The following "History" entry is quite different from my previous entries for a couple of reasons. First, it isn't an axcerpt but an entire publication, albeit one with substantially less content than most books. Secondly, it is of a much more recent vintage having been published almost 20 years ago. I also need to point out that the publisher, HRW, or Human Rights Watch, is one that I often find quite suspect. Recently I posted a three part series on HRW's report on the so called "Davao Death Squadl although found no serious factual errors, the report smacked of amateurish innuendo and nothing was corroborated. It was all subjective nonsense. Still, it drew international attention to the dynamic and did provide character sketches of 28 alleged victims. Likewise with this report. The jist of the work is that the AFP-sponsored armed reserves like the now defunct Integrated Civil Home Defense (ICHDF) or its succesor, today's Civilian Auxiliary Geographical Force Unit (CAFGU) as well as the Lumad (Animist Hilltribesmen) paramilitaries that were folded into the nascent CAFGU, just as they had been with the ICHDF.
Unlike the aforementioned Davao Death Squad report, "You Can Die at Anytim," this report, "Bad Blood: Militia Abuses in Mindanao, the Philippines," resulted in a very intencive investigation. For five weeks in January and February of 1992 HRW staffers covered the bloody violence in Mindanao's Caraga Region, specifically the borderlands of Agusan del Sur and Suriago del Sur Provinces, close to what was then the northern reaches of Davao del Norte Province, but what has since become Compostela Valley, or ComVal Province. The saddest thing is how nothing at all has changed in the nearly two decades since.
It is a thirty-six paged report but like so many of its ilk, the first several pages are tables, and report overviews, etc., so that I begin on page seven. This will be a three part entry.
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Bad Blood: Militia Abuses in Mindanao, the Philippines
pp7
The Military, the Paramilitary, and the NPA
From CHDF to CAFGU
Since its inception the Philippine Military has served primarily as an internal security force, directed to quell indigenous insurgencies rather than to fight external aggressors. Paramilitary auxiliaries, both official and unofficial, have been central to these internal operations. Paramilitary groups have allowed the military to circumvent the more costly alternative- large increases in the regular territorial foces- and have functioned as the military's grassroots "eyes and ears" in communities suspected of harboring subversives. Historically, the Government has had a poor record of convicting members of paramilitary groups on human rights grounds.
During the Japanese Occupation, the Philippine Constabulary (PC) , then the leading internal security force, worked closely with a paramilitary group known as the Civil Guards, which were armed by the PC and paid by landholder's collaborating with the Japanese. After World War II, Civil Guards were used in a brutal and successful war to crush a peasant uprising in Luzon known as the Huk Rebellion. Local fanatic cult groups were also deployed in terror campaigns in a strategy masterminded by the CIA's head Edward Lansdale. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Military continued to use civilian paramilitary organizations under various names under successive administrations.
In the mid-1970s, existing paramilitary organizations were absorbed into the new Integrated Civilian Home Defense Force, or ICHDF. In Mindanao, the IHCDF, or CHDF, was originally deployed together with Cristian armed fanatic groups against an uprising in the Muslim population. The CHDF often operated in independent teams, outside the chain of command. Under the supervision of Constabulary forces, the CHDF soon grew to more than 73,000 members, and gained international notoriety for brutality. Virtually every major international human rights organization working in the Philippines documented its abuses.
Beginning in 1974, the CHDF were also increasingly deployed against the New Peoples Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. By 1985, NPA forces , driven by worsening poverty and unprecedented levels of corruption in government, had grown to an estimated 25,000 armed insurgents. Most of the CHDF were deployed in Mindanao, which helped the NPA expand in that region, because "in addition to being incompetent , the CHDF were brutal" ("Rebellion and Repression in the Philippines" Richard Kessler [New Haven,Conn.:Yale University Press] [1989] pp121). In one particularly grisly example reported to the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights, a mother described what the CHDF had done to her daughter:
"Last December 23, 1984, I was working at our farm in Sitio Bagacay, while my daughter Virginia was inside our nipa house. At about 4PM, I heard gunshots coming from the hill directly above where our house was located...I recognized the men as four members of the Civilian Home Defense Force...the four CHDF members approached Virginia, took her to our (farm) plot. Once there, they removed the dress, bra, and panties of Virginia...
pp8
...laid her on the ground and the four took turns having sexual intercourse with her. Virginia shouted for help twice and after her second appeal for help, (one of the CHDF) stabbed her with a dagger above her breast and below her navel, after which he shot her with his rifle. After looting the hut, the four CHDF members burned it down, fired several more shots in the air and left" (LCHR "Salvaging Democracy) pp33).
Because of many abuses like this one, the dissolution of the CHDF became a constant refrain of human rights groups and the political opposition to Marcos in the early 1980s. Opposition candidate Corazon Aquino made the end of the CHDF a key promise during her presidential campaign, and when she took office, she vowed to make good on her campaign pledge. The new Constitution, ratified in February 1987, provided that "all paramilitary forces including the CHDF...shall be dissolved or, where appropriate, converted into the regular force," but permitted the creation of a "citizens armed force" (Constitution Article XVII, Section 24).
The CHDF and other paramilitary units were officially dissolved six months later. Just ten days later, however, Aquino signed an Executive Irder creating the new Citizens Armed Forces- Geographical Unit (CAFGU) (Executive Order #275 dissolved the CHDF on 7/15/87 and Executive Order #264 created CAFGU on July 25, 1987). Initially, according to various Military estimates, between 30 and 70% of CAFGU recruits were former CHDF members.
Recognizing the brutality of the CHDF, military leaders made efforts to distinguish the CAFGU from the CHDF. The CAFGU, they said, was not a paramilitary force, which was now outlawed. It was rather a "reservist army" or militia, to be deployed solely in their home communities to defend against incursions by rebel forces. Guidelines assured that only "qualified" individuals would be admitted in a careful screening process, a process supervised by civil, as well as military authorities. Recruits with criminal, or "derogatory" records would be excluded. Ideally CAFGU recruits were to be drawn from the pool of roughly "one million idle Reservists, highschool graduates or ROTC or Civil Military Training courses or of summer military courses. In cases where there were insufficient numbers of eligible candidates, the Armed Forces may screen all able bodied male citizens and train them" (from Executive Order #264, line #240 under "Implementing Rules and Regulations").
In reality, the guidelines used in screening potential recruits are inadequate to prevent abusive individuals from being accepted. Given the poor record of prosecutions against human rights violators, many former CHDF and vigilante group members may be legally accepted. More worrisome, national and internation human rights groups have complained that even the limited screening safeguards are routinely ignored or purposely circumvented.
Training for CAFGU also appears to be inadequate. While the military points to the fact that the six week training for CAFGU includes several hours training on concepts of human rights. Human Rights Watch learned of several instances where training personnel (who after training became the unit's commanding officers) are themselves known to be abusive.
Guidelines drafted by the Department of National Defense provided that the CAFGU, unlike the CHDF, would be subject to the same discipline and chain of command as the regular armed forces. Each armed forces detachment would be liable for abuses committed by CAFGU members operating under its command. However, Human Rights Watch found that military officers often denied that especially abusive CAFGU members were under their command, despite evidence to the contrary.
pp9
In early 1992, some 89,000 CAFGU had been deployed, and plans were underway to increase the CAFGU by another 10,000. In rural areas, CAFGU forces were increasingly eclipsing local civilian government and police functions. Because of their superior knowledge of local territory and history, the CAFGUs were employed by the military in all aspects of military operations, from informants and guides to frontline forces in search and destroy operations against rebel hideouts.
Human Rights Watch documented dozens of grave human rights abuses, ranging from Extra-Judicial Killings to maltreatment while in custody, committed by CAFGU members in Mindanao. Little, it seems, had changed. The findings echo several earlier reports by international human rights organizations, which documented an alarming rise in cases of abuse by the militia in 1989.
Human Rights Watch findings cast serious doubt on the rigorousness of the CAFGU screening process and on the ability of regular forces to control and discipline units in Mindanao. Lists available through military and civil authorities revealed that a majority of recruits formerly belonged to the CHDF. In other cases, CAFGU members were known to belong to local fanatical cults or tribal armies, and still others reportedly had criminal records. The idea of drawing reservists from college level ROTC graduates was impossible to achieve in outlying areas, where the vast majority of residents have only a few years schooling. In cases where CAFGU abuses were reported to authorities, few militiamen were disarmed, discharged, tried, and convicted (in Agusan del Sur Province only 35% finished primary school and only 10% were graduates of any formal military training).
Worse, in a few documented cases where CAFGU members were officially discharged, the individuals continued to be employed in military operations against insurgents.
Human Rights Reforms
Few military, paramilitary, or militia members have ever been prosecuted by the courts. The problem is not one of laws, but one of enforcement. The Philippines is signatory to many of the principle human rights treaties, and the Philippine Constitution contains a comprehensive Bill of Rights.
Several Governmental bodies concerned with human rights exist. A Government Commision on Human Rights (CHR) laid down in the Constitution, is charged with investigating human rights abuses by both the Government and the NPA, and recommending cases for prosecution. It has no power to prosecute.
However, even within its limited mandate, the CHR has had little success in investigating abuses. Critics both within and outside the agency say the CHR has attempted to investigate too wide a variety of civil and criminal matters...
pp10
...and complain that its resources are too centralized in the capital. Of 679 staff on January 1992, 300 were in Manila. While the Manila office produced glossy brochures and detailed performance reports, investigators in the countryside complained about being short of staff and funds. Each regional office had the use of just one vehicle for investigators across an average of seven provinces; and budgets were so tight that investigators routinely paid for Xerox copying out of their own pocket. In Surigao del Sur Province, where numerous cases of abuse were reported, the field investigator said he had use of neither a type writer nor a Government vehicle.
The CHR is also hindered by its reputation for being ineffectual as an avenue for justice. Of 3,414 complaints filed with the CHR in 1991, only 836 were filed in the courts or in other agencies. The CHR was unable to point to any discharge or jail sentence of military as a result. Human rights groups also complained that CHR was too passive, failing to investigate reported abuses unless the complaintant filed a formal complaint, which the victims of abuse were often reluctant to do.
To its credit, the CHR appears to have showed some boldness in employing its new powers to delay schueduled promotions of military officers on the basis of existing human rights complaints. Human Rights Watch found evidence to suggest that this is having a strong psychological impact on higher ranks in the military. In Mindanao, for instance, Human Rights Watch was told by military sources that the promotion of a brigade commander in Bukidnon was held up because of complaints filed against a subordinate, a lieutenant colonel; two other colonels, one in Agusan del Sur and one in Bukidnon, were also not promoted because of complaints filed with the Commission on Human Rights going back to the mid-1980s. A major in Tupi, South Cotabato also said his promotion had been held up, and local human rights monitors said he has been consulting with them on human rights issues more frequently since then (the "major" in South Cotabato was Major Bermudez, interviewed by HRW on 1/21/92 and the "colonel in Bukidnon was Col.Rodolfo Rocamora interviewed by HRW at Camp Osito Bahian on 1/21/92).
The Presidential Human Rights Committee, a cabinet-level task force which includes representatives of the military, CHR, Departent of Justice and non-governmental human rights organizations, has pushed a member of human rights cases to the spotlight since 1989, but it remains to be seen whether any prosecutions can be attained. Under the leadership of Justice Secretary Franklin Drilon and his successor, Silvestre N.Bello III, the PHRC launched several investigations. In November 1991, a Task Force was actively prosecuting several cases of political killings, including a case of multiple murder and arson against a military sergeant in the massacare of the Peralta family in Pangasinan. The PHRC also enacted several new directives, but implementation appeared to be a problem. For example, the PHRC drafted legislation instituting an important, critical program for protecting witnesses and their families. However, a year after the legislation had become law, and despite a hefty $1 Million budget, the program had still not been utilized in a single instance.
Officials in PHRC blamed the non-implementation of the program on the increasing political paralysis in the months leading up to the 1992 Elections.
pp11
There was an increasing sense of lawlessness during the election period. Three candidates were assassinated in February and early March. Government officials complained that the Armed Forces were "outgunned" by the estimated 143 private armies across the country. In fact, many of the "private" armies were manned by offduty soldiers and militia. The local and national press provided a daily litany of scandals describing soldiers and militiamen's involvement in illegal logging, extortion, kidnapping rings, and guns-for-hire rings.
