Military bares ‘dramatic increase’ in patrol ship deployment to KIG

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

status and one active,” Ileto said.

Ileto added the continued decline of the rebel group allowed the military to sustain its ESO and strengthen the country’s defense posture by increasing its aerial and surface maritime patrols through ships of the Philippine Navy and planes of the Philippine Air Force.

“The deployment of additional surface patrol ships increased the AFP’s presence in the KIG to about 90 percent of the time. This is a dramatic increase from the baseline of 30 percent in 2022,” he said.

use of air surveillance radar systems.

Ileto said the military has also improved its capabilities and presence in strategic locations, including in the Batanes group of islands, KIG and Tawi-Tawi.

“The AFP facilitated the completion of personnel barracks in Likas, Parola, and Kota Stations in the KIG,” he said.

The status of deployment in the KIG was shared by military public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto, who provided a briefer on the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) operational accomplishment culled from the command conference held last week presided by AFP Chief of Staff General Andres Centino.

Based on the military’s briefing of Centino, the sustained ISO campaign has resulted in the significant reduction of members and firearms of the New People’s Army (NPA) and the clearing of areas where the rebels used to operate and maintain their presence.

“It is noteworthy that from five active Communist Terrorist Group [CTG] guerilla fronts from year end 2022, two were dismantled [and] two were weakened, leaving only one active. In total, 20 are on a weakened

“This allows the monitoring of Sea Lines of Communications [SLOCs] that is complemented by the AFP’s Littoral Monitoring Stations/ Detachments [LMS/LMDs] to detect and monitor foreign ships and track, and subject them to interdiction operations,” he added.

The redeployment of Naval Special Operations units and the Marine Battalion Landing Team 9’s (MBLT9) transfer to Palawan last month and the presence of the 4th Marine Brigade in Northern Luzon were part of the ESO, along with the continued

Meanwhile, the increased presence of US aircraft in the country has been due to the ongoing series of exercises that the military were having with American troops, especially the Cope Thunder exercise.

The US planes that have landed in the country were covered with diplomatic clearances, according to Air Force spokesman Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo.

The Air Force is currently holding with its US counterpart the Cope Thunder, while the Philippine Marine Corps is also currently conducting another bilateral exercise with their US counterparts.

Units from the Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force also joined the Marine exercises.

THE Water Resource Management Office (WRMO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is not keen on cracking the whip on erring government agencies for their failure comply with water conservation measures.

Instead, government agencies will receive incentives for every peso saved through water conservation.

“In my experience with government and dealing with agencies in general, we do not respond with penalties. In fact, mas maganda pang magbigay ng incentives. This will be our next step. For every peso we conserve, I will try to talk to DBM dahil may tubig kang natipid, baka pwedeng bumalik iyong savings for other use,” David told reporters during a virtual news conference on Tuesday.

David said a concerted effort from the government agencies alone would go a long way.

Some government agencies, he said, are accumulating monthly water bills that range from P1 million to P10 million. In extreme cases, in some government compounds with a single water meter, the monthly bill reaches up to P15 million to P17 million.

He said as a corrective measure to determine possible sources of leak, the DENR-WRMO is working with Maynilad and Manila Water to install individual sub-meters for every building.

While some government agencies that occupy compounds are a big problem, equally bigger problems are government offices or agencies whose monthly water bill is way up the expected monthly consumption.

David noted that some barangay halls are overspending on water, with monthly bills reaching up to P100,000 a month. He added that in Metro Manila alone, there are a dozen barangays with monthly bills breaching the P100,000 mark.

He said with monthly water bills this high, the assumption is that there are leak problems. Many of government agencies are occupying old buildings with old piping systems, David noted.

On Monday, David said teams from the DENR-WRMO have started to go from building to building targeting government offices to remind the building administrator of the campaign to conserve water.

David added the situation in Angat is not improving and there are signs that the situation will not improve within the year and may even reach up to the first quarter of 2024.

“In the last few days, we have seen the level of Angat go below the minimum operating level. We have to clarify what that means. The level at Angat is 178.8 meters, which is below the 180 meters minimum operating level of Angat,” he said.

David said the DENR-WRMO will also remind government agencies of an order handed down by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) directing the local government units (LGUs) to practice rainwater harvesting.

The official said government agencies should also find a way to harvest rain and use it to reduce dependence on clean water that comes from Angat.

He said DENR Regional Offices, for one, maintain such rainwater harvesting facilities for non-essential water uses like cleaning cars and watering plants.

In the next few months, David said, the campaign to conserve water would be extended to the general public as well as business establishments to conserve water through recycling and rainwater harvesting.

According to David, government offices that occupy old buildings must ensure that leaks are plugged, including faulty toilet facilities like the men’s urinals and lavatory tanks must be fixed.

“For every faulty urinal, it means wasting liters of clean water,” he said. David said the public should also practice rainwater harvesting.

“Based on the forecast, we are expecting rain in the afternoon of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and we really need to harvest whatever little water we can get from the rain to save water,” he said.

“We don’t want a repeat in 2019 wherein people were compelled to fetch water. At that time, the level of Angat is 157 meters. Literally, we have a few weeks of water, and not a single drop will be available from Angat. We are not yet in that situation which is why we are doing this intervention. Finally, we need rain, hopefully, it will come sooner than later,” he said. Jonathan

L. Mayuga

Wednesday, July 12, 2023