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President Rodrigo Duterte with Sulu Vice Gubernatorial Candidate Toto Tan.
P10
March 4-10, 2019
President Rodrigo Duterte with his official lone candidate for Governor in Sulu Sakur ‘Datu Shahbandar’ Tan.
MILF-led BTA, BARMM binabatikos na!
U
MANI NG malaking batikos ang kabuuan ng Bangsamoro Transition Authority o BTA na siyang magpapatakbo sa mas pinalawig na Muslim autonomous region na ngayon ay tinatawag na Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao o BARMM. Kaliwa’t-kanan ang tayong Chief Minister ng apos sabihin na walang pagka-dismaya ng maram- BARMM at Public Works kakayahan si Ebrahim na ing Muslim sa pagkakatal- Secretary rin. manungkulan, gayun rin aga ng mayorya sa BTA ay Nagbanta naman ang ang mga lider ng MILF na pawang mga miyembro maimpluwensyang si Sul- nakaupo sa BTA. ng rebeldeng Moro Islam- tan Firdausi Abbas, ng “I do not believe that ic Liberation Front o MILF Moro National Liberation Murad is qualified to be sa pangunguna ni Murad Front, na bubuo ito ng chief minister. Ebrahim na siyang tuma- panibagong grupo matContinue on page 4
Chief Minsiter Murad Ebrahim and President Rodrigo Duterte
Murad hands off on Sabah issue COTABATO CITY - Chief Minsiter Murad Ebrahim, who heads the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said he will not meddle in the Philippines’ claim on
Sabah, now a federal state of Malaysia, saying the dispute is between Manila and Kuala Lumpur. The Philippines’ stand on Sabah stems from the claim of the Sultanate of
Sulu to the mineral-rich Malaysian state which is near Tawi-Tawi, one of 5 provinces under the Bangsamoro region. Ebrahim, who is also Continue on page 2
Pres. Rodrigo Duterte with Nur Misuari
Experimenting with the art of mission command The Philippine military offloads equipment to help fight insurgents on the island of Mindanao in May 2017.
ARMM
Eastern Mindanao
“TEKA MUNA,” the Filipino general said. We had just exchanged pleasantries, so I started to peruse the menu at a quaint café in the quiet neighborhood of McKinley Park, away from the daily chaos of metropolitan Manila. In Taga-
Western Mindanao
log, “teka muna” roughly translates into “wait a second.” The general had to take a phone call. It was May 23, 2017, and the general was the same officer I had worked with on my first deployment to the Philippines as a Special Forces officer
Cebu
seven years earlier. When he hung up, he explained that an important mission was occurring at that moment, and he was simply getting updates. The call reminded me of how we used to talk during Continue on page 5
Manila
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The Mindanao Examiner
March 04-10, 2019
Murad hands off on Sabah issue
Nur Misuari, his wife Tarhata (left) and President Rodrigo Duterte. Continued from page 1 the chieftain of the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed an interim peace deal with Manila in 2014, is named by President Rodrigo Duterte as head of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority - after a plebiscite this year that ratified the Bangsamoro Organic Law - which shall run the new autonomous region for 3 years until elections are held. “Hindi namin papasukin yan. It is the Central Government that should pursue the claim if there are strong grounds to pursue,” Ebrahim said in an interview with ANC, adding, “We do not want to complicate the peace process. Lalong lalo na sa peace process, malaki ang natulong ng Malaysia to forge the agreement. Ayaw natin ma-affect ito.” Kuala Lumpur helped broker the peace talks since the time of President Benigno Aquino and even deployed peacekeepers in Mindanao who worked alongside MILF. “Itong Sabah claim has been there for many, many years. Even before we started the negotiation, meron na ‘yang Sabah claim. This has nothing to do with the peace process. It is a bilateral issue between the Philippine government and the government of Malaysia,” Ebrahim said. “We are Filipinos. We are Bangsamoro, but we are Filipinos. We are not Malaysians. So whatever the position of the Philippine government, we are bound to support,” he added. Sabah is Malaysia There was also a report on Malaysian media which claimed that Philippine Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, Charles Jose, said that Manila is maintaining its claim over Sabah, but the Duterte administration would not actively pursue this at the moment because its focus
