So far June of 2012 had been a very good month for the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, 66IB (Infantry Battalion). As I discussed in another Second Quarter entry, the 66IB repulsed a well planned NPA assault on the Sumifru Banana Plantation in the municipality of Mawab, in Compostela Valley Province, or, as its usually referred to, "ComVal."
On Friday, June 15th, 2012, an AFP convoy of 3 KM450 troop carriers was transiting the municipality of New Bataan's Barangay Bantacan. Aboard the three trucks were men from the 66IB and the 4th Scout Ranger Company, en route to 66IB Headquarters in that same municipality.
As the three trucks negotiated an "s" turn on National Hiway the NPA's Front 27, the Rhyme Petalcorin Command of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, or SMRC, detonated an IED striking the last of the three trucks. Immediately wounded were two men from the 66IB:
1) Staff Sergeant Arnold Pacino
2) Corporal Jaime Clara
and two men from the Scout Rangers 4th Company:
1) First Lieutenant Rodel Daguio
2) Private First Class Richie Ursal
As small arms fire began peppering the trucks the soldiers piled out and began returning fire. As the last of the AFP soldiers took their positions the NPA guerillas broke contact and began withdrawing in different directions. The AFP began assesing the casualties and after performing triage on the four wounded men, bundled them all into the rear of one of the KM450s and drove the truck to Montevista District Hospital. Unfortunately, First Lieutenant Daguio succumbed to his injuries and died on the operating table early the next day. Instead of celebrating Fathers Day with his wife and young daughter, his loved ones were retrieving his body from a Panabo City funeral home. Fathers Day festivities will be in the form of a wake in the Daguio Family's Calinan District home in Davao City.
The 66IB's three maneuver companies were immediately deployed to implement checkpoint operations in the immediare area as the 71IB, 72IB, and the latter's CAFGU, or Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit*, deployed company sized elements in what the AFP tends to call "Hot Pursuit" operations, AFP speak for"lets stand around playing pocket pool as we torture uneducated Hilltribesmen" (*CAFGU is the lynchpin in the AFP's CAA, or Civilian Active Auxiliary program. CAA, sublimated to J5, the AFP Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations, is the progeny of the Marcos Era ICHDF, or Integrated Civilain Home Defense Force. Like the IHCDF, CAFGU is considered central to the AFP's COIN, or Counterinsurgency program vis a vis the NPA. Manned by residents of a specific barangay or more rarely, a specific municipality, CAFGU posts may not operate outside the boundries of their specific batangay or municipality. In each infantry brigade there is one infantry battalion tasked with serving as that brigade's CB, or Cadre Battalion,vwhose job it is to supervise all CAFGU posts within its brigade's territory. One NCO (Non Commisioned Officer), almost always a corporal, is deployed as a Cadre Officer, commanding a CAFGU post).
At 8AM, June 16th, one of the 66IB's hastily implemented checkpoints, in New Bataan's Barangay Andap, stopped two motorcycles operating without liscence plates, the bikes having been spotted as soon as they entered Purok #1, where the checkpoint was deployed. After making all six men (three per motorcycle) dismount, soldiers quickly discovered IED components:
1) 2kg. Ammonium Phosphate
2) Twelve improvised blasting caps
3) 28 meters of red tie fuse detonating cord
All six men:
1) Gerald Baugto
2) Darwin Montella
3) Junvin Fernandez
4) Modi Linda-an
5) Danilo Maunda
6) Ernesto Bagbag
were promptly arrested and transferred to the custody of the New Bataan MPO, or Municipal Police Office. While very proud of themselves, the AFP evidently continues to care more about appearances than they do about facts, and moreover, about combatting the very real danger posed by the NPA's IEDs. The NPA's devices are indeed Command adetonated, employing detonation cord. However, while it is true the NPA has switched from Compound B to Ammonium Nitrate, gold miners AND fishermen ALSO use the substance. Gold miners also use detonation cord. New Bataan, as noted in my aforementioned (other) NPA Second Quarter of 2012 entry, is a mining community. Without even investigating the AFP has incarcerated six men not listed on any AFP Order of Battle (a list of military objectives, people, places, and things).
