ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 8, 2010) – Police mounted a search Friday for a Filipino student who was reported abducted in the southern town of Jolo, police told the Mindanao Examiner.
Police said it formed a group that would search for Kenneth Lao, 21, who is allegedly being held by a gang after being captured on Thursday outside the Notre Dame College in Jolo.
His family told police that a man phoned them later in the day to say that they are holding Lao captive. It was unknown whether the Abu Sayyaf, a notorious rebel group blamed for the spate terror attacks and kidnappings-for-ransom, has anything to do withy the abduction.
Police did not say if the man demanded ransom for Lao’s safe release.
“We are still investigating this case. We have formed a task force to handle this case,” said Senior Superintendent Joseph Ramac, the provincial police chief.
The mayor of Jolo, Hussin Amin, cannot be reached to give details about the abduction, but other reports said Lao was lured out of his school by a friend whom he was texting and then snatched by armed men. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, October 08, 2010
Notre Dame student abducted in Jolo
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Bombing kills 1, injures 6 more in South RP
Photos sent to the independent regional newspaper The Mindanao Examiner show the aftermath of a powerful bomb explosion Saturday, December 5, 2009 destroyed a small building and damaged the municipal police station of Jolo in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. The attack, blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, killed a municipal employee and injured 6 policemen.ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / December 5, 2009) – A powerful bomb explosion early Saturday killed one person and wounded six policemen in the southern Philippine province of Sulu where security forces are battling al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
The bombing in the capital town of Jolo severely damaged the main police headquarters and a US military-funded building used in peace projects in the province. “The attack occurred at dawn and one municipal worker was killed and six policemen are also wounded,” said Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, the Jolo police commander.
He said the police are still investigating the bombing and the motive of the attack. “We are still investigating the blast and the type of explosive used in the bombing,” Pingay said.
Pingay said no group claimed responsibility for the attack, but previous bombings in Sulu were blamed to the Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels. “The Abu Sayyaf could be behind this, we still don’t know, but this group was blamed for the past attacks,” he said.
Last month, a government soldier was wounded in clashes with suspected Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu. The fighting erupted after troops foiled an attempt by militants to bomb a newly repaired bridge, twice bombed, in the town of Indanan.
The bridge connects the town to other areas in the province and is frequently used by the military in the deployment of soldiers fighting the Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels.
Militants also bombed the compound of the Catholic church in Jolo town this year and previously threatened to kidnap and behead priests and nuns in Sulu after accusing them of propagating Christianity in the largely Muslim province.
The Abu Sayyaf had killed a Catholic bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, in 2003 in a daring attack outside the Our lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, about 950 kilometers southeast of Manila where the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo is located.
Sporadic clashes in Sulu since September had killed dozens of gunmen and soldiers, including two members of the US Special Forces, after the military launched attacks against the Abu Sayyaf and Moro National Liberation Front rebels during the Eid Fit’r, one of the most important Muslim celebrations after the holy month of Ramadan.
US troops are deployed in Sulu since 2006 and helping the military defeat terrorism.
The rebels who were followers of former MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari declared a holy war or jihad against the military for disrespecting the Eid celebration. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Troops recover IED in Jolo town
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 31, 2009) – Government soldiers have recovered an improvised explosive in the southern Philippine town of Jolo, where a homemade bomb exploded and wounded two army engineers over the weekend, officials told the Mindanao Examiner on Monday.
Major Ramon David Hontiveros, a spokesman for the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said the improvised explosive device was found near the Jolo airport an hour after a bomb went off at around 7 p.m. on Sunday.
“The bomb was detonated safely,” he said.
Hontiveros said the military is still investigating the type of explosive used in the attack and the second that was recovered. “We are still determining what type of explosive was used in the attack,” he said.
Hontiveros said a marine convoy passing near the area was likely the target of the explosion.
“Initial investigation revealed that the target of the attack was the convoy of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 which had just left Kampo Heneral Teofilo Bautista en route to Mount Datu. The IED exploded 75 meters in front of the lead vehicle of convoy,” he said.
No individuals or group has claimed responsibility for the failed attack, but Marine Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, a regional military commander, blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the explosion in Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed by the police and military for the spate of kidnappings for ransom and terrorism in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Youth Federation Join Clean-Up Drive In Sulu
The sun shines over Sulu's minarets. Sulu is one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 20, 2009) – The Federation of the Tausug Youth Organizations conducted a cleanliness drive called "Project M.I.B" (Men in Broom) in the capital town of Jolo in the southern Filipino province of Sulu.