was on providing assistance to the thousands of undocumented workers in Sabah. Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry reacted on Jose’s statement which was made during his courtesy call recently on Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal Shafie. The Foreign Ministry said Manila’s assertion over Sabah had no basis, although Malaysia continues to pay every year the heir of the Sultan of Sulu. “The Foreign Ministry has continued to reiterate Malaysia’s position, namely the claims on Sabah are without basis,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding, that Sabah had been recognized by the United Nations and the international community as part of Malaysia since the formation of the Malaysian Federation on September 16, 1963. “As such, Malaysia does not recognize and will not entertain any claims by any party on Sabah,” the Foreign Ministry said. Federal state of the Philippines Last year, Malaysia also tightened its grip on following a proposal by a member of the Philippines’ 25-man consultative committee tasked with reviewing and proposing amendments to the Constitution, to include the Sabah as the country’s 13th federal state. Former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr made the proposal while Filipino lawmakers are preparing to amend the 1987 Constitution and shift from presidential to federal form of government. He said the Duterte administration should continue to push for the country’s claim to Sabah in a way acceptable to international laws. “There should be a way that is acceptable under international laws to assert our claim to Sabah. I think we can defer it a
little bit more, but to say that we stop doing it is not in the context of my proposal,” he told ABS-CBN Television then. He also wanted Scarborough and Spratlys – which is being claimed by China and other ASEAN countries as theirs – to be part of the federated states of the Philippines. Pimentel has also proposed the following to form part of the federal states Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Minparom, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Bangsamoro and Metro Manila as its capital. “Eventually once we have asserted our sovereignty and rights over Sabah, we should include Sabah. Not only Sabah, but also Scarborough, Benham Rise, and Spratlys,” Pimentel said. According to a report by Channel News Asia, Kuala Lumpur strongly rejected Pimentel’s proposal to include Sabah as a federal state of the Philippines. “Malaysia is aware of remarks made by Mr Aquilino Pimentel Jr, a member of the Philippines’ Consultative Committee, which appeared in the media on the claim on Sabah recently,” it said, citing Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman as saying in a press statement. “The Government of Malaysia reiterates its position that Malaysia does not recognise and will not entertain any claims by any party on Sabah. Sabah is recognised by the United Nations and the international community as part of Malaysia since the formation of the Federation on 16 September 1963,” Anifah said. “Therefore, statements such as these will only expose the ignorance of history and international law of those who make them, as well as potential-
ly harming the excellent bilateral relations which Malaysia and the Philippines currently enjoy.” Death Sentence Also last year, Malaysia’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for 9 Filipinos who were charged with waging war against the Malaysian King during the 2013 assault on Lahad Datu in Sabah. The Filipinos have been identified as Julham Rashid, 70; Virgilio Nemar Patulada, 53; Salib Akhmad Emali, 65; Tani Lahad Dahi, 64; Basad Manuel, 42; Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, 54; Atik Hussin Abu Bakar, 46; Al Wazir Osman, 62; and Ismail Yasin, 77. Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif said the January 15 decision of the five-man panel of the Federal Court was unanimous, according to reports by The Star and Asia News Network, adding, the panel agreed with the Court of Appeal that the death sentence was the most appropriate based on the findings of the facts of the case. The other judges were Chief Judge of Malaya Ahmad Maarop, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjun, and Justices Ramly Ali and Azahar Mohamed. Basad Manuel is the son of the Jamalul Kiram III, the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu, who died from multiple organ failure in Manila in 2013. The bloody incursion by some 200 followers of Kiram from the southern Philippines in February 2013 was inspired by the supposed sultan’s claims of historical dominion over Sabah. The two-month siege was the most serious security crisis faced by Malaysia in years, involving armed conflict between the Sultan’s loyal followers and the Malaysian armed forces sent to root them out. The panel also dismissed the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of 14 men on the charge of waging war against the King and terrorist-related offences linked to the intrusion from Feb 12 to April 10, 2013, the reports further said. Chief Justice Md Raus