Showing posts with label Rhyme Petalcorin Command. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rhyme Petalcorin Command. Show all posts
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
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).
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).
Thursday, June 7, 2012
NPA Armed Contacts for the First Quarter of 2012, Part II: Six Guerillas Die in Attack on Sumifru
Of multi-nationals raising bananas on Mindanao, only Sumifru continues to swim against the current by refusing to buckle under to the NPA's program of "Revolutionary Taxation." Since Dole threw in the towel in 2011 and began realising that quarterly payoffs to the Maoist Insurgency left its bottom line a tad bit more healthy than regular violent attacks on personnel and equipment, only Sumifru has enjoyed 30 caliber machine gun fire, multiple truck burnings and all around terrible publicity. One would have imagined that the Japanese-based corporation might have learned a thing or two after the October 2011 attack on mining interests in the municipality of Claver, in Surigao del Norte Province. Hardest hit, in the financial sense, was Sumitomo Metal, a sister corporation to...you guessed it...Sumifru.
On Monday, January 15th, 2012, at 3AM, a green single axle dump truck with an M60 crew served machine gun mounted in the truck's dump body and covered with fourty guerillas clinging to the sides began picking up speed as it crossed into Barangay Tuburan, in the municipality of Mawab in ComVal, as Compestela Valley Province is known locally. Unbeknownst to the NPA an alert villager, uncharacteristically disloyal to the Maoist causr, quickly phoned in a warning to 10ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters, located in that same municipality. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to postulate an objective in that well trodden barangay. If the NPA were launching a forceful attack in Barangay Tuburan, it had to be against Sumifru and its large banana plantation.
10ID had quickly phoned a sublimated infantry brigade, the 1001st, and ordered the Duty Officer to quickly warn its 66IB (Infantry Battalion) that the NPA was en route to a large and somewhat vulnerable target within the 66th's AOR (Area of Responsibility). Much to his credit, the 66IB's Lieutenant Colonel Antonio "Tony" Florendo had recently deployed acstrike team to supplement Sumifru's SCAA (Special Citizens Active Auxiliary, the quasi-state sponsored paramilitary sublimated to the AFP but funded entirely by specific private business interests to which it serves as a unitary dedicated armed force). Off duty, Florendo was made aware of the situation and scrambled an entire company (120 soldiers) and Light Armored units, not taking any chances. He then readied himself to rendevouz with the aforementioned reinforcements.
As that single dump truck turned onto the Sumifru access road the SCAA post was already in full defensive mode. As the truck's tires hit the gravel stretch just before the post it was met with carefully directed fire that immediately stple the initiative from the attacking NPA and converted the NPA's fully offensive tactical operation into a holding.pattern. Asode from preventing any incoming threat from the truck mounted M60, two IED (Improvised Exolosive Devices) teams were prevented from neutralising the post's perimeter fencing.
As the attack passed the self-imposed 15 minute window at which point the NPA inevitably withdraws if unable to capture momentum, the post received word that Lieutenant Colonel Flotendo had already circumvented the requisite NPA Blocking Force and was now twenty minutes out the NPA suddenly withdrew, leaving behind the stolen dumptruck, the M60 mounted upon it, two M14s, two M16s, one 45 caliber pistol and the bodies of six dead guerillas:
1) Romeo T.Vender, 34, New Corella, Davao del Norte Province
2) Mario Ocay, 37, New Corella
3) Ener Rosquetes Etol, 22, Asuncion, Davao del Norte Province
4) Vicente P.Libre, Asuncion
5) Jose M.Elac, 50, Montevista, ComVal
6) Juan Paloma, 27 Monkayo, ComVal
On Monday, January 15th, 2012, at 3AM, a green single axle dump truck with an M60 crew served machine gun mounted in the truck's dump body and covered with fourty guerillas clinging to the sides began picking up speed as it crossed into Barangay Tuburan, in the municipality of Mawab in ComVal, as Compestela Valley Province is known locally. Unbeknownst to the NPA an alert villager, uncharacteristically disloyal to the Maoist causr, quickly phoned in a warning to 10ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters, located in that same municipality. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to postulate an objective in that well trodden barangay. If the NPA were launching a forceful attack in Barangay Tuburan, it had to be against Sumifru and its large banana plantation.
