NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part X: Rebelyn Pitao's Ghost Won't be Silenced, Part 3

In the first two parts of this three part entry I discussed the legendary figurehead of the NPA in Southern Mindanao, Leonicio Pitao who is known by many as "Ka Parago." Pitao, who joined the NPA as a farmboy in the municipality of Bayugan in Agusan del Sur Province in 1978, had by the late 1980s become the military commander of what is now known as the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, or SMRC, the entity overseeing the entire Davao Region, also known as Region 11.

I have also been discussing member's of Pitao's immediate family, primarily his sister Evelyn and brother Danilo who were both murdered. The raison d'etra for this three part series however, was Pitao's third child with his wife, Evangeline Maasin Pitao, herself a former NPA guerilla. This child, a daughter, was saddled with the name "Rebelyn," pronounced "Rebellion," although the 20 year old shared nothing of father's propencity for violence nor his narrow Maoist ideology as filtered by the NPA, or New People's Army. Instead she was a homebody, only leaving her mother's side to tend to her recently acquired job at Davao City's Saint Peter's College of Technology where Rebelyn had usually been covering a second grade class.

Because of the relative security found in Davao City Rebelyn truly thought herself above the fray. This false sense of security led the young lady to being adhering to a regular routine. That regular routuine ended Rebelyn's life on March 4th, 2009. Upon her body being discovered half naked, stabbed, raped, and strangled the next afternoon, her father almost immediately pointed at the AFP as the true culprit. Two days after the death Leonicio Pitao named four men:

1) Sergeant (Sgt.) Helvin Bitang

2) Corporal (Cpl.) Orly Pedring Pedregosa

3) Sergeant Adan Masulao

4) Sergeant Ben Tipait

Pitao announced that these four mens' identities had been discovered during a quick, but painstaking investigation by the NPA. As I noted in Part 2, Pitao was lying through his teeth. Two of the men, Adan Musalao and Ben Tipait do not exist, at least under those names. The other two men, Sgt.Bitang and Cpl.Pedregosa, were both members of the ISAFP, Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and attached to MIG-11, or Military Intelligence Group for Region 11. Pitao knew these names because all those names were used by his brother Danilo's AFP handlers.

Still, with public opinion being what is and the media hounding him, the then Commanding Officer of the still very young 10ID (Infantry Divison), Major General Reynaldo B.Mapagu placed Sgt.Bitang and Cpl.Pedregosa on Barracks Restriction. At the time nobody bothered to ask the General just why he had put those two men on Restriction but did not do the same for the other two names.

In any event, as I noted in the preceding entry, by April 1st, 2009, less than 4 weeks after Leonicio Pitao announced those four names, he was ready to announce that there were 13 men tied to his daughter's death, some of who merely served as Military Assets, just like Danilo Santiago, Pitao's brother.

As luck or happenstance would have it, the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Leila de Lima- the same Ms.de Lima who is currently whoring herself- I mean serving the Aquino Administration- as the Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ), was then in town to hold a two day hearing examining the so called "Davao Death Squad," an Extra Judicial Execution jugganaut doing the bidding of then-Mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo "Roddy" Duterte. Simply adding three days onto the end of the Davao Death Squad hearings, Commissioner de Lima summoned all 13 men named by Pitao.

On the sidelines of the Davao Death Squad hearing Major Genneral Mapagu tried to convince Ms.de Lima that due to the sensitive nature of all 13 men's security- related work, having them testify in the very public hearings very well might jeapordise their lives. The back and forth between the AFP and CHR continued until, on the afternoon of the first scheduled session, April 1st, the two sides agreed to a hastily created booth in the General Function Room of the Royal Mandaya Hotel, the venue in downtown Davao City that was histing both the hearings. Sitting behind a curtain rigged to cover a seven meter by three meter enclosure, soldiers would be able to offer their statements. However, by 1PM not a single of the thirteen had shown up. As Ms.de Lima threatened to not only cite the summoned men, but division brass as well, Major General Mapagu finally sent six of the men to the hotel. As for the rest, they were deployed outside of Davao City, which was then the location for 10ID Headquarters, or else were merely Military Assets over whom the AFP held no legal jurisdiction outside of their specific roles as covert agents. They could not be compelled by the AFP to appear at a hearing in which no specific charges had been filed.

Meanwhile, the two eyewitnesses to Rebelyn Pitao's abduction were located:

1) Danny Peliciano, a triksiad driver who had been driving Rebelyn home that night

2) Dina Talaboc, the female passenger who had also been riding with Rebelyn in Mr.Peliciano's triksiad

Both had gone into hiding immediately after the abduction but with a media onslaught and repeated appeals to the two eyewitnesses, both had surfaced. The CPO, or City Police's CIDG, or Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, showed each witness a photo array of the men named by Leonicio Pitao. Neither witness was able to identify a single one of the thirteen purported attackers.

The three day CHR Hearing on Rebelyn's Death the case went they way of virtually all such cases, no matter the notiriety. Although Leonicio Pitao would eventually list a total of twenty one men in the incident:

1) Sergeant Adan Masulao, the non-existent man first listed just after the killing was actually using an AFP provided identity, "Adan Sulao," but his real name was Sergeant Romeo Marcos

2) Sergeant Ben Tipait, another one of the first "non-existent" men was actually named Sergeant Edmar Tipait whose alias while handling Assets was "Ben"

3) Corporal Orly Pedring Pedregosa

4) Sergeant Helvin Bitang

5) Sergeant Melvin Punla

6) Sergeant Caballero, first name not known by Pitao

7) Major Cabanalan, first name not known by Pitao

8) Colonel Caguiwa, first name not known by Pitao

9) Sergeant Senit, first name not known by Pitao

10) Corporal Wennie Carampatan


The rest being Assets, some of whom are listed by their Asset Code Names, which is all Pitao knew:

11) Ruben Bitang, uncle of Sergeant Helvin Bitang. Ruben was the driver of the white Toyota Revo cargo van that was used in the abduction, according to Pitao

12) Romeo Carreon

13) Hagto

14) Embac

15) Ariel, also known as "Benjack"

16) Reynaldo "Joemar" Desales

17) Macky Estremos

18) Bobong Gambuta

19) Marcelino Cuyot Payot

The final two were listed by Pitao as "John Does." Not one was ever prosecuted. However, the NPA would begin checking names off of that long list, one by one, as the SMRC's SPARU Team began killing each of those attackers.

