AFP making significant headway in internal peace and security operations

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is making significant gains in its ongoing Internal Peace and Security Operations (IPSO) and Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) "Bayanihan."

This was disclosed during Friday's command conference conducted by AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista with senior military leaders in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. 

During the meeting, the AFP disclosed that the New People's Army (NPA) miserably failed in achieving its goals bound on its "5-Year Central Plan," which was supposed to end in 2013. 

The rebels' unsuccessful plan of expanding their mass base support during the five-year period was shown by the fact that the AFP was able to normalize 16 more provinces last year from the NPA influence. 

This brought the latest overall success to 43 provinces, including Pampanga, out of the 64 NPA-affected provinces nationwide (56 percent of the total).

Also, a total of 824 NPA personalities were neutralized and 425 firearms were seized by the military in 2013.

Concerning the Rogue Moro National Liberation Front Elements (RMEs), the AFP was able to neutralize 502 RMEs, with 208 killed, 24 surrendered, and 270 captured/apprehended during the defense of Zamboanga last September. 

A total of 324 firearms were also recovered.

On the government side, the AFP suffered 197 casualties -- 20 killed in action and 177 wounded in action, while 195 hostages were safely rescued.

The RMEs do not represent the whole MNLF, which is supportive of the peace process in Mindanao, therefore the AFP is ensuring that the peace process is not hampered or disrupted by these rogue elements, the AFP chief said.

During the incident in Lahad Datu, Sabah last February 2013, Bautista said the AFP deployed ground, air and naval assets against armed followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram to prevent spillover and assist displaced persons.

Against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the AFP continued the conduct of its focused military operations to contain the threat in few areas. The AFP was able to effectively limit the BIFF's capability to sabotage or derail the ongoing GPH-MILF Peace Process.

The AFP chief added that efforts against spoilers of the peace process are being done in line with the AFP’s continued commitment to support the ongoing peace process between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"Currently, peace talks with the MILF are progressing well as we are in near realization of forging a final peace agreement with the group," he said.

Bautista added that the two parties have already signed three Annexes (Transition Modalities; Wealth Sharing; Power Sharing) while the last Annex on Normalization is still being negotiated.

Proving the success of supporting the peace process is the government’s gains from the Closure Agreement with the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA). 

Last year, the military was able to integrate 168 CPLA members in the AFP. In the process, 403 firearms were also turned over to the armed forces while the government’s livelihood assistance project "PAMANA" was launched in the Cordilleras.

One of the essential factors of the AFP’s success is the military’s continued adherence to Human Rights, the International Humanitarian Law, and the Rule of Law. Alleged human rights violations went down by 88 percent, with only 11 cases in 2013 from 96 in 2010.

Among the significant humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations conducted by the AFP in coordination with other National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) member agencies were: the active HADR response as part of the "first responders" in the Zamboanga crisis, Bohol earthquake, and typhoon "Yolanda."

The AFP’s participation in the disaster relief operations in "Yolanda"-affected areas reached as high as 25,526 personnel who were directly involved in the HADR operations. 

In addition, all available strategic lift and mobility assets from the major services were utilized. AFP units were organized under the Central Command for HADR mission in coordination with the NDRRMC and foreign military contingents.

As this developed, the Civil Society Organization-led "Bantay Bayanihan" says the AFP is gaining ground and can potentially gain more ground if the IPSP "Bayanihan" is sustained. 

Further, the AFP has generally enhanced trust among peace and security stakeholders, especially in the provinces.

Perception of security in communities is notably enhanced when there is increased transparency; accountability; communication lines being opened; openness to cultural sensitivity; adherence and respect for human rights, international humanitarian law, rule of law; and multi-stakeholder engagement.

They also recognize that IPSP is planting seeds. Seeds do not grow to trees and bear fruit overnight. They have to be nurtured and sustained to flourish.

Despite the election period and the calamities and disasters that struck the country last year, the AFP was able to accomplish much.