Armed with brooms, tens of dozens mostly youth and students participated in the recent campaign in an effort to help maintain cleanliness in Jolo. Members of the Federation of the Tausug Youth Organizations have pledged to help advocate cleanliness in Sulu.
Tim Ijiran, an adviser to the Federation of the Tausug Youth Organizations, said an Islamic Da'wah is also ongoing in Jolo.
Many youth groups in Sulu are active in different advocacy campaigns.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Bomb explodes outside Catholic chuch in Jolo town, 2 killed, 17 others wounded
Witnesses said another improvised explosive was found outside the Mount Carmel Catholic cathedral and had been disarmed by Filipino and US troops. The US is helping the local military defeat terrorism in Sulu.
"They have recovered another bomb. There were US and Filipino soldiers, they disarmed the bomb," one witness said in cell phone text message sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The wounded were rushed to hospital. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Abu Sayyaf militants with links to the Indonesian terror Jemaah Islamiya are largely blamed by the police for the attack.
The blast, which occurred around 7.45 a.m., damaged several hardware stores, police said.
“We are still investigating the motive of the attack and the type of explosive used in this attack. But there were scattered remains of a motorcycle in the area and bolstering our suspicion that a motorcycle bomb was used in the attack,” Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, the town’s police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Jolo.
He said the bomb exploded in front of the Go Teck Leng hardware and the blast killed Vicky Sia, 62, and Hamsirani Hamsi, 60. He said among the wounded were three policemen.
It was the second bomb attack this week outside a Catholic church in the southern Philippines. On Sunday, an improvised bomb exploded outside a church in Cotabato City in Mindanao and killed 5 people and wounded 55 more. The military blamed the attack to Moro rebels and Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Gunman kills Sulu village chieftain
Police said Yusop Isnani was shot in the head late Friday. Isnani, chieftain of the village called Busbus in the capital town of Jolo, was outside his house when the lone gunman shot him at close range.
“We are still investigating the killing. We don’t know who was behind the attack,” said Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, the town’s police chief.
Isnani’s family said the slain leader had no known enemies and was loved by many villagers because of his honesty and dedication to his job. (Mindanao Examiner)
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Philippine police free seven accused of Abu Sayyaf collusion
A security guard and a policeman keep watch at their post Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at a wharf in the capital town of Jolo in the southern Philippine province of Sulu where Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants are holding two remaining Red Cross workers Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni. Militants have freed Filipino aid worker Mary Jean Lacaba after more than 70 days in captivity, but the Abu Sayyaf threatened to behead the two hostages if Manila does not pull out security forces in Sulu. Provincial Governor Sakur Tan, who heads the government task force negotiating for the safe release of the hostages, rejected the terrorist demand. Tan has declared a state of emergency in Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)The seven, three of them police officers and two village officials, were ordered released along with two other civilians on Wednesday for lack of evidence.
“I will bring them back in Sulu,” said Sulu Governor Sakur Tan told the Mindanao Examiner.
The seven were arrested separately in Sulu province after police linked them to the Abu Sayyaf group blamed for the kidnapping of Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni, who are working for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The two were seized together with Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba on January 15 after inspecting on a humanitarian project at a prison in Patikul town.
The Abu Sayyaf freed Lacaba on April 2 on a remote village in Indanan town.
Tan declared a state of emergency in Sulu after an Abu Sayyaf deadline to behead the remaining hostages lapsed on March 31 without anyone killed.
An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Albader Parad, has since then warned they would kill the captives if the government fails to pull out security forces surrounding their jungle hideout in Indanan town.
Philippine military intelligence reports said several Jemaah Islamiya terrorists are among those holding the aid workers, among them were Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek, who are all wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombing in 2002. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Sulu students serenade soldiers
Students from the Hadji Butu Elementary School in Jolo town in Sulu province.Earlier on Wednesday, the students were guests during the military’s radio program rendering the moving songs with titles “Children for Peace and Peace in Mindanao.”
They dedicated their performance to all the soldiers, who are defending the people of Sulu from all forms of threats to safety.
The marines who had endured rigid training were awed by the thoughtfulness that these children exhibited through their serenade. Having a safe learning environment is but their right, yet the appreciation in their eyes was glowing.
She said prior to the implementation of the project, both students and teachers were troubled by the flood problem. Attendance of students dropped, and many of them transferred to other schools.