The first of the 21 to be killed was Macky Estremos, before the CHR hearing even took place, in the municipality of Carmen, in Davao del Norte Province.

Then, on April 14th, 2009, Marcelino Cuyot Payot, killed in Panabo City.

On April 27th, 2009, Bobong Gambuta was killed in Panabo City as well.

4) On May 3rd, 2009, Ruben Bitang, the man whom Pitao accused of driving the van used by the abductors.

5) On October 25th, 2009, the first actual AFP member on the list was killed. when Corpral Pedregosa was killed in Davao City's Paquibato District.

On December 14eh, 2009, a SPARU Team killed an innocent man, Fernando Timbal. Mr.Timbal, a bank courier for the quasi-Governmental Land Bank while he was driving the branch manger's pickup truck, in Panabo City. He was hit by 12 rounds from a 45 caliber pistol.

The sixth killing is the one which inspired this Fourth Quarter entry; On Thursday, November 10th, 2011, at 6AM, Corporal Winnie Carampatan was driving his motorcycle in Davao City's Pquibato District, driving his two young children and his nephew to school. As he entered Barangay Malabog two men walked into the middle of the road, both drawing down and opening fire. Carampatan was killed, causing the motorcycle to skid off the road but all three of the children survived, albeit with bumps, scrapes, and of course traumatising them for life. After Rebelyn was killed the AFP dissolved the detachment from MIG-11 biouvaced in Panabo City, the one fingered as having killed Rebelyn. Carampatan had ended up with the 73IB based in Compostela Vallet's municipality of Mawab..

Disgustingly, the 10ID never mentioned Rebelyn Pitao OR her killing when eulogising Carampatan in media releases, "Our soldier was a non-combatant during the incident. Worst, he was killed before the members of his own family..." Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda.

MILF Armed Contacts,Second Quarter of 2011,Part I:Bloodshed in Palimbang

On June 3rd,2011 LGU (Local Government Unit,as in municipal or provincial government) executives were put on edge over a flurry of sightings concerning columns or armed men moving through the jungle on both sides of the South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat Provincial border.Unlike the NPA,which also operates in that sector (Front 72 and the recently re-activated Front 73),these guerillas were wearing the distinctive tiger pattern camoflauge fatigues that serve as a uniform of sorts for the BIAF,or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces,the military wing of the MILF.

The BIAF Base Command within that AOR (Area of Responsibility,as in Area of Operation) is the 107th but since the beginning of 2010 that element has come close to de-activation with its leadership falling in joint actions by the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) 73IB (Infantry Battalion) with the latter having been intially deployed to the area in August of 2008 to neutralise the Base Command for having gone off the reservation with 3 other Base Commands in the 2008 War.The 107th,then under Kumander Abdulrahman"Aguilar"Malayo,who is usally referred to by his alias Jayson Saliganan had very stupidly pissed where it slept as the saying goes.The 107 Base Command's main camp,ibn Walid,is in Barangay Daliao's Sitio Maca Uno in the mountains of Maasim,Sarangani Province.In May of 2008 the 105 Base Command under the infamous BIAF Kumander,Ustadz Ameril Ombra Kato and his strongest sub-Kumander,Alo Binago,attempted to relocate their AOR to Sarangani Province.

Arriving at the main 107 Base Command camp Kato et al began discussions about the envisioned re-location.Finding the 107 less than receptive the 105 prepared to de-camp to the Binago Clan stronghold in Barangay Kidayan in the municipality of Palimbang,in the adjacent province of Sultan Kudarat.As the 105 moved towards the border it crossed an MNLF camp perimeter in the municipality of Maitum,the last town on the Sarangani side of the border.A large firefight brokeout with the 105 Base Command overunning the small MNLF camp and occupying most of two barangays as well as positions in Palimbang,on the other side of the provincial line.Trying to dislodge the 105 Base Command Sarangani's Governor,then AND now,Miguel"Migs"Dominguez personally conferred with Kumander Kato and was able to have the 105 withdraw from Sarangani Province completely.

Fast forward to the August 4th,2008 TRO,or Temporary Restraining Order,issued by the Supreme Court against the Government which was preparing to sign the MoA-AD,or Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain,with the MILF/BIAF the next day (August 5th) in Kuala Lampur,Malaysia.In response to that TRO,the very same Kumander Kato,by now back at his designated AOR on the Maguindanao and North Cotabao Provincial border,launched a full scale assault on the PALMA Complex.The Complex,consisting of 5 North Cotabato municipalities with Ilonggo (non-Muslim ethnicity from the Western Visayan Islands in the Central Philippines) majorities,burning,pillaging and of course killing Ilonggo,Bisaya and Lumad (the Bisaya are a Christian ethnicity from Eastern Mindanao and the Eastern Visayan Islands,the Lumad are a collection of Animist Hilltribes) in an orgiastic expression of violence that sought out any non-Muslim.

