a pink tinted clear lunch box-type plastic container. 32IB EOD responded and safely removed the device and disposed of it off site.

On Good Friday, April 22nd, 2011 a passerby discovered a very powerful IED placed directly in front of the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) Building. Though most people unfamiliar with the locale focused on the BIR the site is actually a mere 7 meters from the main gate to Santa Isabela Cathedral, a large Catholic Church that was holding Good Friday Mass. Again, this device had the same signature except that its payload was much larger and was wrapped inside bands of sheetrock nails.

The next day, Saturday April 23rd, a teenaged boy was enjoying the cool evening air in Isabela City when he decided to take a shortcut across Plaza Rizal and its Rizal Monument, opposite the Basilan Provincial Capital Complex. As the youth approached the monument itself he saw a blinking red light inside a pile of rocks placed around the base of the statue. To his credit he didn't approach it but rather dialed up the Isabela CPO (City Police Office) which promptly deployed a detachment. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after discovering a flashlight wired to a 9Volt battery.

NPA Armed Contacts, First Quarter of 2011,Part I

As the NPA's 42nd Anniversary draws near, the time leading up to March 29, 2011 is bound to be filled with more misery and bloodshed, the top product sold by those ideological dinasours. The 18 day Ceasefire ended on January 03 and the NPA was off and running. Without further ado...

January 06, 2011, in Purok #4, Barangay Magdum, Tagum City, Davao del Norte Province, 3 soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (Airborne) were riding on a single motorcycle en route to
The NPA captured 2 M16s and 1 M203 grenade launcher.

On January 08, 2011 in Sitio Darot, Barangay Libudon, Mabini, ComVal (Compstela Valley Province) a platoon from the 71st IB (Infantry Battalion) was ambushed by Front 2 of the Crucifino Uballas Command, killing 1 AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) soldier.

Also on January 08, 2011 in Barangay Datu Danwata, Malita, Davao del Sur Province, 30 guerillas from Front 71 (Alex Ababa Command) abducted Susan Danwata and forced her to act as a decoy in luring her husband, Barangay Captain Ramon Danwata out of their house. Arriving at the couple's home the guerillas had Ms.Danwata loudly summon her husbans, telling him to quickly come outside. As Ramon stepped out of the house he was riddled with bullets and killed. A CVO (Civilian Auxiliary Organization, a CAA, or Civilian Active Auxiliary programme along the lines of the CAFGU except that the CVO is sublimated to the municipal PNP station and not the AFP. Getting almost no military training the garrisons are issued automatic weaponry. CVOs are almost always relegated to Muslim areas) soldier managed to quickly slip out of site.

Simultaneously the CVO garrison was stormed and its armoury captured. Taken were 3 M16s, 3 M14s, 1 M1, 3 12 gaguge rifles, 1 22 caliber rifle and 1 M79 grenade. Withdrawing with that haul the NPA Blocking Force situated in Barangay Bolila set an ambush for the large detachment from the 39IB that was en route in response to the attack (having ascertained the number of reinforcements, route of travel and an outline of intended response actions by an AFP ICOM transceiver that had been captured in a previous NPA attack.

Before long the reinforcements came barreling down the dirt road and rolled right into an ambush, causing a 1LT, 2 Sgts. And 2 PFCs to suffer serious shrapnel and bullet wounds. Barangay Captain Danwata was wanted by the NPA because of his crucial role in providing the AFP-IS (Military Intelligence Service) the necessary intelligence needed to capture high ranking guerilla Eliseo"Ka Bimbo"Tadam

January 18, 2011 in Sitio Guinobatan, Barangay Paquibato Proper, Paquibato District, Davao City in Davao del Sur Province, 30 guerillas from PBC1 (Pulang Bagani Company #1) under Leonicio"Ka Parago"Pitao ambushed a composite force of 69IB, Bagani Long Range Platoon CAA and PNP SAF (Special Action Force) under AFP 1LT Bryan Malinao. After initial IED (Improvised Explosive Device, aka "bomb") detonation and subsequent 30 minute firefight 2 AFP killed,8 wounded (2 AFP, 1 CAA, 5 PNP). 2 of those 8 died during treatment:

1) PFC.Estancio

2) CAA (Bagani LRP) Paguilan

January 22, 2011, in Sitio Old Bantangan, BarangayLasak, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat Province, PDTs (Peace and Development Teams) from the 27IB were harried (snipers shooting) by Front 76 resulting in an engagement in which 1 guerilla, "Ka Etoy" aka "Ka Bebe" was shot to death. The next day, January 23, aPDT from the 27IB took sniper fire without casualties.