said the panel has no reason to decide otherwise and affirmed the decision by the Court of Appeal. At the height of fighting between Kiram’s followers and security forces, Malaysia deployed armored vehicles and combat helicopters, including naval boats in an effort to flush out the Filipinos on the oil-rich island being claimed by both sides. About a dozen armored personnel vehicles arrived in the town of Lahad Datu to support ground troops hunting down at least 50 members of the Sultanate of Sulu headed by Raja Muda Agbimuddin, the sultan’s younger brother. The group intruded Sabah in February 2013 to exert claim over Sabah, citing historical and legal claims, but Malaysia rejected this and launched a massive assault on about 200 of the sultan’s men following a deadline for them to surrender peacefully. And Manila did nothing to stop the attack or help its citizens because of the peace talks with the MILF and how Kuala Lumpur is helping the Philippines forge a peace deal
with the rebel group previously accused of harboring foreign terrorists. The assault by Malaysian jets and ground artillery left at least 62 intruders dead, but the fighting between the two groups also killed and wounded 18 Malaysian policemen and soldiers. Malaysia also arrested more than 300 Filipinos who are suspected of supporting or aiding Raja Muda Agbimuddin’s group under a strict anti-terrorism law. More than 2,000 Filipino Muslims have returned to Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces after fleeing Sabah in 2013 for fear they would be arrested in a massive crackdown launched by Malaysian on illegal immigrants and Filipino communities on the island. Sabah is home to about 2.3 million Malaysians and 889,000 non-Malaysians, based on its 2010 population survey. Malaysia is still paying cession money to the Sultanate of Sulu although it lays claim on the Sabah, a gift given by Brunei to the Sultan of Sulu for helping quell a rebellion in 1658. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. (Photo by Mark Navales)
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The Mindanao Examiner
March 04-10, 2019
How the new leader of the Islamic State group in Philippines went from peasant to chief THE TOUTED new leader of the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines is an ‘elderly villager’ who rose up the ranks after dozens of high-ranking terrorists were wiped out. Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, a Jolo-based commander of the brutal Abu Sayyaf extremist group, was installed as ISIS chief in a ceremony last year. Sawadjaan is said to be responsible for the deadly attack on a Roman Catholic church in Jolo on January 27. The bombing, which killed 23 people and wounded about 100 others, and another suspected suicide bombing on nearby Basilan Island last July that officials said he masterminded, put Sawadjaan in the crosshairs of the U.S.-led global campaign against terrorism. Not much is known about the new terrorist leader, but unlike many of his slain comrades, Sawadjaan, who was born to a peasant family, lacks the bravado, clan name or foreign training. His reign also comes at a time when the Islamic State group’s last enclave in eastern Syria is near its imminent downfall, signaling an end to the territorial rule of the self-declared ‘caliphate’ that once stretched across much of Syria and Iraq. A recent U.S. Department of Defense report to
Congress said it believed Sawadjaan was the ‘acting emir,’ or leader, of ISIS in the Philippines. It added that no actual leader is confirmed to have been designated by the main ISIS command in the Middle East as of late last year. Philippine Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, however, said intelligence indicated that Sawadjaan, assumed position as leader last year. Sawadjaan was previously a part of the Abu Sayyaf. Founded in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion in the south, the group lost its commanders early in battle, sending it to a violent path of terrorism and criminality. It has been blacklisted, along with ISIS-linked local groups, as a terrorist organization by the United States. Now in his 60s, Sawadjaan is a late bloomer in the terrorism underworld. His turn at the helm came after dozens of commanders, some initially aligned with the al-Qaida movement and later with ISIS, were killed or captured in decades of military offensives. The biggest battle loss came in 2017 when several foreign and local commanders were killed as troops quelled a five-month siege by hundreds of militants in southern Marawi city. Among
