Bodies of missing Philippine Navy Bolkow pilots recovered

Above, an undated photo of a Philippine Navy Bolkow chopper from wapedia.com and the crashed chopper retrieved in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Jung Francisco)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 19, 2010) – Military rescue teams have recovered the bodies of two pilots of a Philippine Navy helicopter that crashed at sea off Zamboanga City in the southern region of Mindanao, officials said on Thursday.

“The bodies of the two pilots have been recovered,” said Lieutenant Hari Cunanan, a spokesman for the Philippine Navy.

He said the corpses were recovered near the islands of Santa Cruz where the Bolkow chopper went down during an exercise Tuesday. He said three of its passengers were rescued and is in stable condition.

Cunanan said the wreckage of the chopper was retrieved a day after it went down and towed to a naval headquarters in Zamboanga City.

He said the chopper crashed while taking photos and videos off the coast of Zamboanga as part of a routine exercise when the aircraft went down. There were suspicions that the chopper crashed due to engine trouble. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Navy steps up anti-terror ops in Mindanao

Members of the Philippine Navy’s Special Warfare Assault Group inspect a trawler for explosives or illegal weapons Tuesday, July 22, 2009 near Pilas group of islands in the Sulu Sea off Zamboanga City. Admiral Alexander Pama, a regional navy chief, has ordered an intensified patrol in the troubled region following the recent bombings of the Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Indonesia and the spate of bombings in Mindanao and Sulu in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 22, 2009) – The Philippine Navy has stepped up its patrol in the southern region of Mindanao following the spate of bombings and attacks blamed on terrorists.

Authorities blamed the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and the Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels for the series of bombings in Sulu and Mindanao in recent weeks that left scores of civilians dead and wounded.

Indonesia also tagged the Jemaah Islamiya for the recent suicide bombings of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta which killed nine people and wounded at least 53 others.

“We have stepped up our security patrol. We are fighting terrorism here,” Admiral Alexander Pama, the navy’s regional commander in Mindanao, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said navy gunboats regularly patrol the Moro Gulf, the Mindanao, Sulu and Celebes seas, an area where pirates are actively operating.

Last week, authorities seized some 350 kilos of banned ammonium nitrate and 1,800 pieces of blasting caps and detonating cords from a cargo vessel in the central Philippine province of Cebu that was heading for Iligan City in Mindanao.

The spikes in bomb attacks in Mindanao and Sulu also coincided with the release of three kidnapped Red Cross workers held by the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya.

The trio – Swiss national Andreas Notter, Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba and Italian Eugenio Vagni – was kidnapped in January in Sulu after inspecting a humanitarian project at a prison in Patikul town.

Lacaba and Notter were freed separately in April, while Vagni was released this month and there were persistent reports that ransoms had been paid to the Abu Sayyaf for their liberty.

It was, however, unknown whether the ransoms had been used to finance the bombings in the Philippines and Indonesia. The Red Cross denied that it paid ransoms to the kidnappers.

The military has last week deployed hundreds of soldiers in Basilan and Sulu provinces to crush the Abu Sayyaf. (Mindanao Examiner)

Remembering the Heroism of Philip Pestaño

Phillip Andrew A. Pestaño. (Pinoyworld.org)

Phillip Andrew A. Pestaño graduated from the Ateneo de Manila High School in 1989, entered the Philippine Military Academy, and became an Ensign in the Philippine Navy in 1993. He was assigned as cargo master, on a Navy ship.

He discovered that the cargo being loaded onto his vessel included logs that were cut down illegally, were carried to the ship illegally, and were destined to be sold, illegally. Then there were 50 sacks of flour, which were not flour, but shabu - worth billions. Literally, billions. And there were military weapons which were destined for sale to the Abu Sayyaf.

He felt that he could not approve this cargo.

Superior officers came to him and said: “Please! Be reasonable! This is big business. It involves many important people. Approve this cargo.” But Phillip could not, in conscience, sign approval.
Then his parents received two phone calls, saying: “Get your son off that ship! He is going to be killed!” When Phillip was given leave at home, his family begged him not to go back. Their efforts at persuasion continued until his last night at home, when Phillip was already in bed.

His father came to him and said: “Please, son, resign your commission. Give up your m ilitary career. Don’t go back. We want you alive.. If you go back to that ship, it will be the end of you!” But Phillip said to his father: “Kawawa ang bayan!” And he went back to the ship.

The scheduled trip was very brief - from Cavite to Roxas Boulevard - it usually took only 45 minutes. But on September 27, 1995 , it took one hour and a half. When the ship arrived at Roxas Boulevard, Ensign Pestaño was dead.

The body was in his stateroom, with a pistol, and a letter saying that he was committing suicide. The family realized at once that the letter was forged. They tried desperately for justice, carrying the case right up to the Senate.

The Senatorial Investigation Committee examined all the evidence, carefully. Then they issued an official statement, saying among other things: Ensign Phillip Pestaño did not commit suicide.

He was murdered. He was shot through the head, somewhere outside of his stateroom, and the body was carried to his room and placed in the bed. The crime was committed by more than one person.