Kato's raid was then followed by the Kumanders of two other Base Commands,Kumander Abdullah"Bravo"Macapaar of the 102 Base Command with an AOR covering most of the two Lanao Provinces (del Norte and del Sur),and Kumander Ustadz Aleem"Mars"Sulaiman Pangalian of the 103 Base Command whose AOR was supposed to cover a portion of Lanao del Sur Province into the Lanao side of the Liguasan Marsh.Looking for new Christians to terrorise,Kumander Kato deployed sub-Kumander Alo Binago back down south to Sarangani Province.

Just after sundown on August 17th,2008 as the AFP was intently focusing on the 102,103,and 105 Base Command AORs Binago led nearly 50 guerillas from the 105 on four motor-bancas (motorised skiffs) out of the Pulangi River (Rio de Cotabato) and south along the coast,finally pulling up on the shores of Maitum just before midnite,August 18th.Rendevouzing with less than two dozen guerillas from the 107 Base Command under sub-Kumander Datu Mama Abpa the combined forces of nearly 80 guerillas moved towards Barangay Poblacion,arriving at 130AM.Storming a pawn shop and pharmacy they looted both,then shot 3 civilians in cold blood,killing two of them:

1) Joleto Ulmas,age 34

2) James Raymund Ruiz,age 21

The third civilian,a 20 year old man was crippled for life.Moving towards the LGU compound housing both the town hall and the PNP MPO,or Municipal Police Office,they launched a poorly co-ordinated full scale assault.Without success,the force withdrew after running out of RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) rounds.Last seen moving through outlying barangays in the direction of the mountains and Camp ibn Walid,the alert went out.

The AFP immediately deployed additional troops to supplement the 27IB which was spread far too thin.Not taking any chances the powers that be shifted an entire IB,the 73rd and had them ensconce themselves directly in Maitum itself with the primary objective being to capture Camp ibn Walid and effectively neutralise the 107 Base Command.It took the 73IB all of 6 days to do just that.It was,hands down,the best performance of any single IB during the 2008 War.

Fast forward to June 3rd,2011 and reports of guerillas roaming the hinterlands where Sultan Kudarat,Sarangani,and South Cotabato Provinces converge.Because of the GPH-MILF Peace Process the GPH,or Government of the Philippines,is walking on egg shells,terrified of accusing the MILF outright.Needing a whipping boy and at the same time appreciating any possible leverage against the MILF,he accusations were made against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters,or BIFF.BIFF is the new insurgency group created by the aforementioned Kumander Kato,formerly of the 105 Base Command.I will save the long winded back story of how Kato evolved from BIAF Posterboy to BIFF madman for an entry I am simultaneously working on,entirely devoted to Kato and BIFF (sounds like a Jap-pop band).Sufficient to say,it wasn't BIFF walking those trails.The idea is ridiculous to anyone at all knowledgeable about the insurgencies on Mindanao in that BIFF is confined to a very small area in the Liguasan Mash and the mountains above it in Maguindanao Province.It is more than a long walk from Maguindanao Province to the bottom of South Cotabato Province.That he could deploy columns traversing 3 full provinces on foot and in full battle array is just too ridiculous to even comment on (wait,I already did).

In fact,those guerillas happen to be from the nearly defunct 105 Base Command,Kato's Command while still in the BIAF.Where were they going?To Palimbang in Sultan Kudarat Province to reinforce the Binago Clan in two separate disputes.While BIFF would be noticed hiking through three provinces the BIAF would not because there are contigious MILF/BIAF AORs all the way down the trail from point A to point B.As long as BIAF guerillas remain within acknowledged perimeters they are ho hum.However,upon reaching the Surallah Valley in South Cotabato Province there are no more MILF/BIAF baliwicks and so...the columns did not escape notice.

The 73IB,still deployed in and around Maasim though since the end of the 2008 War in July of 2009,has been concentrating on going mano to mano with the NPA's Far South Mindanao Regional Committee,or FSMRC.Granted,it has had its hands full with the ressurection of a long dead guerilla unit,Front 73,but still,the top-notch IB from the 2008 War was caught unawares when on June 20th those BIAF columns from the 105 Base Command turned on their game face.

On the day in question,just before daybreak,four motor bancas carrying a total of 60 guerillas from the 104 Base Command under sub-Kumander Usop"Paradise"Pababangan,also known as Tato Musa,landed on the shores of Palimbang's Barangay Kidayan with lesser sub-Kumanders Dods"Ulo"Siman and Mama"Double M"Pangabangan at his side.Immediately upon wading through the surf onto the beach at Sitio Dongon the group found a gaggle of guerillas from the 105 Base Command and a firefight ensued.Yep,this one is BIAF on BIAF,the 104 versus the 105.I'm sure that the 73IB isn't too broken up about failing to read the situation correctly back on June 3rd.

The 104 Base Command,under Kumander Jud Caludtiag,is ensconced in Barangay Meti in the municipality of Datu Blah Sinsuat on the Maguindanao side of the Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat Provincial border.His name may be familiar to readers of this Blog (all 3.5 of you,hi mom!).Back in the Summer of 2010 his 104 Base Command went to war with the MNLF's newest faction,the MNLF-MMSC,or MNLF-Mainland Mindanao State Committee under Datu Faizal"Randy"Karon whose camp is just across the border in Sultan Kudarat Province,in the municipality of Lebak.Not content with having blown up most of his own hometown Kumander Jud saw fit to go to war against the 105 Base Command for two extremely important reasons:

1) Money

2) Money

Aaaaahhhhh,the root of all evil.It will do it everytime.Just as in that 2010 fracas Kumander Jud has his one good eye on a piece of prime real estate,guess he has a thing for beachfront lots in the middle of economically deprived warzones.More over,there is a bundle of extortion money up for grabs and THAT was what finally motivated Kumander Jud to send down the guerillas.

