Quote:

 

Top sniper ng Army tinanggalan ng laman-loob, tinadtad ng taga ng MILF

(Pilipino Star Ngayon) Updated October 26, 2011

“Hustisya!”

MANILA, Philippines - Ito ang sigaw kahapon ng pamilya ni Pfc. Roberto Ricafranca, isa sa top sniper ng Philippine Army na tinanggalan ng laman-loob at tinadtad ng taga matapos na mabihag ng mga rebeldeng Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) sa ambush sa Al Barka, Basilan noong Oktubre 19 na ikinasawi ng 19 sundalo.

Kinumpirma ng mga kaanak nito na hindi “killed in action” si Ricafranca dahilan brutal itong pinaslang ng MILF kasama ang lima pang sundalong buhay pa ng bihagin ng nasabing rebeldeng grupo.

Ayon sa kapatid ni Ricafranca na si Sgt. Michael Ricafranca, tinadtad ng taga, kinuha ang laman-loob at halos hindi na makilala ang kanyang nakababatang kapatid na si Roberto nang matagpuan ito sa Al Barka.

Samantala kinumpirma naman ng isa sa dalawang sugatang nakatakas na hostage ng MILF na si Pfc. Michael Natividad na buhay silang binihag ng MILF pero brutal na pinatay ang 6 niyang kasamahan.

Si Roberto ay positibong nakilala lamang ng kaniyang pamilya sa pamamagitan ng tattoo nito at peklat sa paa.

Naniniwala si Michael na matindi ang galit ng MILF rebels sa kanyang kapatid dahil napatay nito sa mga naunang military operation ang isang Commander ng Abu Sayyaf na kaalyado ng MILF.

Ngunit naniniwala rin ito na bago namatay ang kapatid, may napatay din itong mahigit sa 10 miyembro ng MILF dahil isa itong sharpshooter at naging Top 1 sa kanyang sniping class noong 2007.

Ang 32-anyos na si Roberto ang tanging sniper na napasama sa grupo ng mga nasawing sundalo kung saan nasa military service rin ang dalawang kapatid nito.

May pagkakataon sana itong tumakas ngunit nagpaiwan ito at iniligtas ang sugatang pinsan na si Pfc. Alex Ricafranca na pinatakas kasama ang iba pa nilang mga kasamahan matapos makorner sa ambush ng nagsanib puwersang Abu Sayyaf at MILF re­bels.

Quote:

 

Two allies of renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Waning Abdusalam have surrendered to government troops in Zamboanga Sibugay, the military reported yesterday.

Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz said Usman Ajijun, 57, and Nuhurin Intang, 50, also yielded a 60 mm mortar tube, an M-79 grenade launcher, and an M16 rifle to Lt. Col. Catalino Masa, commander of the Army’s 4th Special Forces after Air Force OV-10 bombers attacked rebel positions in Barangay Labatan, Payao town.

Military and police operations were launched against the group of Abdusalam in Zamboanga Sibugay province, particularly in Payao and nearby villages where the rebels have conducted robberies and kidnappings.

Quote:

 

It appeared that over the years they (rebels) have developed that mangrove place as impenetrable hideout, building bunker emplacements, machine gun nests, and fortified positions in bridge of dry land,” Lt. Col. Randolf Cabangbang, spokesman for Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said.

Cabangbang said for two days since Monday, ground and air forces have pounded the rebel position with bombs and artillery in Sitio Talaib, Barangay Labatan.

“Every time we advance closer there is resistance,” Cabangbang said, prompting the continuous aerial assault.

He said the area has been occupied by the group of Abdusalam where they consolidate and plan their kidnapping activities and often hide their kidnap victims.

Quote:

 

MILF abusing ‘area of temporary stay’

Senators on Tuesday warned Malacañang that the nation risked “flirting with the status of a failed state” if Moro separatist rebels are allowed to abuse the so-called “area of temporary stay” (ATS) that could constitute a diminution of the nation’s sovereignty.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that government forces should be allowed to enter an ATS, a zone purportedly delineated as a safe haven for guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under a peace agreement, “if required by military necessity.”

The Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law (Republic Act No. 9871) defines “military necessity” as “employing measures which are otherwise indispensable to achieve a legitimate aim of the conflict and are not otherwise prohibited by international humanitarian law,” according to Santiago.

