NPA Armed Contacts for the Second Quarter of 2012, Part I: Front 27 Attacks Three Mining Targets within Six Hours

The Philippines as a whole not only has never legislated nepotism, it actually holds the practice in high esteem. For Filipinos of all ethnicities the family is everything. Therefore, it is counter-intuitive to Filipinos, to view nepotism as anything but a positive occurrence. In addition, the Philippines is a nation of patriarchal tribal cultures. The convergance of both these dynamics has rendered the political landscape of the country one of a playing field tightly controlled by a relatively few political dynasties who almost always rely on the proverbial "Goons and Gold" to maintain their iron grip on power.

In Mindanao this is especially true. Take for instance, ComVal, or, as it is known to people outside of Mindanao, Compostela Valley Province. Carved mostly out of Davao del Norte Province in 1998, it has remained the personal fifedom of two families, the Caballeros, and the Uys, with the latter currently holding the Governorship since 2007. Govetnor Arturo Tao Uy, whose usually known by his Chinese name, Chionkee [sic], is-like most politicos- deeply enmeshed in at least grey sectors of the economy. Amongst Uy's grey market holdings are a group of gold mills, to process the ore mined in several sections of the province. That Governor Uy might profit from industries he is tasked with legislating and policing is a non-issue since Philippine Law and ethics dont go near such things. Naturally then, Uy has used his position of power to sweeten the pit for several multi-nationals.

At 8PM, on June 8th, 2012, two single axle dumptrucks entered the municipality of New Bataan's Barangay Camanlangan, and then reduced speed as they crossed together into that barangay's Sitio Tagpura before stopping several meters short of the Philco Mining Company compound. Dismounting from the two trucks, thirty NPA guerillas from Front 27, the Rhyme Petalcorin Command of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, or SMRC, split into three elements. Ten guerillas formed the strike force while the remaining two groups of five cadres each took up perimeter positions around the outside of the compund's chainlink and razor wire fencing.

As the strike force quickly entered the compound they rounded up the few security guards present and announced that the NPA was undertaking a punative action in response to Philco's refusal to pay its "Revolutionary Tax" debt. Amazingly the guards were unarmed and so the NPA failed to capture any weaponry, but managed to make up for that disappointing fact by pouring gasoline over ten portable generators, one excavator, one tracked utility vehicle with a boom, a large drilling rig, and two Elf trucks...all of which were then burned entirely.

Withdrawing out of the compound the strike force piled back into the two dumptrucks which then advanced past the compound and picked up the renaining ten guerillas on the ground. Onward the two trucks drove until at just before 11PM that night, they entered the municipality of Nabunturan, also in ComVal. Making their way to Barangay Mainit, the trucks drove until they located a specific "planta," or gold mill out of the thirty-four dotting that barangay's landscape.

This particular mill, in Sitio Inupuan, is owned by none other than Governor Arturo "Chionkee" Tao Uy himself. Using his position of power and influence, Uy wrangled himself a dedicated customer, the "Milagros-Oz" gold operation in the booming Maragusan Gold Field. Like virtually all gold mills in ComVal, this mill was more profitable than the mine it serviced. Charging P2,000 ($44) per "puyong," or 50 kilogramme sack, it was guaranteed a cashflow since it took its cut off of the top. Uy and his clan own several mills in ComVal, a province where nine out of the eleven municipalities host high assay gold fields.

As the guerillas from Front 27 dismounted from their trucks near the gold mill, they almost literally landed on a PNP, or Philippine National Police officer, Senior Police Officer First Grade (SPO1) Charlie Azucar. Taking the hapless officer prisoner after divesting him of his 45 caliber service revolver, he was kept under guard by three guerillas from the perimeter force, with the NPA having re-assumed the same configuration as the Philco assault elements three hours earlier. Quickly infiltrating the mill compound, the guerillas disarmed the nine soldiers from the Uy paramilitary, capturing their nine 45 caliber pistols, two M653s ("mini-M16s"), one M14, and one Ingram machine pistol.

After seizing an unknown amount of cash and golddust, the NPA withdrew at just after midnite. Taking SPO1 Azucar with them in their dumptrucks the NPA next drove to the home of the barangay captain to whom they released the abducted police officer, minus his pistol. With SPO1 Azucar freed, the two trucks then exited the barangay before being abandoned as the thirty guerillas withdrew on foot with their captured weaponry and loot.

As noted above, among Uy's playmates is the Oz Metal Exploration and Development Corporation. Uy, via the partnering corporation, Milagrosa Mineral Resources Corporation, has his hooks in ComVal's newest goldrush, the Maragusan Field, 300 hectares on the borders of Barangays Tupaz and Pamintaran. The compound, in Pamintaran's Sitio Saranga, is protected by Uy's paramilitary, and by the looks of it, they are in dire need of a brushup. As SPO1 Azucar was being released at just after midnite, June 9th, another "platun" (platoon) from Front 27 was readying themselves to launch a third assault in ComVal.