Police commanders publicly expressed fears that CAFGU groups might be used by wealthy politicians to intimidate voters during the elections. In Central Mindanao, a police official announced that the CAFGU and vigilante forces were being mobilized by politicians as private armies. This prompted President Aquino to request that CAFGU deployed in areas where insurgency no longer posed a threat be disarmed. A week later, however, the Commissioner on Elections said the 89.000 CAFGU could keep their arms following a request by the Defense Secretary Renato de Villa that the CAFGU serve as official "poll watchers' and promised "clean and fair' elections.
The Military and Human Rights
The Philippine Military has long been characterized by excessive politicization and abusiveness. It has also been tainted by the image of illegitimacy. Historically it has served as a collaborator with foreign occupying powers, and as an instrument of elite repression. Even though the military had taken pains to clean up its tarnished image. At the highest levels, the military had cooperated with efforts by the legislature, the Department of Justice, and the Commission on Human Rights to strengthen civilian authority. In late 1990, the legislature passed a law dissolving the PC, a security force which was responsible for serious human rights abuses during the Marcos and Aquino Administrations, and instituted a new national police under civilian control. In June 1991, Aquino signed legislation which returned to civil courts jurisdiction over human rights and criminal offenses filed against members of the military.
However, for reasons not entirely clear, human rights reforms appeared to have successfully "trickled down" to the intermediate and rank and file level. In 1991, evidence of human rights abuses by soldiers and militia continued to be reported, although on a lesser scale. There appeared to be a serious lack of political will in combating remaining obstruction among military ranks. The military's commitment to enforcing the Government's legal commitments to preserving human rights appeared questionable.
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Parts 2, 3, and 4 to follow...
Showing posts with label Agusan del Sur Province. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agusan del Sur Province. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
NPA Armed Engagements for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part V: Fallout From the 5 Billion Peso Attack on Claver
Of course the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, wasn't going to sit on its inept hands after the NPA had 300 guerillas waltz into the "Pacified" province of Surigao del Norte and blow up two ships, one hundred and fourty-odd dump trucks, a couple of dozen pieces of heavy equipment, assorted barges and tugboats, blow up a mining process facility under construction, hold dozens of potential Japanese investors at gunpoint, kill five security guards, take scores of employees hostage, ambush a police convoy...did I forget anything else? Conservatively estimated at P5 Billion worth of damage just in equipment and trucks, the attack was one giant slap in the face to the AFP and its puppet, President Aquino.
Of course heads rolled but amazingly not that many. For example, with the PNP, or Philippine National Police, PNP Head Honcho, Director General Nicanor "Nick" Bartoleme removed the MPO (Municipal Police Office) Director, Senior Inspector Diomedes Cuadra, the Commanding Officer of PRO-13's, or Police Regional Office for Region 13's Public Safety Battalion (RPSB, the new moniker given to the Regional Police Mobile Group), Superintendent Rudy Cuyop and the Commanding Officer of PPO, or Police Provincial Office of Surigao del Norte Province, Senior Superintendent Emmanuel "Manny" Talento. However did not remove anyone else such as PRO-13's Director, who commands not only Cuyop and Cuadra but Talento as well! Glad to see that cronyism is alive and well but don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
Even more interestingly, within the AFP they sacked the Brigade Commander, Colonel Rodrigo Diapana and his EXO (Executive Officer, Second in Command), Colonel Cresente Q. Maligmat who concurrently commanded Task Force Stinger. Yet, the Division Commander nor any Battalion Commanders felt the heat. More to the point, no intelligence officers had their posteriors handed to them, so typical, so sad. If you are going to exercise the perogative of Command Responsibility, the protocol in Military Law that holds a commander responsible for all problems under his or her command, you must exercise that perogative universally. If you don't you merely reveal yourself for the toady fraud you are. Moreover, what about ACTUAL negligence above and beyond the principle of Command Responsibility? Declares Surigao del Norte Province "Pacified" on April 18th, 2010, a move I pointed out was far too premature and predicted would come back to haunt the previous division commander in manifest ways, yet he stays in play while you hang line officers out to dry? You ruin two Colonels' careers over a theoretical principle while ignoring ACTUAL malfeasance and culpability? AFP Chief of Staff Eduardo Oban is a sick joke. How is this for irony? On April 18th, 2010 then-commander of the 4ID (Infantry Division), Major General Mario Chan made his "Pacification" declaration at the headquarters of the 30IB (Infantry Battalion). That headquarters is in the municipality of...CLAVER.
OK, with my daily tirade out of the way...
On October 6th, 2011, at 11AM the municipality of Esperanza's Barangay Calabuan, in Agusan del Sur Province the AFP's 5th Scout Ranger Company, operating with the 58IB on backup infiltrated a small NPA camp in Sitio Simontana as its guerillas were pre-occupied with lunch. The camp belonging to Front 8 of the NEMRC, or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee within which Front 4A of the NCMRC, or Northcentral Mindanao Regional Committe was holed up during its retreat from Claver and that huge attack on October 3rd.
Five NPA guerillas were killed, including the Secretary (the leader) of Front 4A, Ricardo Manili who is much better known by his nom de guerre, Ka Joker. Manili is also the former Secretary of the NCMRC's Operational Command, meaning he was a former commander of all military operations within the NCMRC and therefore an extremely high value target. Had the AFP instead captured him he would have been an extremely valuable font of intelligence. Of course the AFP is a military that kills kidnap victims and claims it rescued them so what are we to expect? When kidnap victims fear discovery by the AFP more than they do remaining in captivity something is terribly wrong.
In addition to kiling 5 guerillas the AFP lost a soldier who was killed in action and also managed to capture 12 assault rifles, consisting of four rare AK47s, four M14s, three M16s, and one Ultimax machine gun, a huge haul in terms of the AFP versus NPA dynamic EXCEPT that the NPA captures more than a hundred in Claver. Hey! I DID forget something, see?
Of course heads rolled but amazingly not that many. For example, with the PNP, or Philippine National Police, PNP Head Honcho, Director General Nicanor "Nick" Bartoleme removed the MPO (Municipal Police Office) Director, Senior Inspector Diomedes Cuadra, the Commanding Officer of PRO-13's, or Police Regional Office for Region 13's Public Safety Battalion (RPSB, the new moniker given to the Regional Police Mobile Group), Superintendent Rudy Cuyop and the Commanding Officer of PPO, or Police Provincial Office of Surigao del Norte Province, Senior Superintendent Emmanuel "Manny" Talento. However did not remove anyone else such as PRO-13's Director, who commands not only Cuyop and Cuadra but Talento as well! Glad to see that cronyism is alive and well but don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
Even more interestingly, within the AFP they sacked the Brigade Commander, Colonel Rodrigo Diapana and his EXO (Executive Officer, Second in Command), Colonel Cresente Q. Maligmat who concurrently commanded Task Force Stinger. Yet, the Division Commander nor any Battalion Commanders felt the heat. More to the point, no intelligence officers had their posteriors handed to them, so typical, so sad. If you are going to exercise the perogative of Command Responsibility, the protocol in Military Law that holds a commander responsible for all problems under his or her command, you must exercise that perogative universally. If you don't you merely reveal yourself for the toady fraud you are. Moreover, what about ACTUAL negligence above and beyond the principle of Command Responsibility? Declares Surigao del Norte Province "Pacified" on April 18th, 2010, a move I pointed out was far too premature and predicted would come back to haunt the previous division commander in manifest ways, yet he stays in play while you hang line officers out to dry? You ruin two Colonels' careers over a theoretical principle while ignoring ACTUAL malfeasance and culpability? AFP Chief of Staff Eduardo Oban is a sick joke. How is this for irony? On April 18th, 2010 then-commander of the 4ID (Infantry Division), Major General Mario Chan made his "Pacification" declaration at the headquarters of the 30IB (Infantry Battalion). That headquarters is in the municipality of...CLAVER.
OK, with my daily tirade out of the way...
On October 6th, 2011, at 11AM the municipality of Esperanza's Barangay Calabuan, in Agusan del Sur Province the AFP's 5th Scout Ranger Company, operating with the 58IB on backup infiltrated a small NPA camp in Sitio Simontana as its guerillas were pre-occupied with lunch. The camp belonging to Front 8 of the NEMRC, or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee within which Front 4A of the NCMRC, or Northcentral Mindanao Regional Committe was holed up during its retreat from Claver and that huge attack on October 3rd.
Five NPA guerillas were killed, including the Secretary (the leader) of Front 4A, Ricardo Manili who is much better known by his nom de guerre, Ka Joker. Manili is also the former Secretary of the NCMRC's Operational Command, meaning he was a former commander of all military operations within the NCMRC and therefore an extremely high value target. Had the AFP instead captured him he would have been an extremely valuable font of intelligence. Of course the AFP is a military that kills kidnap victims and claims it rescued them so what are we to expect? When kidnap victims fear discovery by the AFP more than they do remaining in captivity something is terribly wrong.
In addition to kiling 5 guerillas the AFP lost a soldier who was killed in action and also managed to capture 12 assault rifles, consisting of four rare AK47s, four M14s, three M16s, and one Ultimax machine gun, a huge haul in terms of the AFP versus NPA dynamic EXCEPT that the NPA captures more than a hundred in Claver. Hey! I DID forget something, see?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Kidnap For Ransom,Second Quarter of 2011,Part II: Agusan del Sur Hostage Crisis
The Second Quarter of 2011 began on April 01, and as the saying goes, "it began with a bang." Students and faculty had just left the Graduation festivities at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School in Sitio Balite, in Purok #7, Barangay La Purisima, Prosperidad, the provincial capitol of Agusan del Sur. As the guests trudged home, up the jungle trails radiating out of the government school's campus an armed band of Manobo Tribesmen were nervously waiting to pounce.
Led by 17 year old Kenken Perez, the 5 gunmen, armed with 1 M16, 1 M14, 1 M1, a 12 gauge and a 45 caliber pistol and all between the ages of 15 and 17 aimed to take hostages so as to finally gain justice for the Perez Clan. KenKen's older brother Joebert"Ondo"Perez was sitting in the provincial jail downhill in the town's Barangay Patin-ay. The family's trouble began in June of 2008 when the Tubay Clan, attacked and killed members of the Perez Clan over illegal logging rights on a particular strand of rain forest. In February, 2009 Ondo, an ex-paramilitary soldier led a group of clansmen in a bid to settle the score, resulting in the killing of 4 Tubay family members. Ironically the Perez Clan wasn't opposed to the Tubay Clan. The Tubay merely entered the fray in support of an ally, tribal chieftain Datu Kalbit.
By December of that year, 2009, authorities were ready to arrest Ondo and several family members over the February killings. As is often the case the PNP (Philippine National Police) contacted barangay officials to try and ascertain both the location of the wanted man as well as up to date intelligence on arms and any potential booby-traps. As is so often the case here on Mindanao, the local officials happened to be related to the Perez family and so he sent word to Ondo that they were about to serve a warrant of arrest on him for Multiple Murder, among other charges.
As one might expect Ondo didn't take the news well, all the more so when no warrants had ever been served against the Tubay Clan, whose murdering of Ondo's family members had sparked the feud. On Thursday, December 09, 2009 just after daybreak Ondo led 15 gunmen downhill to a more settled portion of of the municipality, Sitio Maitum, Barangay San Martin. The men announced to the startled villagers that they should all gather in front of the Barangay Hall for an "Important Announcement" at 6AM. With only about a dozen curious villagers taking the bait Ondo announced that the announcement was that he had kidnapped them, then had his gunmen swarm anyone out and about. All told the armed band ended up taking 125 hostages, mostly young students from Maitum Elementary School, but including school staff and 2 VERY unluck loggers working for a multi-national timber concession, "Casilayan Softwood Development Corporation."
Forcing the terrified hostages uphill at gunpoint the Perez gunmen finally broke camp 2 kilometers up country, north of the sitio in an abandoned cement and cinderblock structure. Realising that 125 people were too many to control Ondo ended up releasing 50 hostages. It was at that point that authorities in the central part of the municipality became aware of a serious hostage situation taking place in the mountains above them, though, the municipal PNP detachment later recalled receivibg reports of gunfire in Barangay La Purisima, near the hostage taking site at about 8AM. After the requisite notifications to authorities higher up the food chain the mayor hastily convened a CMC, or "Crisis Management Committee." Appointing himself chairman he allowed provincial DSWD (Department of Social Welfare) Director, Josefina Bajade taking the actual point position. His rationale was extremely simple, as a Bisaya, a Cebuano speaker, he was unable to communicate with the gunmen who only conversed in Agusan Manobo, their tribal language. Luckily for the mayor, Ms.Bajade is fluent in Agusan- Manobo.