For this year, the AFP is fully poised to vigorously conduct internal peace and security operations to meet the objectives of IPSP "Bayanihan."

“We must consolidate our gains and sustain our momentum. In the face of any challenge, the cohesiveness of the entire AFP will always be our best assurance,” Bautista said.

Article Source: PNA

Philippine military men no longer warriors?

MANILA, Philippines - Much of the military’s time that was supposed to be used for combat training are being diverted to roles of civilian agencies that could not perform their tasks, a magazine of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said.

An article of the magazine “The Air Force Way” released over the weekend said the military’s role has expanded partly because of the inability of many civilian agencies to perform their mandate.

The article said the military is performing the functions of these agencies even if support to civilian bodies is just secondary to the core function of war fighting.

“In reality, much of the time and activities that should have been devoted to combat training and preparation are being used to fulfill these (civilian agencies’ roles) tasks,” the magazine article read.

“One needs only to read AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) anniversary programs or yearly reports to see this trend,” it added.

The “Air Force Way” magazine was published to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the PAF. Copies of the magazine were distributed by the PAF to journalists last Friday.

The AFP is performing civilian tasks like medical missions, school construction and clean-up projects due to its internal security plan “Bayanihan” which took effect in 2011.

The PAF article said critical combat capabilities “have been lost or transformed into capabilities that are oriented towards supporting civilians and not soldiers.”

“Such diversion of missions and capabilities had given rise to a situation wherein people in the military no longer considered themselves as warriors,” the article read.

“Instead, they perceived themselves as policemen, relief workers, educators, builders, health care providers, politicians – everything but war fighters,” it added.

The article noted that the AFP does not have a combat engineering capability but has several civil engineering brigades.

The magazine article also noted the seeming lack of interest in military theory and history within the AFP.

It claimed that there is scarcity of studies on these subjects even in AFP General Staff Courses.

“Yet ironically, foreign armed forces have seen more value in Philippine military history by thoroughly studying it than, with rare exceptions, their Filipino counterparts,” the PAF article read.

The magazine article said the military seems to have no inclination to develop a program to systematically collate, organize, and analyze its records.

It noted that majority of AFP officers have preference for courses like business or public administration despite the fact that civilian institutions have already offered courses in military-related subjects.

The PAF article said the AFP should address the issue of military professionalism “by returning to its traditional or war fighting roots.”

“After all, the ultimate test of (a) military professional is whether he or she can prevail in war over an adversary. These could be one and would reflect in training, indoctrination and the education of the personnel,” it read.

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Alexis Romero | The Philippine Star | July 9, 2012 | Article Link

Military losing sight of its primary role—to fight and win wars

The military’s role is to win wars against the enemy, not to support civilians and government agencies.

So claimed an article in the latest issue of “The Air Force Way 2012,” the official magazine of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), that came out in time for its 65th anniversary last week.

The article, which did not carry a byline, argued that the country’s military has lost sight of its primary mission “to fight and win wars” due to its expanded role in supporting civilian government agencies.

Filipino soldiers have lost their critical combat capabilities since their time has been diverted to civic functions supporting civilians and not soldiers, the article pointed out.

“Such diversion of missions and capabilities had given rise to a situation wherein people in the military no longer consider themselves as warriors but as policemen, relief workers, educators, builders, health care providers, politicians, everything but warfighters,” read the article titled “Militum Phasellus” (no translation found).

The article criticized the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) focus on civic projects that was cemented in its new Bayanihan counter-insurgency campaign under the Aquino administration.

The PAF article argued that a professional soldier’s “expertise is on warfighting (and) his responsibility is as an expert military adviser and a soldier to his society…his corporate character is that of a warrior.”

Instead, the writer said, soldiers are made to do nonsecurity related tasks like medical missions, school construction and community clean-up “partly because of the inability of many civilian agencies to perform their mandate.”

