New military command proposed By Joseph Jubelag
GENERAL SANTOS CITY - An administration lawmaker has proposed the creation of another military command in Mindanao aside from the existing Southern Command (Southcom) based in Zamboanga City in a bid to address the insurgency and Muslim separatist problems. Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. said the proposed military command will boost the military's campaign against terrorism and insurgency. "We need the two military commands for our peacekeeping efforts in Mindanao to maintain stability and lure investors," said Pichay, a former chairman of the House defense committee. Pichay said it was very unfair for Mindanao to have only one military command while Luzon and Visayas each have two military commands. The Mindanao legislator explained that the development projects for Mindanao lined up for this year remain futile if peace and order problems in the region is not properly addressed. He said that of the more than P1 trillion budget for 2006, 30 percent was allocated for development projects in Mindanao. "The bulk of funds intended for Mindanao would only go to nothing if the peace and order problem in Mindanao deteriorates. One of the solutions is the creation of another command in addition to the Southcom," said Pichay. When asked about the bulk of the budget allotted for Mindanao, Pichay said "we have increased our annual budget from P900 million to P1 billion plus so that more funds will be used for the delivery of basic services while 30 percent of which will go to Mindanao." Pichay proposed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines create another unified command in eastern Mindanao to complement the Southcom which covers western Mindanao. "Definitely, Mindanao can not lure investors and development projects may just not be implemented because of the unstable peace and order in the region," he said, citing the delay in the implementation of the 200-megawatt Agus I project in northern Mindanao as an example. With the creation of another command, Pichay said, the Armed Forces could focus and strengthen its campaign against the New People's Army (NPA), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the splinter groups of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the dreaded Abu Sayyaf group and other lawless groups. "I think the proposal sounds good because, in the first place, 70 percent of insurgency problem faced by our Armed Forces is concentrated in Mindanao," said Pichay. http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=regions03_feb17_2006 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
