Saturday, February 1, 2014

Video: Philippine rebels say they will not surrender

From Al Jazeera (Jan 29): Video: Philippine rebels say they will not surrender

The Philippine military claims at least 40 fighters have been killed since it began an offensive on Monday morning. It also claims that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters rebel group (BIFF) will soon cease to exist. Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan traveled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines to meet the leader of the BIFF who says their struggle is far from over. Philippine rebels say they will not surrender Philippine rebels say they will not surrender Philippine rebels say they will not surrender.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR5h0OfsXI4

3 BIFF child fighters die in clashes

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Feb 1): 3 BIFF child fighters die in clashes



CHILD WARRIORS Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, some of them obviously in their teens,  are shown in this photo taken inside the BIFF camp in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province on Friday.The death toll in the ongoing clashes has reached 53, including three child soldiers. JEOFFREY MAITEM/INQUIRER MINDANAO

The military on Friday said three child soldiers recruited by the hardline Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were among 53 people killed in a week of fighting with government forces and that “two foreign combatants” were helping the rebels, including a Malaysian who is wanted for the 2002 bombing in the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 110 people.

Brig. Gen. Eduardo Pangilinan, commander of the Philippine Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, identified the Malaysian militant as Zulkifli bin Hir, who has a $5-million price on his head for the bomb attacks on two nightclubs in Bali.

Pangilinan did not identify the other foreign militants, but said the two foreigners had been fighting alongside BIFF forces since the clashes in Maguindanao province started five days ago.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said that of the 53 bodies of slain BIFF fighters recovered on Friday, three were those of minors.

Hermoso said the children were 15 to 16 years old.

“They were child fighters because they were in fatigue uniforms with BIFF markings and possessed firearms,” Hermoso said.

Identified and buried

The slain child combatants, along with some 20 other dead rebels, had been identified with the help of local officials, Hermoso said.

They were also buried with traditional Islamic rites by local clerics, he added.

Hermoso said the discovery of the children’s bodies proved what the military had been saying all along—that the BIFF was employing child soldiers.

“They are employing child soldiers with guns and camouflage uniforms. When we encounter them, we cannot discriminate if they are children or not,” Hermoso said.

He said the BIFF’s employment of child soldiers was a clear violation of international war agreements and humanitarian laws.

“We strongly denounce the use of child soldiers. They should be in school and not on the battleground,” Hermoso said.

Peace agreement

The military offensive in Maguindanao came after the main Moro rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), successfully concluded peace talks with government negotiators in Malaysia last week aimed at ending four decades of insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people in Mindanao.

The BIFF is a small group of insurgents opposed to the peace effort. It broke away from the MILF in 2008 after failed peace talks with the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and had since carried out many deadly attacks in a bid to derail the peace process with the MILF.

The website of the UN special representative on children and armed conflict said that it “continued to receive credible reports that the (BIFF) armed group was actively training and providing weapons to children.”

Child soldiers denied

Abu Misry Mama, a spokesperson for the BIFF laughed off the military’s child-soldier report.

“The military has been saying a lot of things, but these are all lies,” Mama said.

Mama denied that the BIFF was employing child soldiers.

“No, we don’ have child soldiers,” Mama said in a text message.

He admitted, however, that four BIFF fighters had been slain in clashes with government troops this week.

Government forces launched the offensive on Monday to arrest BIFF leaders who had been ordered arrested by local courts and to degrade the group’s capability to inflict harm on government forces and civilians and undermine the peace process.

Hermoso said the operations were going the military’s way, with only one soldier being killed in five days of fighting.

But 13 other soldiers had also been wounded in the fighting.

Wrapping up operations

If the trend continues, the military will wrap up the assault in two to three days, Hermoso said.

“[We hope], with this development, the fighting will die down and the [people displaced by the fighting can] return home,” he said.

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that troops had captured the BIFF’s main camp as well as the rebels’ bomb-making factory.

“Our objective is to curb the use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) so as to protect the people and the community and protect the peace process because by doing (these bombings), they are spoiling the peace process,” Zagala said.

The MILF is cooperating in the military operations against the BIFF by holding back its own forces and not letting the hardliners seek refuge in MILF territory.

Fighting is likely to end Saturday as part of an arrangement with the MILF, Zagala said.

But Mama said the BIFF fighters were willing to die and were not going to back off.

“Our stance remains, we will fight to the last drop of our blood in defense of our rights,” he said.

Be peacemakers

In a statement, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer on Friday appealed to the BIFF to become part of the peace process.

“We ask them to listen to the plea of their own brothers and sisters to give peace a chance,” Ferrer said.

She said BIFF fighters willing to support the peace process would be most welcome.

“We know that BIFF members can also contact supporters or local ground commanders of the MILF who could facilitate their return to normal lives.
These and other avenues are open for those among the BIFF who are ready to join us in our peace efforts,” she said.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/572267/3-biff-child-fighters-die-in-clashes

Photos: Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) spokesperson Abu Misri meets with media

From the Brunei Times (Jan 30): Photos: Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) spokesperson Abu Misri meets with media



Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) spokesperson Abu Misri (3rd L) meets with members of the media for an interview at their hideout in Maguindanao province on Jan 29, 2014, whose group is the subject of ongoing military operation. Philippine President Benigno Aquino has vowed to crush militants opposed to a deal aimed at ending a decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency, as the death toll from an assault on them rose to 38. AFP
 
 

Alleged NPA rebels attack gov't troops in ComVal

From ABS-CBN (Feb 1): Alleged NPA rebels attack gov't troops in ComVal

Armed men suspected to be members of the New People's Army (NPA) attacked police and military camps in Mabini town, Compostela Valley on Friday evening, authorities said.

The suspected rebels attacked the Compostela Valley Provincial Public Safety Company and Cabuyoan patrol base of the 72nd Infantry Battalion at around 8 p.m.

Government troops fired back, resulting in a firefight that lasted for about 25 minutes.

There was no reported casualty from both sides.

Recovered from the area were bullet slugs from M-16 and M-14 rifles.
The police and the military in the area are now on heightened alert following the incidents.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/02/01/14/alleged-npa-rebels-attack-govt-troops-comval

Peace deal won’t abandon 1996 pact

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Feb 2): Peace deal won’t abandon 1996 pact

The chief negotiator of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Saturday said the peace deal forged recently with the Aquino government in Kuala Lumpur would not entirely abandon an earlier peace agreement between the government and the rival Moro National Liberaton Front (MNLF).

MILF leader Mohagher Iqbal said his group would integrate the “good parts” of the 1996 Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF in a new proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.

The MILF, a breakaway faction of the secessionist MNLF, had withheld its support for the peace deal between MNLF founder Nur Misuari and then President Fidel Ramos. It eventually agreed to separate peace negotiations with the government.