On that same day, January 22, 2011, in Barangay Old Macopa, Manay, Davao Oriental, a composite force of the 67IB and 4th Scout Rangers Company engaged NPA with 1 AFP officer moderately wounded.

January 23, 2011 in Barangay Lebanon, Montevista, Com0val, PDT took sniper fire, without casualties.

January 26, 2011, in Malita, Davao del Sur Province, F71, with 2 guerillas killed and 1 captured. The 2 dead:

1) Jimboy"Ka Jemar"Liwantang Dayagan

2) Perjelio"Ka Sadam"Bautista

Bautista was CO (Commanding Officer) of Team #1, Platun (Platoon) #1. The captured guerilla is 18 year old Delie"Ka Emma" D. Lumayas of Barangay Pangaleon, Malita. Delie has a 3rd grade education and after dropping out of school at age 8 she became a maid to a wealthy family in Davao City in that same province, Davao del Sur. She dreamed of earning enough to return to school because her dream was to become a teacher. Instead, at age 13 and back in her village having lost her job she was recruited by a sectoral front organisation that trained Delie in the organisation of peasants like herself. By 16 she was recruited as a Regulae in the NPA, going into the bush on May 05, 2008. In August she finished her military training and has been taking part in the insurgency since that timezm

January 29, 2011 saw a fire fight on the border between Malapatan, Sarangani Province and Davao del Sur Province ib which Front 71's "Ka Kotray," shot to death by the 72IB.

On January 30, 2010, in Paquibato District, Davao City, Davao del Sur District, as the AFP began scouring the sector in anticipation of Mayor Sara"Inday"Duterte Carpio's visit to the Paquibato District Anniversary Fiesta in Barangay Paquibato Proper, an IED detonated in Purok #5 in Barangay Mapula,an ambush of a Supply Team from the 69IB. The AFP's 10ID (Infantry Division) tried to spin it as an assasination attempt on the mayor's life which is an even stupider claim than the usual AFPspin shlock. Mayor Carpio's father is her Vice Mayor, Rodrigo"Roddy"Duterte who is an NPA sympathiser and who has beein in a working relationship with the Pulang Bagani Company #1aks Commanding Officer Leonicio"Ka Parago"Pitao for well over a decade now. Mayor Carpio doesn't even need a. Security escort in NPA territory (the NPA holds full control of Paquibato, Toril and Baguio Districts in Davao City by agreement with Vice Mayor Duterte, in exchange for the NPA agreeing not to encroach on any other city districts).

February 01, 2011 in Barangay Asbangliok, Tagaytay, Davao del Sur Province the 6th Scout Rangers Company under 1LT.Cuenco encountered 7 guerillas from Front 72. After a short FF the NPA withdrew with the AFP in close pursuit. The next day, February 02, in Sitio Mauno, Barangay Maligaya, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat Province, they were engaged a second time resulting in the capture of 1 hand grenade and a flash drive.

That same day, February 02, 2011 in Barangay Mambing, New Corella, Davao del Norte, Front 33 attacked 3rd Special Forces Battalion (Airborne), wounding 1 PFC.

On February 11 Ka Parago issued an official media release in which he pointed out that Mayor Carpio isn't even travelling outside of Barangay Paquibato Proper, let alone to Barangay Mapula which is in the mountains. He also pointed out that while the 10ID is telling anyone wjo will listen all about its new "humanistic approach" that involves an 80% effort on CMO (Civil Military Operations, a "community policing" type approach), it launched a wide scale tactical offencive in Paquibato and Toril Districts on January 10.

February 01, 2011 in Barangay Pulang Lupa, Trento, Agusan del Sur Province was the site of an ambush against a DENR (Department of Energy and Natural Resources) Checkpoint. The site is part of OPLAN Bantay Kalikasan (Operational Plan Guarding Nature) to cut down on illegal logging. Manned by 2 police officers from the PPO (Provincial Police Officer who were backing 2 DENR officers. On the day in question 1 of the DENR officers, George Dimzon, was being visited by his 19 year old son, Fritz Dimzon, who was there to pick up his weekly allowance so as to pay the necessary fees for an AFP Entrance Exam. Fritz was shot to death as was another civilian, 39 year old Carlito Tumandang. The 2 PNP (Philippine Natiomal Police) officers were wounded, 1 critically. The more moderately wounded of the 2, PO3 Jorge Sabating, was taken prisoner by the NPA.