While support to civilian agencies should only be secondary to the military’s core function of warfighting, the article said that “in reality much of the time and activities that should have been devoted to combat training and preparation are being used to fulfill (civilian) tasks.”

The PAF article also assailed the lack of interest in the study of military theory and history as “another sign that military professionalism is eroding.”

It added that (military theory and history) are hardly taught as subjects in military educational institutions, not even in the courses taught to the AFP officer corps as part of their continuing studies.

“Ironically, foreign armed forces have seen more value in Philippine military history by thoroughly studying it than… their Filipino counterparts,” the PAF article said.

The article said the AFP officer corps needed to show “high levels of proficiency in performing its core mission” in the face of serious external and internal defense and military challenges.

“Does it have… morale courage to advise political leaders that there are limits to what the armed forces can do, and that expanding their roles runs the danger of diverting them from their primary mission and focus?” the article asked.

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Dona Z. Pazzibugan | Philippine Daily Inquirer | July 10, 2012 | Article Link

AFP admits planning lapses in first year of Bayanihan

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has admitted that several operational lapses it committed last year have overshadowed significant gains achieved, especially in Mindanao, during the first year of implementation of the military’s internal peace and security plan (IPSP) Bayanihan.

In its assessment of IPSP Bayanihan, the AFP leadership cited the operational blunders in 2011, like the attacks by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) in Surigao del Norte, in Al Barka, Basilan, in Sulu and in Zamboanga Sibugay.

“The AFP is a big organization, and mistakes still happen. While significant gains were achieved by AFP troops in Mindanao, it is unfortunate that such gains were overshadowed by lapses in joint planning of combat operations resulting in blunders like (the attacks in) Taganito Mining in Surigao del Norte; Patikul, Sulu; Al-Barka, Basilan and in Zamboanga Sibugay,” the AFP stated in its assessment paper.

It will be recalled that last October, some 200 NPA rebels raided three mining compounds in Barangay Taganito in Claver, Surigao del Norte, burning P2- billion worth of mining equipment.

This was followed by the Oct. 18 bungled operation in Al-Barka, Basilan that led to the killing of 19 Special Forces personnel, including four junior officers, who were sent to serve warrants of arrest against Dan Laksaw Asnawi, commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf leader Long Malat.

Days later, at least eight police and military troops were killed during separate ambushes staged by MILF rebels in Alicia town, Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Three months earlier, seven Marines were killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Patikul, Sulu.

The military, however, claimed that it made headway in its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and cited arrangements with the MILF, particularly the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, aimed at preventing hostilities.

The AFP acknowledged that operational lapses were among the challenges faced by the military during the first year of implementation of the IPSP Bayanihan, which was officially launched in January 2011. It was designed to defeat insurgency by 2016.

The AFP also admitted the need to improve its civil military operations and other humanitarian activities, in coordination with other government agencies, to continue making headway in its fight to end insurgency and armed conflict in the country.

The military called on the government peace panel negotiating peace with the communist organization, and the civilian sector to exert “social pressure” to bring the National Democratic Front (NDF) back to the negotiating table. It also pushed for the resumption and sustenance of the social integration program (SIP) to entice rebels to give up fight against government.

“The suspension of the SIP has brought negative consequences in terms of convincing more rebels to return to the folds of the law,” the AFP said. 

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Mario J. Mallari | The Daily Tribune | June 3, 2012 | Article Link

Army chief: militias dismantled by 2016 as AFP shifts to external security

MANILA, Philippines - Army chief Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista sees the dismantling of all paramilitary forces in the country by 2016 as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) transitions from internal to external security.

Bautista, in a forum at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City on Wednesday, said they see the dismantling of about 60,000 paramilitary forces within the end of the implementation of the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan, the AFP's program to "win the peace" through combat and non-combat initiatives.

Paramilitary forces consist of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) and the Special Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit Active Auxiliary (SCAA).

