Archive for March 29th, 2007
PHOTOS: Military top brass in Pagasa Island
SPREADING HIS WINGS. Military Chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. marvels at the sights in Pagasa Island
A bird’s eye shot of Pagasa island taken from a Philippine Air Force C130 cargo plane (courtesy of AFP-PIO)
A dog is the only soul inside the Kalayaan municipal function hall in Pagasa Island, whose population drops from over 200 to 30 when fish catch is scarce
The military is spending P31 million for the rehabilitation of this air strip.
IRONY. Graffiti provides a stark contrast to the crystal clear waters and powdery white sand.
Military Chief General Hermogenes Esperon feels the sand on the Pagasa Island beach
SPO1 Alaska and PO2 Remojo, the only policemen in Pagasa island survey their almost empty blotter
SPO1 Alaska, one of two policemen on Pagasa island, works with a radio inside a nipa hut which was turned into a police station
Activists not in order of battle — Palace
But ‘rebel co-conspirators’ to be pursued
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday denied that activists and militant groups “operating within the democratic space” are included in the military’s “order of battle (OB)” although it said the government would pursue rebel “co-conspirators.”
And at a news conference in Puerto Princesa City, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. admitted that the military has an “order of battle” but maintained it does not include leftist militants.
“Yung aming OB ay walang nakasulat na ganun [Our OB has nothing like that [militants] written on it,” he said.
But he did acknowledge that the OB might have mentioned other organizations “insofar as their relationship to the underground NPA.”
“President Arroyo is in full control of the Armed Forces and the AFP order of battle does not include militant groups operating within Philippine democratic space,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said on Thursday.
Bunye’s statement was in reaction to the preliminary report submitted by United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) on his investigation into extrajudicial killings in the country in which he partly attributes the bloodshed to an “order of battle approach adopted systematically” by the AFP and the Philippine National Police.
In his report, Alston cited a “leaked” copy of a 110-page order of battle which “lists hundreds of groups and individuals who have been classified, on the basis of intelligence, as members of organizations which the military deems ‘illegitimate.’”
He cited the order of battle as an example of how the government’s labeling of leftists and militant groups as communist rebel “fronts” contributed to extrajudicial killings.
“When a significant number of individuals killed in incidents implicating the armed forces or police are also listed on an order of battle, it raises serious questions about the appropriateness of this practice,” Alston said.
But Bunye said: “As a government fighting a live and ongoing insurgency, our troops have strict rules of engagement against armed units of the CPP-NPA [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army] and their verified commanders and co-conspirators clearly employing violent means to attain their political ends.”
He said violations of these rules invite severe sanctions, citing past cases when soldiers suspected of crimes have been charged.
Esperon stressed that an OB is an “internationally accepted military term” and means a “watch list” that includes information on the logistics and training of the military’s “adversaries.”
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Metro troop pullout before polls ‘likely timetable’–Esperon
PAGASA ISLAND, Philippines — The pullout of soldiers from Metro Manila before the May 14 elections, is a “very likely timetable,” Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Thursday.
Esperon said this should be the time when they would have finished community service.
But the pullout would still depend on the assessment of the military’s National Capital Region Command (NCRCom), which would take into account requests of village officials for the troops to stay, Esperon said.
“That is a very likely timetable, by that time, the [construction] of day care centers and public toilets will be finished… We see [the deployment] finished before the elections,” Esperon said in an interview with reporters in this island, which is part of the disputed Spratlys chain.
“The planning is ongoing towards a termination of the activity,” Esperon said of the deployment, which had come under fire from leftist militants, prelates, and the Commission on Human Rights, which claimed that the move smacked of “militarization.”
In a separate interview, Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the planned pullout was not in response to reports that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had asked him to set a timeline for the deployment to finish.
“[Ermita's] statements are always misquoted. [He asked the military] to consider a timeline, not [to set] a timeline,” Ebdane said.
Ebdane said he had just talked to Ermita on the phone for 20 minutes before he entertained questions from reporters.
“He is leaving this up to the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and the defense department. There is a review and the decision will come from the chief of staff. He does not want to micro-manage,” Ebdane said.
Defending the deployment, Esperon said: “There were no human rights violations, there was no electioneering.”
While it scored the alleged “militarization” of the capital, the CHR said there was no evidence to prove the claim of left-wing party list groups that soldiers had been campaigning against them.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