The Vicente T.Lao Construction Company,based in the Panacan District of Davao City is one of the nation's biggest players in large scale construction projects.One minor project it is handling at the moment is the re-paving of the Kalamansig-Palimbang-Sarangani National Hiway.Aside from nearly 100 kilometers of re-paving it is also going to rebuild four old bridges on the northern side of Palimbang.Great,but not really.Knowing that they were going to be awarded the hiway bid on June 20th (bribes are funny that way) they taken a proactive stance and already doled out a very healthy sum to Kumander Jud in the guise of"Revolutionary Taxes."Though the stretch of hiway begins near the 104 Base Command AOR the bulk of the work,vis a vis those four bridges,will be taking place in Palimbang,controlled by the Binago Clan...whose family are heavily involved in the 105 Base Command (as well as the 106 and 109).The Binagos began shaking their fists at the 104 back in late May when they began squeezing the Lao Construction representatives and daring the 104 to stop them.Knowing what this might initiate they had the 105 Base Command,or what remains of it anyway,start sending reinforcements to Palimbang at the beginning of June.It took until June 20th for the 104 to react.

To date,today being July 3rd,there have been slightly more than 50 deaths,12 of them being innocent civilians.There are,according to official numbers now,nearly 10,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons,as in"refugees") and official numbers are usually lowballed by at least 35% meaning that there are at least 13,500 people who are now homeless all because the MILF/BIAF is unable to control its deploding organisation.The IDPs are from six barangays that were eventually engulfed in the widening conflict by June 24th:

1) Kidayan,the original barangay

2) Namat

3) Kisek

4) Masla

5) Batang-Baglas

6) Kiponget

Originally Maganao Elementary School,in the barangay of the same name,served as the town's only IDP centre but by June 25th fighting engulfed Barangay Mangao as well,marking the seventh barangay to fall prey to this senseless violence.

Kumander Jud didn't have to look far for a more than willing sub-Kumander.Tato Musa had a bone to pick with the Binago faction of the 105 Base Command.Back on August 18th,2010,two years to the day since the raid on Maasim,Tato Musa had joined the 105 Base Commands sub-Kumander Alo Binago,the 107 Base Commands sub-Kumander Jafa'ar Maguid under the command of the 105 Base Command's sub-Kumander Scorpion,better known as Kumander 511 for a raid on a pawnshop.The proceeds were to go to a joint weapons purchase but Kumander 511,with Binago's support,had refused to give a portion of the weapons purchase to Tato Musa.He had been waiting for payback,in both senses of the word.

What has been the MILF's reaction to this mayhem?On June 24th the MILF's Central Committee sent a single emissary to try and resolve this widening sub-conflict.Of course he was unable to even meet with a single sub-Kumander because of heavy firefights in what was then six barangays.With the AFP pressuring the MILF for results the Central Committee decided to deploy a team of senior emmisaries with 2 detachments of BIAF guerillas from the recently re-constituted National Guard Base Command which in terms of the BIAF is a Special Forces detachment though no conventional military would even let them peel potatoes in the mess hall.Trying to observe agreed upon protocols the MILF,via its CCCH,or Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities notified both IMT-6,the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team,6th Deployment,and the GPH CCCH contingent that it was doing so.Immediately word came back forbidding the deployment of the National Guard Base Command guerillas.The AFP believes that there would be a significant chance that some or all of the National Guard gunmen would join the fray on one side or another.Judging by past performances it is an absolutely valid concern and so no further emissaries made their way to Palimbang.

What has been the GPH reaction?Intially responding to reports of a gunfight on the beach the Palimbang MPO responded on site and then ran for their lives when both Base Commands concentrated their fire on the PNP personnel and vehicles though the PNP was able to verify that they killed a single guerilla,Base Command unknown,without suffering casualties themselves.The next day,June 21st,while on patrol across the provincial border in South Cotabato Province's Barangay Ned in the municipality of T'boli,the 73IB ran across a thick column of 105 Base Command guerillas moving south to bolster their fellow fighters in Palimbang.A fierce engagement broke out before the BIAF withdrew into the jungle.Still,the AFP refuses to even condemn the MILF/BIAF for fear of upsetting the teetering Peace Process.

NPA Armed Encounters,Third Quarter of 2010:The Never Ending NPA Merry-Go-Round.

The incessant tit-for-tat of the "Child Warrior" game, a pitiful approximation of PSYOPS (Psychological Warfare) is as strong as ever. As I have outlined in at least one other post concerning the NPA, LOAC/IHL (Laws of Armed Conflict/International Humanitarian Law) allows combatants as young as 14 to legally participate in armed conflict though within the last generation it has become increasingly rare to find any fighters younger than 16. Despite the legal threshold, internationally, being 14 one can regularly find both the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the NPA (New Peoples Army) casting stones about 17 year old combatants. The piquant dialect of English spoken here in the Philippines has ordained the label "Child Warriors" as a catchphrase for both the fighters AND the issue itself.

In yet another example provided by the AFP's 10ID (Infantry Division), 73IB's C COY (Company C) captured a 15 year old courier for Front 71. The soldiers, upon entering a mountainside clearing sighted the youth lugging an over packed sack filled with ammo,fatigues and camp equipment. The AFP claims that the young man had recently been in two engagements with the AFP, the first in Janurary of 2009 and the second in Feburary of 2010. He was then turned over to DSWD (Dept. Social Welfare and Development) which then processed him and released him to his parents who, as is always the case, had no idea that their son was with the NPA.