10ID had quickly phoned a sublimated infantry brigade, the 1001st, and ordered the Duty Officer to quickly warn its 66IB (Infantry Battalion) that the NPA was en route to a large and somewhat vulnerable target within the 66th's AOR (Area of Responsibility). Much to his credit, the 66IB's Lieutenant Colonel Antonio "Tony" Florendo had recently deployed acstrike team to supplement Sumifru's SCAA (Special Citizens Active Auxiliary, the quasi-state sponsored paramilitary sublimated to the AFP but funded entirely by specific private business interests to which it serves as a unitary dedicated armed force). Off duty, Florendo was made aware of the situation and scrambled an entire company (120 soldiers) and Light Armored units, not taking any chances. He then readied himself to rendevouz with the aforementioned reinforcements.
As that single dump truck turned onto the Sumifru access road the SCAA post was already in full defensive mode. As the truck's tires hit the gravel stretch just before the post it was met with carefully directed fire that immediately stple the initiative from the attacking NPA and converted the NPA's fully offensive tactical operation into a holding.pattern. Asode from preventing any incoming threat from the truck mounted M60, two IED (Improvised Exolosive Devices) teams were prevented from neutralising the post's perimeter fencing.
As the attack passed the self-imposed 15 minute window at which point the NPA inevitably withdraws if unable to capture momentum, the post received word that Lieutenant Colonel Flotendo had already circumvented the requisite NPA Blocking Force and was now twenty minutes out the NPA suddenly withdrew, leaving behind the stolen dumptruck, the M60 mounted upon it, two M14s, two M16s, one 45 caliber pistol and the bodies of six dead guerillas:
1) Romeo T.Vender, 34, New Corella, Davao del Norte Province
2) Mario Ocay, 37, New Corella
3) Ener Rosquetes Etol, 22, Asuncion, Davao del Norte Province
4) Vicente P.Libre, Asuncion
5) Jose M.Elac, 50, Montevista, ComVal
6) Juan Paloma, 27 Monkayo, ComVal
Monday, December 13, 2010
The NPA Continues to Spread its Xmas Cheer
In my previous post I had gone into great detail about the jump starting of the decades old GRP-NDF Peace Process as well as a very brief description of a single NPA tactical offencive that took place 4 days ago in Davao City. Of course that 1 incident is only 1 of many armed engagements involving the NPA here in Mindanao so I thought it prudent to give a more in depth accounting of the latest NPA armed engagements.
As I had discussed in my previous post, Friday night, December 10, 2010 saw the NPA's Merardo Arce Command confound the 10ID (Infantry Division) with a full infiltration of the Barangay Mapula CAFGU (Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit, an official paramilitary geographically linked to a specific municipality) in Davao City's Paquibato District. The NPA was able to do so without firing a single shot owing to the very experienced planning and execution of the operational commander. Leonicio "Ka Parago" Pitao personally led an element of his 1st Pulang Bagani Company, all of them dressed in AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) uniforms captured during previous armed contacts with the AFP.
Travelling to Mapula they abducted the Barangay Captain and a local datu (tribal chief) before the group set out for the CAFGU post.Like a typical CAFGU post anywhere in the nation on a Friday night the Mapula post had a skeleton crew on duty, 9 CAFGU soldiers and the detachment CO (Commanding Officer) ,an AFP NCO (Non Commisioned Officer) , Cpl.Fresilo Dosel of the 72IB (Infantry Battalion). As soon as the detachment realised that their friendly visitors were not AFP regulars but rather Maoist guerillas 8 of the 9 abandoned their post after throwing their rifles down and running away. Capturing the CO's M14 and the detachment's 9 M1s (vintage Garands) and taking the 1 CAFGU soldier and the AFP NCO hostage the group left. After travelling out of Paquibato District all 4 captives were released unharmed.