those killed was Isnilon Hapilon, a fierce Abu Sayyaf leader, who was the first ISIS-designated leader in the Philippines. ‘I think Sawadjaan rose in rank because of seniority and there were no other leaders left. Almost everyone had been wiped out,’ said Ano, a former military chief who oversaw the Marawi offensives and now supervises the national police as interior secretary. Largely confined to Jolo’s poverty-wracked mountain settlements all his life, Sawadjaan was not the well-connected and media-savvy strategist foreign groups would normally ally with to expand their reach. His rise shows how ISIS would latch on desperately to any militant who could provide a sanctuary and armed fighters as its last strongholds crumble in Syria, Ano said. ‘For the ISIS to perpetuate their terror actions, they need a base, they need people. That’s the role of Sawadjaan,’ Ano told AP in an interview. He estimated that Sawadjaan commands about 200 combatants and followers. Sawadjaan was born to a peasant family in predominantly Muslim Jolo and only likely finished grade school. Poverty drove him to work as a lumberjack in the
jungles off Patikul town, where he married a woman from Tanum, the mountain village where he would base his Abu Sayyaf faction years later, a military officer, who has closely monitored the Abu Sayyaf, told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the nature of his work. As an elderly villager, he served as a local mosque preacher, earning him the religious sobriquet ‘hatib,’ or sermon leader in Arabic, the officer said. Sawadjaan first took up arms as a member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) the largest Muslim secessionist group in the south of the largely Roman Catholic country, which went on to sign a 1996 Muslim autonomy deal with the government, according to the officer. His commander was Radulan Sahiron, the locally popular one-armed rebel who broke away from the MNLF in 1992. They joined the Abu Sayyaf, which had just been organized by a Libyan-educated local militant, said MNLF leader Yusop Jikiri. Sawadjaan would later part ways with Sahiron, including over Sahiron’s refusal to accomodate foreign militants for fear they’re a magnet for military airstrikes, said Abu Jihad, a former militant who has met Sawadjaan and
was captured by troops. Abu Jihad described Sawadjaan as a folksy village elderly, who constantly lugged an M-16 rifle in his hinterland community but was friendly to visitors. When fellow militants kidnapped a visiting American Muslim convert, Jeffrey Schilling, for ransom in August 2000, Sawadjaan stayed in the background but helped gather bamboos that were used to build huts for the militants and their hostage, Abu Jihad said. ‘He can discuss local issues but didn’t have any wisdom on jihad,’ he told AP by phone, referring to the militants’ concept of holy war. ‘He’s very accommodating. He’s the type who will not be hard to sway.’ Sawadjaan collaborated with diverse outlaws, both Islamic extremists and brigands, Ano said. He harbored the foreign couple, believed to be Indonesians, who detonated the bombs in the Jolo cathedral last month, as well as a militant believed to be Arab known as Abu Kathir al-Maghribi, who died in the van blast that also killed 10 government militiamen and villagers in Basilan last year, Ano added. A video obtained by police officials showed al-Maghribi in Sawadjaan’s
camp last year before the foreign militant reportedly carried out the suicide attack in Basilan. The video was seen by The AP. His daughter married a Malaysian militant known as Amin Baco, who has ISIS connections. His younger brother, Asman, also belonged to the Abu Sayyaf, according to a confidential police profile of Sawadjaan. Sawadjaan and his men would later be implicated in the kidnappings of a German couple, two Canadian men, Schilling and a Jordanian journalist, Baker Atyani. Most were ransomed off or escaped but the Canadian men were separately beheaded on video by one of Sawadjaan’s militant nephews, Ben Yadah, according to military and police officials. In the more than a year of jungle captivity under Sawadjaan’s group starting in June 2012, Atyani got a deep insight into the Abu Sayyaf and the man who sheltered other militants from Indonesia and Malaysia and fostered banditry in the blurry underworld of Islamic extremism in the volatile south. Atyani is believed to have been freed in exchange for ransom. ‘It’s all money-driven, it’s not an ideology,’ Atyani said. ‘However, he has sympathy for those who are allegedly fighting for a cause.’ (AP)