“Classrooms then were filled with water. Instead of classroom instruction, both students and teachers spent the whole time cleaning and taking out the water from their respective rooms. This situation is far from ideal in an educational system that already lacks many resources,” she said.
“In laying down the foundation of education, the significant help of JTF Comet and the US Forces contributes to a bright future for the children in Sulu. It is not only the teachers, but also the children who discovered that the military cares about them,” Aking said.
“Our performance is enhanced as well,” she said.
Twelve-year-old Fatima Husna Kasim, who wants to become a teacher, said that she and her classmates now attend classes every day. “We are always excited to go to school every day because our classroom is already beautiful. We always keep it clean. We dislike it so much every time classes are dispersed or holidays are announced,” shares Fatima.
“What we really care about is to ensure that our children can learn in the best environment possible. Students are more likely to prosper when the ambience is encouraging to learning,” she said.
In response, Joint Task Force Comet chief, Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, expressed that the military values very much the appreciative waves from both the children and school staff, a proof of their sense of security with the soldiers, which generated a jovial atmosphere.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Sayyaf frees kidnapped Muslim school principal, but still holds to Chinese trader in the southern Philippines
Police said the kidnappers released Kasim Pakkam late Monday in the village of Lanao Dakula in Parang town.
Pakkam, kidnapped on Dec. 12, was earlier identified by the police and military as Pakkam Hashim, the principal of Parang’s Kutah Sairap Elementary School.
Police said no ransom was paid for the safe release of Pakkam. It said the kidnapping was connected to family feud, but police could not say why the Abu Sayyaf had been dragged into the quarrel.
“Pakkam has been freed unharmed. He is okay and reunited with his family. We are still tracking down the other Chinese hostage, Xili Wu, who is still in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf,” Senior Supt. Julasirim Kasim, the Sulu police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped a Wu as he was closing his electronics store in Jolo town at around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Unconfirmed reports said the kidnappers were demanding P10 million ransoms for Wu’s freedom, Kasim said, adding, the mayor of Jolo, Hussin Amin, has convened the crisis management committee, to tackle the kidnapping of the foreigner, who is a native of Fujian province in China.
Police said the 28-year old Wu was using the alias of Peter Go, who is staying in Jolo with four other Chinese nationals since December last year. Wu co-owns the Perlas Trading in downtown Jolo.
Authorities implicated Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad as behind Wu’s kidnapping.
Kasim said about four kidnappers; all clad in camouflage uniform and armed with automatic weapons, seized Wu after disarming his private security guards and dragged him to a waiting van in front of horrified civilians. Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, the Jolo police chief, said they are investigating how the foreigners were able to put up a business in Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf group has been linked to the spate of kidnappings and bomb attacks in the Philippines and is labeled a terrorist organization by both Manila and Washington, and is believed by the US to have links with the al-Qaeda terror network and Jemaah Islamiya.
The Philippine government, aided by the US military, has deployed thousands of troops in the south in an effort to eradicate Abu Sayyaf. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, October 03, 2008
Photo: Vietnamese Cargo Ship
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
2 Cops Shot Dead In South RP Island
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 09, 2008) – Two policemen were killed on Wednesday while jogging in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, reports said.
Reports said the pair was shot by two gunmen who pretended to be joggers in the middle of the airport runway near three military bases in Jolo town shortly before 6 a.m. The gunmen escaped on foot after the attack.
The bodies of the policemen were taken away by their relatives. Both policemen were Muslims assigned to a police detachment in the village of Busbus near the airport.
The strip is a favorite area of joggers, mostly soldiers and policemen, although civilians also used the runway to exercise.
No group or individual claimed responsibility for the killings and it was unknown if the attacks were connected to their work or feud. (Nickee Butlangan)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
9 Injured In Sulu Fire
”Nine people are with minor injuries and now at the hospital,” Gov. Sakur Tan said during a provincial peace and order council meeting on Tuesday in Jolo town.
The governor ordered a relief operation to help feed the fire victims and has offered refugees the use of the province’s sports complex as temporary shelters.
The fire broke out late Monday in the village of Asturias and more than 500 houses were burned, said village chieftain Kerkarl Tan. “There could be more victims and we need help now, like foods and blankets and tents for the refugees,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
The governor said they would provide the refugees with tents and food aid and also sent a team of social workers and doctors to take care of the women and children. He said policemen were also sent to the village of Asturias to prevent other people from building structures or occupying lands they do not owned.
“We have to protect the victims here until such time they will be able to rebuild their homes,” he said.