“Military necessity trumps any ceasefire agreement.  The murder of 19 soldiers could have been avoided, if the Philippine military and police were allowed to apply the doctrine of fresh pursuit.  This rule allows government soldiers to cross jurisdictional lines in fresh pursuit of rebel guerrillas who have committed war crimes,” she said.
Santiago warned that if the rule against invasion of ATS continued to be observed, “the Philippine military would be so severely hampered in its law enforcement functions that the Philippines would be flirting with the status of a failed state.”
“If the MILF argues that the attacks were carried out by rogue or renegade guerrillas, then that would be a confession that the MILF leaders have no effective command and control.  In that case, there would be no point continuing peace talks with them,” she said.

How to elude arrest

“Ordinary criminals, terrorists and sometimes even syndicates seek refuge in these areas,” Senator Gregorio Honasan pointed out in a phone interview. “When confronted by government forces, they claim to be legitimate rebels and bring up the peace talks to escape arrest.”

There are many places throughout Mindanao declared as ATS where MILF rebels are allowed by the government to occupy, according to Honasan.

asianobserve

Oct 27 2011, 10:15 AM

And do not forget to maintain the favorable force ratio of 10:1.

Quote:

 

Army exec accuses MILF of treachery
The Philippine Star Updated October 27, 2011 05:51 PM 5 comments to this post
MANILA, Philippines - The encounter in Al-Barka, Basilan, where 19 soldiers were killed, was a result of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) treachery, a sacked Philippine Army official said today.

"There was treachery on the part of the MILF," Col. Alexander Macario, the sacked commander of the Special Operations Task Force Basilan, said in a radio interview this afternoon.

Macario said that an intelligence officer of the Philippine Army's 4th Special Force Battalion (SFB) informed the MILF through its liaison, Ustadz Salim Panawayon, that their troops will conduct an operation in Sitio Bakisung, Barangay Cugman.

He said that the intelligence officer of the 4TH SFB made the call to Panawayon the night before the actual operation, which was conducted on October 18.

He said Panawayon is an adviser to an MILF base commander he identified as Hudlim Maya.

Macario said that it may be the "critical point" that led to the massacre of the 19 soldiers led by 2nd Lt. Jose Delfin Keh, who also died in the clash.

He said that during the initial clash, Keh's group radioed that they were engaged in a firefight with only eight armed men, believed to be members of the group of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Long Malat.

"Ang feedback ay mahina ang kalaban, walo lang. And then later on biglang dumami na parang naging 200 in a span of several hours," Macario said, adding that the 200 men reinforcement was sent by the MILF base command covering the Al-Barka area.

Macario suspects that instead of holding off MILF fighters in the area, the base commander of the Moro separatist group informed about the military operation ordered his men to reinforce the group of Malat.

The sacked Army official also insisted that his troops in Basilan have always been very careful in military operations as they did not want to violate the government's ceasefire agreement with the MILF.

He said that they were not required to inform the MILF of the Al-Barka operation, but decided otherwise to make sure that there will be no misencounter with the Moro rebels in the area.

Macario maintained that the troops were four kilometers away from the area of temporary stay (ATS) of the MILF. The ATS is a designated area where the MILF can stay to avoid a misencounter with the military.

To make sure that troops will not unknowingly enter the ATS of the MILF, Macario said that he ordered an additional 500 meters to the MILF's ATS and even declared, on his own, that the area above the ATS is a "no-fly zone" for military aircrafts.

Misinformed

Meanwhile, Macario admitted that the troops in Al-Barka that clashed with the rebels were undermanned, under-equipped and were not prepared for a heavy battle when they went to Sitio Bakisung.

He said that this was because he was not properly informed by Peña about the type of operation that the troops will be conducting.

Macario said that two days before the actual operation, Peña asked for permission to conduct an "regular, routinary, clearing operation" in the area.

He said he approved the operation since a regular operation did not require permissions from the military's general headquarters.

"The planning will be done at battalion level," he said.

Macario said that after the bloody clash, he learned that Peña ordered a test mission, which requires intensive planning and heavy artillery support.

"’Pag test mission kasi iba ang category  ng operations. ‘Pag test mission, if only I was informed that it was a test mission, I would not have approved it," he said.

"It requires certain procedures that should be followed strictly," he said, adding that during test missions, a military team conducting the operation would need air support, armor artillery and should have been fully equipped.

He added that the subject area in a test mission also requires at least two months of developing, including intelligence gathering for more detailed information of the occupants of the area.

Macario also said that in test missions, the task force commander should supervise the operation, not the battalion commander.

Macario, meanwhile, declined to confirm that his revelations have been considered in the report that the Armed Forces of the Philippines will submit to Malacañang.