With Ms.Bajade talking directly to Ondo, first by cellphone and then face to face the CMC was able to quantify Ondo's demands. First and foremost Ondo wanted the warrant rescinded. He then said he wanted Jun Tubay, the Tubay clan leader to be arrested for the murders he had committed in 2008, and if that weren't immediately possible he wanted the Tubays disarmed. Allowing Ondo to fully articulate his demands ended up taking a fair amount of wind out of his sails. The adrenaline now waning he quietly complied with Ms.Bajade's gentle suggestion that he free some of the remaining hostages as a goodwill gesture to prove his sincerity to the CMC. At 345PM the gunmen released 18 more hostages, 17 of them children. The 18th, an elderly woman was released because of physical infirmities.
The remaining 57 hostages were all adults, school staff, the 2 loggers and the villagers of Sitio Maitum. By nightfall the incident had reached national proportions with media rushing to the isolated Northeast corner of Mindanao. With that added attention came added pressures for everyone involved. Ondo now seriously faced a very heavy military response. Likewise, the CMC now had President Arroyo and her lackeys breathing down their necks. The Mighty Mental Midget of Malacanang insisted on thorough updates every 15 minutes and woe to the one who had nothing new and substantiative to add. To top things off, Ms.Bajade, terribly out of her element began cozying up to the media. Taking them into her misplaced confidence she crowed about the injustices Ondo had had to deal with. Egging her on the media got Ms.Bajade to tell them all about her deep friendship with Ondo and his family and so she came off looking as if she was coddling a hostage-taking gunman. Worse yet, she had caved into the media's demands and been taking increasingly larger groups of journalists uphill to the cement building, risking having the journalists being taken hostage as well.
By Friday morning, December 10, Josefina Bajade had been sidelined. Taking her place was Tata Perez (no relation to Ondo), another Manobo-speaking Bisaya who was then serving as the Executive Assistant to the provincial governor. The situation became bizarre when Ms.Bajade, possibly seeking attention, corralled the media and "revealed" that during the murder of Jun Tubay's family members Ondo had actually been with Ms.Bajade and her husband. At this point the media derisively dubbed her, "Ondo's Attorney." She had been shelved after angry criticism from PRO (Police Regional Office) Caraga (the region in which Agusan del Sur Province sits) Director, Sr.Supt.Nestor Monton Fajura told the national media that, "she is giving us a headache the way she is negotiating with these criminals." The inference being that "negotiation" should have never taken place. Usually, there is no hostage negotiation to speak of. The general PNP modus operandi is to shoot first, ask questions later and who really cares if hostages end up dead in the process. That semi-retarded reasoning would end up causing a huge political incident with the killing of a group of hostages visiting Manila from Hong Kong but that was still in the future at that point.
It should be noted that Sr.Supt.Fajura made his observations from the comfort of his airconditioned office in Butuan City, 80 kilometers to the north of the hostage situation, never once bothering to visit the site. Even more pathetically, when asked his prediction for the outcome of the hostage drama, he piggishly turned to the cameras and offered that Ondo would hold out until December 14, when Triple M herself, President Arroyo would be visiting Caraga. Asked to explain, Fajura responded that Ondo would do so because he wanted a "dramatic conclusion," one in which he could portray himself as a victim, "as if they are the oppressed."
The Agusan Manobo it should be noted regularly die from malnutrition, rarely obtain 5th grade educations and are generally treated like garbage so Sr.Supt.Fajura really over played his hand that day.
At 7AM a female hostage, Templanza Avenido, asked Ondo if it was OK for her to drop by her house nearby to get a change of clothes and feed her livestock. Amazingly he not only agreed but also released 2 other female hostages sitting next to her:
1) Rita Fernandez
2) Zenaida Maglasang
At 10AM that morning the CMC sank even lower by enlisting not only Ondo's elderly father, Conrado, but Ondo's 10 year old daughter as well in an attempt to emotionally manipulate him into freeing his remaining hostages.
As the day progressed Friday, December 10, 2009 negotiations slowly progressed, with Ondo understandably angry over Josefina Bajade being removed from the equation. Rule 1 in Hostage Negotiation is to employ a point of contact that is able to develop a rapport with the lead hostage taker. Noone can deny that Ms.Bajade had already had that rapport going into the affair though she had been chosen simply on the basis of her language skills. Still, removing her was entirely wrong (an understatement). Her faults were manageable and were more than a fair exchange in return for her unmatched rapport. Still, it didn't propel the drama towards tragedy and so that huge error can be overlooked, as indeed it has. Had Ondo turned around and dispatched his 54 remaining hostages it might be a different story entirely.
As if to prove the stupidity of removing Ms.Bajade, shortly before she left negotiations, at 1PM Ondo agreed, as a concession for the lead. Negotiator, to release 6 more of his hostages:
1) Lillia Caube
2) Benita Dolorito
3) Eloisa Abala
4) Merly Sanchez
5) Mary Jane Goden
6) Felix Lacre
In another huge error of judgement the authorities backed off of negotiations each evening at nightfall, 7PM. That evening after everyone had traipsed back down the mountain Ondo became involved in a conversation with a hostage named Nestor after finding the man near tears. During their talk Nestor revealed that his father's wake was taking place that evening in his home town of Tandag, in neighbouring Surigao del Sur Province. Suprisingly, Ondo told Nestor he was free to attend the wake as long as he promised to return the next day. Nestor, shocked, walked out and into freedom leaving 47 hostages remaining.
After daybreak Saturday, December 11, the CMC added the Bishop of Butuan City, Juan de dos Pueblos as an unofficial member of the negotiating team. Though most Agusan Manobo are Animists they do place great respect in other forms of religion. By the afternoon the Archbishop and Ondo's father were able to relay a breakthrough concerning Ondo's primary demand, the recall of the warrant. Not long after talks broke off with Ondo promising to give his decison at daybreak.
Sunday morning, December 12, Ondo greeted his father and announced that he was willing to end the standoff in exchange for the authorities' guarantee over the warrant, but insisted on a written guarantee (despite his not being able to read in any language, let alone in Cebuano, Tagalog or English, the languages it would be written in). Ondo's father hiked downhill and after relaying his son's message accompanied most of the CMC back up hill where they held a 2 hour meeting with Ondo. The 1 page written agreement had the charges against Ondo being withdrawn from the Regional Trial Court and transferred to the Agusan-Manobo Tribal Court so that the killings could be judged within the proper cultural context. Before signing off on the document Ondo waited for assurances that a tribal shaman, Datu Josue Duhac had made a ceremonial sacrifice of chickens and a hog to gain spiritual assistance for Ondo and his 15 men. Receiving word that the sacrifice had taken place Ondo happily affixed his thumbprint on the hastily composed document. Signing for the government was the governor of Agusan del Sur Province, Valentina"Tina"G.Plaza, Vice Governor Santiago Cane Jr., PNP PRO-Caraga Director, Sr.Supt.Antonio Paguirigan, Fr.Lito Clase (for the Bishop), NCIP (National Commission of Indigenous People) Caraga Regional Director Jose"Jake"Dumagan and...Josefina Bajade. Smiling, feeling safe, Ondo turned to his gunmen and ordered them to release the remaining 47 hostages.
The hostages joyously walked downhill after slightly more than 75 hours and into a media barrage. Not long after the CMC and Ondo et al walked hand in hand , smiling into the media glare. Ondo was told that he would be driven to the Bishop's Residence in Butuan City so as to assure his safety from the Tubay Clan and its supporters. Tired, but relieved, Omdo climbed into the backseat of the mayor's SUV...and was promptly driven to the Provincial Jail. There he was stripped and thrown into a dungeon-like cell. The double-cross was deftly handled. The authorities pretended that Ondo was safe in Butuan, sometimes giving media soundbites just meters from the jail. Municipal PNP Chief,Sr.Supt. Leonardo Espina had the gall to tell reporters on Wednesday, December 15 that the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) was just about to get Ondo's warrant rescinded and charges transferred from Regional Trial Court to the Agusan-Manobo Tribal Court. As he was saying this, Ondo had been formally charged the day before, not only in the Multiple Murder case (only 3 of the 4 counts) but with 125 counts of Kidnapping and Illegal Detention as well!
Fast forward to April 01, 2011...As Ondo and 13 of his 15 men (since the ones aged 17 and 16 are "juveniles" and therefore exempt from all prosecution) sat stewing in the provincial jail. Knowing how Ondo had been lied to his brother Kenken devised a way in which to try and remedy the situation. Kenken, along with friends Toto Navarro, Rejoy Brital and Alejandro Brital decided that they would emulate Ondo and take hostages. What better way than to express their frustration over Ondo's treatment? Uneducated, none of the teens having passed 4th grade, its doubtful then that any of them were able to grasp the concept of "irony" and yet they were able to nail it to a tee.
Quickly rounding up 12 people returning from the afore mentioned Graduation Ceremony at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School (named after the governor who signed the fake agreement with Ondo, irony indeed) they began herding the captives at gunpoint when another brother of Ondo's, Allan"Ilag"Perez worriedly ran into the group as they moved up the jungle trails. Unable to dissuade Kenken he then joined them on impulse. It was at this point that Kenken decided to grab 3 "habal-habal" drivers as well, hapless motorcycle taxi drivers who were hoping to pick up a fare as the crowd headed home.
The 15 hostages:
1) Hipolito Lastimado, School District Supervisor
2) Narciso Oliveros, School District Supervisor II
3) Joel Sausa, Values Teacher, Santa Irene Elementary School
4) Apolonio Alibangbang, Head Teacher, La Purisima Elementary School
5) Manuel Moderno, Teacher In Charge, Maasin Elementary School
6) Allan Galdiano, Teacher, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School
7) Filipina Quitoy, Teacher In Charge, Inagawan Elementary School
8) Arnold Quitoy, the husband of hostage #7
9) Diosdideth Canbantac, Teacher In Charge, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School Pre-School
10) Mary Jane Bedrijo, Pre-School Teacher, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School
11) Marvin Jay Corvera, Student at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School, age 12
12) Sirena Fe Cabantac, Student at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School, age 10
13) Galvan Vocales, habal-habal driver
14) Zaldy Rodriguez, habal-habal driver
15) Ribo Binambang, habal-habal driver
Almost immediately authorities were informed and Mayor Allan Magdamit repeated the steps taken in 2009. Convening a new CMC he suprisingly asked Josefina Bajade to serve as point. All in all it was an intelligent decison (just as it had been in 2009) given that just as in the prior case, none of the hostage takers could speak anything besides their own tribal language, Agusan-Manobo. Joining them on the CMC were:
1) Gilbert Perez, Barangay Captain of Barangay La Purisima (the barangay where the incident took place),
2) Rommel Villamor, Chief Inspector, Commanding Officer of the PNP's Provincial Public Safety Company,
3) Jerone [sic] S.Baxinela, Sr.Supt., Provincial PNP Commanding Officer,
4) Rodrigo P.Diapana, Col., Commanding Officer of the 402nd Brigade (4ID), AFP,
5) Neil Richard Patricio, LTC., Commanding Officer, 26IB (402 Bde,4ID), AFP,
Though not officialy part of the CMC the team did include Chief Supt.Reynaldo Serrano Rafal, Director of the PNP's PRO-Caraga (Police Regional Office).
The first time they all were present was for a 9AM meeting in Mayor Magdamit's office at the municipal hall. Ms.Bajade informed the CMC that per her "negotiations" with Kenken the evening before the immediate demand of the hostage takers was food and drink. Their objective in taking hostages however was to force the government into finally keeping its word and releasing Ondo and his 15 gunmen. Unlike the 2009 incident the gunmen were staying immobile. During the day the hostages were being ferried from clearing to clearing deep in the jungle while at night, thus far, they had encamped in small tribal settlemnts. Ms.Bajade was quickly excused to resume negotiations as the rest of the CMC did what CMCs do best, sat on their thumbs, drinking coffee and giggling in between the calls from Manila.