There were reports of casualties, but many victims had blamed the fire department for the conflagration. They said fire engines had no water and residents doused their houses with dirty water taken from canals and creeks.
“Now, we don’t know where to stay for the night. Our house is burned and we have nothing left,” said Ibrahim Abubakre, a fisherman.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the conflagration, but one woman said the fire started from a wooden house where an oil lamp fell to the floor. “That’s where it all started,” she said.
The fire ate up at least two blocks in downtown Jolo, said a man, Nasser Unting.
“My conservative estimate is that more than 500 houses are burned and thousands are without homes and that’s for sure,” he said, pointing to the direction where houses were burning.
“You look at the sky, it’s red, and that’s fire below. You can hear people screaming and crying and cursing and you can’t blame them,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, September 24, 2007
Fire Leaves Thousands Homeless In Southern RP
The fire in Sulu's Jolo town that left thousands of people without homes Monday Sept. 24, 2007. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)
SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Sept) – Thousands of people were left homeless after a fire late Monday swept through a neighborhood in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or casualties and victims had blamed the fire department for the conflagration. They said the fire engines had no water and residents doused their houses with dirty water taken from canals and creeks.
“Now, we don’t know where to stay for the night. Our house is burned and we have nothing left,” said Ibrahim Abubakre, a fisherman.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the conflagration, but one woman said the fire started from a wooden house where an oil lamp fell to the floor. “That’s where it all started,” she said.
The fire ate up at least two blocks in downtown Jolo, said a man, Nasser Unting.
“My conservative estimate is that more than 500 houses are burned and thousands are without homes and that’s for sure,” he said, pointing to the direction where houses were burning.
“You look at the sky, it’s red, and that’s fire below. You can hear people screaming and crying and cursing and you can’t blame them,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Teachers, Aspiring Cadets Take Exams In Jolo Island
A school teacher in the southern Filipino island of Jolo takes a government licensure examinations Sunday inside the Mohammad Tulawie School in downtown Jolo town. The island’s governor Sakur Tan sought President Gloria Arroyo’s permission to allow some 2,000 teachers to take the examinations in Jolo to save on expenses in traveling to Mindanao to take the licensure test. Also some 100 high school graduates aspiring to become a cadet take an entrance examination Sunday Aug. 26, 2007 for the Philippine Military Academy in Jolo island. The examination is the first in 17 years in Jolo to give equal opportunity for those living in remote provinces, says Colonel Antonio Supnet, the island's army chief.
And group of children play at the Mauboh beach in Patikul town in Jolo island on Sunday. Contrary to Philippine media reports of fighting between troops and Abu Sayyaf militants, the island’s governor Sakur Tan says life is much better now for the locals, citing the steady growth of business and the improved peace and order condition since the implementation of the total gun ban in Jolo island. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)
JOLO ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 26 Aug) – For the first time in Jolo's history, the Philippine Regulation Commission, allowed school teachers to take their licensure examinations on the southern island.
Some 2,000 teachers trooped to the town of
"President Gloria Arroyo granted the request of Governor Tan and that's why we were able to hold the PRC licensure examinations here. We were able to save money and time. We hope this will continue in the coming years," Unga told the Mindanao Examiner.
Tan said the holding of the licensure examinations in Jolo island only shows the government's concern for the welfare of the teachers. "We owe this to President Arroyo and she assured us of her administration's continued support to the people of this province," he said.
Perla Sayana, PRC head of delegation to Jolo island, said President Arroyo ordered them to fly to Jolo and supervise the licensing examinations for teachers as requested by Tan.
"We are really excited to come here and conduct the licensing examinations for teachers and we hope that in the future we will be able to hold other licensing examinations here to service the people," she said in a separate interview.
Aside from the PRC examination, the Philippine Military Academy also held its admission test in Jolo island, the first time in 17 years, according to Colonel Antonio Supnet, commander of the Army's 104 th Infantry Brigade.
He said some 100 graduates from high school took the PMA examination. "There were so many who wanted to become a cadet, but we follow strict guidance and rules before anyone are allowed to take the battery of examinations and eventually become a PMA cadet."
"This is the first time in 17 years that the PMA is here to recruit. This will give equal opportunity for everyone – Christians and Muslims – to become part of the Philippine Military Academy," Supnet said.
Tan also appealed to the press not to sensationalize the security problem in Jolo island, where troops are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for terrorism and kidnappings in southern
"The government operation is limited to the mountains and everybody can come here and see for themselves the progress that we are now enjoying and the development projects that are ongoing."