He also said that he has yet to have a conversation with Peña regarding the operation.

Peña was relieved a day after the Al-Barka attack. A third official, Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade, was also sacked for his proposal to suspend the ceasefire agreem

Quote:

 

"Two officers have been relieved: Lt. Col. Leo Pena, 4th Special Forces Battalion Commander, and Col. Alexander Macario, head of the Special Operations Team-Basilan (SOTF-B).  Speaking with high-ranking officers familiar with the case, one more officer, they say, should have been questioned – if not relieved - as well: Col. Alminkadra Undug, Army Special Forces Regiment Commander based in Zamboanga.  He is Pena’s immediate superior in the Special Forces chain of command and the man whom sources say gave Pena the target intelligence package for the operation.  Col. Undug handled MIG9 (the Military Intelligence Group) in Zamboanga and was implicated in the Hello, Garci scandal."



WHY THE FIASCO IN BASILAN
by Move.PH on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:25pm
By Maria A. Ressa,
Author-in-Residence & Senior Fellow
International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research, RSIS

(To share or comment on this story, visit or 'like' www.facebook.com/Move.PH. Also follow @MovePH on Twitter.)


MANILA, Philippines -- How could good men with good intentions go so horribly wrong?  You’ve seen my summary of what actually went wrong.  This is my attempt to figure out WHY it did.  Keep in mind that just because the October 18 operation in Basilan was inept (and led to the deaths of 19 soldiers in Al-Barka) doesn’t mean the individual soldiers are inept.

Two officers have been relieved: Lt. Col. Leo Pena, 4th Special Forces Battalion Commander, and Col. Alexander Macario, head of the Special Operations Team-Basilan (SOTF-B).  Speaking with high-ranking officers familiar with the case, one more officer, they say, should have been questioned – if not relieved - as well: Col. Alminkadra Undug, Army Special Forces Regiment Commander based in Zamboanga.  He is Pena’s immediate superior in the Special Forces chain of command and the man whom sources say gave Pena the target intelligence package for the operation.  Col. Undug handled MIG9 (the Military Intelligence Group) in Zamboanga and was implicated in the Hello, Garci scandal.

Col. Macario is outspoken about being bypassed.  When Lt. Col. Pena told him about the operations, troops had already been deployed.  “Wala akong operational lapses,” Macario told me.  Yet, 19 men died so he did what he felt was honorable and volunteered for court martial.  The only man aside from him who had the authority to mobilize those soldiers is Col. Undug, who allegedly bypassed the area commander.  I could not reach Col. Undug for comment.

This is part of the reason sources say Pena had the courage to “just fyi” Macario, and why Macario allowed the operation to continue.  Both Army Chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz and Secretary of Defense Voltaire Gazmin are Special Forces.

There are at least three other underlying complications that may offer additional insights:
A new paradigm in military processes and operations
An unspoken rivalry between the Scout Rangers and the Special Forces


The PMA culture of “Take Life”

Special Operations Task Force-Basilan (SOTF-B) is less than a year old.  When I visited Basilan several months ago, Macario was moving quickly on operations.  He has been effective – leading 22 successful combat operations in 7 months.

His elite task force is an experiment that may be partly based on a US model.  US operations in the Philippines are carried out by the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P).

Part of the reasoning behind the change was the observation that conventional territorial forces were easily tracked and “made too much noise” which alerted their enemies who were more agile and mobile.

It also, however, meant a new command process that - as October 18 proved – had not been fully tested.

Secondly, some soldiers spoke about a rivalry beneath the surface – between the Scout Rangers and the Special Forces which made up Macario’s team.  The Rangers were chosen to lead the 22 successful operations.  Macario is a Ranger with Special Forces training.  Some SF soldiers said they thought he was partial to the Rangers. He told them: “I don’t want you to die in Basilan.  You are not yet operationally capable.”

This is the first time the 4th Special Forces Battalion acted as territorial forces - part of the reason why they underestimated both the terrain and their enemy, according to a classified investigation report titled “Encounter in Basilan” written on October 20.

Finally, numerous sources spoke about a culture that celebrates courage, a practice they called “take life” – part of officers’ training and culture going back to the Philippine Military Academy.  “Take Life” means having the courage to jump in and take the consequences.  At least two officers cautioned Pena about the dangers of his plan, but he overruled them, allegedly saying “take life.”

I am not a conspiracy theorist; I prefer Occam’s Razor: “the simplest answer is often correct.”  I only offer some possible strands of reasoning which explain why the fiasco in Basilan happened.