Bautista, replying to queries on the alleged human rights violations committed by paramilitary forces, admitted that these auxiliary forces lacked the same kind of discipline as regular military troops. But paramilitary forces were borne out of "exigencies" and budgetary constraints in the organization, he explained.

"In the future, as we downsize the AFP, first to go are the CAFGUs," Bautista said. Speaking to reporters after the forum, Bautista said he sees the dismantling of these forces "as security condition permits" and improves, adding that one premise if if the "CPP-NPA,NDF abandons the armed struggle."

In the forum, Bautista acknowledged that the AFP should focus on external rather than internal defense. The job of internal defense, he said, should be mainly in the hands of local government units and the Philippine National Police.

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Abigail Kwok | InterAksyon.com | May 30, 2012 | Article Link

AFP to Discuss IPSP 1st Year Assessment with Watchdog

CAMP GENERAL EMILIO AGUINALDO, Quezon City – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in its commitment to further increase its multi-stakeholder engagement will present the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan’s first year assessment in a two-day conference to be held at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) in Quezon City, May 30-31, 2012.

The AFP through the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, OJ3 will support this activity which will be managed and hosted by the ADMU Department of Political Science – Working Group on Security Sector Reform (SSR). Dubbed as “Addressing Armed Conflicts through Collaborative Efforts: Focus on the IPSP Bayanihan,” the activity is aimed at assessing how the different security stakeholders appreciate the IPSP Bayanihan. It hopes to bring together local and national government units as well as civil society groups to look into the efforts of the military.

The two-day event also aims to discuss the successful interventions, challenges, spaces of engagements, and remaining things to be done to finally convince the armed groups to abandon their violent means to institute change.

Top military and security officials are expected to attend as resource persons and speakers. The Secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND), Voltaire Gazmin will discuss about locating the IPSP in the Defense Tranformation; National Security Adviser, Sec. Cesar Garcia will discuss about Locating the IPSP in the National Security Plan; Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Sec. Teresita Deles will talk about the Relevance of the IPSP in the Peace Process; Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jesse Robredo will talk about the Role of the AFP in the Local Government’s Security Plan; and Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Dir. Gen. Nicanor Bartolome will discuss about the Law Enforcement and Internal Security Operations.

LtGen. Emmanuel Bautista, Commanding General of the Philippine Army is also invited to present an overview of the IPSP Bayanihan while MGen. Romeo Calizo, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, J3, AFP is tasked to state the IPSP First Year Assessment.

The managing head of the conference, Jennifer Santiago Oreta of the ADMU Department of Political Science – Working Group on SSR also led the so called AFP’s IPSP Watchdog, named “Bantay Bayanihan.” Conceptualized in September 2011, the creation of Bantay Bayanihan or “BB” started with the initiative of the civil society organization which served as an engagement of civil society and the AFP. It could either serve as an alternative or complementary forum with respect to the Peace and Order Councils and Regional Development Councils.

The BB is envisioned to be a dialogue space that brings together civil society organization, the academe, civilian government units whose services have direct bearing on conflict formation and peace building, and the AFP. It highlights issues and concerns regarding peace and conflict dynamics in localities. 

Specifically, it aims to help create a positive atmosphere for the on-going peace talks; create a “dialogue space” for security stakeholders to begin the discussion on the security sector reform and development, both in the local and national levels; and serve as venue where critical security and development issues are raised into open public debate and to the attention of policy makers. 

With high hopes for the success of this civilian-led forum/dialogue space, BB has already started its ground working and was formally launched last 29 November 2011.

“This activity implies another opportunity for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to put into practice its whole-of-nation and multi-stakeholder approach of winning the peace as embodied in the IPSP Bayanihan. With the concerted efforts of the civil society organizations, the academe, and civilian government units to monitor and assist us in implementing the IPSP, we will be guided and therefore we will be better and more efficient implementers of the people-centered principles of Bayanihan,” Gen. Dellosa said.

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 PAO | Armed Forces of the Philippines | May 27, 2012 | Article Link