Approaching the mining compound on foot after trekking down the single muddy track that connects the two aforementioned barangays to the town proper, nearly 5 kilometers away, the guerillas from Front 27 very quickly disarmed the ten paramilitary soldiers on duty. As is almost always the case, they were drinking beer and playing cards.

Quickly herding the stunned captives into the compound offices, the NPA captured ten 45 caliber pistols, one KG machine pistol, one shotgun, six handheld radios and one cellphone. The guerillas then turned their attention to the lack of heavy equipment sitting inside the compound perimeter. After informing their captives that the following action was being undertaken due to the firms' refusals to pay its share of "Revolutionary Taxes," poured gasoline over the three portable generators sitting against the fence, and then set them afire before withdrawing out of the compound and back down the dirt track. From there, the guerillas split up into several smaller groups for the long hike through the jungle.

A third and fourth platoon, both from Front 2, the Crucifino Uballas Command, also of the SMRC, ambushed a convoy from the 71IB (Infantry Battalion) as the 71st was being deployed for the "Hot Pursuit" against Front 27 for its three attacks. The ambush, in the municipality of Mawab's Barangay New Visayas took place at 540AM, June 9th, as the last 6 x 6 troop carrier rolled into Purok #2. The NPA claims it killed five soldiers. It did not. It did however, wound four, one critically, from the initial IED blast (Improvised Explosive Device).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NPA Armed Contacts,Second Quarter of 2011,Part III:More Misery in Pantukan

In two recent "Development Aggression" entries I covered both the Good Friday Landslide in the municipality of Pantukan in ComVal (Compostela Valley Province) as well as the subsequent issues with the American-based multi-national that is attempting to mine there, Russell Mining. Pantukan is like so many of the communities in the Diwata Mountain Range. Blessed with almost unimaginable beauty they are simultaneously cursed with an over-abundance of natural resources. Some might be scratching their heads, wondering just how there can ever be an "over-abundance" of natural resources...

To digress for a moment,if one were to poll laymen and ask them what the number one cause of war and conflict has been throughout the history of man they would more than likely say, "Religion." Of course that seems like a fair answer but it is absolutely incorrect. The cause of almost every single conflict that has wracked this planet has been natural resources,or to be specific, control of those natural resources. Religion is sometimes used as the ideological vehicle but it isn't the actual impetus.

Segueing back to the Diwata Mountains...Gold more often than not brings only misery. It attracts the worst of humanity. Huge communities spring up around its source and for a brief while there is hope. Yet anywhere one finds fast money they also will find people who aim to live like parasites, off of the good fortune of others. Pimps,drug dealers...Corruption abounds, from those sworn to protect like the AFP and PNP (Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police) to those sworn to serve their communities in other ways, like politicians and civil servants.

Seeing vulnerable,ill communities insurgents are drawn to such places as centres of gravity, or ground zero in that particular dynamic. The NPA,or New People's Army, is drawn to such places for several reasons. The top two reasons are equally important; first, boom towns present a myriad of funding possibilities. "Revolutionary Taxes" are little more than Protection Rackets that target a vulnerable demographic. Living amongst a corrupt security apparattus what can a targetted business man or company really do? There is no choice but to pay up and pay they do. The average rate of "Taxation" for a multi-national corporation mining the Diwata Mountains averages a neat P1 Million ($22,000) PER MONTH. The NPA loves to tell anyone who listens that they are battling against foreign-based corporations who aim to siphon off the nation's patrimony as the poor Lumad (generic term applied to all Animist Hilltribes on Mindanao) are lucky if they even net 2 or 3 years of backbreaking labour at not much above the minimum wage.

The truth of the matter is that the NPA wants these multi-national bloodsuckers working these hills just as bad as the Government sitting in Manila does. Both are just as greedy and both have exactly the same endgame, control of the central axis of power and to gain this, or in the Government's case to retain this, they need money, lots of money.

The second reason is that the multi-nationals are a large cog in the dynamic that creates these battered mountain communities. What better pool of recruits could the NPA ever hope for? Let's see...on one hand you have an existence of pathetic misery with a life expectancy of 47 years with 1 meal a day of white rice and Bitter Melon (Ampalaya)...or a life as a guerilla where you are led to believe you are working to help create a world where everyone will have enough to eat and enough money to live. Naturally the life of a gueriila is many more times attractive and this is why the bast bulk of the NPA's forces on Mindanao are Lumad.

On May 4th, 2011 in Pantukan's Barangay Tibagon three columns from the 71IB (Infantry Battalion) were on patrol when they walked right into an NPA ambush courtesy of Front 2, the Crucifino Uballas Command. As is so often the case it began with an IED (Improvised Explosive Device,as in "bomb") that immediately killed the soldier on point (the soldier walking at the lead of one of the columns). In the 55 minute long firefight that followed 2 more soldiers were critically wounded. The AFP, trying as always to use its scraps for propaganda value claimed that the heartless NPA senselessly attacked an AFP element as it engaged in Search and Rescue Operations relating to that aforementioned Good Friday Landslide. Uh,guys? The landslide was in Barangay Kingking, the soldiers in this contact were in Barangay Tibagon. More over, Search and Rescue Operations ended 2 days earlier and don't involve three columned formations. People DO pay attention to the facts so the AFP should at least try to spin its dirtywork intelligently.