December 07, 2010, the same day that the annual Xmas Ceasefire was unilaterally announced by the NPA, in Purok #9, Barangay Pasian, Monkayo, ComVal (Compostela Valley Province), the 25IB
(Infantry Battalion) was on patrol when it stumbled onto a temporary encampment of 10 guerillas from the NPA's Front 3 (Alejandro Lanaja Command) inside an abandoned nipa (thatched hut, most common form of housing in the Philippines). After a brief but extremely intence fire fight 6 guerillas withdrew leaving behind 4 mates. 3 were dead but the 4th, Lea "Ka Tanya" Palma Gil from Mati, Davao Oriental Province had taken a round in her right thigh leaving her unable to move. The 25IB radioed in for a Medevac (helicopter evacuation for advanced medical treatment) to transport the young lady to Camp Panacan Hospital at 10ID (Infantry Division) HQ in Davao City. Unfortunately the bullet severed an artery and 20 minutes into the 25 minute flight Palma Gil died. In addition to the 4 dead guerillas rifles, all M16s, 3 of their fleeing comrades had abandoned theirs as well, for a total of 7 rifles captured by the AFP in that short engagement: 5 M16s, 1 M14 and 1 M1 (vintage Garand). Also captured were 2 IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, aka "bombs").
On December 05, 2010 in Barangay Tandik, Maragusan, ComVal, the NPA's Front 27 ambushed a column from the Scout Rangers 2nd Battalion while the latter was on patrol but the NPA took the worst of it with 1 guerilla killed and his M16 captured by the AFP. The dead guerilla, Juanito "Ka JunJun" Bustamente was from Sitio Patalangon, Barangay Zone #1, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur Province. The young man was an assistant on a jeepney but when the vehicle's owner sold it in the Spring of 2010 Bustamente told his family he was going to try to find work in Manila. Instead he ended up as a bamboo harvester in ComVal. Starting that difficult job in late June, by August, 2010 he had become an NPA regular... little more than 60 days later he was dead.
On November 30, 2010 in Barangay Paloc, Maragusan, the NPA's Front 27 (Rhyme Petalcorin Command) ambushed a 50 man column of the Scout Rangers 5th Company with 3 simaltaneously detonated IEDs. 5 Scout Rangers were killed, 10 were wounded, 6 critically.The NPA lost 1 guerilla, known by his nom de guerre, "Ka Boogie,"
On November 25, 2010 in Barangay Hagpa, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon Province the family of a recently killed guerilla from the NPA's Julito Tiro Command were inexplicably denied permission by the 8IB to disinter the grave if their loved one, Joel "Ka Toto" Compas of Barangay Bangbang, Medina, Misamis Oriental
despite representatives from the ICRC (Red Cross) accompanying them. The family wished to re-bury Compas in his hometown but the 8IB citing security concerns in an NPA influenced barangay refused to issue a Safe Passage Permi to the party. Such permits are part of the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and allow bearers to circumvent AFP/CAFGU/PNP checkpoints unmolested. Usually the AFP will agree to provide an armed security detail or else disinter the remains themselves and deliver them to a nearby funeral home. For some reason known only to the 8IB CMO (Civil Military Officer) this family was told to let their loved one rot in a shallow grave in an expanse of hinterland junfle.
On November 19, 2010 in that same previous barangay, Hagpa, in Impasug-on in Bukidnon Province, as a composite force from the 8 and 29IBs conducted ground operations against the NPA, a series if 105MM shells slammed into Bundok Talundanan in Sitio Bagong Silang. Talundanan is a Higaon-an and Pulangiyen Tribal holysite. Perhaps the 8IB's denial of passage to the ICRC 6 days later had a bit to do with negligently fired artillery shells...