"President Arroyo is pouring a lot of humanitarian and government projects in the province and the military and police are doing a great job in maintaining peace and order," he said.
He said beaches are full everyday of picnickers and the local economy is growing steadily.
"Trade with neighboring provinces is also picking up. We deliver fruits, like durian and lanzones and also coffee beans and rubbers by the boats everyday to Zamboanga and other places in Mindanao and as far as Manila, Cebu and abroad and we are growing."
"And so we appeal to the media to report the positive gains that we have achieved and help us promote peace and development and lure investments and more trades with our neighbors," Tan said.
Jolo island is one of five provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and is famous for its pristine beaches and rich in heritage and culture. (
Thursday, August 23, 2007
War And Development Vs Insurgency In Jolo Island
The island’s Governor Sakur Tan said Thursday that President Gloria Arroyo ordered government agencies to help develop Jolo and turn it into a progressive province in the Muslim autonomous region.
“Economic development has always been our primary weapon in addressing terrorism and other problems in the province,” said Tan, who was with the President in Zamboanga City.
Arroyo flew to Zamboanga City to preside over a military conference about the ongoing government operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo and Basilan islands.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council said some 2,751 families have been affected by military operation in Jolo island.
“Despite military offensive, life goes on for everybody in my province. The government is really working hard to achieve peace and development not in the province, but in Mindanao as well,” Tan said.
He said Arroyo has instructed the Department of Trade and Industry to assist the province in the promotion and marketing of its products and other produce.
“There will be a C-130 plane that will transport our produce all the way to Manila and to department stores and supermarkets like Shoemart and Rustans.”
Sunday, August 19, 2007
5 Sayyaf Militants Capured In Southern Philippines
Officials said the five were being interrogated after soldiers seized four automatic weapons in their hideout in Indanan town. It was unknown whether the men were involved in the killing of 27 soldiers this month in Jolo island.
Troops were also pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants in the neighboring island of Basilan, where 15 Marines were killed and 17 others injured in fierce battle in Ungkaya Pukan town. A Philippine Air Force MG520 attack helicopter also crashed Saturday near the town, killing a pilot and seriously injuring the second pilot.
“There have been no reports of armed clashes in Basilan, but our forces are tracking down the Abu Sayyaf responsible in the killing of the Marines,” Maj. Eugene Batara, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.
The bodies of those killed were brought to a small Catholic chapel inside a marine base in Zamboanga City, where families and relatives gathered. The wounded were at a military hospital in Zamboanga City. Their conditions were unknown and journalists had been barred near the hospital.
“It is off limits to the media. We have an order not to allow journalists in the hospital,” one military nurse said.
In Basilan, soldiers pounded with canons suspected Abu Sayyaf strongholds on the island to flush the gunmen out in the open.
About 5,000 soldiers are on the island, south of Zamboanga City, and pursuing the Abu Sayyaf, blamed by Manila for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners in the troubled region.
The United States, which has sent hundreds of soldiers to help Philippine troops defeat terrorism, offered as much as $5 million reward for the heads of known Abu Sayyaf leaders.
Aside from the Abu Sayyaf, Washington also put up a huge bounty for the capture of Jemaah Islamiya militants Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who are being protected by the Abu Sayyaf and Moro National Liberation Front insurgents in Jolo island.
The U.S. offered up to $10 million reward for Dulmatin’s capture and another $1 million for Patek, both Indonesians were tagged as behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 mostly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians.
President Gloria Arroyo ordered security forces to destroy the terrorists and bring peace in the volatile, but mineral-rich southern region of Mindanao.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
U.S. Troops Establish New Kind Of Base In Southern Philippines: Report
According to Focus on the Global South, the US troops spotted by theAgence France Press photographer belong to the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P), a unit that has been indefinitely stationed insouthern Mindanao since 2002.
Contrary to previous efforts by the US and Philippine governments to portray the troops as participating only in temporary training exercises called the Balikatan, it has since been revealed that this unit has stayed on and maintained its presence in the country for the last six years.
Contradicting claims that they are not involved in the fighting, Focus has gathered pronouncements by US troops themselves who have gone on record to say that their mission in the south is “unconventional warfare” – a US military term that encompasses combat operations.
With the Philippine government not giving a definite exit date, and with US officials stating that this unit – composed of between 100 to 500 troops depending on the season – will stay on as long as they are allowed by the government, it is presumed that it will continue to be based in the Philippines for an indefinite period.