Almost immediately though some changes were more than apparent. Most noticeably there was no media at the CMC Base Camp in the mountains. Where as Ms.Bajade had been so accomodating in 2009, she was unapproachable now. The Mayor, as Chairman of the CMC, informed the media that they would be confined to the town's basketball court down the street from the municipal hall. Updates would be doled out as the CMC saw fit, non-negotiable. Not used to being marginalised, people got antsy pretty fast. As tempers flared it was journalists themselves who smoothed things over by pointing out that since the "Hong Kong" debacle in Manila, where media interderence directly caused the death of numerous hostages the CMC policy should have been expected. There wasn't much at all for any journalist to complain about after that slap in the face.
That afternoon, Saturday April 02, Ms.Bajade conferred with Mayor Magdamit by cellphone and relayed that Kenken Perez was demanding to speak to his brother Ondo- in person. After first spitting invectives into his handset the mayor hatched an idea of his own. Trying to turn the tables on the hostage takers he quickly made his way to the provincial jail in Barangay Patin-ay and had Ondo brought out to see him. Taking Ondo into an unused office he confirmed what Ondo had already heard in gossip from the police officers guarding the jail (the Philippines doesn't use correctional officers but merely has police officers pull duty as prison guards). Talking to Ondo the mayor tried to communicate the seriousness of the situation. He allowed Ondo to infer that 2 of his teenaged brothers and some of their friends were about to die when the military and police stormed their position. Then Mayor Magdamit laid it all on Ondo, telling him that it was all because of Ondo that more of his family would lose their lives. Desperate now to avert what he perceived as the inevitable conclusion it was Ondo himself that volunteered to bring the drama to a quiet and safe end. The mayor said that he couldn't guarantee any results but IF Ondo was truly serious he would go to bat for him and try to get him the opposrtunity to help his brothers.
It took the mayor all of an hour to get a Regional Trial Court judge to issue a Temporary Release Order that would allow him to take full custody of Ondo for an unspecified period of time. It was at that point that Josefina Bajade informed Kenken Perez that they would fulfill Kenken's demand and brong Ondo to him. They afreed to meet in that same jungle clearing at 8AM the next day, Sunday, April 03.
Very early Sunday morning the mayor and Ms.Bajade took custody on Ondo, along with 2 plainclothes soldiers, and piled into the mayor's SUV for the ride to Barangay La Purisima, Arriving on time at the jungle clearing they were sadly suprised to find the glade empty. Waiting 3 hours, until 11AM, they dejectedly returned Ondo to jail. The rest of the day passed without contact as pressure began mounting in certain corners for the implementation of a military solution (i.e. "Kill the kidnappers and most of the hostages").
On Monday, April 04 the "military option" was gaining support and the media, frustrated on the basketball court was losing patience even more rapidly. As the tension reached fever pitch the CMC met back in the municipal hall, trying to reach a consensus one way or the other. They were shocked when 2 soldiers rushed into the mayor's office blurting out that 2 of the hostages had just casually ridden into Barangay Poblacion on a motorcycle to pick up some medicine at a pharmacy. The CMC rushed outside en masse and to their suprise they found that the soldiers had been right! Hipolito Lastimado and Diosdideth Canbantac had indeed been allowed to come off the mountain. Using 1 of the motorcycles discarded when the 3 habal-habal drivers had been taken hostage they had ridden tandem, with the threat that should they not return hostages would die. Their captors had allowed them to go because they were qorried about the condition of 1 of the 2 children being held. Of course, it is sad indeed that the PNP amd AFP cordon was so inept that 2 hostages on a motorcycle could make their way into the heart of the provincial capitol with noone the wiser.
The mayor quickly ushered the 2 men into his office where he debriefed them. To their horror the CMC then forbade their return. Forgetting that a sick child needed medicine, what about the threat to kill hostages? This simply doesn't factor into the government's thinking. To the gunmens' credit they failed to follow through on their threats and the following afternoon, Tuesday April 05 they released the sick hostage. 12 year old Marvin Jay Corvera. Was immediately hospitalised and went onto make a full recovery.
That evening it was decided, once again, to replace Ms.Bajade with Rolando Brital, father of hostage taker Rejoy Brital, hoping once again to use familial pressure to make some progress. Ms.Bajade remained on the CMC but was removed as the official point of contact in favour of Mr.Brital who appointment as such was pretty much a cosmetic move. It was at that point that the CMC went public with the fact that the kidnappers weren't educated enough to understand that the authorities simply couldn't erase Ondo's charges. The CMC expressed frustration with telling comments that ridiculed not only the gunmen but their families and tribe. "It is extremely frustrating when dealing with people who can't even read, let alone understand the simplest of issues. Of course one cannot blame them, the differences are largely cultural."
It was Monday evening that President Aquino could no longer control himself and entered the fray. Expressing his own ineptitude he warned that the standoff better end soon, "or else." That night he deployed Secretary of Infrastructure and Local Government, Jesse M.Robredo south to Mindanao to further pressure the CMC and antagonise the hostage takers. Of all the things to micro-manage, this wasn't one of them. As Secretary Robredo huffed and puffed local tribal leaders begged for a chance to help solve the standoff. Of course they were ignored and so it continued until 6AM, Wednesday, April 06 at which point the 12 remaining hostages were left in a jungle clearing as the gunmen slipped into the jungle where they remain until now, not only well armed but knowing that should they try and go the straight and narrow they can only hope to join Ondo in jail. Just another group of pissed off young men carrying automatic weapons in the jungles of Mindanao.
Led by 17 year old Kenken Perez, the 5 gunmen, armed with 1 M16, 1 M14, 1 M1, a 12 gauge and a 45 caliber pistol and all between the ages of 15 and 17 aimed to take hostages so as to finally gain justice for the Perez Clan. KenKen's older brother Joebert"Ondo"Perez was sitting in the provincial jail downhill in the town's Barangay Patin-ay. The family's trouble began in June of 2008 when the Tubay Clan, attacked and killed members of the Perez Clan over illegal logging rights on a particular strand of rain forest. In February, 2009 Ondo, an ex-paramilitary soldier led a group of clansmen in a bid to settle the score, resulting in the killing of 4 Tubay family members. Ironically the Perez Clan wasn't opposed to the Tubay Clan. The Tubay merely entered the fray in support of an ally, tribal chieftain Datu Kalbit.
By December of that year, 2009, authorities were ready to arrest Ondo and several family members over the February killings. As is often the case the PNP (Philippine National Police) contacted barangay officials to try and ascertain both the location of the wanted man as well as up to date intelligence on arms and any potential booby-traps. As is so often the case here on Mindanao, the local officials happened to be related to the Perez family and so he sent word to Ondo that they were about to serve a warrant of arrest on him for Multiple Murder, among other charges.
As one might expect Ondo didn't take the news well, all the more so when no warrants had ever been served against the Tubay Clan, whose murdering of Ondo's family members had sparked the feud. On Thursday, December 09, 2009 just after daybreak Ondo led 15 gunmen downhill to a more settled portion of of the municipality, Sitio Maitum, Barangay San Martin. The men announced to the startled villagers that they should all gather in front of the Barangay Hall for an "Important Announcement" at 6AM. With only about a dozen curious villagers taking the bait Ondo announced that the announcement was that he had kidnapped them, then had his gunmen swarm anyone out and about. All told the armed band ended up taking 125 hostages, mostly young students from Maitum Elementary School, but including school staff and 2 VERY unluck loggers working for a multi-national timber concession, "Casilayan Softwood Development Corporation."
Forcing the terrified hostages uphill at gunpoint the Perez gunmen finally broke camp 2 kilometers up country, north of the sitio in an abandoned cement and cinderblock structure. Realising that 125 people were too many to control Ondo ended up releasing 50 hostages. It was at that point that authorities in the central part of the municipality became aware of a serious hostage situation taking place in the mountains above them, though, the municipal PNP detachment later recalled receivibg reports of gunfire in Barangay La Purisima, near the hostage taking site at about 8AM. After the requisite notifications to authorities higher up the food chain the mayor hastily convened a CMC, or "Crisis Management Committee." Appointing himself chairman he allowed provincial DSWD (Department of Social Welfare) Director, Josefina Bajade taking the actual point position. His rationale was extremely simple, as a Bisaya, a Cebuano speaker, he was unable to communicate with the gunmen who only conversed in Agusan Manobo, their tribal language. Luckily for the mayor, Ms.Bajade is fluent in Agusan- Manobo.
With Ms.Bajade talking directly to Ondo, first by cellphone and then face to face the CMC was able to quantify Ondo's demands. First and foremost Ondo wanted the warrant rescinded. He then said he wanted Jun Tubay, the Tubay clan leader to be arrested for the murders he had committed in 2008, and if that weren't immediately possible he wanted the Tubays disarmed. Allowing Ondo to fully articulate his demands ended up taking a fair amount of wind out of his sails. The adrenaline now waning he quietly complied with Ms.Bajade's gentle suggestion that he free some of the remaining hostages as a goodwill gesture to prove his sincerity to the CMC. At 345PM the gunmen released 18 more hostages, 17 of them children. The 18th, an elderly woman was released because of physical infirmities.
The remaining 57 hostages were all adults, school staff, the 2 loggers and the villagers of Sitio Maitum. By nightfall the incident had reached national proportions with media rushing to the isolated Northeast corner of Mindanao. With that added attention came added pressures for everyone involved. Ondo now seriously faced a very heavy military response. Likewise, the CMC now had President Arroyo and her lackeys breathing down their necks. The Mighty Mental Midget of Malacanang insisted on thorough updates every 15 minutes and woe to the one who had nothing new and substantiative to add. To top things off, Ms.Bajade, terribly out of her element began cozying up to the media. Taking them into her misplaced confidence she crowed about the injustices Ondo had had to deal with. Egging her on the media got Ms.Bajade to tell them all about her deep friendship with Ondo and his family and so she came off looking as if she was coddling a hostage-taking gunman. Worse yet, she had caved into the media's demands and been taking increasingly larger groups of journalists uphill to the cement building, risking having the journalists being taken hostage as well.
By Friday morning, December 10, Josefina Bajade had been sidelined. Taking her place was Tata Perez (no relation to Ondo), another Manobo-speaking Bisaya who was then serving as the Executive Assistant to the provincial governor. The situation became bizarre when Ms.Bajade, possibly seeking attention, corralled the media and "revealed" that during the murder of Jun Tubay's family members Ondo had actually been with Ms.Bajade and her husband. At this point the media derisively dubbed her, "Ondo's Attorney." She had been shelved after angry criticism from PRO (Police Regional Office) Caraga (the region in which Agusan del Sur Province sits) Director, Sr.Supt.Nestor Monton Fajura told the national media that, "she is giving us a headache the way she is negotiating with these criminals." The inference being that "negotiation" should have never taken place. Usually, there is no hostage negotiation to speak of. The general PNP modus operandi is to shoot first, ask questions later and who really cares if hostages end up dead in the process. That semi-retarded reasoning would end up causing a huge political incident with the killing of a group of hostages visiting Manila from Hong Kong but that was still in the future at that point.
It should be noted that Sr.Supt.Fajura made his observations from the comfort of his airconditioned office in Butuan City, 80 kilometers to the north of the hostage situation, never once bothering to visit the site. Even more pathetically, when asked his prediction for the outcome of the hostage drama, he piggishly turned to the cameras and offered that Ondo would hold out until December 14, when Triple M herself, President Arroyo would be visiting Caraga. Asked to explain, Fajura responded that Ondo would do so because he wanted a "dramatic conclusion," one in which he could portray himself as a victim, "as if they are the oppressed."
The Agusan Manobo it should be noted regularly die from malnutrition, rarely obtain 5th grade educations and are generally treated like garbage so Sr.Supt.Fajura really over played his hand that day.
At 7AM a female hostage, Templanza Avenido, asked Ondo if it was OK for her to drop by her house nearby to get a change of clothes and feed her livestock. Amazingly he not only agreed but also released 2 other female hostages sitting next to her:
1) Rita Fernandez
2) Zenaida Maglasang
At 10AM that morning the CMC sank even lower by enlisting not only Ondo's elderly father, Conrado, but Ondo's 10 year old daughter as well in an attempt to emotionally manipulate him into freeing his remaining hostages.