Vice Governor Santiago Cana of Agusan del Sur Province and Josefina Bajade, the SWD (Social Welfare and Development) Officer for the province entered the camp of Front 20, Conrado Heredia Command, for a "Peace Dialogue" with the NPA in light of the ongoing GRP (Ph.Govt.) -NDF (National Democratic Front, negotiating entity for the NPA and its political wing, CPP, aka Communist Party of the Philippines). The ACTUAL reason though was to seek the release of PO3 Jorge Sabating.Ms.Bajade is busy making a mess of things as she pushes a new scheme to "improve" the Livlihood Package given to NPA Surrenderees. All Surrenderees, even without a weapon, get an immediate cash grant of 20,000 Pesos (475 US) and then receive a Livlihood Package worth 50,000 Pesos. Thus far it has worked as a very, very strong incentive in the bid to seduce insurgents to return to the fold as it were. Ms.Bajade is apparently one of those people who can'teave well enough alone and so now she's trying to implement a protocol that would have the Livlihood Package of each Surrenderee pooled so as to force Surrenderees into co-operative ventures. In her view pooling those funds would provide greater opportunities. What she fails to realise though is that you cannot tie disparate people together, especially with a facet of their lives that is absolutely crucial. Business partnerships are fine IF individuals choose to enter into them. Sadly she recently got to tell her her cockamamie idea to representatives from OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Advisor to the Peace Process), PNP, AFP and other stakeholders. No word on how many laughed at her.

To Ms.Bajade's credit though, Front 20 chose to release PO3 Sabating to her and Vice Gov.Cane in Sitio Cogonon, Barangay Salvacion, Trento, Agusan del Sur Province on February.

Speaking of "Surrenderees," on February 23, 2011 the PPOC (Provincial Peace and Order Committee) of Surigao del Norte Province is considering building a "Peace Village" for ex-NPA guerillas to be located in Barangay Ipil in Surigao City, the provincial capitol. The idea is actually not new. In the mid-1950s then Secretary of National Defense Ramon Magsaysay did the exact same thing in trying to neutralise the Huk Insurgency, the nation's FIRST Communist Insurgency. Choosing plots in Westcentral Mindanao, built from scratch and giving each homesteader a small plot to farm it was probably the single nest idea in a Counterinsurgency full of good ideas. The problem today though is very different. The Huk were almost rotally confined to Luzon, 90Km to the north of Mindanao. In the 1950s there was no 1 hour plane ride between the 2 islands, Mindanao was truly a geographical cure. In addition the villages also contained homesteads for decommissioned and retired PNP and AFP which served as a stabilising force within thise comunities.

February 02, 2011 in Barangay Mambing, New Corella, Davao del Norte Province, 3rd Special Forces Battalion (Airborne) encountered the NPA. After an intence 10 minute fire fight before they withdrew into Montevista, ComVal. 1 PFC was wounded with a bullet in the left knee.

On February 06, 2011 on the Bukidnon to Davao National Hiway, retired Master Sgt.Mario Veluz, age 56, was abducted by Front 53 (Herminio Alfonso Command) at an NPA checkpoint. Divested of his 45 caliber pistol, he was released on February 18 to North Cotabato Provincial Goverbor Emmy Lou T.Mendoza in Barangay Kagawa'an, Kibawe, North Cotabato Province. Sgt.Veluz had served as the Governor's bodyguard when she was serving as the Congresswoman representing North Cotabato's First District.

On February 07, 2011 in Magsaysay, Davao del Sur Province PNP officer PO1 Edwin Antipuesto stopped at an NPA checkpoint and was divested of his 45 caliber pistol. He was en route to his job at Magsaysay Municipal PNP.

That same day, February 07, 2011 yet another hapless PNP officer was divested of HIS sidearm at yet ANOTHER NPA checkpoint. PO1 Ace Villapaz was at an NPA checkpoint implemented by Front 51 in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur Peovince as a Weena Bus and a passenger van he was on were searched. His 45 caliber pistol was captured. Serving with PMG (Police Mobile Group) #1186 he had been heading into work.

Also February 07, 2011 in Barangay Maparat, Compostela, ComVal PFC El Bryan Canedo of 5th Scout Rangers Company was on a motorcycle when he was stopped at yet ANOTHER NPA checkpoint. He was then abducted, taken from the scene in an Elf Truck (very small utility truck).

February 07, 2011 was DEFINITELY NOT the day to be up and about. At yet ANOTHER NPA checkpoint in Barangay Pintatagan, Banaybanay, Davao Oriental Province, PNP PO2 Jerwel Montecillo Tugade of the PMG #1106 was abducted by Front 18 (Wilfredo Zapanta Command).