“We are looking into the 1996 Peace Agreement, meaning the good parts of that agreement, (to) form part of the (Bangsamoro) Basic Law that we are going to write. We are not going to abandon that,” Iqbal said on Thursday over dinner with Inquirer editors and reporters.

Iqbal added: “If you look at the 1996 Peace Agreement there are good points but it is not a perfect agreement. No agreement in the world is perfect not even the agreement between the government and MILF is perfect. So whatever it is that the MNLF through the 1996 Peace Agreement has achieved, then the MILF is building on those gains.”

The government’s chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said it was an MILF initiative to include the 1996 Peace Agreement with the MNLF in the negotiations for the power-sharing annex.

“That was a very good initiative coming from the MILF precisely as a means of telling the MNLF, their brothers and sisters in the MNLF, that this is not a completely distinct process,” Ferrer said, adding:

“It is after all for all the Bangsamoro. It does not abrogate what has already been achieved by the MNLF in the past but it provides that kind of continuity.”

Iqbal said that the MILF decided to have separate peace negotiations with the government after the government-MNLF peace agreement was signed under then President Fidel Ramos because his group found “so many flaws” in that peace deal.

Two of the flaws, he said, were the “abandonment of the right of self-determination of the people” and the “totality clause” which states that “when there is a conflict in the interpretation of the agreement, existing government laws would apply.”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/572762/peace-deal-wont-abandon-1996-pact

Tribes reject MILF pact, gird for war

From the Manila Times (Feb 1): Tribes reject MILF pact, gird for war

Indigenous groups in Mindanao are ready to take up arms against the government if it pursues the signing of a final peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to a leader of a non-government organization (NGO) based in the South.

Deo Palma, national coordinator of the Ang Katipunan ng mga Samahang Maharlika (Ang KaSaMa Inc.), said many tribes do not want the MILF to lead the proposed Bangsamoro entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Palma said indigenous tribes such as the B’laans, T’bolis, Bagobos, Mandayas and Tirurays have warned that they will not hesitate to wage war if the MILF takes over areas that comprise the ARMM.

The warning was issued when the Panaghugpong Mindanao, an affiliate organization of Ang KaSaMa Inc., conducted community consultations in various provinces in Mindanao to sound out the tribes on the government’s negotiations with the MILF. In these consultations, Panaghugpong Mindanao gathered that a majority of the tribal groups is opposed to the peace agreement with the MILF, and that many clans expressed readiness to go to war if the proposed Bangsamoro entity supplants the ARMM.

The ARMM, located in the southern part of Mindanao, was created by virtue of Republic Act 6734 signed by the late president Corazon Aquino. It is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.

Palma said the tribes opposed the Bangsamoro peace agreement because they regard the MILF their “mortal enemy.” He said many clans lost members of their families to the violence that erupted in the region in 2003.

Members of the indigenous tribes also believe that the peace deal with the MILF will create more bigger between the indigenous peoples and the Muslim rebels, he added.

“We have been informed that 60 percent of members of the indigenous groups are willing to go to war if ever the MILF will take over the leadership in the ARMM. This is what the Christian communities is worried about because the war is not only against the government but also between the MILF and the indigenous peoples tribes in Mindanao,” Palma said.

He said his group, which has the support of several NGOs, is preparing a manifesto urging President Benigno Aquino 3rd to withdraw from the peace agreement with the MILF.

Palma warned that a wider war will erupt in Mindanao if the government insists on implementing its agreement because it will force the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to also take up arms.

Palma said they have information that MNLF groups in northern Mindanao are ready to launch a “big war” if Aquino will not take steps to assure the group that government will fulfill the provisions of the peace pact signed by the MNLF and the government on September 2, 1996.

“President Aquino is offering a deal to the MILF without knowing the pulse of the people. If he will personally dip his finger in Mindanao, maybe he will truly know what is really happening here,” he said.

He lamented that the government failed to consult majority of the people in Mindanao before negotiating with the MILF, which many Mindanaons consider a terrorist group.

“There would have been no problem if Aquino consulted the people to get the consensus of the majority. Aquino must consider giving priority to the peace agreement with the MNLF para naman hindi maipit ang tao sa dalawang nag-uumpugang bato. If war breaks out, what will happen to the people in Mindanao, will President Aquino be held accountable?” Palma asked.

He said fear has gripped the people in Mindanao because of the threat of the MNLF to go to war once the government gives priority to the peace deal with the MILF.

He noted that the destruction that followed after 200 MNLF fighters occupied several barangays in Zamboanga City late last year would be replicated on a massive scale if the group’s purported 70,000 armed followers decide to wage war against the government and the MILF.

Palma described Aquino as another “dictator” because he wants to impose his own peace agreement with the MILF without considering how it will affect other groups in the region.

“The lives of people in Mindanao are at stake. The people of Mindanao will be the ones affected if another cruel war breaks out. President Aquino should be blamed for the consequences,” he said.

http://manilatimes.net/tribes-reject-milf-pact-gird-for-war/72423/

Moros join forces

From the Manila Standard Today (Feb 2): Moros join forces

MNLF, BIFF ‘reunite’ amid combat lull; IED hurts 15

The Nur Misuari faction of the Moro National Liberation Front admitted on Saturday that it had formed an ‘informal’ tactical alliance with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and vowed to assist the BIFF if the military continues to push the renegade group into a corner.

“The MNLF will assist the BIFF in the event that they are pushed into a corner,” MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said. “Kung hindi na nila (BIFF) kaya, at malapit na silang matumba, tutulungan namin sila.”

The MNLF spokesman said the MNLF-BIFF alliance was a matter of course since the two groups ‘have the same destiny and the same ends  -- independence.

“We’re already friends so it’s a matter of course,” said Cerveza, describing the alliance as an “organic reunification.”

He added that the BIFF is a revolutionary and legitimate front with reasonable principles seeking independence of Mindanao and should not be treated by the military as common criminals.

Cerveza said Samsudin, while officially a BIFF commander, is an ‘unofficial’ member of the MNLF, having defected into the Nur Misuari faction side in 2012 along with Samer Salamat, brother of the late MILF Chairman Hashim Salamat, Abdulawahid Jianalan, former chief security of MILF Chairman Al Haj Haj Murad Ebrahim, and a certain commander Saidale.

Cerveza claimed that some 6,500 MILF fighters joined the high-ranking defectors who were welcomed by Misuari himself during “acceptance rites’ in an MNLF lair in Jolo.

He added that BIFF commander Ustadz Samer Samsudin, told him that they are ready to defend themselves at all cost against the military’s relentless pursuit.

Last Friday, the military said its operation has so far killed 53 members of the BIFF, including a commander identified as Hassan Indal, who was killed during an air strike.