In spite of these findings, by the Senate, the family could not get justice. The case is still recorded, by the Navy, as suicide. For 12 years they have been knocking at the doors of those in power, to no avail. Now they realize that they should knock on the door of Him who said: “Knock, and it shall be opened to you. Ask and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find.”

So they are asking all of the friends of Phillip from the Ateneo, from the PMA, friends of the family - including the girl he was engaged to marry - to say this prayer: Lord, we know that Phillip is safe with you, and will be safe forever, because he gave up his life, as You gave up Your life - for justice.

If it is Your will, please let the truth be known of his heroic courage and strength and love of country. Let justice be rendered here on earth. But if it is not Your will that justice be rendered here, give each of us the grace to live and die as he did - following in Your footsteps.

And at the last judgment, Lord, when all that is hidden will be known, let Phillip be seen as he really is - a brave young man who gave his life for honesty, truth, and justice.”

Phillip Pestaño died at the age of 24. He was scheduled to be married in January of 1996, four months after he was murdered.

He was a martyr. A martyr is one who dies for the faith or for a Christian virtue. Phillip died for a Christian virtue - justice. It is not likely that he will ever be canonized, but he takes his place among the Unknown Saints.

Some military men are killed in battle. They are given a hero’s burial. But Phillip died for a much deeper cause - he was trying to preserve the integrity of our Armed Forces. He died out of loyalty to the Philippines, in an effort to keep the oath that he made when he graduated from the Military Academy.

Graft and corruption are the curse of this nation. But when they take root in the heart of our Armed Forces, they threaten our existence as an independent, democratic country.

The family of Phillip Pestaño is doing the right thing. They are turning to God. They are praying that justice will be administered here, in our country, in our day. But if this is not God’s will, then let us at least try to preserve the ideal of integrity in every mind and heart and soul.

(http://www.pinoyworld.org/)

PINOY BLOGGER’S NOTE: This is the e-mail prayer brigade initiated by by Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J. originaly titled,”Justice at 3 A.M.“

For more information about the Philip Pestaño, check http://www.phillippestano.com/.

Navy Patrol Attacks Fishermen Off Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 4, 2008) – One person was killed after a navy patrol boat fired on a group of fishermen off Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, reports said on Wednesday.

Navy soldiers also arrested ten fishermen, all of them Muslims, near the coastal village of Taluksangay. Reports said the fishermen were attacked on Tuesday.

Navy officials did not give any statement about the incident, but village leaders claimed the victims were all fishermen. No other details were available.

In February, navy commandos and army soldiers also killed seven Muslim civilians and an off-duty soldier in a raid on an alleged Abu Sayyaf hideout in the town of Maimbung in Sulu province.

The military insisted the raid was an operation to rescue kidnapped businesswoman Rosalie Lao from her Abu Sayyaf abductors. The raid resulted to the deaths of seven civilians, including two children, two teenagers, and a pregnant woman.

The slain civilians were identified as Marisa Payian, 4; Wedme Lahim, 9; Alnalyn Lahim, 15; Sulayman Hakob, 17; Kirah Lahim, 45; Eldisim Lahim, 43; Narcia Abon, 24. Two soldiers were also killed while four others were wounded when armed villagers allegedly retaliated to the attacking government troops.

In a report, Commission on Human Rights Regional Director Jose Manuel Mamauag denied that there was Abu Sayyaf militant in the village during the raid. He also accused the troops involved in the operation of plundering the houses of the villagers.

Mamauag has recommended the filing of criminal charges against the raiding soldier, who are mostly members of the elite and US-trained Army Light Reaction Company and the Navy’s Special Warfare Group.

For their part, the military has ordered a separate probe on the killings.

Reps. Yusop Jikiri (Sulu) and Mujiv Hataman (Basilan) have separately called for a congressional investigation into the incident. Hataman described the killings as "despicable, loathsome and ruthless. (Mindanao Examiner)

MARINA-ARMM Operatives, Kinasuhan Ng Navy

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 4, 2008) – Sinampahan ng kasong kriminal ng Philippine Navy sa Zamboanga City ang 15 arestadong tauhan ng Maritime Industry Authorities (MARINA) ng Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) matapos silang akusahan ng pangingikil at pagdadala ng armas sa karagatan.

Sinabi mismo ni Rear Admiral Emilio Marayag Jr., Naval Forces Western Mindanao chief, na ang 15 ay nadakip matapos silang ireklamo ng diumano'y pangingikil ng ibat-ibang mga operator ng fishing boats sa karagatan ng Sulu.

Nakuspikahan rin diumano ng militar ng ibat-ibangnuri ng armas ang mga tauhan ng MARINA-ARMM. Ngunit ang matindi ay sa Tawi-Tawi pala naka-destino ang grupo, ngunit sinakop na rin ang Sulu upang mangikil, ayon pa sa militar.

Ngunit itinanggi naman ng MARINA-ARMM ang lahat ng akusasyon ni Marayag at sinabing lehitimo ang operasyon ng nadakip na grupo. Pinangatawanan naman ni Donny Villar, hepe ng MARINA-ARMM, na hindi sangkot sa illegal na Gawain ang mga tauhan.