On September 10, 2010 the AFP fired its latest salvo in this propaganda back and forth when the 10ID accused the NPA of recruiting four more minors from among the eleven residents of Barangay Baracatan in Davao City's Toril District. The eleven are currently undergoing the military phase of their training in Mt.Apo National Park with the NPA's Front 54 of the SMRC, or Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. Front 54 of course denies this accusation ,this time pointing to the bi-laterally ratified CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Law) from 1998, as well as a new defence, a 1999 directive from the CPP, or Communist Party of the Philippines, of which the NPA is merely the military arm. The Directive is from the CPP Executive Committee, the CPP organ from which the NPA takes its cues. The Directive, entitled, "Memorandum to the Minimum Age Required for NPA Fighters" basically rehashes CARHRHIL which was very recent at that point.

On September 19, 2010 in Sitio Kisoy in Barangay Anggas in the municipality of Alabel in Sarangani Province, the 73IB (Infantry Battalion) on routine patrol sighted what it believed to be two NPA guerillas sitting in a field, apparently taking a much needed break. Encircling the two they were closing in for what they had hoped would be a violence-free capture when one of the suspected guerillas ran towards a clifface and jumped, rolling down a very steep incline into the valley below and escaped. The second guerilla was then captured without firing a shot, apparently too stunned by what had just transpired.

Upon initial interrogation the guerilla in custody revealed that he was only 15 and not a guerilla at all, but a rather a less than willing guide for the actual guerilla, "Ka Arnold," who had jumped off the plateau. Christened "Ka Buboy" by the NPA who had periodically used him as a guide since age 12 he had been recieving a stipend from the NPA and also had apparently, wittingly or unwittingly, served as a courier as well. During his experience serving the NPA he had recently been through two fire fights in Barangay Datal Anggas, his village of residence. Asked what had attracted him to serve the insugent group he quickly answered that the chief benefit was the few pesos with which to help his impovershied family,who apprently had no idea (of course) of their son's involvement with the NPA.

The young man's presence was propagandised by the AFP's Lieutenant Colonel Medel Aguilar, CO, or Commanding Officer of the 10ID's CMOB (Civil-Military Operations Battalion) as a clearcut violation of both...big suprise here...IHL (International Humanitarian Law) and its subsidiary, LOAC (Laws of Armed Conflict). While that is ridiculous to anyone with even cursory knowledge of anything involved in this dynamic, the 73IB's CO, Lieutenant Colonel Edgardo DeLeon did bring up a valid point when he accused the NPA of committing yet another infraction against the bi-laterally ratified CARHRIL.

"Ka Arnold," the guerilla the 15 year old had been guiding, is a member of Team #1, Primera Squad (1st Squad), Platun Mazda (M Platoon), Front 71 of the FSMRC or Far South Mindanao Regional Committee. Front 71 is the only Front currently operating in Sarangani Province and its primary AOR, or Area of Responsibility (as in "Area of Operation") is in the Alabel and Malapatan municipalities and surrounding environs. The 73IB is deployed specifically to counter the Front and despite almost a year and a half of concerted efforts it has made very little headway. This is a problem in many areas where the government pays lip service to Development while merely utilising it as a catchword for dividing up the spoils amongst multi-nationals and bypassing all but a precious handful of locals usually already sitting pretty in positions of power and affluence.

The next day, September 20th, 2010, in Sitio Akbual in Barangay Upper Suyan in the town of Malapatan in Sarangani Province the 73IB was attacked by 10 guerillas from the afore mentioned Front 71. The AFP were acting as Security Escorts as the 10ID's CMOB was conducting an Anti-Dengue drive. For people perhaps unaware, Dengue is a mosquito borne disease that is often fatal and has shown increases into the triple digits in many areas of the island over the last 12 months- not too mention over much of the Southern and Central Philippines as well (actually the reportage protocols have changed and this is the primary mover behind the increase but hey, it keeps the local media busy so lets let them have their fun). Per this increase, three of the four IDs (Infantry Divisions) on mainland Mindanao have deployed their CMOBs in anti-Dengue efforts.

The next day, September 21st, the 4ID, based in Cagayan De Oro City's Camp Edilberto Evangelista turned over ISO (Internal Security Operations, which has evolved into a euphanism for COIN, i.e. "Counterinsurgency") to Misamis Oriental Province's PPOC (Provincial Peace and Order Council, an interface between the AFP and LGUs, i.e."Local Government Units," itself a euphanism for "municipality"), via Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno. The Sign-Over Ceremony took place on the Provincial Capitol Grounds. Essentially this means that the insurgency is now considered negligible to non-existent and that local law enforcement and LGUs are believed capable enough to handle any residual presence. It is worth noting that the 403Bde's (Brigade) CO (Commanding Officer), Col. Romeo Gapuz boldly stated that the NPA's Front 4B has been defeated. Famous last words...

That same day also within the 4ID's AOR (Area of Operations), in Barangay Valentina in the municipality of Esperanza in Agusan del Sur Province, the 26IB came across 10 guerillas from Front 8 of the NEMRC, or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee and a 10 minute fire fight ensued. The clash resulted in the death of one guerilla and the capture of two M14s after the NPA withdrew from the scene. Esperanza is one of three spiritual capitals of the Higaon-on Tribe, a Lumad (Hill Tribe) group with branches in Bukidnon Province as well as in another spiritual capital, Claveria in Misamis Oriental Province.

Whole Claveria still has formidable NPA activity, despite the utterings at that afore mentioned ceremony, as well as absolutely no progress on the social and economic environments that breeds the insurgency, Esperanza is still in the thick of war with the NPA running parallel governments in almost all outlying barangays and the tribe is suffering terribly as it splits into (actually split three decades ago) into pro and anti-NPA factions, aggravated immensely by the AFP's Force Multiplication efforts aimed at the tribe. As I have mentioned in previous postings/entries I will delve into those efforts in great detail as soon as time allows.