The clashes also wounded 49 others, while the government side lost a soldier after six days of intense fighting.

The BIFF, however, denied that ‘Tambako’ Indal was killed, saying that Indal was ejected by the BIFF leadership due to his ‘unIslamic activities.’

Tambako led the campaign against government forces in Maguindanao last year which led to the evacuation of about 50,000 residents.

Cerveza, meanwhile, said Samsudin and an undetermined number of combatants under his command has temporarily sought shelter somewhere in the hinterlands in Maguindanao to rest and review their battle plan.

The clashes between the military and the BIFF erupted last Sunday after government forces were about to serve arrest warrants against BIFF founder Ameril Umbra Kato and his men.

But on Saturday, the military – except for a few soldiers patrolling populated areas—and the BIFF both withdrew to their respective camps after the military’s 72-hour extension that was earlier approved by the Adhoc Joint Action Group (AJAG) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and MILF has expired.

But Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said that they may request for a second extension as the military prepares for bigger offensives in the coming hours.

Saturday’s silence, however, was interrupted by a powerful twin blast that injured two television crew from TV-5, 10 soldiers and civilians in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

The blasts were believed to be from an improvised explosive device (IED) allegedly planted by the BIFF in Bgy. Lower Salbu, Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Maj. Dante Gania, public affairs chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the explosion hit the convoy of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion composed of a civilian pick-up, TV5’s marked vehicle and 2 SFV military vehicles at around 7:33 a.m.

“We have 6 soldiers and 6 civilians wounded. Two of the civilians were crew of TV5 network,” Gania said.

Gania identified the two mediamen as reporter Jeff Caparas and cameraman Adrian Bulatao, but could not immediately identify the other victims.

Three helicopters picked up the wounded and brought them to a hospital, added Gania.

Luchi Cruz-Valdez, head of TV 5 news division, said Bulatao’s injury was “serious” with shrapnel wounds over the right side of his body.

“Bulatao is in shock but conscious, in pain,” she said in a text message.

“Caparas was also wounded but was still on his feet,” she added.

“It was a good thing they were wearing protective helmets and vests,” Hermoso said.

Caparas later said over the TV station that his crew had stopped to cover an earlier bomb blast when another explosion took place.

The military said the first explosion occurred at the 3-kilometer stretch of the national highway from Datu Saudi, Ampatuan and Datu Piang but no one was hurt during the blast. The highway was temporarily closed.

The second explosion occurred just as the television crew arrived in the area to report on the first explosion.

The wounded soldiers and civilians were brought to the headquarters of the army’s 2nd Mechanized Battalion in Maguindanao for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the military hoisted the Philippine flag at the center of the main camp of the BIFF in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in Maguindanao that it captured after a week of sporadic air and ground assaults.

Col. Edmund Pangilinan, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, and Col. Edgar Gonzales, chief of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, hoisted the national flag in the middle of the more or less seven-hectare BIFF camp.

After the government forces sang the national anthem, Gonzales and Pangilinan led in offering prayers for the fallen guerrillas and a soldier.

Gonzales said his troops, who first entered the camp, recovered about 3,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers and 300 kilos of blasting chemicals and components for making improvised explosive devices.

Quoting local officials, Gonzales said the camp had been used by the BIFF as “springboard” for its bombing and extortion activities in the towns of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

He lauded the civilians, some of them relatives of BIFF leaders, for guiding government forces in the center of the camp, using various trails to avoid home-made explosives planted along the roads.

“It’s like guerrilla camps in movies where there were so many running trenches and criss-crossing routes,” an Army lieutenant, who identifies himself as Pentagon, said.

Gonzales said it was a well-fortified camp difficult for ground troops to penetrate.

“Our air assets destroyed most of the fortification,” he said, adding that many of the running trenches were laden with blood stain.

Hermoso, meanwhile, said they would intensify their intelligence monitoring to avert possible BIFF counter-attacks in the coming days.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/02/02/moros-join-forces/

CPP/NPA: Mga sibilyan ang napatay, nasugatan at nadakip ng PNP sa labanan sa Sorsogon City

Posted to the CPP Website (Feb 1): Mga sibilyan ang napatay, nasugatan at nadakip ng PNP sa labanan sa Sorsogon City (Civilians were killed, injured, and arrested in fighting in Sorsogon)

Logo.bhb
Samuel Guerrero
Spokesperson
NPA Sorsogon Provincial Operations Command (Celso Minguez Command)
 
PAREHONG sibilyan ang napatay na si Henry Orbena at dinakip na si Bryan Gallega sa sagupaan sa tsekpoynt ng PNP sa Cabid-an, Sorsogon City noong gabi ng Enero 30. Taliwas ito sa pinalalabas ng pulisya na ang dalawa ay kabilang sa grupo ng New People’s Army na nakalaban nila.

Napag-alaman namin na ang magpinsang Orbena at Gallega ay mga trabahador sa planta ng coconut water na malapit sa pinangyarihan. Madali itong mapatutunayan ng kanilang mga katrabaho, kakilala at kapamilya sa kanilang lugar sa bayan ng Irosin.
Si Orbena ay tinamaan sa walang rendang pagpapaputok ng mga pulis. Pawang mga bala ng ripleng M16 ang nakapatay sa kanya. Puro maiiksing baril ang dala ng mga operatiba ng NPA.

Ayon sa mga sangkot na pulis, hinabol nila ang grupo ng NPA sa direksyong patungo sa Sea Breeze Subdivision at inabutan at nahuli nila si Gallega. Hindi doon ang direksyon ng pag-atras ng mga Pulang mandirigma kundi sa kabilang direksyon patungong Barangay Buhatan. Hindi rin totoo ang sinasabi ng PNP na naagawan sila ng NPA ng dalawang ripleng M16.

Nararapat lamang na aminin ng Sorsogon PNP ang mga katotohanang ito at harapin ang kanilang pananagutan sa pagkamatay ni Orbena at palabasin sa bilangguan ang hinuling si Gallega. Ang Celso Minguez Command ng NPA-Sorsogon ay makikipag-ugnayan din sa mga kaanak ng mga nadamay upang makapagpaabot ng anumang maitutulong sa kanila.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20140201_mga-sibilyan-ang-napatay-nasugatan-at-nadakip-ng-pnp-sa-labanan-sa-sorsogon-city

Soldiers capture biggest BIFF camp

From the Philippine Star (Feb 1): Soldiers capture biggest BIFF camp



Army combatants pose at the center of the 7-hectare camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in the second district of Maguindanao, after hoisting the Philippine flag on its parade ground where the outlawed BIFF had trained child warriors and regular recruits. (John Unson)

Soldiers hoisted Saturday morning the Philippine flag at the center of the biggest enclave of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in the province.