As the day progressed Friday, December 10, 2009 negotiations slowly progressed, with Ondo understandably angry over Josefina Bajade being removed from the equation. Rule 1 in Hostage Negotiation is to employ a point of contact that is able to develop a rapport with the lead hostage taker. Noone can deny that Ms.Bajade had already had that rapport going into the affair though she had been chosen simply on the basis of her language skills. Still, removing her was entirely wrong (an understatement). Her faults were manageable and were more than a fair exchange in return for her unmatched rapport. Still, it didn't propel the drama towards tragedy and so that huge error can be overlooked, as indeed it has. Had Ondo turned around and dispatched his 54 remaining hostages it might be a different story entirely.
As if to prove the stupidity of removing Ms.Bajade, shortly before she left negotiations, at 1PM Ondo agreed, as a concession for the lead. Negotiator, to release 6 more of his hostages:
1) Lillia Caube
2) Benita Dolorito
3) Eloisa Abala
4) Merly Sanchez
5) Mary Jane Goden
6) Felix Lacre
In another huge error of judgement the authorities backed off of negotiations each evening at nightfall, 7PM. That evening after everyone had traipsed back down the mountain Ondo became involved in a conversation with a hostage named Nestor after finding the man near tears. During their talk Nestor revealed that his father's wake was taking place that evening in his home town of Tandag, in neighbouring Surigao del Sur Province. Suprisingly, Ondo told Nestor he was free to attend the wake as long as he promised to return the next day. Nestor, shocked, walked out and into freedom leaving 47 hostages remaining.
After daybreak Saturday, December 11, the CMC added the Bishop of Butuan City, Juan de dos Pueblos as an unofficial member of the negotiating team. Though most Agusan Manobo are Animists they do place great respect in other forms of religion. By the afternoon the Archbishop and Ondo's father were able to relay a breakthrough concerning Ondo's primary demand, the recall of the warrant. Not long after talks broke off with Ondo promising to give his decison at daybreak.
Sunday morning, December 12, Ondo greeted his father and announced that he was willing to end the standoff in exchange for the authorities' guarantee over the warrant, but insisted on a written guarantee (despite his not being able to read in any language, let alone in Cebuano, Tagalog or English, the languages it would be written in). Ondo's father hiked downhill and after relaying his son's message accompanied most of the CMC back up hill where they held a 2 hour meeting with Ondo. The 1 page written agreement had the charges against Ondo being withdrawn from the Regional Trial Court and transferred to the Agusan-Manobo Tribal Court so that the killings could be judged within the proper cultural context. Before signing off on the document Ondo waited for assurances that a tribal shaman, Datu Josue Duhac had made a ceremonial sacrifice of chickens and a hog to gain spiritual assistance for Ondo and his 15 men. Receiving word that the sacrifice had taken place Ondo happily affixed his thumbprint on the hastily composed document. Signing for the government was the governor of Agusan del Sur Province, Valentina"Tina"G.Plaza, Vice Governor Santiago Cane Jr., PNP PRO-Caraga Director, Sr.Supt.Antonio Paguirigan, Fr.Lito Clase (for the Bishop), NCIP (National Commission of Indigenous People) Caraga Regional Director Jose"Jake"Dumagan and...Josefina Bajade. Smiling, feeling safe, Ondo turned to his gunmen and ordered them to release the remaining 47 hostages.
The hostages joyously walked downhill after slightly more than 75 hours and into a media barrage. Not long after the CMC and Ondo et al walked hand in hand , smiling into the media glare. Ondo was told that he would be driven to the Bishop's Residence in Butuan City so as to assure his safety from the Tubay Clan and its supporters. Tired, but relieved, Omdo climbed into the backseat of the mayor's SUV...and was promptly driven to the Provincial Jail. There he was stripped and thrown into a dungeon-like cell. The double-cross was deftly handled. The authorities pretended that Ondo was safe in Butuan, sometimes giving media soundbites just meters from the jail. Municipal PNP Chief,Sr.Supt. Leonardo Espina had the gall to tell reporters on Wednesday, December 15 that the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) was just about to get Ondo's warrant rescinded and charges transferred from Regional Trial Court to the Agusan-Manobo Tribal Court. As he was saying this, Ondo had been formally charged the day before, not only in the Multiple Murder case (only 3 of the 4 counts) but with 125 counts of Kidnapping and Illegal Detention as well!
Fast forward to April 01, 2011...As Ondo and 13 of his 15 men (since the ones aged 17 and 16 are "juveniles" and therefore exempt from all prosecution) sat stewing in the provincial jail. Knowing how Ondo had been lied to his brother Kenken devised a way in which to try and remedy the situation. Kenken, along with friends Toto Navarro, Rejoy Brital and Alejandro Brital decided that they would emulate Ondo and take hostages. What better way than to express their frustration over Ondo's treatment? Uneducated, none of the teens having passed 4th grade, its doubtful then that any of them were able to grasp the concept of "irony" and yet they were able to nail it to a tee.
Quickly rounding up 12 people returning from the afore mentioned Graduation Ceremony at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School (named after the governor who signed the fake agreement with Ondo, irony indeed) they began herding the captives at gunpoint when another brother of Ondo's, Allan"Ilag"Perez worriedly ran into the group as they moved up the jungle trails. Unable to dissuade Kenken he then joined them on impulse. It was at this point that Kenken decided to grab 3 "habal-habal" drivers as well, hapless motorcycle taxi drivers who were hoping to pick up a fare as the crowd headed home.
The 15 hostages:
1) Hipolito Lastimado, School District Supervisor
2) Narciso Oliveros, School District Supervisor II
3) Joel Sausa, Values Teacher, Santa Irene Elementary School
4) Apolonio Alibangbang, Head Teacher, La Purisima Elementary School
5) Manuel Moderno, Teacher In Charge, Maasin Elementary School
6) Allan Galdiano, Teacher, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School
7) Filipina Quitoy, Teacher In Charge, Inagawan Elementary School
8) Arnold Quitoy, the husband of hostage #7
9) Diosdideth Canbantac, Teacher In Charge, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School Pre-School
10) Mary Jane Bedrijo, Pre-School Teacher, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School
11) Marvin Jay Corvera, Student at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School, age 12
12) Sirena Fe Cabantac, Student at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School, age 10
13) Galvan Vocales, habal-habal driver
14) Zaldy Rodriguez, habal-habal driver
15) Ribo Binambang, habal-habal driver
Almost immediately authorities were informed and Mayor Allan Magdamit repeated the steps taken in 2009. Convening a new CMC he suprisingly asked Josefina Bajade to serve as point. All in all it was an intelligent decison (just as it had been in 2009) given that just as in the prior case, none of the hostage takers could speak anything besides their own tribal language, Agusan-Manobo. Joining them on the CMC were:
1) Gilbert Perez, Barangay Captain of Barangay La Purisima (the barangay where the incident took place),
2) Rommel Villamor, Chief Inspector, Commanding Officer of the PNP's Provincial Public Safety Company,
3) Jerone [sic] S.Baxinela, Sr.Supt., Provincial PNP Commanding Officer,
4) Rodrigo P.Diapana, Col., Commanding Officer of the 402nd Brigade (4ID), AFP,
5) Neil Richard Patricio, LTC., Commanding Officer, 26IB (402 Bde,4ID), AFP,
Though not officialy part of the CMC the team did include Chief Supt.Reynaldo Serrano Rafal, Director of the PNP's PRO-Caraga (Police Regional Office).
The first time they all were present was for a 9AM meeting in Mayor Magdamit's office at the municipal hall. Ms.Bajade informed the CMC that per her "negotiations" with Kenken the evening before the immediate demand of the hostage takers was food and drink. Their objective in taking hostages however was to force the government into finally keeping its word and releasing Ondo and his 15 gunmen. Unlike the 2009 incident the gunmen were staying immobile. During the day the hostages were being ferried from clearing to clearing deep in the jungle while at night, thus far, they had encamped in small tribal settlemnts. Ms.Bajade was quickly excused to resume negotiations as the rest of the CMC did what CMCs do best, sat on their thumbs, drinking coffee and giggling in between the calls from Manila.
Almost immediately though some changes were more than apparent. Most noticeably there was no media at the CMC Base Camp in the mountains. Where as Ms.Bajade had been so accomodating in 2009, she was unapproachable now. The Mayor, as Chairman of the CMC, informed the media that they would be confined to the town's basketball court down the street from the municipal hall. Updates would be doled out as the CMC saw fit, non-negotiable. Not used to being marginalised, people got antsy pretty fast. As tempers flared it was journalists themselves who smoothed things over by pointing out that since the "Hong Kong" debacle in Manila, where media interderence directly caused the death of numerous hostages the CMC policy should have been expected. There wasn't much at all for any journalist to complain about after that slap in the face.
That afternoon, Saturday April 02, Ms.Bajade conferred with Mayor Magdamit by cellphone and relayed that Kenken Perez was demanding to speak to his brother Ondo- in person. After first spitting invectives into his handset the mayor hatched an idea of his own. Trying to turn the tables on the hostage takers he quickly made his way to the provincial jail in Barangay Patin-ay and had Ondo brought out to see him. Taking Ondo into an unused office he confirmed what Ondo had already heard in gossip from the police officers guarding the jail (the Philippines doesn't use correctional officers but merely has police officers pull duty as prison guards). Talking to Ondo the mayor tried to communicate the seriousness of the situation. He allowed Ondo to infer that 2 of his teenaged brothers and some of their friends were about to die when the military and police stormed their position. Then Mayor Magdamit laid it all on Ondo, telling him that it was all because of Ondo that more of his family would lose their lives. Desperate now to avert what he perceived as the inevitable conclusion it was Ondo himself that volunteered to bring the drama to a quiet and safe end. The mayor said that he couldn't guarantee any results but IF Ondo was truly serious he would go to bat for him and try to get him the opposrtunity to help his brothers.
It took the mayor all of an hour to get a Regional Trial Court judge to issue a Temporary Release Order that would allow him to take full custody of Ondo for an unspecified period of time. It was at that point that Josefina Bajade informed Kenken Perez that they would fulfill Kenken's demand and brong Ondo to him. They afreed to meet in that same jungle clearing at 8AM the next day, Sunday, April 03.
Very early Sunday morning the mayor and Ms.Bajade took custody on Ondo, along with 2 plainclothes soldiers, and piled into the mayor's SUV for the ride to Barangay La Purisima, Arriving on time at the jungle clearing they were sadly suprised to find the glade empty. Waiting 3 hours, until 11AM, they dejectedly returned Ondo to jail. The rest of the day passed without contact as pressure began mounting in certain corners for the implementation of a military solution (i.e. "Kill the kidnappers and most of the hostages").
On Monday, April 04 the "military option" was gaining support and the media, frustrated on the basketball court was losing patience even more rapidly. As the tension reached fever pitch the CMC met back in the municipal hall, trying to reach a consensus one way or the other. They were shocked when 2 soldiers rushed into the mayor's office blurting out that 2 of the hostages had just casually ridden into Barangay Poblacion on a motorcycle to pick up some medicine at a pharmacy. The CMC rushed outside en masse and to their suprise they found that the soldiers had been right! Hipolito Lastimado and Diosdideth Canbantac had indeed been allowed to come off the mountain. Using 1 of the motorcycles discarded when the 3 habal-habal drivers had been taken hostage they had ridden tandem, with the threat that should they not return hostages would die. Their captors had allowed them to go because they were qorried about the condition of 1 of the 2 children being held. Of course, it is sad indeed that the PNP amd AFP cordon was so inept that 2 hostages on a motorcycle could make their way into the heart of the provincial capitol with noone the wiser.
The mayor quickly ushered the 2 men into his office where he debriefed them. To their horror the CMC then forbade their return. Forgetting that a sick child needed medicine, what about the threat to kill hostages? This simply doesn't factor into the government's thinking. To the gunmens' credit they failed to follow through on their threats and the following afternoon, Tuesday April 05 they released the sick hostage. 12 year old Marvin Jay Corvera. Was immediately hospitalised and went onto make a full recovery.