November 16, 2010, in Sitio Membanta, Barangay Upper Ulip, Monkayo, in ComVal, Cpl.Daiem Amsali Hadjaie of the 25IB left his camp on his motorcycle en route to Camp Panacan Hospital in Davao City seeking treatment for abdominal cramping and a possibly unrelated skin condition. Minutes later he came across an NPA checkpoint implemented by Front 20 (Conrado Heredia Commamd). This time the NPA bit off more than their pouty little mouths could chew, Cpl.Hadjaie's abduction was a propagandist's nightmare. Not only was the 25 year old NCO ill, his wife was 8 and a half months pregnant and waiting for him in Camp Panacan. Going from bad to worse, Hadjaie is a Tausug Tribesmen, a Muslim. This by itself would be a major headache because of the risk in alienating other insurgent movements. The cherry on top was that the day in question was a Muslim holiday.
Both the MILF and MNLF quickly went to bat for the NCO which is as hypocritical as it gets seeing as how both those insurgencies kill AFP soldiers regardless of their tribal or religious allegiances. In any event Hadjaie was released to Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City on November 28.
That same day in Barangay Limot, Luuk, ComVal, Bagani (tribal paramilitary sancrioned by the AFP but officially denied so as to avoid culpability when these poorly trained soldiers run amok) soldier under Kumander (CO) Isagani Carmelotes and based in Sitio Logom, Barangay Pagwas lured 2 local NPA regulars," Ka Jeffrey" and "Ka Iso," to the home of a 2nd Bagani soldier.The 2 guerillas were tortured and then had their limbs hacked off while still alive, before they bled to death. Isgani then personally surrendered the 2 guerillas' M16s to the post manned by 26IB's C COY (Company C) in Barangay Del Monte, Veruela, Agusan del Sur Province. The 2 dead NPA guerillas had been part of the detachment from Front 3 that had ambushed a composite AFP detachment from 26IB, 3rd Special Forces (Airborne) Battalion and Isgani's Bagani Company just days earlier.
November 10, 2010 in Barangay Upper Bala, Magsaysay, Davao del Sur Province, a detachment from the NPA's Valentin Palamine Command disarmed that barangay's CVO (Civilian Volunteer Auxiliary, the PNP equivalent of the AFP's CAFGU though almost always only found in Muslim areas). The NPA captured 2 M1s (Garands), 7 pump shotguns and a single 9MM pistols. The disarmament took place without a single shot being fired.
Lest anyone imagine the NPA to somehow be morally superior after reading my synopsis of the Bagani soldiers gruesome killing of 2 NPA guerillas in ComVal...
On November 02, 2010 in Sitio Bango, Barangay Ngan in the town of Compostela, in ComVal, offduty CAFGU soldier Albert Meniza was enjoying a rare quiet night off with his family when 3 female NPA guerillas kicked in his door, tied his arms behind his back and frog marched him into the jungle. Reaching a clearing hours later he was tied to a tree. Shortly there after a detachment from the Merardo Arce Command's Pulang Bagani Company 4 under "Ka Jason" entered the clearing. After interrogating Meniza Ka Jason warned him that he had until December 01 to withdraw his CAFGU commission or he and his family would be killed.
On October 29, 2010 in Barabgay Langgawesan, Maragusan, ComVal, 2 off duty CAFGU soldiers, Rey Ciba and Panpilo Lupogan were both at home with their families when a group of NPA guerillas entered each home and tied their arms behind their backs. Prodding them with the stocks of their rifles they were marched to the home of Junior Lagungan of that barangay's Sitio Hanginan. Waiting inside the home was a female guerilla who identified herself as "Ka Jen Jen" who ordered both soldiers to resign their CAFGU commissions immediately lest she execute a 3rd CAFGU soldier from their detachment as a "lesson,"
As I had discussed in my previous post, Friday night, December 10, 2010 saw the NPA's Merardo Arce Command confound the 10ID (Infantry Division) with a full infiltration of the Barangay Mapula CAFGU (Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit, an official paramilitary geographically linked to a specific municipality) in Davao City's Paquibato District. The NPA was able to do so without firing a single shot owing to the very experienced planning and execution of the operational commander. Leonicio "Ka Parago" Pitao personally led an element of his 1st Pulang Bagani Company, all of them dressed in AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) uniforms captured during previous armed contacts with the AFP.