The seven-hectare camp, which housed more than 500 BIFF bandits led by Ustadz Karialan, fell at about dusk on Friday, after five days of air, artillery and ground offensives by combined units of the Army’s 601st Brigade, the 1st Mechanized Brigade and combatants from the 6th Infantry Division.

Soldiers, led by Col. Edgar Gonzales and Col. Edmund Pangilinan, commanding officers of the 1st Mechanized and 601st Brigades, respectively recovered close to 3,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers and about 300 kilos of blasting chemicals and other materials for improvised explosives in makeshift shelters scattered in the camp.

Local officials said the BIFF had used the camp as a springboard for its extortion and bombing activities in Maguindanao and nearby towns in North Cotabato.

Gonzales said they are thankful to barangay folks for providing them information on the exact location of the camp and its fortification details before soldiers began clearing the enclave from BIFF control.

The escape routes of the BIFF bandits the soldiers had forced out of the camp were heavily stained with blood, indicating that the group suffered heavy losses from the military assault.

Guns in the adjoining Datu Piang and Shariff Saidona towns have been silent since Saturday dawn, but the military remained on full alert, anticipating BIFF retaliations for the takeover of the camp.

The BIFF ran a shadow government in Barangay Ganta that levied excessive revolutionary taxes from local peasant communities.

The BIFF is also despised for imposing a ruthless Taliban-style justice system in areas where it operates.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2014/02/01/1285529/soldiers-capture-biggest-biff-camp

Breakaway Moro group disowns commander killed in Maguindanao fighting

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Feb 1): Breakaway Moro group disowns commander killed in Maguindanao fighting

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) disowned on Saturday a rebel commander the military had claimed was killed in an offensive it mounted six days ago against the hardline Muslim group opposed to peace talks in Mindanao.

Abu Misry Mama, spokesman of the breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said Hassan Indal was indeed among the MILF commanders led by Ameril Umra Kato who established the BIFM after breaking away from the MILF about two years ago.

But he said Indal, also known as “Tambako,” was expelled from the BIFM and its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), “for committing un-Islamic acts.”

Mama did not elaborate on what these acts were but added that the BIFM does not tolerate “shenanigans.”

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, the local military spokesperson, described Indal as a trusted lieutenant of Kato’s. He said Indal was killed in the ongoing military offensive against the BIFF, which entered its sixth day on Saturday.

Mama said he could not confirm that Indal was killed because neither the BIFM nor the BIFF had any contact with him.

“We don’t have any idea if he is still alive or not,” he said.

The military claims at least 53 rebels have been killed in clashes with government forces near the towns of Datu Piang and Saydona Mustapha.

Hermoso claimed that three child warriors were among those killed, but Mama denied the rebels employed child warriors.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/572458/breakaway-moro-group-disowns-commander-killed-in-maguindanao-fighting

MNLF, MILF hold unity talk

From Tempo (Feb 1): MNLF, MILF hold unity talk

Apparently in compliance with the call of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume their unity talks on Feb 2 in Davao City.

Maulana Robert “Bobby” Alonto, a member of the MILF peace panel in the negotiations with the Government of the Philippines (GPH), confirmed this yesterday.

He hastened to add that the unity meeting is not aimed at the MILF and MNLF’s structural union.

“We are not going to unite our groups structurally or organizationally; the meeting is to arrive at a consensus in joining our efforts for peace and economic uplift of the Bangsamoro people,” said Alonto, after his plane landed Friday in Cagayan de Oro City.

He said the MILF was hoping the meeting with MNLF will push through as tropical storm Basyang was about to hit parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

http://www.tempo.com.ph/2014/02/mnlf-milf-hold-unity-talk/#.Uu0FDnKPIcA

‘NPA was planning attack on cops'

From the Visayan Daily Star (Jan 31): ‘NPA was planning attack on cops'

It could have been hitting two birds with one stone for the New People's Army, if troopers of the 6 th Regional Public Safety Battalion had responded to the arson and hostage-taking incident Thursday last week in Brgy. Camansi, Kabankalan City, Senior Supt. Milko Lirazan, provincial police director, yesterday said.

Lirazan said he believes the NPA group was also planning to attack or ambush the 6th RPSB troopers, who would respond to the arson incident in an hacienda in the barangay.

The 6th RPSP police outpost is about a kilometer away from the hacienda that was raided by about 20 NPA rebels.

At that time, Lirazan said, the police outpost was manned only by police team with most of their colleagues out of the detachment.

He recalled that the NPA entered the hacienda compound at about 11 p.m. Wednesday and occupied the place for several hours, taking 25 farm workers and their children, as well as four security guards, as hostages.

The Kabankalan police and 6 th RPSB troopers, who accompanied firefighters of the Bureau of Fired and Protection, entered the hacienda owned by the family of the late Mayor Pablo Sola at noon of the next day, when the rebels had already withdrawn from the area police records show.

Lirazan said some of the suspects were speaking in the Cebuano dialect, indicating that they may have came from Negros Oriental.

Although the Philippine Army soldiers did not respond to the NPA atrocities, Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander said his troops were in the vicinity tracking the movement of the fleeing rebels.

Police investigation showed that the rebel suspects, five of them women, torched the warehouse and the tractor of Hacienda Isabel owned by the Sola family, beheaded some of the sheep, and disarmed the four security guards of three shotguns and a .38 caliber revolver.

However, the rebels left the hostages unharmed.

Aying said they are very “cautious” about the modus operandi of the rebels in ambushing government troopers responding to NPA atrocities.

In May last year, five Army soldiers, who were responding to arson activities of the NPA in Brgy. Camindanga, Sipalay City, were killed in an ambush staged by rebels. They also lost five high-powered firearms to the NPA.
 

PN modernization given focus during President Aquino's term --Fabic

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 1): PN modernization given focus during President Aquino's term --Fabic

With the Philippine coastline placed at 36,289 kilometers (equivalent to 22,549 miles), it is only fitting that focus be given on the Philippine Navy's modernization.

Giving the necessary funds to the Navy to acquire modern and well-armed ships, helicopters and other aircraft will allow the PN to develop its capability to protect and monitor the country's territorial waters against intruders.

As of this writing, the Navy has been allocated P5.3 billion by the Aquino administration for its upgrade.

It has used the money in acquiring two Hamilton-class cutters, the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-15) in 2011 and the BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16) in 2013 and the three AgustaWestland AW-109 "Power" helicopters, also last year.

From 2014 up to 2016, the PN is expecting the delivery of P6.4 billion worth of equipment, including the acquisition of two strategic sea-lift vessels, two armed versions of the AW-109s helicopters, and around 12 to 20 amphibious vehicles for the Philippine Marine Corps.

Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic earlier said that they are very excited with the way things are going for the PN modernization.

With these equipment, he stressed that the Navy's maritime domain awareness capability has been greatly improved.