February 14, 2011, the municipality of Maco in ComVal Province held a "Community Peace Rally" at the town's municipal basketball courts in Barangay Poblacion. Over 1,000 townspeople gathered to hear the provincial governor, Arturo Uy, speak about how much he has done for the town and how much the PDTs (Peace and Development Teams) from 10ID have bettered the town and so on. At 445PM the fun fest broke up and people went their separate ways. As 1 small group began making their way down a thoroughfare in Purok #6 in Barangay Libay-libay a powerful IED detonated and killed 1 civilian, 56 year old Nicholas Paquin, a resident of Barangay Dumlan was in a group of 5 men. The other 4 were critically wounded, with 2 of those 4 dying at the hospital during treatment:

1) Juanito Cabarobias, 52 years old

2) Angelito Comayas Jr., 42 years old


On February 22, 2011 in Purok #4, Barangay Carmen, Baguio District, Davao City, Davao del Sur Province, as Barangay Captain Alfredo B.Austral attended a Barangat meeting NPA uder "Ka Bobby' entered his home and captured the city issued 12 gauge issued to all Barangay Captains.



On February 25, 2011 in Barangay Sinuron, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur Province, a SPARU (Special Armed Partisan Unit, the assasination arm of the NPA) killed Roldan Quintoa. Quintoa, a former NPA guerilla had surrendered to the government in 2008. Since leaving the NPA Quintoa busied himself by working on his father's upland farm. Indeed, it was that farm that he was walking to when killed. The NPA doesn't target Surrenderees as a rule, relegating such decisive treatment to those ex-guerillas who serve as AFP-IS (Military Intelligence) assets.

February 26, 2011 in Barangay Colon Sabac, Matanoa, Davao del Sur, a SPARU team from Mt.Alip Command killed AFP-IS asset Jun Sal and captured a 45 caliber pistol before escaping. Sal wasn't an NPA Surrenderee, merely an informer.

March 06, 2011, on the borders of Barangays Mapayag and Bendolan in Malaybalay City near the border of the municipality of Lantapan in Bukidnon Province, at 8AM Front 89 killed an ex-barangay captain, Antonio Pechora of Barangay Mapayag, in his home, and then withdrew. At 1130AM the Malaybalay City PNP and PNP SOCO (Scene of Crime Operations) travelled to the outlying area to recover the man's body and to do a cursory crime scene investigation. Travelling in 2 vehicles the SOCO van followed closely behind the PNP SUV and had just crossed into Sitio Tamugawi, Purok #3, Barangay Mapayag and were at the foot of Bundok Kitanglad (Mt.Kitanglad) when an IED detonated, followed by a barrage of rifle grenades. 2 PNP and 1 civilian employee of SOCO were killed instantly:

1) PO1 Ronel Bayta

2) PO1 Jimmy Napil Jr

3) Rodel Dangop (SOCO)

5 PNP were wounded with 1 of them dying during treatment: PO1 Xerxes Von Palasol. The NPA captured 1 M16 and 3 9MM pistols.

March 09, 2011 in Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Mipingi, Nabunturan, ComVal Province, a firefight left 1 guerilla dead. On March 11 a detachment from the 101 DRCOY (Division Recon Company, in this case the 10ID's) under 1LT.Godofredo A.Despojo recovered the guerilla's cadaver and had just entered Sitio Tanawan, Barangay Malinswon, Mawab when an IED detonated followed by a 15 minute firefight with Front 33. Though the NPA is claiming it killed 3 AFP in that ambush. In reality they only killed 1, 1LT. Despojo, the detachment CO. In addition there were 12 AFP wounded.

On March 11, 2011 in Barangays Danuman and Nueva Gracia in Loreto, Agusan del Sur Province Front 34 launched 2 simultaneous assaults on those barangay's respective CAA posts.

That same day, March 11, I Sitio Kilometer #19, Barangay Del Monte, Veruela, Agusan del Sur Province, Front 3 attacked. Bagani Long Range Platoon post, and not long after a Bagani Long Range Platoon post in Barangay Sinubong.

On March 12, 2011. In Sitio Tibungco, Barangay San Jose, Montevista, ComVal Province, a truck carrying a detachment from the 25IB was strafed by M1/ fire without casualties.

That same day, March 12, 2011 in Barangay Pinamuno, San Isidro, Davao del Norte Peovince, Front 35 (Danilo Villacorta Command) was engaged by the 60IB resulting in 1 AFP killed, 4 wounded.

March 13, 2011 in Barangay Lataban, New Corella, Davao del Norte Province, an NCO (Non Commisioned Officer, aka Corporal or Sergeant) from the 3rd Special Forces (Airborne) Battalion was wounded by a sniper.

