Military action vs MILF
leaders gets needed boost
By Jaime Laude Updated December 13, 2008 12:00 AM
The ongoing military operations against three notorious Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) commanders in Mindanao got a much-needed
boost after President Arroyo recently approved an additional funding to
bankroll the costly military campaign against the renegade group in the region.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen.
Alexander Yano bared this latest development in an interview over government-run
NBN television Thursday night.
“We have requested for additional funding for
these (operations) and lately the President granted an additional, supplemental
budget for the conduct of operations,” Yano said.
Without disclosing the exact amount, the AFP top
brass said the additional budget will help sustain the ongoing military
operations in Mindanao for the next two to three months.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., on the other
hand, confirmed the approval of the logistical and budgetary requirement
although he did not say how much additional funding was released.
At present there are about five military brigades
involved in the hunt for MILF renegade commanders Ameril Umbra Kato in Central
Mindanao; Abdurahman Macapaar alias Bravo and Aleem Sulaiman Pangalian in the
two Lanao provinces and in Sarangani province.
On top of this, the military had also deployed
several companies of elite units in the region not only to go after the MILF
renegades but also against the communist New People’s Army (NPA).
The three renegade commanders were tagged as the
brains behind the series of attacks against civilian and military targets in
their respective areas from August onward following the non-signing of the
controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) in Kuala
Lumpur between the MILF and GRP Peace Panel.
Yano pointed out that the AFP has the resources
to sustain the fight in Mindanao, but also admitted that
the operation has been costly because the three MILF commanders and their
followers are operating in a big area.
He said in Central Mindanao
alone, the military is having difficulty securing the entire Liguasan marsh, an
area known to be the bailiwick of Kato’s 105th Base Command.
The rugged terrain in Lanao is also hampering
military actions against Bravo, Pangalian and their followers.
Yano said the military has been conducting
intelligence-driven actions aimed at downgrading the capabilities of the MILF
renegades to conduct atrocities or major offensives like what they did last
August in North Cotabato and in Lanao del Norte. –
Paolo Romero, John Unson, Christina Mendez Philstar)
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