Speaking of Barangay Kingking though...On May 12th in that barangay's Sitio Maplog,near the border of Sitio Lawa'an the NPA's 3rd Pulang Bagani (Red Warrior) Company of the Merardo Arce Command (SMRC,as in Southern Mindanao Regional Committee) implemented an impromptu checkpoint.Shortly thereafter 4 motorcycles were stopped. All 4 were driven by SCAA soldiers employed by Saint Augustine Copper and Gold. Saint Augustine is a joint venture that serves as the aforementioned Russell Mining and its local partner NADECOR's (National Development Corporation) local operating entity. Philippine Laws require all foreign owned companies to engage a local partner in sn advantageous 60:40 split, in favour of the locally owned company. To try and maximise this disadvantageous relationship a multi-national will sometimes create a local operating entity,hence Saint Augustine.

On the morning in question a company geologist was on his way to examine a test hole.SCAA,or Special Citizens Active Auxiliary, is 1 of the 4 CAA (Citizens Active Auxiliaries) entities used by the AFP as the cornerstone of its Counterinsurgency Programe. While many Filipinos are quite familiar with another of the CAA entities,the CAFGU,or Citizens Active Geographical Force Unit, the SCAA remains a mystery to most.The are privately funded by business owners but trained and equipped by the AFP.While CAFGU will almost always have extremely old M1s (Garand 30 caliber) the SCAA almost always carries AFP quality weaponry (not that the AFP has anything really effective). Because CAAs on average have but 45 days of extremely minimal training and tend to carry AFP quality weaponry they are a primary target of NPA tactical assaults.

As the 4 motorcycles neared the checkpoint,with the geologist riding tandem on one,they realised too late that they were trapped.One SCAA soldier immediately dumped his bike and ran off into the jungle.A second,CAA Casiano,stupidly reached for the M4 carbine on his back and was shot to death.The other 2 CAAs and the geologist fully complied and the NPA captured three M4 carbines and three ICOM V87s (walkie-talkies). It was initially believed that the fourth CAA,the one who ran off into the jungle,had been captured or killed by the NPA but he surfaced after nightfall, 14 hours later.Apparently,in his blind fear he ran headlong through the jungle and clear over a cliff. Luckily for the CAA the cliff face turned into an incline several meters down and some scrub vegetation broke his fall. Other than some scratches and bruises he is none the worse for the wear.

Russell slash Saint Augustine holds a 600 hectare tract that spans parts of Barangay Kingking and an adjoining barangay. It is interesting that the geologist was up and about considering that the Provincial Government had specifically issued the outfit a Stop Work Order, or as it is called in the Philippines, a Cease and Desist Order some weeks before. The issue at the centre of the Order is the company's failure to address illegal encroachment upon its tenement by small scale miners. Though Russell doesn't hold paper on the portion of barangay Kingking that suffered the April 23rd landslide its tenement is also swarming with fly by night operators hoping to turn a fast profit. It would seem counter intuitive for a huge mining corporation to not act when people engage in what amounts to bold faced theft but the companies are only concerned with the bottom line.

If you are the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of a multi-national mining corporation and you have a tract producing say 14 Million US Dollars a month...but end up losing 1.2 Million US more from poaching small scale miners you need to do a cost:benefit analysis. If you turn the SCAA on them you will have what amounts to a sub-conflit (small war) on your operation's doorstep. If you are a publicly held corporation it will murder your share price as well as your stockholders' portfolio...If it expands to AFP participation the government might just clamp down on you. There are a plethora of less than savoury outcomes and so parasitic small scale miners are endured. If you are an LGU (Local Government Unit,as in municipal or provincial government) executive you don't have such freedom.Landslides that kill dozens every few months ON TOP of the social ills such a trade produces by relation arent worth stomaching,ergo the Order handed down by Governor Uy.

The NPA spin meisters justified the "operation" by pointing out that a local tribesman,Santos Manrique,had been killed just a couple of weeks before. Mr.Manrique was a very vocal opponent of the Russell tenement and his death is widely believed to be linked to that opposition. In reality Saint Augustine has refused to pay its Revolutionary Taxes. This in turn means that the NPA has declared open season on the company.

Just two days after the checkpoint incident, on May 14th, in that same barangay,Kingking,a routine torture...I mean interrogation of a villager by the 71IB revealed that 2 men had been seen laying a weapons cache in a newly dug pit. Carefully excavating the hole the soldiers discovered 8 IEDs in rice sacks. The IEDs had identical signatures as the device that recently killed 3 in the neighbouring town of Maco, in addition to wounding 7.