Travelling to Mapula they abducted the Barangay Captain and a local datu (tribal chief) before the group set out for the CAFGU post.Like a typical CAFGU post anywhere in the nation on a Friday night the Mapula post had a skeleton crew on duty, 9 CAFGU soldiers and the detachment CO (Commanding Officer) ,an AFP NCO (Non Commisioned Officer) , Cpl.Fresilo Dosel of the 72IB (Infantry Battalion). As soon as the detachment realised that their friendly visitors were not AFP regulars but rather Maoist guerillas 8 of the 9 abandoned their post after throwing their rifles down and running away. Capturing the CO's M14 and the detachment's 9 M1s (vintage Garands) and taking the 1 CAFGU soldier and the AFP NCO hostage the group left. After travelling out of Paquibato District all 4 captives were released unharmed.
December 07, 2010, the same day that the annual Xmas Ceasefire was unilaterally announced by the NPA, in Purok #9, Barangay Pasian, Monkayo, ComVal (Compostela Valley Province), the 25IB
(Infantry Battalion) was on patrol when it stumbled onto a temporary encampment of 10 guerillas from the NPA's Front 3 (Alejandro Lanaja Command) inside an abandoned nipa (thatched hut, most common form of housing in the Philippines). After a brief but extremely intence fire fight 6 guerillas withdrew leaving behind 4 mates. 3 were dead but the 4th, Lea "Ka Tanya" Palma Gil from Mati, Davao Oriental Province had taken a round in her right thigh leaving her unable to move. The 25IB radioed in for a Medevac (helicopter evacuation for advanced medical treatment) to transport the young lady to Camp Panacan Hospital at 10ID (Infantry Division) HQ in Davao City. Unfortunately the bullet severed an artery and 20 minutes into the 25 minute flight Palma Gil died. In addition to the 4 dead guerillas rifles, all M16s, 3 of their fleeing comrades had abandoned theirs as well, for a total of 7 rifles captured by the AFP in that short engagement: 5 M16s, 1 M14 and 1 M1 (vintage Garand). Also captured were 2 IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, aka "bombs").
On December 05, 2010 in Barangay Tandik, Maragusan, ComVal, the NPA's Front 27 ambushed a column from the Scout Rangers 2nd Battalion while the latter was on patrol but the NPA took the worst of it with 1 guerilla killed and his M16 captured by the AFP. The dead guerilla, Juanito "Ka JunJun" Bustamente was from Sitio Patalangon, Barangay Zone #1, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur Province. The young man was an assistant on a jeepney but when the vehicle's owner sold it in the Spring of 2010 Bustamente told his family he was going to try to find work in Manila. Instead he ended up as a bamboo harvester in ComVal. Starting that difficult job in late June, by August, 2010 he had become an NPA regular... little more than 60 days later he was dead.
On November 30, 2010 in Barangay Paloc, Maragusan, the NPA's Front 27 (Rhyme Petalcorin Command) ambushed a 50 man column of the Scout Rangers 5th Company with 3 simaltaneously detonated IEDs. 5 Scout Rangers were killed, 10 were wounded, 6 critically.The NPA lost 1 guerilla, known by his nom de guerre, "Ka Boogie,"
On November 25, 2010 in Barangay Hagpa, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon Province the family of a recently killed guerilla from the NPA's Julito Tiro Command were inexplicably denied permission by the 8IB to disinter the grave if their loved one, Joel "Ka Toto" Compas of Barangay Bangbang, Medina, Misamis Oriental
despite representatives from the ICRC (Red Cross) accompanying them. The family wished to re-bury Compas in his hometown but the 8IB citing security concerns in an NPA influenced barangay refused to issue a Safe Passage Permi to the party. Such permits are part of the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and allow bearers to circumvent AFP/CAFGU/PNP checkpoints unmolested. Usually the AFP will agree to provide an armed security detail or else disinter the remains themselves and deliver them to a nearby funeral home. For some reason known only to the 8IB CMO (Civil Military Officer) this family was told to let their loved one rot in a shallow grave in an expanse of hinterland junfle.