That evening it was decided, once again, to replace Ms.Bajade with Rolando Brital, father of hostage taker Rejoy Brital, hoping once again to use familial pressure to make some progress. Ms.Bajade remained on the CMC but was removed as the official point of contact in favour of Mr.Brital who appointment as such was pretty much a cosmetic move. It was at that point that the CMC went public with the fact that the kidnappers weren't educated enough to understand that the authorities simply couldn't erase Ondo's charges. The CMC expressed frustration with telling comments that ridiculed not only the gunmen but their families and tribe. "It is extremely frustrating when dealing with people who can't even read, let alone understand the simplest of issues. Of course one cannot blame them, the differences are largely cultural."
It was Monday evening that President Aquino could no longer control himself and entered the fray. Expressing his own ineptitude he warned that the standoff better end soon, "or else." That night he deployed Secretary of Infrastructure and Local Government, Jesse M.Robredo south to Mindanao to further pressure the CMC and antagonise the hostage takers. Of all the things to micro-manage, this wasn't one of them. As Secretary Robredo huffed and puffed local tribal leaders begged for a chance to help solve the standoff. Of course they were ignored and so it continued until 6AM, Wednesday, April 06 at which point the 12 remaining hostages were left in a jungle clearing as the gunmen slipped into the jungle where they remain until now, not only well armed but knowing that should they try and go the straight and narrow they can only hope to join Ondo in jail. Just another group of pissed off young men carrying automatic weapons in the jungles of Mindanao.
Friday, October 1, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Caraga Campaign Mayhem
"Caraga" is the region covering the north eastern corner of Mindanao. Specifically it consists of 4 Provinces: Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Suriago del Sur,Surigao del Norte along with the island province of Dinagat. There are very few Muslims, in fact 2 of its provinces, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur both have less than 1,000 each. They do have large populations of Lumads, the non-Muslim and non-Christian Tribes usually called,"Hill Tribes" in most other nations.
Being the most heavily forested region on the island it has a huge amount of logging and since it is abutting ComVal (Compostela Valley Province) it also is moderately involved with mining. The biggest security issue however is the NPA, the Maoist Insurgency. Indeed, it is the most NPA innundated region in the nation, especially when taken in combination with ComVal that abuts Agusan del Sur. Though 2 provinces are deemed "Pacified," Surigao del Norte and Dinagat both still posess sizable numbers of synpathisers (i.e. Base of Mass Support), Sectoral Front Organisations as well as a fair number of inactive guerillas so that it remains to be seen whether those provinces will indeed remain so. Though the region saw alot of confrontations between the NPA and candidates who refused to pay the obligatory (in NPA "Influenced" areas) PTC (Pay to Campaign) "permits." These confrontations were relatively peaceful (though weapons were used in all instances none was ever fired even in warning).
Overt political violence is rare in this part of Mindanao even though the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) perpetually placing dozens of regional municipalities on the "Watch List" would seem to make that happening counter-intuitive. Still, incidents DO happen, and so here we are...but first...
Perhaps the biggest news in Caraga this Election Season was the fall of the Barbers Dynasty. The Barbers Clan has ruled Surigao del Norte for nearly 2 decades, the duration of the post-Marcos Era. Gov.Robert"Ace"Barbers, the current patriarch of the family was swept out of office by a paltry margin of 2,214 votes. The victor? Former Department of Education Regional Director Sol Forcadilla Matugas. Madame Matugas is the wife of Francisco"Lalo"Tinio Matugas who coincidentally won his race for the Surigao del Norte 1st District Congressional Seat.
Francisco Matugas, an attorney and long time political activist with PPS (Partido Padajon Surigao) now becomes the regining partiarch of the region's newest dynasty. He had been running against a felow attorney, Constantino"Banjo"Navarro III, the scion of another local dynasty, the Navarro Clan (also well known to those that pay attention to the insurgency due to black sheep Father Navarro,aka the "Barefoot Priest," who became the ranking NPA CO for a decent amount of time), long allied with the Barbers. His victory could almost be considered a landslide given the steep margin of roughly 9,800 votes.
Fracnsico's brother, Ernesto"Mitoy"Matugas has become the new mayor of the province's largest city, Surigao City with his victory over ex-Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers Jr, namesake of the original partiarch, the late Senator Robert Lyndon Barbers Sr.
Perhaps most note worthy of all, the Matugas Party, PPS, swept the entire province with every town now being led by a PPS member. The closest comparison would be Lanao del Norte Province where all but 1 community is led by a single party, but of course the operative difference being that Surigao del Norte is TOTALLY in control of PPS. This doesn't bode well for the people of Surigao del Norte despite the former dynasty's alleged penchant for corruption and ineptitude. Given the personal struggle of Madame Matugas against an allegation of corruption when she was in charge of Region 13, in her former position (she retired from another region after transferring out of Region 13 because of that allegation, an allegation from which she was cleared), one hopes that the Matugas Clan will not become further proof of the ancient maxim, "Power corrupts absolutely..."
On Janurary 28, 2010 on Langihan Road in Barangay Upper Doongan, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte Province, 28 year old Roldan P.Curalde was riding his motorcycle when shot to death with a 45. Mr.Curalde who was self employed as a miner/prospector was a Campaign Organiser for MPM (Mabuting Pilipino Movement).
On May 08, 2010 in Loreto, Agusan del Sur, COMELEC had dropped off "flash cards" for the PCOS (Precinct Optical Scanners) machines to local representative Jay Actub Salinas earlier that day and Mr.Salinas had spent the better part of that day at the municipal elections office. He had just returned home that evening and was standing in front of his door when shot with a 45 caliber pistol.
Loreto, sitting on the Agusan River is isolated in terms of approaches by land so Mr.Salinas was bundled into a speed boat and transported up river to the provincial capitol, Prosperidad where he received treatment for a wound to his abdomen. Later transfered to a hospital in Tagum City in Davao del Norte Province he was able to make a recovery, albeit after a long convalescence.
Election Day, May 10, 2010, unknown parties in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur Province manufactured fake Arrest Warrants against particular candidates that sought to impeach their character in the eyes of voters.
Reversing chronologically, there were some important goings on in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, as well as a case in Surigao City in Surigao del Norte Province.
On June 25, 2009 in at Rotunda Circumfrential Park in Barangay Poblacion, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, Barangay Councilor and radio jounalist Jonathan "Athan"Lisondra Petalvero, 43, of Bayugan was shot to death as he stood talking with members of the BASVODA (Bayugan Association of Hired Van Operators and Drivers) having given a keynote speech inside a nearby resturant, by invitation of BASVODA President Sammy Mendoza.
Mr.Petalvero was a staunch supporter of Vice Mayor Genesis Efren, running for Mayor in 2010. Genesis Efren also owns the radio station where Mr.Petalvero worked, DXFM Frenster, in Bayugan.Efren's rival, Kim Lope Asis is the son of the (then) Mayor Magdalena Lope Asis as well as being both a Barangay Captain AND the Chairman of the ABC (Association of Barangay Captains).
Earlier that month, June of 2009, a Barangay Councilor for Barangay Ipil in Bayugan was also shot to death and like Petalvero he was a supporter of Vice Mayor Efren.
On July 28, 2009 at the Municipal Health Center[sic] in ComVal Province, 39 year old Crispin Lenaban was arrested in a joint apprehension by ComVal Provincial PNP (Philippine National Police), PNP RID (Regional Intelligence Division and PRO (Police Regional Office) #13. His Warrant was issued by RTC (Regional Trial Court) #30, Branch #32 in surigao City, for Double Murder, Hiway Robbery and Posession of Firearms. Some may recall that Lenaban was wanted in the murders of COMELEC Officer Wenifreda Taer, her son who was a serving Provincial Board Councilor for Surigao del Norte Province, Rodulfo Taer and fellow Board Councilor Dominador Dandan, all of Alegria, Surigao del Norte. He was 1 of 2 gunmen, 1 with a 45, the other with a 9MM pistol. The 2nd gunman remains unknown.
Being the most heavily forested region on the island it has a huge amount of logging and since it is abutting ComVal (Compostela Valley Province) it also is moderately involved with mining. The biggest security issue however is the NPA, the Maoist Insurgency. Indeed, it is the most NPA innundated region in the nation, especially when taken in combination with ComVal that abuts Agusan del Sur. Though 2 provinces are deemed "Pacified," Surigao del Norte and Dinagat both still posess sizable numbers of synpathisers (i.e. Base of Mass Support), Sectoral Front Organisations as well as a fair number of inactive guerillas so that it remains to be seen whether those provinces will indeed remain so. Though the region saw alot of confrontations between the NPA and candidates who refused to pay the obligatory (in NPA "Influenced" areas) PTC (Pay to Campaign) "permits." These confrontations were relatively peaceful (though weapons were used in all instances none was ever fired even in warning).
Overt political violence is rare in this part of Mindanao even though the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) perpetually placing dozens of regional municipalities on the "Watch List" would seem to make that happening counter-intuitive. Still, incidents DO happen, and so here we are...but first...
Perhaps the biggest news in Caraga this Election Season was the fall of the Barbers Dynasty. The Barbers Clan has ruled Surigao del Norte for nearly 2 decades, the duration of the post-Marcos Era. Gov.Robert"Ace"Barbers, the current patriarch of the family was swept out of office by a paltry margin of 2,214 votes. The victor? Former Department of Education Regional Director Sol Forcadilla Matugas. Madame Matugas is the wife of Francisco"Lalo"Tinio Matugas who coincidentally won his race for the Surigao del Norte 1st District Congressional Seat.
Francisco Matugas, an attorney and long time political activist with PPS (Partido Padajon Surigao) now becomes the regining partiarch of the region's newest dynasty. He had been running against a felow attorney, Constantino"Banjo"Navarro III, the scion of another local dynasty, the Navarro Clan (also well known to those that pay attention to the insurgency due to black sheep Father Navarro,aka the "Barefoot Priest," who became the ranking NPA CO for a decent amount of time), long allied with the Barbers. His victory could almost be considered a landslide given the steep margin of roughly 9,800 votes.
Fracnsico's brother, Ernesto"Mitoy"Matugas has become the new mayor of the province's largest city, Surigao City with his victory over ex-Governor Robert Lyndon Barbers Jr, namesake of the original partiarch, the late Senator Robert Lyndon Barbers Sr.
Perhaps most note worthy of all, the Matugas Party, PPS, swept the entire province with every town now being led by a PPS member. The closest comparison would be Lanao del Norte Province where all but 1 community is led by a single party, but of course the operative difference being that Surigao del Norte is TOTALLY in control of PPS. This doesn't bode well for the people of Surigao del Norte despite the former dynasty's alleged penchant for corruption and ineptitude. Given the personal struggle of Madame Matugas against an allegation of corruption when she was in charge of Region 13, in her former position (she retired from another region after transferring out of Region 13 because of that allegation, an allegation from which she was cleared), one hopes that the Matugas Clan will not become further proof of the ancient maxim, "Power corrupts absolutely..."
On Janurary 28, 2010 on Langihan Road in Barangay Upper Doongan, Butuan City, Agusan del Norte Province, 28 year old Roldan P.Curalde was riding his motorcycle when shot to death with a 45. Mr.Curalde who was self employed as a miner/prospector was a Campaign Organiser for MPM (Mabuting Pilipino Movement).
On May 08, 2010 in Loreto, Agusan del Sur, COMELEC had dropped off "flash cards" for the PCOS (Precinct Optical Scanners) machines to local representative Jay Actub Salinas earlier that day and Mr.Salinas had spent the better part of that day at the municipal elections office. He had just returned home that evening and was standing in front of his door when shot with a 45 caliber pistol.
Loreto, sitting on the Agusan River is isolated in terms of approaches by land so Mr.Salinas was bundled into a speed boat and transported up river to the provincial capitol, Prosperidad where he received treatment for a wound to his abdomen. Later transfered to a hospital in Tagum City in Davao del Norte Province he was able to make a recovery, albeit after a long convalescence.
Election Day, May 10, 2010, unknown parties in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur Province manufactured fake Arrest Warrants against particular candidates that sought to impeach their character in the eyes of voters.
Reversing chronologically, there were some important goings on in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, as well as a case in Surigao City in Surigao del Norte Province.
On June 25, 2009 in at Rotunda Circumfrential Park in Barangay Poblacion, Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, Barangay Councilor and radio jounalist Jonathan "Athan"Lisondra Petalvero, 43, of Bayugan was shot to death as he stood talking with members of the BASVODA (Bayugan Association of Hired Van Operators and Drivers) having given a keynote speech inside a nearby resturant, by invitation of BASVODA President Sammy Mendoza.