On March 15, 2011 in Sitio Bagtok, Barangay San Vicente, Montevista, ComVal Province, an NPA snper killed 1 soldier from the 25IB.

On Saturday afternoon, March 19, 2011 a young woman approached the jeepney stand ("jeepneys" are a low cost form of public transport) at Davao City's Gaisano Mall. Searching for 2 passenger vans to charter for a family wedding that evening, she finally found 2 drivers with Mitsubishi L3000 vans who agreed to do so for a cost of 4,500 Pesos per van (95 US each), with a down payment of 2,500 each (55 US each). Counting out the money the woman assured the drivers that 2 guides would be along straight away to direct the vans to her family's residence. Within the hour 2 young men did indeed show up and so the vans departed to the municipality of Panabo City in Davao del Norte Province to pick up the family members. Arriving in Panabo, just outside the Davao City limits the drivers were told to proceed to an outlying barangay. Driving down an unpaved road they were forced to stop as 20 well armed guerillas in military fatigues and bonnets (baclavas) blocked their way. Quickly getting in both vans and brusquely directed the terrified drivers to drive to an outlying Panabo City Municipal PNP Station in Barangay Maduwaw.

Entering the PNP Compound the officer guarding the front door (they stupidly don't employ guards on the perimeter or even its main gate) waved to the new arrivals, apparently believing them to be AFP soldiers despite regional directives warning all security forces NOT to allow anyone entry without prior notification and confirmation of identity owing to a rash of military and PNP impersonations by the NPA. PBC1 utilises this ruses every 3 or 4 months and indeed, the new arrivals were PBC1. The friendly guard, PO3 Narciso Pakiwag continued his smiling and waving but a more alert PNP officer on the 2nd floor wasn't fooled at all and immediately shouted to alert his mates. Ideally the NPA would have gained entry to the building so as to capture its weaponry, uniforms and intelligence but the station went into defencive mode so the guerillas threw a hand grenade into the doorway and opened up with 2 M16s killing PO3 Pakiwag immediately. A CVO (Civilian Volunteer Officer, a form of Civilian Active Auxiliary attached to municipal PNP) soldier, Raymond Minoza, was killed as well in that initial fusillade. The other 13 Officers all withdrew to the 2nd floor, where the armoury and nerve centre are and an intence fire fight broke out, only subsiding 30 minutes later when the guerillas received notification that reinforcements were en route.

Jumping in both vans the guerillas, habing only captured 1 M16 sped out of the compound but hadn't gone very far, less than 400 meters when 1 of the vans got bogged down, the NPA having failed to plan for inclement weather and its effect on unpaved roads. Piling into the 2nd, now dangerously overloaded van, they made it over the border of Davao City, into Lasang District when the 2nd van skidded into an irrigation canal. Leaving behind 1 critically wounded guerilla, 41 year old Eliseo Mariano of Barangay Longaog, Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte Province. Mariano was taken into custody by units scouring the Davao City border 3 days later, March 22. Critically wounded in the right thigh and right hand he had been abandoned by the NPA, near death from. Loss of blood and dehydration.After initial treatment he quickly showed improvement and so was fit for torture, I mean "interrogation."Under "interrogation" he provided 4 full names of squadmates, including the leader of the Panabo attack, Lucio"Ka Bungot"Bustamente.

This week the 13 surviving PNP received Medals of Valour, which just goes to show you how worthless the ribbon is. The highest award in the Philippine security services it is akin to the American "Medal of Honor." WR men simply repelled 22 guerillas who ALWAYS withdraw when faced with nominal resistance (it is part and parcel of NPA tactical doctrine) and so they get the HIGHEST ribbon? PO3 Pakiwag also received the ribbon. Post humously of course, along with a promotion to SPO1. The 2 PNP wounded in the assault, including the station shift CO (Commanding Officer) also received ribbons for having been wounded in action.

March 20, 2011 in Barangay Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur Province, the 29IB uncovered a Front 19A cache containing 2 M1s, 2 M16s and vital repairs in addition to ammo.

On March 21, 2011 in Barangay Casoon, Monkayo, ComVal Province, the 5th Scout Rangers Company under 1LT.Mark Steve Cimini engahed Front 3 under "Ka Ondo" in a running firefight, wounding 2 NPA and 1 AFP.

That same day, March 21, 2011 on the borders of Barangay Colon Sabac, Matanao, Davao del Sur Provinceand Barangay Sinapulan, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat Province was the site of a fierce firefight as 6th Scout Rangers under 1LT.Romeo Ferdinand Bautista were suprised by an encounter with Front 72 as the AFP scoured the sector prepping it for PDT deployment.