September 24th, 2010 in Barangay Upper Suyan, again in the town of Malapatan in Sarangani Province, 40 year old Eliseo "Ka Bimbo" Tada of that same town and a Team Leader (most minor of NPA command positions, controls less than a single squad) in the NPA's Front 71 surrendered to the 39IB citing complications from malaria that he caught as a combatant deep in the bush, as well as homesickness for his family and village. He didnt turn in a weapon, as is the usual requirement for acceptance into the government's Social Integration Programme which provides immediate payouts for each weapon via the related "Balik Baril" ("Return a Rifle"), as well as Livlihood and Sustenance payouts, making it a formidable incentive for some. The AFP has claimed that the lack of weapon, which is extremely curious since Tada is said to have been a Team Leader, is due to his CO, "Ka Ronron," having seized his weapon, an M16, before allowing him to leave his detachment on September 12th.

That is the version prepared by the AFP spinmasters. The real story is a bit more understandable. Tada had left his camp on September 12th as he travelled to Davao City to seek treatment for his serious strain of malaria. As he passed thru the municipality of Malita in Davao del Sur Province he was taken into custody by the 39IB at an AFP Checkpoint. He was then paraded through the streets of that small town's Barangay Poblacion before entering the AFP Gulag. Perhaps the emnity of the AFP is also a bit more understandable when one realises that Tada is from the Team that had just engaged the 73IB in a fire fight on September 20th during the afore mentioned anti-Dengue Operation.

September 25th, 2010 in Sitio Taglawig in Barangay Panoraon in the town of Maco in ComVal (Compostela Valley) Province saw a platoon from the 71IB dispatched after intermittent reports or unknown armed men seen in the vicinity over a number of days. Upon scouring (going over a sector meter by meter) the sector the AFP discovered a recently erected camp with two platoons of NPA (roughly 60 guerillas). A 10 minute fire fight erupted with no casualties on either side as the NPA quickly withdrew from their camp. The presence of a camp in that sector bodes ill for the AFP and their intensified efforts in the region since the same battalion had recently launched a Civil-Military (Hearts and Minds, as in the military performing medical and social outreach to develop a rapport with the population) Operation there. Such operations involve a regular presence of a moderately sized detachment and the NPA's decison to encamp there shows that it has little to fear at the moment.

September 29th, 2010 in Barangay Bagampasan in the municipality of Don Victoriano Chiongbian in Misamis Occidental, an AFP detachment on patrol unexpectedly came across a detachment of NPA as the soldiers entered a clearing on a hillside. During the subsequent 1 hour fire fight five soldiers and a staff seargent were wounded by an M203 grenade. What was it that the good Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Gapuz had said about Front 4B?

That same day, September 29th, in Barangay Fatima in Davao City's Paquibato District in Davao del Sur Province, the NPA's 1st Pulang Bagani Company (Red Warriors Company) ambushed an AFP detachment though for once it was an opportunistic endeavour since all planned ambuscades by the Pulang Bagani (there are three companies though its parent formation FSMRC pretends there are five) involve IEDs,which the AFP likes to spin as "landmines" while claiming that they are illegal under IHL/LOAC. Since these IEDs are always command controlled (detonated purposefully by remote) they are absolutely legal in warfare.

On October 1st,2010 in Purok#5 of Barangay San Isidro in the town of Lianga in the Andap Complex of Surigao del Sur Province, 9 guerillas from Front 19A attacked an SCAA post attached to SUDECOR (Surigao Development Corp.), a private logging concern involved in heavy deforestation of Anadap, one of the last remaining large strands of virgin timber in the Mindanowan jungle. Unbeknownst to the guerillas, the post sublimated to the 23IB and led by Corporal Singson, of the 23IB's C COY (Comapny C) was hosting an element from the 75IB so that instead of the usual single AFP NCO ( Non-Commissioned Officer), in charge of unmotivated local tribesmen, the post was swarming with AFP. After 15 minutes of heavy back and forth the NPA withdrew back into the Diwata Mountains.

I have written about the SCAA (Special Civilain Active Auxiliary), akin to CAFGU but entirely funded by private sources,such as large businesses though the AFP now tries to bar large landholders who merely engage in agricultural pursuits since it lends an air of Feudalism and plays directly into the hands of NPA propagandists. The Andap Complex that I mentioned in the preceeding paragraph is the area between the municipalities of Tandag, Tago, Cagwait, San Agustin, Marihatag and Lianga in Surigao del Sur Province directly bordering Agusan del Sur Province. Heavily forested so that it is an objective in many GPH (Govt.of the Philippines) Develpment schemes. At the moment there are 42 MPSAs (Mineral Production Sharing Agreements), 73 MEPs (Mineral Exploration Permits) and heavy Timber and Coal Concessions as well.

An unfortunate dichotomy in COIN (Counterinsurgency Warfare) in that to defeat the political end of the dynamic, by far its largest facet, Infrastructural and Economic Development must take place on a considerable scale. In a Maoist-centric insurgency, such as the one being waged by the NPA, practically the entire struggle takes place in a rural theater of operations. Ergo, to attempt to defeat the insurgency the government must put forth great effort in tranforming the economic, infrastructural and social landscape. The contradiction in objectives enters when one realises that when the government begins undertaking this great endeavour it must enter into "bargains with the devil," the "devil" in this case being unscrupulous private developers who almost always engage in large scale exploitation of the local populace and enviornment thus breeding a new generation of recruits for the insurgency.

Social Development never comes close to even keeping pace with the other forms of development and these social ills that result defeat the government's larger, greater objective of neutralising the insurgency. Round and round it goes so that the actual objective morphs into just trying to keep the violence down to a somewhat manageable pace, where the local populace can grasp some sort of semblance to "normal" life.