Another development being eagerly awaited by the PN is the ongoing bidding at the Department of National Defense for its two brand-new frigates whose contract price is placed at P18 billion.

The shape, size and capabilities of these ships will be determined once the workshop for qualified proponents starts this February.

This was revealed by DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo.

"The workshop will allow the proponents to present their proposed specifications. The data/information that will be generated during the workshops will be used by the Navy in formulating the final TOR (terms of reference)," DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said.

Each proponent has a working week (around five days) to present its design to the PN technical working group and its private consultants.

As of this posting, only four shipbuilders have successfully passed the first stage of the bidding for the P18-billion frigate project.

These are Navantia Sepi (RTR Ventures) of Spain and South Korean firms STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd., and Hyundai Heavy Industries Inc.

The second phase involves the inspection of company eligibility documents.

Three other shipbuilding firms joined the bidding but the DND declared their documents to be deficient.

These companies, identified as Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. of India, STX France SA and Thyssenkrupp Marine System, have filed a motion for reconsideration at the DND.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=10&sid=&nid=10&rid=611806

Army captures BIFF camp in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 1): Army captures BIFF camp in Maguindanao

Government forces on Saturday hoisted the Philippine flag at the center of the main camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Barangay Ganta in Shariff Saidona town in Maguindanao after five days of sporadic air and ground assaults.

Col. Edmund Pangilinan, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, and Col. Edgar Gonzales, chief of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, hoisted the national flag in the middle of the more or less seven-hectare BIFF camp.

After the government forces sang the national anthem, Gonzales and Pangilinan led in offering prayers for the fallen guerrillas and a soldier.

Gonzales said his troops, who first entered the camp, recovered about 3,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers and 300 kilos of blasting chemicals and components for making improvised explosive devices.

Quoting local officials, Gonzales said the camp had been used by renegades (BIFF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as “springboard” for its bombing and extortion activities in the towns of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

He lauded the civilians, some of them relatives of BIFF leaders, for guiding government forces in the center of the camp, using various trails laded with home-made explosives.

“It’s like guerrilla camps in movies where there were so many running trenches and criss-crossing routes,” an Army lieutenant, who identifies himself as Pentagon, told reporters.

Gonzales said it was a well-fortified camp difficult for ground troops to penetrate.

“Our air assets destroyed most of the fortification,” he said, adding that many of the running trenches were laden with blood stain.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the military, said mortars, armored personnel carriers and small guns have been silent since Saturday morning except for a powerful twin blasts that hurt two journalists, 10 soldiers and civilians in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

“Government forces remain on full alert in anticipation of BIFF retaliatory attacks, including bombings in populated areas,” Hermoso said.

Earlier, the BIFF spokesperson, whom the military believed was hiding in Cotabato City or other areas of Maguindanao, had repeatedly denied one of the BIFF leaders was slain.

He said Hassan Indal, alias Tambako, one of BIFF founding chair Ameril Kato's lieutenants, has been ejected by the BIFF leadership due to his unIslamic activities.

Tambako led the campaign against government forces in Maguindanao last year which led to the evacuation of about 50,000 Moro people.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=611813

PA's 8th Infantry Division joins rehab efforts in 'Yolanda'-battered Leyte areas

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 1): PA's 8th Infantry Division joins rehab efforts in 'Yolanda'-battered Leyte areas

In support of the government's ongoing rehabilitation efforts in Eastern Visayas, the Catbalogan-based 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army has partnered with the Eastern Mindanao Command's Joint Task Force "Tambayong" in repairing critical infrastructures and shelters in typhoon "Yolanda"-battered areas in Leyte.

Capt. Amado Gutierrez, 8th Infantry Division spokesperson, said such efforts include the:

--Restoration of the Abuyog Hospital in partnership with the South African Medical Team contingent and Local Government Unit (LGU) of Abuyog, Leyte.

--Construction of core shelter in the municipality of Javier, Leyte in partnership with the LGUs in the area.

--Reconstruction of houses in the municipality of Albuera, Leyte in partnership with the LGUs.

--Reconstruction of the health center and barangay hall of Quezon, Ormoc City in partnership with the LGU.

--Re-roofing of the 802nd Infantry Brigade Administration Building at Camp Downes, Ormoc City.

Gutierrez said that their repair and rehabilitation role will continue as long as it is needed.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=611669

Palace condemns IED attack, use of minors by armed group in Mindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 1): Palace condemns IED attack, use of minors by armed group in Mindanao
 
Malacañang on Saturday condemned the use of an improvised explosive device and so-called child warriors by armed groups fighting the government in Mindanao.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also urged the media to coordinate with officials on the ground especially in areas where fighting is likely to take place.

"Hindi maganda ang balitang yan at hindi tayo natutuwa (What happened on Saturday morning was not good and we are not amused)," she said on state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.

Initial reports of Saturday's incident showed at least six people, including two journalists, were injured in an IED explosion in Maguindanao.

The military does not discount the possibility the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, could be behind the attack.

Valte appealed to media agencies to abide by a safety protocol and to cooperate with government representatives, including those of the police and the military, especially in controlled areas.

Meanwhile, Valte said the Palace is quite disturbed by the discovery of the remains of three child soldiers in one of the areas where fighting between the BIFF and government troops took place.

"Kahindik-hindik ang balita na may ginagamit silang child soldiers, beyond the fact that it violates so many laws, not just ours but of international laws. We condemn the practice of using child soldiers...Walang lugar ang paggamit ng menor de edad sa ganitong labanan (We are outraged that this group used child soldiers. This violates not just our laws but international laws as well. We condemn the practice of using child soldiers. Minors have no place in the battlefield)," she said.

She said the government can help address the situation through child support services, as well as the commitment of its security forces that they will not use child soldiers or warriors.

But she also appealed to parents to make sure their children are not recruited for such exploitation.

"Sa mga magulang, pakiusap natin, sana huwag nilang payagan ang kanilang mga anak na magamit sila sa ganitong paraan (We appeal to parents not to allow their children to be exploited this way)," she said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=611798

17 Navy DRRUs on alert for 'Basyang'

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 1): 17 Navy DRRUs on alert for 'Basyang'

The Philippine Navy (PN) on Saturday announced 17 disaster response rescue units (DRRUs) have been placed on alert for possible rescue missions in the aftermath of Tropical Depression "Basyang".

There are currently six DRRUs on alert in Naval Forces Central which is based in Cebu City, Cebu and 11 in Naval Forces West in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said.

He added that DRRUs attached to Naval Forces Central are deployed in Tacloban City, Guimaras, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu City and Iloilo City.

The Naval Forces West were directed to proceed to areas that might be possibly affected in Palawan.

Six of these DRRU teams are composed of all sailors while the remaining five are Marines from the 4th Marine Battalion.