Mr.Petalvero was a staunch supporter of Vice Mayor Genesis Efren, running for Mayor in 2010. Genesis Efren also owns the radio station where Mr.Petalvero worked, DXFM Frenster, in Bayugan.Efren's rival, Kim Lope Asis is the son of the (then) Mayor Magdalena Lope Asis as well as being both a Barangay Captain AND the Chairman of the ABC (Association of Barangay Captains).
Earlier that month, June of 2009, a Barangay Councilor for Barangay Ipil in Bayugan was also shot to death and like Petalvero he was a supporter of Vice Mayor Efren.
On July 28, 2009 at the Municipal Health Center[sic] in ComVal Province, 39 year old Crispin Lenaban was arrested in a joint apprehension by ComVal Provincial PNP (Philippine National Police), PNP RID (Regional Intelligence Division and PRO (Police Regional Office) #13. His Warrant was issued by RTC (Regional Trial Court) #30, Branch #32 in surigao City, for Double Murder, Hiway Robbery and Posession of Firearms. Some may recall that Lenaban was wanted in the murders of COMELEC Officer Wenifreda Taer, her son who was a serving Provincial Board Councilor for Surigao del Norte Province, Rodulfo Taer and fellow Board Councilor Dominador Dandan, all of Alegria, Surigao del Norte. He was 1 of 2 gunmen, 1 with a 45, the other with a 9MM pistol. The 2nd gunman remains unknown.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
NPA Election Related Activities,National and Local Elections of 2010
The NPA, or "New People's Army" is a Maoist organisation founded as the armed wing of the CPP,or"Communist Party of the Philippines."Both entities being the handiwork of former U of P (University of the Philippines) professor, Jose Maria"JOMA"Sison.Sison, a native of Luzon founded the NPA in 1969 and it was not until 1971 and the dawn of President Marcos' Martial Law that the group truly branched out to Mindanao.
Philosophically the group offers very little original ideology,strictly patterning itself after Mao in all key areas.Juxtapose 95% of orthadox Maosim with Sisonian ideology and you have a perfect fit.Needless to say I will go into great detail about the organisation and its beliefs in future entries,for now I am just trying to catalouge all recent events,especially with regard to the 2010 Election this past May 10th.
To the NPA's credit it does not overtly interfere in election related goings on but does take a very proactive stance with regard to candidates.This year,as in elections past,the group has"sold""PTCs" (Permits to Campaign).A PTC enables a candidate who buys one to campaign relatively worry free in the NPA's AOR (Area of Responsibility,in this case synonymous with Area of Operations).Contrary to AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) claims,there was no evolution this year towards a"PTW,"or"Permit to Win."The AFP claimed that this year,instead of PTCs the NPA was selling their services to ensure that a given candidate would win a particular office by mobilising their"mass base of support"(civilian supporters).For candidates unwilling to pay the relatively steep fee (a minimum of 50,000 Pesos,roughly 1,000 Euros),they risked having their security details disarmed at gunpoint,weapons taken and for a recalcitrant few,they risked kidnapping.
The NPA's AOR on Mindanao is almost entirely in the northeast and the Davao Region,connected by the Diwata Mountain chain from Surigao del Sur Province down through ComVal (Compostela Valley Province) with a strong pocket in N.Cotabato Province towards the Bukidnon provincial line.The following incidents all took place in the northeast, unless otherwise noted.A note,the title"Ka"is idiomatically akin to"Comrade"and is a unisex appellation.A"Front"is equivalent to a military company and they operate within a given geographical zone.
Valentine's Day in the Philippines is all about hearts,candy and love...unless you happen to live on Mindanao. On our island it is one of many times each year when specific insurgent groups make regularly timed attacks. Valentine's' because it is of course associated with the Catholic faith,the dominant religion of the Philippines,is a day on which the MILF/BIAF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front/Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces),and to a lesser extent ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) go on rampages.This Valentine's however the culprit was the NPA who launched a tactical operation in Barangay Sibahay in the town of Boston in Davao Oriental Province.Unfortunately,an innocent bystander, 13 year old Memilyn Moreno,was shot and killed.
March 11,2010 at 230PM in Davao City's Paquibato District,an NPA stronghold,an advance team for candidate Prospero Nograles was forced to stop at an NPA checkpoint.Although the occupants of the SUV were unarmed,in accordance with the COMELEC Election Season Weapons Ban,the team was made to exit their vehicle and walk out of the outlying district on foot.All campaign materiels which included personalised bottles of liquor with Nograles' face imprinted upon the label were"confiscated"by the guerillas (hiccup) from the NPA's Pulang Bagani Company 1 (PBC1),the company sized formation belonging to one of the oldest NPA Fronts on Mindanao,Front 53.
After proving their point,whatever that"point"may be,the NPA surrdendered the SUV at 8PM that evening,notifying 1 of Nograles' campaign workers where they could pick up the SUV which had been left in satisfactory condition.
The AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) 69IB (Infantry Battalion) rationalised the incident as primarily being the fault of Nograles' advance team.Why?The workers didnt coordinate their movements prior to entering the sector, as all candidates and supporters are advised to do,so says the 69th's CO (Commanding Officer),Col.De Mesa.
On March 22, 2010,in the town of Sapang-Dalaga in Misamis Occidental Province,incumbent Mayor Donjie"Dondon"D'lonso Animas was stopped at an NPA checkpoint and found his security detail disarmed of four 45 caliber pistols.
On Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 420 PM in Sitio Kalayan in Barangay Malixi near the border of Barangay San Vincente in the municipality of Tagbina in Surigao del Sur Province,Tagbina's Vice Mayor Jessie Callano who was running for mayor was stopped at an NPA checkpoint by 30 guerillas from Front 14 led by Ka Tata.Ka Tata demanded that Callano, who had been resistant up until then,finally buy a PTC for P50,000 (1,000 Euros).Callano sent for the money and once it was received,in approximately 30 minutes,he and his entourage were released.Two 45 pistols were captured by the NPA.
That same day in in Barangay Mabuhay in the town of Tandag which is also in Surigao del Sur Province,incumbent Mayor Alexander"Ayek" (not "Ike" as it is usually listed by the media) Pimentel,the brother of the governor and running unopposed in Tandag,had his security detail disarmed at an NPA checkpoint manned by 100 guerillas but was released after 30 minutes.
On April 15,2010 in the municipality of Gigaquit which is ALSO in Surigao del Sur Province,Mayor Caloy Egay had his security detail disamred at an NPA checkpoint.One KG 9 and one 45 caliber pistol were captured.
On April 20,2010 in the town of Sibagat in the province of Agusan del Sur,Mayor Dr.Thelma Gonzaga Lamanilao had her detail disarmed as well at an NPA checkpoint.One KG 9,two 45 caliber pistols,one 9MM and two 38 caliber revolvers were captured.
April 22,2010 in Barangay Santa Juana in the town of Tagbina in Surigao del Sur Province,incumbent Mayor Donnel Villaluz Polizon and 4 of the Sangguniang Bayan (Town Council) found themselves and their very large security detail disarmed at an NPA checkpoint.No inventory of divested weapons available.
Sunday,April 25,2010 in Sitio Paklap in Barangay San Vincente in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur Province,200 NPA guerillas from Front 14 under Ka Dino stopped the 2 SUVs of Provincial Council candidates Natciso Curalde and Gertrude Cabatingan who were travelling in tandem for safety.The 2 candidates were en route to a rally in Hinatuan's Barangay Tidman but never made it though they were released unharmed after 3 hours,and after paying for PTCs.
Speaking of Hinatuan,on April 26,2010 a well known supporter of incumbent Mayor Candelario J.Viola Jr. was stopped at an NPA checkpoint manned by 60 guerillas from the afore mentioned Front 14,this time under the command of Ka Juniel.The mayor himself was returning from a rally in Barangay San Vincente but intelligently took an alternate route upon leaving the gathering.When it was discovered that the supporter was not with the mayor the disappointed guerillas allowed the man to leave unmolested,albeit after a stern dressing down.
On April 28,2010,Wednesday,on Road #13 in Sitio Mamparasan in Barangay San Roque in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur Province,at 11AM,incumbent Mayor Alberto M.Tan was stopped and had himself and his security detail disarmed at an NPA checkpoint.
That same day,at 2PM in Sitio Cadlum in Barangay Kabangahan in the municipality of Tago in Surigao del Sur Province, a political rally for incumbent Congressman Philip Pichay,Tago's outgoing Mayor Hermenegildo Pimentel Jr.and the man running to replace him,Henrich Pimentel was interrupted by 30 NPA guerillas from Front 30,under Ka Puma.The guerillas quickly disarmed the extra-large security detail and managed to capture four AK47s,three M16s and 1 each of the following pistols:45 caliber,9MM, and 40 caliber.Congressman Pichay,who rarely travels in his own district says that he was so shaken up that he will now pay the PTC in any future candidacies.
On May 1,2010,early Saturday morning in the town of Malimono in the province of Surigao del Sur,incumbent Mayor Teodoro Sinaca's home was surrounded by well armed gunmen who then proceeded to strafe it with M16s for about 30 minutes.Malimono's MPO (Municipal Police Office,as in PNP station) responded in force and an intense firefight ensued for another hour before the gunmen withdrew into the bush.3 members of the mayor's family were moderately wounded in the gunbattle.
This incident has been pawned off on the NPA by the AFP and PNP,but of course it is entirely not the modus operandi of the NPA to surround a home and just shoot 3 round bursts for a half hour.For one thing,the NPA pays P40 to 50 Pesos per round (1 Euro,more or less) and otherwise depends almost entirely upon captured ammunition.That is purely from a common sensical point of view.More to the point,though its SPARU squads (incorrectly spelled as "Sparrow," assasination squads,"Special Partisan Armed Units") would never place themselves in such a jeapourdising position, neither do they operate in larger than 5 man contingents and almost always in 3,composed of 1 shooter,1 back -up and 1 look out.Almost certainly this was entirely related to a competitor who I will leave to the imagination owning to the very strict libel laws we enjoy here in the Philippines).
On Wednesday,May 5,2010 as the sun rose over Agusan-Davao National Hiway,Lingig Mayor Roberto"Jimmy"Luna Jr.and his 4 man security detail pulled up to what they believed was a PNP Checkpoint in Barangay Pasi-an in the town of Monkayo in ComVal (Compostela Valley) Province,not too far from Trento on the Agusan del Sur Provincial Line and Agusan Marsh.Much to their suprise however,the checkpoint was manned by the NPA guerillas who disarmed the 4 man detail (2 AFP soldiers and 2 PNP officers) and kidnapped all 5 men,seizing both their SUVs.
The mayor,who was en route to Davao Doctors Hospital to visit an ill son was"charged"by the NPA with a variety of offences:
1) Murdering his predecessor,Mayor Amerosin V.Onsing in 2001
2) Murdering the Suazo brothers in 2007 in his town's Barangay Union
3) Burning out squatters on a 30 hectare plot of land in Barangay Pagbacatan
4) Doing the same on a smaller plot on Dahican Island
5) Embezzling 26 million Pesos from a Land Bank Loan to improve irrigation in his municipality.The 2009 loan is now wrapped up in legal proceedings with government prosecutors charging him as well so the headaches just keep piling up for Mayor Luna.
He and his detail,2 Pfcs from the 58IB:
1) Arnel Dizon
2) Jon Rey Abao
along with 2 Lingig PNP officers:
1) PO2 Boy de Castro
2) PO3 Alan Dapitanon
were moved 5 times during their 8 days of captivity but were treated fairly well they all say,and were released in a carefully orchestrated propaganda exercise on May 13, 3 days after the election.
On May 8,2010,Saturday,11AM on the Hinatuan-Bislig City Boundry Road, in Sitio Tandawan in Barangay Loyola on the Bislig side.Outgoing Governor Vincente Pimentel Jr'sconvoy of 3 SUVs was stopped at an NPA checkpoint manned by 90 guerillas.The Governor's security detail then proceeded to get into a heated argument with the guerillas as they were being divested of weaponry and the scene could have easily turned into one giant blood bath.Instead the guerillas captured four M16s,one MP5 and two 45 caliber pistols and allowed the convoy to proceed.