October 7th, 2010 in Purok #8 of Barangay Carmen in Davao City's Baguio District in Davao del Sur Province, the 84IB was Clearing the sector when they unexpectedly came across a platoon from the NPA's Front 54. After a rough fire fight the NPA guerillas withdrew to Barangay Tamayong in the adhacent district of Calinan, as a running fire fight then transpired the guerillas split into detachments before regrouping in Sitio Ligabato back in Barangay Carmen where they had first been encountered. Ligabato had been the site of their temporary encampment which they then had to hastily abandon before withdrawing deeper into the mountains outside Davao City limits.

In non-military developments, Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the NPA/CPP linked umbrella organisation that comprises all left wing sectoral organisations sympathetic to or directly aligned with NPA/CPP objectives) Spokesman on Mindanao and a Regional NPA Commander to boot issued a statement on September 28th, 2010 on the Port Call made by the US Navy's USS George Washington and three destroyers, in Manila. In a highly true to form piece, Madlos says that the Port Call is only the latest and most blatant in a string of recent US incursions into Philippine territory. He said, correctly, that US troops often masquerade as Humanitarian actors even though they overtly engage both the NPA (that is absolutely false) and the MILF (that is correct in so much as MILF's 114 Base Command on Basilan is inextricably linked to Abu Sayyaf and Abu Sayyaf is the US mandate in the Philippines, an issue I will be discussing in my next MILF entry since the US Ambassador just requalified that issue in a recent statement).

The US involvement against the NPA is relegated to Intel related Operations, primarily by the CIA which operates out of a set of three shipping containers at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City. There are a couple of uniformed servicemen working with them, in UAV ("Drones," i.e.unmanned aerial craft used to surveil in this case in the pursuit of intel, as well as in SIGNINT, electronic intel). To "overtly engage" the US would have to enter into Combat Operations which it has not despite ridiculous propaganda from the NPA claiming that unifromed US soldiers were involved in a firefight in Visayas Region. the US has no Operational Presence north of mainland Mindanao. Its presence is heaviest on Basilan, but it also has a significant presence on Jolo Island, and maintains 3 man teams as far afield as Tawi Tawi's AFP Naval Station. I am meandering a bit off course and will relegate my posting in this area to these limited comments, and hope to get to it sooner rather than later.

Madlos went on to say, US efforts are directly cadged from its COIN (Counter Insurgency) manual and are part and parcel of America's "Containment and Engagement" policy. Only a very naive, or ignorant person would imagine that the americans hold no ulterior motives in their Philippine endeavour. The so called "South East Asian Front on the War on Terror" is a farce. Whatever tenuous links Middle Eastern Islamo-fascists may have had with Abu Sayyaf had dissipated at least 5 years before the first uniformed American deplaned at Edwin Andrews Airforce Base in Zamboanga City. Abu Sayyaf itself was totally and irrevocably devoid of any substantiative ideology by that time as well, and had been since before its founder was killed in 1998.

The continued US presence is absolutely tied to regional goals but they are not entirely, or even mostly economic in nature.Rather they are tied to hegemony, not allowing China to extend its reach (the Spratly Islands brouhaha excepted), nor allow Japan to gain the heads up as it becomes the third largest donor on humanitarian projects in Mindanao behind America and Australia. So much for the Madlos/NDF/CPP/NPA worldview which was stale even before Mao died.

September 3rd, 2010 saw yet another killing in the Datu Labawan saga,but this issue has quickly evolved from an NPA-centric dynamic to one deserving of its own long winded entry, one I hope to get to shortly. Most if not all civilian killings since August are attributable to the tribal feud ("Pangayaw").

On October 04, 2010, yet another chapter in the AFP versus NPA "Child Warrior" saga closed in Laak ,ComVal (Compostela Valley) Province. The AFP's 3rdSFB (Special Forces aka Airborne Battalion) under Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Napuli provided a Security Perimeter as a resident of Barangay Prosperidad in the town of Montevista in that same province sought AFP assistance in the search for his missing son. Maneja Andoyo, a local Lumad (Hill Tribe) man had last seen his son Bobong Andoyo when the young man left home after a short visit, on November 14th, 2009. Four days before his 17th birthday.

Bobong had been home on a short visit, having joined the NPA with his younger brother Rodrigo Andoyo in 2008, when Bobong had just turned 15, and Rodrigo had turned 14. Rodrigo couldnt stomach the lean diet, crude environment and most of all he says, the violence. Bobong stayed on, primarily being motivated by the monthly stipend promised to all NPA Regulars (full time guerillas), seeing it as perhaps the only avenue with which he could help alleviate some of the crushing poverty his family faced. Shortly after he returned to his detachment from that short visit at home, he and fellow recruit Reto "Ka Jeffrey" Mawang, also a teenager, decided to defect.

Leaving one evening when both had sentry duty the two youths took their chance, careful to bring their weapons with them to ensure their acceptance into the AFP's Surrenderee Program, aka Social Integration Program, which offers a generous bounty for each operable weapon surrendered as well as an immediate financial incentive and payouts for livlihood and re-training assistance. When it was apparent that the two had fled the hierarchy in the Front (comparable to an IB in the AFP though with far less personnel) ordered them roped in. It wasnt long before their former comrades caught up to them as they tried to navigate the deep bush in the early moning hours, according to a local farmer cum NPA Irregular (NPA Village Militia) who resides in Sitio Pundasyon, the sitio in Laak where the double grave was uncovered, and was able to witness their apprehension and execution from his home.