Also on March 21, 2011 in Sitio Tagtaytay, Barangay Mipangi, ComVal Province, 101 DRCOY under 1LT.Herold Ambrocio engaged NPA, killing 1 guerilla and captured his M16.

March 23, 2011 in Sitio Gureim, Barangay Sibulan, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur Province, 39IB detachment under Sgt.Ranie Fuentes ambushed via IED killing 2 PFCs;

1) PFC.Salva

2) PFC.Centina

Originally the AFP was telling the world that the detachment was PDT but finally relented and admitted that it was a combat detachment that was trying to soften up the environs FOR PDT.

That same day, March 23, 2011 an SCAA. Garrison in Lianga, Surigao del Sur was attacked but managed to repell the NPA after a 10 minute firefight.

March 24, 2011, at Sanglay Wood Processing Plant in Barangay Amparo, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte Province, 50 NPA attacked the plant perimeter targetting the Blue Security (private security, not SCAA), disarming 3 guards employed by "Al Nino Security Agency." After capturing the guards' 2 shotguns and 1 9MM pistol.

On that same day, March 24, 2011, in Barangay Sibulan, Santa Cruz, Daval del Sur Province, a detachment from the 101 DRC (Division Recon Company, 10ID) was clearing a sector ahead of PDT deployment when a primed IED buried in the dirt road detonated killing 1 of the soldiers.

March 25, 2011 in Barangay Datal Biao, Tampakan, South Cotabati Province, a 5 vehicle convoy of tandem dumptrucks owned by LVE Construction was ambushed via IED. In the ensuing firefight 1 driver and 2 labourers riding in his lorry (truck) were killed:

1) Oscar Panisana (Driver)

2) Romel Vega

3) Nelson Parasan

On that same day, March 25, 2011, in Barangay Suaon, Kapalong, Davao del Norte Province, the 60IB on patrol saw a lone guerilla priming a roadside IED and immediately engaged, killing the guerilla and recovering 2 IEDs. A small NPA detachment that hadn't been sighted opened fire upon the AFP but withdrew after.

Developments Within the Military,Last Quarter 2010,Part IV:Combat Pay is Doubled,Feliciano Angue Commits Career Suicide, the New Face of TF Basilan and Pacquiao joins Peace Panel

On Tuesday, December 21, 2010 the AFP got some additional holiday cheer as President Aquino unveiled his new anti-coup measure (sarcasm).The life-long bachelor's brainstorm was revealed during the 75th Anniversary of the AFP festivities at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City,Metro Manila.During the President's speech he revealed that just the day before he had signed an Amendment to Executive Order #658 which will raise the Combat Bonus from 240 Pesos a month ($6) to 500 Pesos A MONTH ($11), which ends up coming to 2.65 US Dollars A WEEK to dodge bullets, RPGs, IEDs and abductions, oh goody.The bonus,which is doled out on the 15th of the month,hadn't been raised since March 22, 1985.Yep, that is correct, under Marcos (via EO #1017).

The good news (though it is seriously a tragedy if you think about it,is that almost 70% of the AFP will get the raise. OK, you still can't figure out the tragedy? More that 110,000 soldiers,sailors,marines and airmen are in combat situations.In any event,it will be effective as of January 01,2011 and will be funded via outlay from Personnel Service savings for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011.Alhough President Aquino is being credited it actually arose out of the Senate's Committees on Defense and Finance"Joint Resolution #8."

Last Summer (July,2010) Rear Admiral Feliciano Angue was given a technically lateral transfer from Command of NCRCOM (National Capitol Region Command, aka Manila) to WESCOM (Western Command, HQd in Puerto Princessa,Palawan,not to be confused with WESMINCOM,aka Western Mindanao Command HQd in Zamboanga City on Mindanao).Angue is a Rear Admiral,a 2 Star Rank.NCR is a 3 Star Command.WES is a 2 Star Command.Angue,who never received his 3rd Star saw that he was being transferred to a 2 Star Command,meaning that getting a 3rd Star would have to wait at least 1 more rotation.

Technically, as I have noted, Angue was getting a lateral transfer,neither up nor down,simply a 2 Star Officer going to a 2 Star Command.Angue however felt it was about time that the AFP recognised what he's made of and so he did the unthinkable (for a career officer),he ran to the media and blamed his Superiors for politicking (meaning they were playing "personality" over "potential").Then he quickly went one further and inferred that Superiors had connived with former President Arroyo in her manipulation (let us be honest, STEALING ) of the 2004 Election when he was deployed on Tawi Tawi. He also accused Superiors of doing the same in the 2010 synchronised Local/National Elections (May 10, 2010).