Beyond being involved in the war, Focus draws attention to this unit having effectively established a new kind of basing in the Philippines.
According to Focus’ research, the JSOTF-P’s stationing in the south is a prototype of the new kind of overseas basing that the US has introduced as part of its ongoing effort to realign its global basing structure.
Since 2001, the US – which has more than 700 bases and installations in over 100 countries around the world – has embarked on the most radical realignment of its overseas basing network since World War II.
Part of the changes is the move away from large permanent bases – such as the ones in Subic and Clark – in favor of smaller, more austere, more low profile bases such as the JSOTF-P’s presence in Zamboanga and in other places in southern Mindanao.
In terms of profile and mission, Focus points out that the JSOTF-P is very similar to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa which was established in Djibouti in western Africa in 2003 and which has been described as a sample of the US austere basing template and the “model for future US military operations.”
Focus believes that the Philippines is one of the “nodes for special operations forces” that former Defense Secretary Donal Rumsfeld himself revealed the Pentagon would establish as part of its changes in Asia.
Focus notes that US troops themselves refer to their base in Jolo as “Advance Operating Base-920.”
(Focus on the Global South’s research on the JSOTF-P, Unconventional Warfare: Are US Special Forces Engaged in an ‘Offensive’ War in the Philippines?, was published earlier this year and can be downloaded for free from: http://www.focusweb.org/index.php? option=com_remository&Itemid=105&func=startdown&id=23)
REFERENCE:Herbert Docena, Research Associate, Focus on the Global South
Monday, August 13, 2007
Sayyaf Dares Military, Burns Marine Base In Jolo Island
A report by the ABS-CBN television said the militants destroyed the base set up by the Marines in the hinterland village of Taung in Patikul town.
The attack occurred before 8 p.m. and the extent of the damage to the post was not immediately known. Reports said the post was empty when the militants arrived.
The military did not give any statement and attempts to get a confirmation from security officials in Zamboanga City and Jolo island proved futile as they ignored telephone calls.
The town is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf blamed for the killing of the soldiers in fierce clashes last week.
Thousands of soldiers are on the island pursuing a few hundred militants and rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front said to be protecting two Jemaah Islamiya terrorists Dulmatin and Umar Patek tagged as behind twin deadly bombings in Indonesia’s Bali island in 2002. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, June 18, 2007
Photo: Fox News' Oliver North In Jolo Island
A decorated platoon leader in the Vietnam War, Oliver Lawrence North began working in the White House for the National Security Council in 1981, eventually becoming deputy director for Political-Military Affairs in the Ronald Reagan administration.
In 1986 it was revealed that a secret U.S. operation had been selling military equipment to Iran, in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages, and that money from the arms sales was being illegally diverted to help anti-socialist forces (called Contras) fight the government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
From May until August of 1987 the Iran-Contra scandal and its televised hearings put the spotlight on North, who donned his uniform and admitted that he acted illegally, but out of patriotism. His felony convictions were eventually overturned, and depending on who's talking, North was either a traitorous drug smuggler or a national hero who saved Central America from communism.
In 1994 he earned the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, but lost the election. North remains in the public eye as a conservative political pundit and media personality: he has written his own syndicated column, headed the radio program Common Sense Radio, and hosted the Fox News program War Stories. His war novels, written with Joe Musser, include Mission Compromised (2002), Jerico Sanction (2003) and Assassins (2005). (answers.com)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Militant Moro Group Demands Troops Pull Out In Jolo Island
It said the presence of soldiers does not guarantee peace on the island, about 950 km south of Manila.
But the shooting left 9 soldiers and a civilian dead and security officials said investigations into the killing are still going on. Reports said a soldier, from the Army’s 35th Infantry Battalion, went berserk and killed 9 of his companions and a civilian. Two other people were injured in the shooting.
“The soldiers should immediately pull out in order to give space for peace and time for the Moro to recover from effects of wars. The presence of soldiers does not and cannot end the ‘terror’ they’ve long been hunting but has and would continue to sow fear to communities,” Amira Ali Lidasan, national president of Suara Bangsamoro Party List, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
She said among the victims of the shooting were two civilians, an errand boy and a female guest who was with the soldiers during their drinking spree.
Lidasan said the shooting incident was a manifestation of a psychological war distress. “This particular effect of war does not only afflict military men but above all this reeled the minds of civilians living in a well-militarized community,” she said.
“Nothing significant is happening to government's intensified campaign against terrorism here, it is so clear that military operations breed more violations to Human Rights than putting halt to terror,” she said.