Aside from these, all floating assets of the two commands are designated to proceed to their designated shelter areas to avoid storm damage.

"Basyang" is expected to bring inclement weather in Western and Eastern Visayas and Palawan while on its way out.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=611811

IEP: Propaganda Photo: Bodies of AFP soldiers killed in fighting with BIFF

From the Islamic Emirate of the Philippines (IEP) Facebook page (Feb 1): Photo: Bodies of AFP soldiers killed in fighting with BIFF



Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatuLLAHi wa barakatuhu
Bangkay ng sundalo na namatay sa bakbakan sa pagitan ng BIFF at AFP.
Ito ang patunay na di lang isa ang namatay sa panig ng sundalo.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597484496995323&set=a.272752586135184.64480.268897169854059&type=1&theater

IEP: Latest UMMAH Updates (2/1/2014)

From the Islamic Emirate of the Philippines (IEP) Facebook page (Feb 1): Latest UMMAH Updates (2/1/2014)

BismiLLAHirRahmanirRaheem
Latest UMMAH Updates
2/01/2014
Crossing Salbo, Maguindanao
...
An AFP convoy crossing the irrigation lining along Crossing Salbo around 9am this morning was hit by another IED (improvised Explosive Device) planted on that area by the BIFF Muyjahideen, 1 hammer was destroyed, there were casualties and injured elements but we have no exact reported number.
 
ALLAHu Akbar! ALLAHu Akbar! ALLAHu Akbar!

Make Du'a for the Mujahideen who are honorably fighting to protect ans establish the Deen of ALLAH wherever they are.

Make Du'a to ALLAH for ourselves to help us and guide us to be amongst those whom who are true to their oath to ALLAH and tirelessly fight against ALLAH's enemies.

Make Du'a to ALLAH to help us and protect us from the evils of the Infidels and the Murtadeen and make us NOT amongst those who befriend them and make them allies against our bothers who are honorably defending ALLAH's Deen Al-Islam, for a very cheap price of physical safety and worldly praise.

help and Support our Mujahideen brothers in anyway you can, thus, in turn doing yourself a favor by helping them.

Be reminded of the rewards ALLAH has promised for doing so.

Be reminded of the Great Rewards ALLAH has promised for those who are true to their oaths to ALLAH till they acheive the Greatest of Success, Martyrdom!

Be reminded of the punishments ALLAH has promised for those who lag behind, sitting amongst the weak/disabled, women and the children of the UMMAH where they are able to fight!

ALLAhumagfilrliy wal Muslimina wal Muslimaah, wal Mu'mineena Wal Mu'minah, Wal Mujahideena Wal Mujahidah

ALLAHumma Unsuril Islamah wal Muslimina wal Muqatilina fiy sabiliLLAHirRabbil Alamin

Don't forget to Like, Comment and Share!!
JazakumuLLAHu Khairan Katheeran WabarakumuLLAHu Fiqkum
 
 

IEP: Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (1-28-2014)

Posted to the Islamic Emirate of the Philippines Website (August 31): Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (1-28-2014)



https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=597448410332265&set=a.272752586135184.64480.268897169854059&type=1&theater

PH to China: What's this new air zone?

From Rappler (Feb 1): PH to China: What's this new air zone?

SOUTH CHINA SEA ADIZ? A map of Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea at a press conference in Taipei on December 2, 2013. Photo by Mandy Cheng/AFP

SOUTH CHINA SEA ADIZ? A map of Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea at a press conference in Taipei on December 2, 2013. Photo by Mandy Cheng/AFP

Malacañang said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will ask China to clarify reports about its supposed plan to set up a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over waters including the West Philippines Sea.

"We are trying to get a verification on which part exactly the report is reffering to. Based on the report that came out, it is looking like it will be set up near Japan. But the DFA will work to get confirmation on the details of it," said Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte.

Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported that working level officials in the Chinese air force have drafted proposals for the new zone, which could set the Paracel islands at its core and could go as wide as the majority of the South China Sea. (READ: China eyes air defense zone South China Sea – report)

The report comes months after Beijing caused consternation with the sudden declaration of an ADIZ above the East China Sea, covering islands at the center of a sovereignty row with Tokyo. (READ: China creates air defense zone over Japan-controlled islands)

China demanded all aircraft provide flight plans when traversing the area, give their nationality and maintain two-way radio communication, or face "emergency defensive measures." Japan, South Korea and others reacted to this with anger.

Beijing claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, even areas a long way from its shoreline.

The Philipines is also asking China to verify earlier reports about new fishing rules that would require foreign fishermen to seek China's permission if they want to operate in the disputed waters.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/49432-philippines-china-new-air-defense-zone

Voltaire Gazmin: The untouchable

From Rappler (Feb 1): Voltaire Gazmin: The untouchable

FATHER FIGURE: President Benigno Aquino III and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. Malacañang photo

FATHER FIGURE: President Benigno Aquino III and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. Malacañang photo

When reports of his supposed ouster circulated in October 2013, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin headed to Malacañang to hear it straight from the President. Not true. "Pinagtri-trip-an ka nila (They’re playing tricks on you)," the President told him.

The ouster rumors floated after Gazmin made the embarrassing mistake of accusing China of building blocks in Panatag Shoal, a rocky sandbar off the coast of Zambales that has become a flashpoint in the volatile maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing.

It was during a Sept 3, 2013 budget hearing in the House of Representatives when Gazmin waved photos of concrete blocks found in the shoal. There was no reason to doubt his statements. He said military pilots do routine flights in the area, and it was in August 2013 when they saw the blocks for the first time.

"It's an obvious prelude to construction," he added, recalling how China took control of the Mischief Reef in the 1990s. Panatag Shoal is said to be rich in oil; its location, strategic to military operations. Chinese ships have occupied the shoal since a standoff in April 2012.

Filipinos were outraged by Gazmin's revelations. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it will submit it as additional evidence before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), a United Nations body where Manila has a pending protest against China.

The Panatag blocks would be momentarily forgotten when, days after the House hearing, Zamboanga City was attacked by followers of Moro National Liberation Front founder Nur Misuari.

It would take a month before the allegations were corrected by President Benigno Aquino III himself. Asked why the Philippines has not filed the protest before ITLOS, Aquino told reporters there were barnacles found in the blocks – meaning they were not built or placed there recently.

“We don’t accuse until we have proof,” the President said. (READ: Panatag blocks: No proof vs China)

Asked for explanation, Gazmin told reporters: "This is new to us. It's the first time we saw this. It's possible it was low tide when the photos were taken. During those previous missions, it was probably high tide."