The consequences were predictable.The Navy deployed a 4 man panel to conduct a preliminary investigation to help determine whether-or-not Angue should face a General Court Martial.The panel was Chaired by former Vice Commander of the Navy(Retired) Rear Admiral Roberto Estioko who over saw the 3 members:

I) Naval JAG (Judge Advocate General, equivalent to a Chief Prosecutor in the non-military justice system),Col.Al Pererras

II) Naval Deputy JAG,LTC.Jose Feliciano Loy

III) Naval Provost Marshal (CO of MPs,aka Military Police) , Col.Antonieto Ga


The panel made its determination in early November and recommended that Angue...BIG SUPRISE (not by a long shot) face a General Court Martial (though technically they can only recommend that a Second investigation take place,in reality that Second Investigation will absolutely come back recommending that General Court Martial).
Specifically they found grounds for 3 charges:

I) Article of War #65 (Insubordination)

II) Article of War #97 (Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Military Discipline)

III) Military Code of Ethics, exact determination not made (for running his insolent pouty mouth to the demon known as the media)

Not long before the panel submitted its findings,WESCOM the Command Angue whined about,ended up being handed to Major General Juancho Sabban (formerly the Marines CO,who was replaced in that Command by Brig.Gen.Rustico Guerrero after Brig.Gen.Alvio was passed over for being physically unfit).Angue's former Command,NCR,was given to Major General Arthur Tabaquero.Tabaquero only held it for a short while though,before getting WESMINCOM which itself had been vacated upon Lieutenant General Ben Dolorfino's retirement from service (which I discussed in another current"AFP,Last Quarter 2010"entry).

Ironically Angue had only held Command of NCR since March,2010.Not only did he hold NCR for a mere 96 days before receiving this transfer,he knew that with former President Arroyo maxing out on her term limit that a change in Administration just wasn't probable,it was guaranteed.Unlike militaries in more stable nations,the AFP undergoes a thorough re-shuffling when Administrations change to try and stave off mutinies and coup attempts.How much more so when NCRCOM plays the top dog in guarding against military related threats to the Presidency?Total stupidity on Angue's part although I really do see his point on politicking,the 2004 Election and most of all his complaints (that I haven't touched upon) with regard to current Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin.Gazmin has been shuffling his former cronies (from his time in the AFP) to the top of the deck.In the AFP personality and connections (patronage) are everything.That is why the AFP,for the most part,is the most inept military in SE Asia.

On November 11, 2010 the 4th Special Forces Riverine Battalion,currently headquartered in Zamboanga City,took receipt of 13 Light Support Craft.The Riverine Force is comprised of soldiers specially trained for operating in estuaries,marshes and mangroves.The craft were locally made by Bajao and Sama (Samal) Tribesmen as part of the AFP's Oplan Condor (the AFP just can't get enough of those silly labels).Although the label is silly the plan itself is actually very intelligent. Utilising the skills of the nation's best boat builders who also happen to be among the country's most marginal of ethnicities the military comes off with a win:win situation.Empowering the poorest of the poor while engaging them in pro-government activities they do a whole lot more than the Basilan Circumfrential Road (a CMO Hearts and Minds Project that utilised 0% local labour and services thus far). Although Bajao aren't a demographic associated on the shooting end of insurgencies they ARE the epitome of a"Mass Base of Support."Sama on the other hand are sometimes found in the MILF and a whole of them were MNLF (some still are).

At the same time the AFP has saved a tonne of cash.Those 13 boats cost the army 10.56 Million Pesos ($220,000),roughly 10% of what the PA (Philippine Army) could expect to pay for commercially manufactured craft.Indeed,
the entire tab would have covered a single commercial Support Craft with a 25 man payload.The 22 artisans contracted received the order in early September so that time was also a huge advantage in the order.24 months would not be unusual commercially.12 of the boats are just short of 6 meters long and powered by 115hp inboard engines with a maximum speed of 39 knots.The 13th craft is nearly 18 meters long with a 250hp inboard engine with a maximum speed of 24 knots.Carrying a 5 man crew and up to half a Company (50 soldiers) it will serve as a Support Craft for the other dozen.Each of those 12 boats will carry a 2 man crew and 6 soldiers and function as Scout Craft.