They had been coming from a meeting about Lingig's afore mentioned Mayor Roberto"Jimmy"Luna Jr. who had just been kidnapped days before.It is also worth mentioning that the Governor,who has reached his term limit was campaigning for the mayoralty of Carrascal in Surigao del Sur Province,and later ended up winning that election.
In Davao Oriental Province's municipality of Lupon on Sunday,April 11th,2010 at 3 PM,mayoral candidate Arfran Larrobis Quinones who had served as mayor in the past as well,was en route to a campaign meeting with supporters to Sitio Tiombokan in Barangay Marayag and had just entered Sitio Calatagan in that same barangay when 30 NPA guerillas from Front 18 under Ka Benjie stopped them at a checkpoint.At 6PM all except Quinones and Barnagay Chairman/Captain Pedro Rosito were released.The 2 were kidnapped victims were then released as ComVal Governor Arturo Uy began negotiations for their release.Both were released in good condition on April 13th at 8PM in that town's Barangay Kalatagan.
Philosophically the group offers very little original ideology,strictly patterning itself after Mao in all key areas.Juxtapose 95% of orthadox Maosim with Sisonian ideology and you have a perfect fit.Needless to say I will go into great detail about the organisation and its beliefs in future entries,for now I am just trying to catalouge all recent events,especially with regard to the 2010 Election this past May 10th.
To the NPA's credit it does not overtly interfere in election related goings on but does take a very proactive stance with regard to candidates.This year,as in elections past,the group has"sold""PTCs" (Permits to Campaign).A PTC enables a candidate who buys one to campaign relatively worry free in the NPA's AOR (Area of Responsibility,in this case synonymous with Area of Operations).Contrary to AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) claims,there was no evolution this year towards a"PTW,"or"Permit to Win."The AFP claimed that this year,instead of PTCs the NPA was selling their services to ensure that a given candidate would win a particular office by mobilising their"mass base of support"(civilian supporters).For candidates unwilling to pay the relatively steep fee (a minimum of 50,000 Pesos,roughly 1,000 Euros),they risked having their security details disarmed at gunpoint,weapons taken and for a recalcitrant few,they risked kidnapping.
The NPA's AOR on Mindanao is almost entirely in the northeast and the Davao Region,connected by the Diwata Mountain chain from Surigao del Sur Province down through ComVal (Compostela Valley Province) with a strong pocket in N.Cotabato Province towards the Bukidnon provincial line.The following incidents all took place in the northeast, unless otherwise noted.A note,the title"Ka"is idiomatically akin to"Comrade"and is a unisex appellation.A"Front"is equivalent to a military company and they operate within a given geographical zone.
Valentine's Day in the Philippines is all about hearts,candy and love...unless you happen to live on Mindanao. On our island it is one of many times each year when specific insurgent groups make regularly timed attacks. Valentine's' because it is of course associated with the Catholic faith,the dominant religion of the Philippines,is a day on which the MILF/BIAF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front/Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces),and to a lesser extent ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) go on rampages.This Valentine's however the culprit was the NPA who launched a tactical operation in Barangay Sibahay in the town of Boston in Davao Oriental Province.Unfortunately,an innocent bystander, 13 year old Memilyn Moreno,was shot and killed.
March 11,2010 at 230PM in Davao City's Paquibato District,an NPA stronghold,an advance team for candidate Prospero Nograles was forced to stop at an NPA checkpoint.Although the occupants of the SUV were unarmed,in accordance with the COMELEC Election Season Weapons Ban,the team was made to exit their vehicle and walk out of the outlying district on foot.All campaign materiels which included personalised bottles of liquor with Nograles' face imprinted upon the label were"confiscated"by the guerillas (hiccup) from the NPA's Pulang Bagani Company 1 (PBC1),the company sized formation belonging to one of the oldest NPA Fronts on Mindanao,Front 53.
After proving their point,whatever that"point"may be,the NPA surrdendered the SUV at 8PM that evening,notifying 1 of Nograles' campaign workers where they could pick up the SUV which had been left in satisfactory condition.
The AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) 69IB (Infantry Battalion) rationalised the incident as primarily being the fault of Nograles' advance team.Why?The workers didnt coordinate their movements prior to entering the sector, as all candidates and supporters are advised to do,so says the 69th's CO (Commanding Officer),Col.De Mesa.
On March 22, 2010,in the town of Sapang-Dalaga in Misamis Occidental Province,incumbent Mayor Donjie"Dondon"D'lonso Animas was stopped at an NPA checkpoint and found his security detail disarmed of four 45 caliber pistols.
On Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 420 PM in Sitio Kalayan in Barangay Malixi near the border of Barangay San Vincente in the municipality of Tagbina in Surigao del Sur Province,Tagbina's Vice Mayor Jessie Callano who was running for mayor was stopped at an NPA checkpoint by 30 guerillas from Front 14 led by Ka Tata.Ka Tata demanded that Callano, who had been resistant up until then,finally buy a PTC for P50,000 (1,000 Euros).Callano sent for the money and once it was received,in approximately 30 minutes,he and his entourage were released.Two 45 pistols were captured by the NPA.
That same day in in Barangay Mabuhay in the town of Tandag which is also in Surigao del Sur Province,incumbent Mayor Alexander"Ayek" (not "Ike" as it is usually listed by the media) Pimentel,the brother of the governor and running unopposed in Tandag,had his security detail disarmed at an NPA checkpoint manned by 100 guerillas but was released after 30 minutes.
On April 15,2010 in the municipality of Gigaquit which is ALSO in Surigao del Sur Province,Mayor Caloy Egay had his security detail disamred at an NPA checkpoint.One KG 9 and one 45 caliber pistol were captured.
On April 20,2010 in the town of Sibagat in the province of Agusan del Sur,Mayor Dr.Thelma Gonzaga Lamanilao had her detail disarmed as well at an NPA checkpoint.One KG 9,two 45 caliber pistols,one 9MM and two 38 caliber revolvers were captured.
April 22,2010 in Barangay Santa Juana in the town of Tagbina in Surigao del Sur Province,incumbent Mayor Donnel Villaluz Polizon and 4 of the Sangguniang Bayan (Town Council) found themselves and their very large security detail disarmed at an NPA checkpoint.No inventory of divested weapons available.
Sunday,April 25,2010 in Sitio Paklap in Barangay San Vincente in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur Province,200 NPA guerillas from Front 14 under Ka Dino stopped the 2 SUVs of Provincial Council candidates Natciso Curalde and Gertrude Cabatingan who were travelling in tandem for safety.The 2 candidates were en route to a rally in Hinatuan's Barangay Tidman but never made it though they were released unharmed after 3 hours,and after paying for PTCs.
Speaking of Hinatuan,on April 26,2010 a well known supporter of incumbent Mayor Candelario J.Viola Jr. was stopped at an NPA checkpoint manned by 60 guerillas from the afore mentioned Front 14,this time under the command of Ka Juniel.The mayor himself was returning from a rally in Barangay San Vincente but intelligently took an alternate route upon leaving the gathering.When it was discovered that the supporter was not with the mayor the disappointed guerillas allowed the man to leave unmolested,albeit after a stern dressing down.
On April 28,2010,Wednesday,on Road #13 in Sitio Mamparasan in Barangay San Roque in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur Province,at 11AM,incumbent Mayor Alberto M.Tan was stopped and had himself and his security detail disarmed at an NPA checkpoint.
That same day,at 2PM in Sitio Cadlum in Barangay Kabangahan in the municipality of Tago in Surigao del Sur Province, a political rally for incumbent Congressman Philip Pichay,Tago's outgoing Mayor Hermenegildo Pimentel Jr.and the man running to replace him,Henrich Pimentel was interrupted by 30 NPA guerillas from Front 30,under Ka Puma.The guerillas quickly disarmed the extra-large security detail and managed to capture four AK47s,three M16s and 1 each of the following pistols:45 caliber,9MM, and 40 caliber.Congressman Pichay,who rarely travels in his own district says that he was so shaken up that he will now pay the PTC in any future candidacies.
On May 1,2010,early Saturday morning in the town of Malimono in the province of Surigao del Sur,incumbent Mayor Teodoro Sinaca's home was surrounded by well armed gunmen who then proceeded to strafe it with M16s for about 30 minutes.Malimono's MPO (Municipal Police Office,as in PNP station) responded in force and an intense firefight ensued for another hour before the gunmen withdrew into the bush.3 members of the mayor's family were moderately wounded in the gunbattle.
This incident has been pawned off on the NPA by the AFP and PNP,but of course it is entirely not the modus operandi of the NPA to surround a home and just shoot 3 round bursts for a half hour.For one thing,the NPA pays P40 to 50 Pesos per round (1 Euro,more or less) and otherwise depends almost entirely upon captured ammunition.That is purely from a common sensical point of view.More to the point,though its SPARU squads (incorrectly spelled as "Sparrow," assasination squads,"Special Partisan Armed Units") would never place themselves in such a jeapourdising position, neither do they operate in larger than 5 man contingents and almost always in 3,composed of 1 shooter,1 back -up and 1 look out.Almost certainly this was entirely related to a competitor who I will leave to the imagination owning to the very strict libel laws we enjoy here in the Philippines).
On Wednesday,May 5,2010 as the sun rose over Agusan-Davao National Hiway,Lingig Mayor Roberto"Jimmy"Luna Jr.and his 4 man security detail pulled up to what they believed was a PNP Checkpoint in Barangay Pasi-an in the town of Monkayo in ComVal (Compostela Valley) Province,not too far from Trento on the Agusan del Sur Provincial Line and Agusan Marsh.Much to their suprise however,the checkpoint was manned by the NPA guerillas who disarmed the 4 man detail (2 AFP soldiers and 2 PNP officers) and kidnapped all 5 men,seizing both their SUVs.
The mayor,who was en route to Davao Doctors Hospital to visit an ill son was"charged"by the NPA with a variety of offences:
1) Murdering his predecessor,Mayor Amerosin V.Onsing in 2001
2) Murdering the Suazo brothers in 2007 in his town's Barangay Union
3) Burning out squatters on a 30 hectare plot of land in Barangay Pagbacatan
4) Doing the same on a smaller plot on Dahican Island
5) Embezzling 26 million Pesos from a Land Bank Loan to improve irrigation in his municipality.The 2009 loan is now wrapped up in legal proceedings with government prosecutors charging him as well so the headaches just keep piling up for Mayor Luna.
He and his detail,2 Pfcs from the 58IB:
1) Arnel Dizon
2) Jon Rey Abao
along with 2 Lingig PNP officers:
1) PO2 Boy de Castro
2) PO3 Alan Dapitanon
were moved 5 times during their 8 days of captivity but were treated fairly well they all say,and were released in a carefully orchestrated propaganda exercise on May 13, 3 days after the election.
On May 8,2010,Saturday,11AM on the Hinatuan-Bislig City Boundry Road, in Sitio Tandawan in Barangay Loyola on the Bislig side.Outgoing Governor Vincente Pimentel Jr'sconvoy of 3 SUVs was stopped at an NPA checkpoint manned by 90 guerillas.The Governor's security detail then proceeded to get into a heated argument with the guerillas as they were being divested of weaponry and the scene could have easily turned into one giant blood bath.Instead the guerillas captured four M16s,one MP5 and two 45 caliber pistols and allowed the convoy to proceed.
They had been coming from a meeting about Lingig's afore mentioned Mayor Roberto"Jimmy"Luna Jr. who had just been kidnapped days before.It is also worth mentioning that the Governor,who has reached his term limit was campaigning for the mayoralty of Carrascal in Surigao del Sur Province,and later ended up winning that election.
In Davao Oriental Province's municipality of Lupon on Sunday,April 11th,2010 at 3 PM,mayoral candidate Arfran Larrobis Quinones who had served as mayor in the past as well,was en route to a campaign meeting with supporters to Sitio Tiombokan in Barangay Marayag and had just entered Sitio Calatagan in that same barangay when 30 NPA guerillas from Front 18 under Ka Benjie stopped them at a checkpoint.At 6PM all except Quinones and Barnagay Chairman/Captain Pedro Rosito were released.The 2 were kidnapped victims were then released as ComVal Governor Arturo Uy began negotiations for their release.Both were released in good condition on April 13th at 8PM in that town's Barangay Kalatagan.
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