CONCRETE BLOCKS: The Philippine Navy found 75 concrete blocks in Panatag Shoal

CONCRETE BLOCKS: The Philippine Navy found 75 concrete blocks in Panatag Shoal

Father figure

Gazmin's critics know better than to openly attack or call for his resignation. He is, after all, the closest to a father figure the President can have. The commander of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) of his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, Gazmin courageously protected her administration from several coup attempts including the bloodiest in December 1989 that wounded now President Aquino. It's a relationship strengthened by the past.

The President’s father, the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, stood as one of Gazmin’s wedding sponsors when he married in 1969. By fate, Gazmin would become the senator’s jailer years later when Aquino was detained in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija. Cory would often visit Ninoy and it was there that she got to know and trust Gazmin. Up to the very end, Gazmin would serve Cory as one of the pallbearers at her funeral.

So what's a faux pas about disappearing Chinese blocks between old friends who'd overcome Ferdinand Marcos and bloody coups?

The President, in fact, did not only brush off Gazmin's mistake. He sent his critics a message.

"Let me share. My mother suffered through several coup attempts but Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was never demoralized. As the fire broke out and the Air Force bombers were circling over us, he could have panicked. But he never left us. He chose to protect the republic and fight for democracy. Thank you Secretary Volts. Until this day, we owe you our debt our gratitude," Aquino said in a speech before security sector officials, generals, and troops at the height of the rumors.

The President's message is crystal clear: the old man is his old man.

WEDDING SPONSOR: The late Senator Ninoy Aquino was a wedding sponsor when Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin got married

WEDDING SPONSOR: The late Senator Ninoy Aquino was a wedding sponsor when Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin got married

The issue has since been swept under the rug. How the defense secretary can make a mistake about decades-old concrete blocks remains unexplained. In an interview last year, when we asked Armed Forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista about it, he simply smiled. A security sector analyst cautioned against blowing up Gazmin's mistake because "China is reading reports in the Philippine media."

Lately, Gazmin has been more careful. As reports circulate on China's new fishing rules covering waters that include the West Philippines Sea, he hesitates to issue statements, saying the government was still verifying reports through formal channels.

No clear vision

Gazmin, a 69-year-old retired Army general, was pulled out of retirement to serve Aquino. He was hesitant but he said he would do it for Aquino.

He understood that part of his role was to address the restlessness that the military showed during the terms of his predecessors – former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

But he would discover that foiling coup attempts, which he did so well for the President's mother in the 1980s, would not be his challenge this time.

Gazmin is defense secretary at a most crucial time. The Philippine military shifts its focus from internal security operations to territorial defense as maritime disputes escalate in the region. (READ: PH military grappling with insurgency amid China tensions)

Tension with China exploded under the Aquino administration because of the change in the country's policies in the disputed waters. The previous Arroyo administration allowed joint explorations with the Chinese, a move that Aquino allies then assailed as unconstitutional. (READ: China hits back at PH: You've changed)

The new challenges of territorial defense meant working closely with the US, a treaty ally, and overseeing the procurement of multi-billion-peso military assets. Under Gazmin's watch, the Philippines is negotiating a military-to-military agreement that will set the rules for the increased presence of American troops in the Philippines and their access to Philippine military bases. (READ: PH-US bases access talks resume January 30)

Beyond this, the defense porfoilio is a position of great power used by many to launch presidential ambitions. His predecessors include former President Fidel Ramos, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Renato De Villa, and Gilbert Teodoro. Both De Villa and Teodoro ran for president but lost.

Gazmin is very different from his famous predecessors, however. In his first year in office, he was seen by some officers as one who acted more like a chief of staff than a defense chief, prying into operational tasks of military units.

He has always been deliberate in keeping a low profile. This lack of strong national presence also means a failure to articulate his vision.

“Both Secretaries Avelino Cruz and Gilbert Teodoro articulated clear visions of what national defense and security meant and how we must modernize the military to get there. I have not heard Secretary Gazmin articulate his vision for this,” Dean Tony La Viña of the Ateneo School of Government told Rappler when asked to compare Gazmin with his predecessors.

Deferring his tasks to Mar

And then there are back-to-back man-made and natural disasters that tested Gazmin's mettle in 2013.

“I have everything you have to encounter – the attack in Zamboanga, you have the earthquake in Bohol, you have the storm of Yolanda. What else can you ask for? All types of disasters hit us this year,” he told reporters in jest last December.

For La Viña, Gazmin’s performance as defense chief will be judged based on his performance as chief responder to Yolanda, the world's strongest typhoon that flattened entire towns and cities and killed at least 6,000 people.

“In that case, he seemed to have yielded the role to Secretary Roxas,” La Viña said.



As chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), it was Gazmin's task to be on top of government response to the monster typhoon. Eduardo Del Rosario is NDRRMC executive director.

“I’m not fond of facing the media but I give, we give the directions. We are doing our job. We don’t have to publish what we are doing,” he said last year in reports he was absent in the Yolanda response.

In Tacloban City, Roxas called long meetings and issued instructions while Gazmin often kept quiet and listened. In the end, Roxas would be roasted for government's inefficiencies while Gazmin conveniently escaped most of the blame game. (READ: Haiyan crisis: No ground commander and Politics, lack of command hound Tacloban)

It’s the same story during the 20-day Zamboanga City Crisis in September 2013, where Gazmin also let Roxas run the show. It frustrated observers who expected the retired general to understand the rebellion better than the interior secretary. (READ: Zambo Crisis: The fog of war)

“He seemed to have accepted then that Mar is the next president,” said a politician who helped in operations in Leyte.

Resignation calls

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, a former defense chief himself, was one of the few persons who publicly called out Gazmin. Enrile could not understand why the military did not prepare enough for Yolanda and why only one platoon was deployed to Tacloban City for such a strong typhoon.

Gazmin later told reporters no country could prepare for such a strong typhoon. He said other countries would have "suffered the same devastation" if they are to experience Yolanda.

“You can say it was inadequate but that because of our [limited] capacity. We only have 3 C130s. Our plan now is to acquire more C130s,” Gazmin said.

SENATE HEARING: Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. Senate file photo

SENATE HEARING: Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. Senate file photo

But typhoon survivors talk about the government’s failure to warn them about the storm surges. Government and military assets were destroyed because they were not prepositioned in the proper places. Relief distribution was delayed by politics and protocols. Organizational issues and conflict with local officials bogged down the efforts.

Malacañang blamed local officials when Gazmin and Roxas themselves flew into Leyte a day before Yolanda’s landfall supposedly to supervise government response.

They defied advice to stay out of the typhoon path so when Yolanda made landfall, the 2 Cabinet secretaries who were supposed to be on top of the situation were incommunicado for hours. They forgot to bring with them satellite phones, a must-have for disaster officials.

Calls for Gazmin's resignation came from a old friend Рformer Ambassador Roy Se̱eres with whom he worked with for years at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC, in the 1990s. Gazmin was defense attach̩. Seneres was labor attach̩.