A Riverine Force would seem to be a natural element for a nation spread out over 7,107 tropical islands but then a lot of obvious things seem to slip right by the powers that be in the AFP.It wasn't until early 2007 that this no brainer took shape.Utilising the 11th Anniversary of SOCOM (Special Operations Command) on June 01, 2007 to officially announce the formation of the first Riverine COY,analysts were suddenly optimistic that the AFP was finally going to try and re-shape itself into something more than just a police force.It is amazing how just a single sensible idea could make so many people buy into a false sense of expectation.Still,positivity should be acknowledged and re-inforced.In fact the PA did already have 2 Riverine COYs-at least in name:

1) COY 11

2) COY 18

also attached to SOCOM but de-activated during the SOCOM re-organisation that took place in 2004.Those 2 de-activated COYs only operated in Central Luzon which is about as asinine as it gets considering that the minimal insurgency taking place there (3 communist forces, only 1 of which,the NPA ranks above typical Peace and Order Operations,and THEY were NOT doing it in mangroves).With the 2007 formation a COY (designated 12th) would finally operate down south where it was actually crucially needed.

Speaking of SOCOM,Deputy CO (Commanding Officer),Col.Nicanor Dolojan was given the concurrent Command of TF Basilan (Task Force Basilan).The TF has recently been thoroughly re-organised as the Basilan Theater has been stripped of its Fleet-Marine Doctrine.Though Fleet-Marine HAS certainly shown improvements over the previous hydra of a pseudo-doctrine that held sway on that island province,it still wasn't able to do anything more than offer a more visible presence. The SOCOM TF,the new TF Basilan was specially created to pick up the slack once the Marines 1st Brigade rotated out.Making up the new and improved TF is the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (Airborne, as if PA soldiers will ever need to parachute somewhere),4th Scout Rangers Battalion (a newly raised battalion), and a single IB (Infantry Battalion), the 32nd.The re-deployment out of and into Basilan was supposed to have been completed within the 2nd week of November (after the earlier deadline of September 31st came and went without anyone blinking).Of course things being what they are in the Philippines it still hasn't been completed and New Year is upon us.Lieutenant General Arturo Ortiz,newly installed CO at SOCOM was schedualed to preside at the Turn Over of Command Ceremony but instead merely oversaw the Activation of the afore mentioned 4th Scout Rangers Battalion.I also need to credit Lieutenant General Ortiz as the primary mover and shaker behind Oplan Condor.IF this is what the man is made of maybe SOCOM can have a reason to swagger.

The Marines aren't saying a thing but the Fleet Doctrine didn't pan out too well.Neither are they saying why they quickly rotated the Marine 1st Bde into 6ID (Infantry Division) AOR.Beginning with the Summer 2010 kidnapping of 2 Tsinoy (Filipino-Chinese) in Cotabato City,LGU (Local Government Unit,aka"municipal") executives there began screaming for another Marine deployment on to Central Mindanao (6ID AOR).Officially the shuffle was to take place on Sunday,September 31st, but as I mentioned above it is evidently taking longer than anticipated.MILF Spokesman (now "ex" since Eid Kabalu has been brought back) Von al Haq says that the MILF CCCH (a Ceasefire entity I have discussed in my MILF entries) will file an official complaint since according to the CCCH MoA (Memorandum of Agreement),any troop movements or rotations in or out of MILF AOR must abide by the terms spelled out in that bilateral agreement.According to al Haq the AFP hasn't said a word (via the GRP CCCH Panel (GRP being"Govt.of the Philippines") whose task it is to do so).Of course the MILF is always looking for problems where there aren't any.The MoA is supposed to address re-deployments over land so that there isn't an accidental Ground War when AFP and MILF elements physically trip over each other.This is besides the fact that the rotation was 4 months in the making,get a grip.


Most Filipinos are unaware but boxing champ and Mindanowan Congressman (Sarangani Province) Manny Pacquiao is ALSO an AFP Army Reservist.Holding the rank of a Master Sergeant,Manny brings great pride to the military,so much so that on November 14,2010. (Wait... I am trying to do a serious Blog...OK, thanks, back to our show) Col.Antonio Parlade Jr.,AFP Reserves Spokesperson revealed that just as soon as Pugilist cum Congressman slash Master Seargent of the Reserves Pacquiao returns from his sojourn to Mexico,the AFP will lobby for Mindanao's own Renaissance Man to gain a slot on the GRP Peace Panel. Of course Col.Einstein,I mean Parlade Jr,didn't deign to reveal WHICH Peace Panel Manny should sit on.Look, I am not a Filipino and even I beam with pride when Manny waxes some Mexican's as* but "Peace Panel?"

Of course the comment (or revelation) came almost immediately after the Congressman from Sarangani won his 8th World Title against Antonio Margarito so let's just do the good Colonel a favour and chalk it up to patriotism and booze,never a good combination but hey,better than the alternative (which would be complete and utter mental illness).