Assisted by the Nabunturan Scene of Crime Operations (SOCO),from Nabunturan Municipal Police Office, Maneja Andoyo and his son Rodrigo dug out Bobong's decomposed remains by hand, still wearing the black teeshirt usually worn by NPA Regulars, and the combat fatigues he had also been wearing the last day his father saw him. Having spent P50,000 raised by selling off virtually all his possesions, Maneja said that he was finally at peace and had found a measure of closure. Until this point he had been receiving dreams regularly in which his son cried out for succor. He had expected the discovery ever since he had first questioned locals in that same NPA detachment and the men had been extremely evasive.

October 7th, 2010 saw yet another AFP salvo against the NPA in the never-ending saga of the,"Child Warrior."The 84IB, having had a difficult transfer south from Luzon,and having been decimated in battle against the NPA is finally getting the hang of life down south with its recent Clearing Operation in Purok #8, Barangay Carmen,Baguio District in Davao City.Stumbling over a deserted encampment from NPA Front-54 they found some internal memos dated November 24, 2009 with a neatly composed list of new recruits from Davao AOR including full psycho-social profiles as well as Logistical info such as methods for procurement of medical supplies.It is the recruit list though that is making 10ID brass get all hot and bothered.On the list are 3 males under the age of 18,two of whom are drug users...as if no AFP soldier is but that is just how it is played.The camp was located well within the Klata band of Bagobo Lumad's AD (Ancestral Domain) Claim,despite a long history of opposition from that band's Datu (chief).Front-54's Kumander (CO) Alex"Ka Bobby"Rosete is slacking off apparently.

On Monday October 11th,2010 New Zealand ignorantly added the CPP and NPA along with 4 other organisations to its list of"International Terror Organisations"per its"Terrorism Suppression Act."Who were the NPA lumped together with? HAMAS' miltary wing,the Qassam Brigades and those fun loving bunch of Islamo-fascists, PIJ aka Palestinian Islamic Jihad.PM John Keys amazingly maintains that this move helps his nation meet its onus under UN Security Council Resolution #1373 which was passed to help neutralise the world wide specter of terrorism. How and why the NPA was ever lumped into THAT pile of nonsense defies logic and any kind of adult reasoning but of course the answer is that the Philippine Government,as it claims to be entering into Peace Talk mode with the NPA (via the NPA's umbrella organisation, the NDF, National Democratic Front) pressured hard to get it done...just as it did with the Netherlands when it revoked NPA founder and nominal leader (officialy "Consultant to the NDF") Jose Maria Sison aka JOMA's Residency Status and Social Welfare Benefits.Bravo for New Zealand,I am sure that its people can rest easier knowing that the NPA is now on that list (SARCASM).

October 19, 2010 in Sitio Tumondong,Barangay Basak,Magpet,North Cotabato Province on the Sumifru Banana Plantation roughly 50 NPA swamred the sitio in the early morning hours destroyed 8 Million Pesos (~150,000 US) worth of heavy equipment.Sumifru is owned by the Japanese corporation Sumitomo which farms about 4,000 hectares at locations throughout Southern Mindanao.Normally an action like this wouldnt even be worth mentioning as they are so common and do not involve human casualties but the incident marks a push into slightly new territory for the NPA, or rather a return to territory it hasnt held since the very early 1990s.More over,it created approximately 1200 new IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons aka REfugees) as terrified villagers fearing an escalation fled with the clothes on their backs. IDPs are almost always related to AFP actions taken against various groups within the Islamic Insurgency though every few months there is a moderate wave in Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur Province's Andap Complex.As of today,October 21st,the IDPs remain in Evacuation Centres,etc.

The next day, October 20,2010 saw a rare glimmer of hope in the GPH-NPA struggle,now close to its 42nd year of war and bloodshed.The NPA (and CPP) sublimate themselves within an umbrella organisation,the NDFP,or as it is commonly known,the NDF (National Democratic Front of the Philippines).The NDF encompasses a range of Left Wing Sectoral Front Organisations,many of which figure in the AFP's Order of Battle (fair game in war,though usually in the covert, u

Founder JOMA,Jose Maria Sosa,and many other top figures had ensconced themselves comfortably in Utrecht, Netherlands.While many,like Luis Jandaloni had intelligently taken dual Dutch citizenship JOMA had merely become a legal alien while he wound his way through the cumbersome process of claiming Political Asylum. The placement on these 2 Lists caused JOMA's status to be yanked and negated the possibility of travel outside the EU for Jandaloni, et al.The almost imemdiate result was the NDF unilaterally stepping away from the negotiating table.

As ex-President Arroyo's time drew near JOMA and the rest of the crew began putting out feelers to jump start the process.When Aquino took the Election this past May most observers knew that the resumption was a given, after a few very minor wrinkles have been ironed out. Much to President Aquino's credit he has picked 5 extremely able people for the GPH Panel, all of whom I will go into great detail about in m next entry.There is still no date in sight though it most definitely will take place in the first half of 2011.Seven long years of sadness and bloodshed. Unlike the GPH-MILF Peace Process the GPH-NDF Peace Process actually stands a chance of accomplishing soemthing with lasting impact.One can imagine anyway...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at 547AM in Purok Basakan,Barangay Alagon,Siay,Zamboanga Sibugay Province,the 53IB claimed to have found an NPA Camp outside the town in question though no NPA activity has been known to take place there over the last 36 months,let alone in the entire 1 ID AOR, and killed 2 men the TF says were armed NPA guerillas. It has to be mentioned that on Monday, October 25 in Barangay Pilay, Ipil, also in that province and well within the ID's AOR ( 1st Infantry Division's Area of Operations),a CAFGU soldier, Oilgario Bucal Jr.turned his army issued weapon on his comrades killing 5 in cold blood.The obvious questions are being floated on this issue. Bucal then escaped into the bush,do the math (maybe),especially when you find out that the 2 dead "guerillas" were 1 male and 1 female and only 1 weapon was recovered, an army issued carbine.