"The blood of those who perished are in the hands of Gazmin and disaster chief Eduardo Del Rosario. They must resign," Señeres told Rappler.

Aquino wouldn't hear any of the complaints against government response to Yolanda. Instead he chose to boost the morale of his troops at the height of the criticism. For the first time in military history, a President attended the graduation of the Officer Candidate School (OCS), where he devoted his speech to commend the sacrifices of soldiers as first-responders in disasters.

Again, he congratulated Gazmin.

Treating them like plebes

Because he completedly trusts Gazmin, President Aquino ignored a recommendation by the Feliciano Commission, which investigated the botched 2003 Oakwood mutiny, for presidents to appoint a civilian to the top defense post.

Gazmin is the first defense secretary appointed with a military background since the Feliciano Commission made that recommendation. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr also became a defense chief under Arroyo, but he came from the national police, a civilian organization.

Why a civilian for the post? The commission said this was meant to insulate defense and strategic decisions from the culture in the Philippine military, where they tend to protect each other and defer to their seniors.

Gazmin is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1968. A decorated soldier, he rose in the ranks to become Army chief before he retired in 2000. His military career spanned 3 decades.

He is a soldier through and through. He rules like a commanding officer, sometimes "treating his men like they are plebes," said a source familiar with Gazmin's leadership style.

Disappoint Gazmin and you will be treated like a plebe.

It was an awkward moment during a presentation for USAID in Tacloban City as they waited for the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry. Gazmin did not hide his disapproval of NDRRMC's Del Rosario when he let his local counterpart present the status of relief efforts to the international aid group. Gazmin did not care about the many people in the room when he angrily looked at De Rosario, castigating him why he was not the one doing the presentation.

Later in the airport, Gazmin would call Del Rosario. People knew Del Rosario must have taken a dressing down.

Rappler learned that Del Rosario offered to resign in January, but Gazmin rejected it. It would have been the second resignation at the NDRRMC under Gazmin. One year ago, Del Rosario's able predecessor, Benito Ramos quit ostensibily to take care of his ailing wife. Camp Aguinaldo insiders said Ramos' resignation was triggered by disagreements with Gazmin over contracts entered into by the agency.

Board of Gazmin

In contrast, lucky are those who have worked with Gazmin.

As he is known to wield influence on the President, he has been criticized for playing favorites and pushing for his chosen officers to lead plum posts in the military. The Board of Generals, the body that vets military officers for promotion, has been jokingly referred to by some as the “Board of Gazmin.”

Lately, eyes are on his former spokesperson now Major General Hernando Iriberri, currently the commander of the 7th Infantry Division operating in Ilocos and Central Luzon resgions.

Although he is more junior than other candidates, he is now rumored to be a strong candidate to become the next chief of the Philippine Army – if not in February, the next vacancy.

Iriberri laments the controversy. “It’s unfair to the President. Ultimately it’s his decision,” Iriberri said.

Gazmin's legacy

Gazmin may have his shining moment in the aggressive implementation of the long delayed modernization of the Armed Forces, thanks to the P81-billion fund the President gave the military.

NEW CHOPPERS: The wife of defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin performs the ceremonial pouring of the champagne. Photo from Armed Forces of the Philippines

NEW CHOPPERS: The wife of defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin performs the ceremonial pouring of the champagne. Photo from Armed Forces of the Philippines

The Philippine military, one of Asia’s weakest, is acquiring critical assets including 12 fighters jets and 2 brand new warships to improve the country's capacity to patrol the disputed waters.

It is his task to oversee that the revised Armed Forces modernization is finally implemented in the institution notorious for deep-seated corruption.

There are a lot of assets in the pipeline and they’re a huge morale booster for the soldiers. The procurement process is facing delays and controversies, but if all goes well this may be Gazmin’s saving grace.

Not that he needs one under this President.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/49421-profile-voltaire-gazmin

Photos of child soldiers found at Philippine rebel camp: military

From Rappler (Feb1): Photos of child soldiers found at Philippine rebel camp: military

Photographs of child soldiers were among the items left behind as the military overran a camp of hardline Muslim rebels in Mindanao, a military commander said on Saturday, February 1.

Colonel Edgardo Gonzales said that he found the photos when he inspected the 7.5-hectare (18-acre) camp of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) rebel group in the remote town of Shariff Saydona Mustapha in Southern Philippines on Saturday.

"There were pictures of children carrying rifles. Some looked like they were 12 years old," Gonzales told Agence France-Presse (AFP) as he searched through the abandoned camp about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Manila.

"They were showing off their capability. There were 4 kids posing with guns. I believe it was not just for show. I believe those rifles were issued to them," he said.

The military launched an offensive against the BIFF on Monday, January 28, just two days after the government successfully concluded peace talks with the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The week's fighting left one soldier and at least 53 BIFF members dead, including 3 child soldiers recruited by the rebels, the military said.

Gonzales said the military would eventually release the pictures, which have not been seen by AFP.

The colonel said he had not personally seen child soldiers but his men had reported encountering them in battles with the BIFF.

"My men have said they have seen kids. Some of them have no guns. They just follow a comrade from the BIFF and when the comrade is shot, they pick up his gun and start fighting," he said.

The BIFF is a small group of militants opposed to the peace effort with the MILF, which has carried out many deadly attacks in recent years in a bid to derail the peace process.

On Saturday, the rebels set off two improvised explosive devices near the camp that wounded 6 soldiers and 6 civilians, including two crewmen of a major TV broadcaster.

President Benigno Aquino's spokeswoman Abigail Valte said "the news that they used 3 child soldiers is shocking, beyond the fact that it violates so many laws, not just ours but international laws."

She condemned the use of minors in combat and said government child support services would address the problem.
She also called on parents not to allow their children to be recruited.

A spokesman for the BIFF, Abu Misry, told AFP his group did not use child soldiers, however, and charged that the military was planting or staging the evidence against them.

"Those kids who died were not used as soldiers. They were civilians, killed by (military) airstrikes or by their 105 mm howitzers," he said angrily.

National military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala denied the claim, saying the 3 slain youths, aged 15-17, were uniformed BIFF fighters.

He also said there were previous videos and photographs of the BIFF conducting military-style training of children.

Zagala stressed that it was difficult to recognize child soldiers during combat.
"It is very hard to distinguish especially in the heat of battle when they are carrying firearms and shooting at you," he said.

The military has already reported the incident to the government's Commission on Human Rights and is awaiting further action, he added.

The website of the UN special representative on children and armed conflict said that it "continued to receive credible reports that the (BIFF) armed group was actively training and providing weapons to children."

http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/south-central-asia/49449-photos-child-soldiers-found-philippine-rebel-camp