Kasalukuyang nakapiit sa Zamboanga City ang 15 nadakip at ayaw magbigay ng pahayag sa media ukol sa bintang. Matagal na umanong inirereklamo ng mga fishing boat operators ang mga armadong grupo na nangingil sa kanila sa kagaratan ng Tawi-Tawi at Sulu.

May mga ulat rin umanong nagsasabing may mga nadakip ang ilang armadong grupo na mga Chinese at Indonesian poachers sa Tawi-Tawi ngunit napapalaya rin kapalit ang malaking suhol. (Mindanao Examiner)

Thousands Of Infantrymen Leave Sulu Province

Army soldiers patrol a highway in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Thousands of army soldiers begin pulling out in Sulu and would be redeployed to Lanao del Norte province as part of a new strategy to combat terrorism, officials say. The Philippine Marines will take over the Army in Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 21, 2008) – Thousands of Philippine Army troops have began withdrawing from the southern province of Sulu, where Marines have put up a permanent base as part of a new deployment strategy to effectively combat terrorism, officials said on Monday.

Officials said the 104th Infantry Brigade based in Sulu will be redeployed in the province of Lanao del Norte. The Philippine Marines will solely take over the security operation in Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.

Philippine Marines have also taken over the Army in Tawi-Tawi province and have been deployed in Zamboanga City where they already established a base.

“The redeployment of army soldiers is part a new concept which will be more effective in addressing various threats, from terrorism to guarding our long coastlines.”

“The Navy and Marines will take care of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi as part of this new Fleet Marine Concept and our the infantry forces will be redeployed to Lanao del Norte province and other areas in the region,” Army Major General Nehemias Pajarito, commander of the First Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Pajarito did not say how many army soldiers were involved in the redeployment of forces, but several thousands of infantrymen are currently stationed in Sulu.

The Army was largely credited for the killing of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani in Sulu and several senior leaders of the terrorist group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya the past years. (Mindanao Examiner)

Taiwan Police Links Philippine Navy To Extortion Racket

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 29 Jul) – The Taiwanese police have uncovered an extortion racket involving Filipino navy patrol boats victimizing Taiwanese trawlers caught in Philippine waters, reports said.

Strategy Page, a research and military analysis website, said Filipino naval officers were extorting money from Taiwanese fishermen in exchange for the release of their boats.

“Taiwanese police have uncovered an extortion racket involving Filipino naval officers. At least two Filipino patrol boats have caught Taiwanese fishing boats illegally operating in Filipino waters.”

“The Filipino offer to let the fishing boat captains pay a lower fine, directly to the officers, rather than pay a larger fine and have their boats detained in a Filipino port,” it said in a report that can be accessed on this web page http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/phillip/articles/20070728.aspx.

The report did not say where or how many Taiwanese fishermen were arrested or give details of the extortion activities.

But Filipino patrol boats have previously detained Taiwanese and Chinese fishermen for poaching off the Sulu Archipelago near the Sabah border the southern Philippines and also off Palawan island in central Philippines and in northern Luzon near Taiwan.

It was unknown if the Philippine Navy was aware of the report, but officials could not be immediately contacted to make a statement about the allegations.

The Philippine Navy has been involved in several anomalies in the past – from overpriced Kevlar helmets to smuggling activities in the south. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Navy, Hindi Pa Rin Bilib Kay Trillanes!

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 22 May) – Hindi bilib ang liderato ng Hukbong Pandagat kay dating Navy Lieutenant Seniorgrade Antonio Trillanes IV kahit na manalo ito sa kanyang kandidatura bilang senador.

Kasabay nito, sinabi ni Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Rogelio Calunsag na mali ang naging hakbang ni Trillanes na pangunahan ang nabigong kudeta noong Hulyo 2003 para lang igiit ang pagbabago sa sistema ng pamahalaan.

"If you have many grievances, if you don't like the system, you get out of the system. You don't stage a mutiny," ani Calunsag.

Gayunman, ang anumang maging resulta aniya ng eleksyon at kung maipanalo ni Trillanes, irerespeto ng militar sa paniniwalaang ito ang sumasalalim sa hangarin ng taumbayan.

Ipinaalala pa ni Calunsag kay Trillanes na ang serbisyong militar ay nakasandig sa tunay na disiplina na tila nakalimutan ng batang opisyal nang maglunsad ito ng pagrerebelde.

Nagbabala rin si Calunsag sa sinumang nagnanais na gayahin ang ginawa ng grupo ni Trillanes na mananagot sa batas ng militar kung lalabag.

Kinakailangan aniyang maging mahigpit ang militar sa mga pasaway na miyembro nito upang hindi na ulitin.

"Our approach is we throw the books at them so that other people will not follow. We have to be strict. If you let them off by just talking to them, they will do it again," diin ni Calunsag.

Sa pinakahuling canvassing ng Commission on Elections, nasa ikalabing-apat na posisyon si Trillanes na may botong 5,038,205. Subalit sa ibang independent canvassing ay ika-sampu na ito. (Juley Reyes)