On November 19, 2010 in that same previous barangay, Hagpa, in Impasug-on in Bukidnon Province, as a composite force from the 8 and 29IBs conducted ground operations against the NPA, a series if 105MM shells slammed into Bundok Talundanan in Sitio Bagong Silang. Talundanan is a Higaon-an and Pulangiyen Tribal holysite. Perhaps the 8IB's denial of passage to the ICRC 6 days later had a bit to do with negligently fired artillery shells...
November 16, 2010, in Sitio Membanta, Barangay Upper Ulip, Monkayo, in ComVal, Cpl.Daiem Amsali Hadjaie of the 25IB left his camp on his motorcycle en route to Camp Panacan Hospital in Davao City seeking treatment for abdominal cramping and a possibly unrelated skin condition. Minutes later he came across an NPA checkpoint implemented by Front 20 (Conrado Heredia Commamd). This time the NPA bit off more than their pouty little mouths could chew, Cpl.Hadjaie's abduction was a propagandist's nightmare. Not only was the 25 year old NCO ill, his wife was 8 and a half months pregnant and waiting for him in Camp Panacan. Going from bad to worse, Hadjaie is a Tausug Tribesmen, a Muslim. This by itself would be a major headache because of the risk in alienating other insurgent movements. The cherry on top was that the day in question was a Muslim holiday.
Both the MILF and MNLF quickly went to bat for the NCO which is as hypocritical as it gets seeing as how both those insurgencies kill AFP soldiers regardless of their tribal or religious allegiances. In any event Hadjaie was released to Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City on November 28.
That same day in Barangay Limot, Luuk, ComVal, Bagani (tribal paramilitary sancrioned by the AFP but officially denied so as to avoid culpability when these poorly trained soldiers run amok) soldier under Kumander (CO) Isagani Carmelotes and based in Sitio Logom, Barangay Pagwas lured 2 local NPA regulars," Ka Jeffrey" and "Ka Iso," to the home of a 2nd Bagani soldier.The 2 guerillas were tortured and then had their limbs hacked off while still alive, before they bled to death. Isgani then personally surrendered the 2 guerillas' M16s to the post manned by 26IB's C COY (Company C) in Barangay Del Monte, Veruela, Agusan del Sur Province. The 2 dead NPA guerillas had been part of the detachment from Front 3 that had ambushed a composite AFP detachment from 26IB, 3rd Special Forces (Airborne) Battalion and Isgani's Bagani Company just days earlier.
November 10, 2010 in Barangay Upper Bala, Magsaysay, Davao del Sur Province, a detachment from the NPA's Valentin Palamine Command disarmed that barangay's CVO (Civilian Volunteer Auxiliary, the PNP equivalent of the AFP's CAFGU though almost always only found in Muslim areas). The NPA captured 2 M1s (Garands), 7 pump shotguns and a single 9MM pistols. The disarmament took place without a single shot being fired.
Lest anyone imagine the NPA to somehow be morally superior after reading my synopsis of the Bagani soldiers gruesome killing of 2 NPA guerillas in ComVal...
On November 02, 2010 in Sitio Bango, Barangay Ngan in the town of Compostela, in ComVal, offduty CAFGU soldier Albert Meniza was enjoying a rare quiet night off with his family when 3 female NPA guerillas kicked in his door, tied his arms behind his back and frog marched him into the jungle. Reaching a clearing hours later he was tied to a tree. Shortly there after a detachment from the Merardo Arce Command's Pulang Bagani Company 4 under "Ka Jason" entered the clearing. After interrogating Meniza Ka Jason warned him that he had until December 01 to withdraw his CAFGU commission or he and his family would be killed.
On October 29, 2010 in Barabgay Langgawesan, Maragusan, ComVal, 2 off duty CAFGU soldiers, Rey Ciba and Panpilo Lupogan were both at home with their families when a group of NPA guerillas entered each home and tied their arms behind their backs. Prodding them with the stocks of their rifles they were marched to the home of Junior Lagungan of that barangay's Sitio Hanginan. Waiting inside the home was a female guerilla who identified herself as "Ka Jen Jen" who ordered both soldiers to resign their CAFGU commissions immediately lest she execute a 3rd CAFGU soldier from their detachment as a "lesson,"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)