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The Mindanao Examiner
March 04-10, 2019
MILF-led BTA, BARMM binabatikos na! litical kingpins in their areas.” Sinabi pa ni Abbas na inilaglag siya ni Jikiri dahil hindi umano siya kayang kontrolin ng MNLF. “I was left out because they know that they cannot control me and they know I would not fear them,” dagdag pa nito. Ayon kay Abbas ay dapat busisiin ng Kongreso ang Bangsamoro Organic
Si Pangulong Duterte at grupo ni Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim. Continued from page 1 I don’t think that he even has the vision to make this work,” ani Abbas sa ekslusibong panayam ng ABSCBN. Bukod kay Ebrahim, kabilang rin sa BTA si Mohagher Iqbal at Ghazali Jaafar, na pawang mga vice chairman ng MILF; at ang kontrobersyal na lider ng rebeldeng grupo na si Abdullah Makapaar alias Commander Bravo, na isa umanong terorista at sabit sa maraming atake at pagpatay ng mga sibilyan sa Mindanao. Tinawag naman ni Abbas na “virtual dictatorship” ang pamumuno sa BTA ng MILF at isusulong umano
nito ang sariling krusada na suportado ng maraming mga Muslim. Titiwalag na umano ito bilang vice chairman sa MNLF faction ni Yusop Jikiri, na dating tauhan ni Nur Misuari, ang siyang kinikilalang lider ng MNLF sa Sulu. Wala rin puwesto sa BTA o BARMM si Misuari na mariing tumututol sa MILF at peace talks nito sa pamahalaan. “Right now we have no respect for people I find contemptible and despicable. Lalabas kami because we find it unbearable to be in the company of people, who no longer have in mind the pursuance of the goals of the MNLF, which is
to establish a Bangsamoro homeland that is truly progressive,” ani Abbas, na isa rin batikang abogado. Inakusahan rin ni Abbas si Jikiri at ilang kasamahan nito sa pakikipag-sabwatan sa MILF kapalit ng puwesto sa BTA o BARMM. Tatlong taon mamumuno ang BTA - na may 80 miyembro - sa BARMM habang wala pang eleksyon, ngunit pinangalanan na ni Ebrahim ang mga uupong pinuno sa ibatibang ahensya ng rehiyon. “It’s a tyranny committed against the Bangsamoro,” wika pa ni Abbas. “We see now the avarice for political power of the MILF and they’re grooming all their children to be the po-
Law o BOL at magpatawag ng halalan sa BARMM sa loob ng 6 buwan. Matatandaan naghain rin ng petisyon sa Korte Suprema noon nakaraang taon si Sulu Gov. Toto Tan at Philippine Constitution Association at kinukuwestyon ang legalidad ng BOL dahil labag umano ito sa Konstitusyon. At hanggang ngayon ay wala pa rin
tugon ang Korte Suprema sa mga petisyon. Idinagdag pa ni Abbas na walang basis ang BOL dahil ibinasura na ang orihinal na bersyon nito. “The group had no basis to claim credit for this law because its original proposal was rejected. We changed that. This is an entirely different law,” paliwanag pa ni Abbas. (Mindanao Examiner)
Zamboanga tightens security after cops seized IED ingredient ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police have imposed a tighter security in Zamboanga City afetr it seized half a ton of ammonium nitrate, widely used by rebels and terrorists in the manufacture of explosives, following a sea chase that led to the capture of 5 men here. A maritime police patrol spotted a suspicious boat off Taluksangay village on Saturday and gave chase after the vessel did not stop for security inspection. The boat was eventually apprehended and its passengers arrested after policemen discovered its cargo of 20 bags of ammonium nitrate. Each bag is weighing 25 kilos. The ammonium nitrate, made in South Korea
by Huchems Fine Chemical Corporation, is a common ingredients in improvised explosives and is banned in the Philippines. Police were interrogating those arrested Ismol Malsani, Kadoh Kahamkam, Jinali Marosali, Makamil Malan and Mastal Malsani to determine whether if they are members of any rebel group or who was behind the foiled smuggling of the chemical to Zamboanga. Just last month, a group of communist insurgents surrendered to the military and handed over 40 kilos of ammonium nitrate and 190 blasting caps they used in making homemade bombs in Compostela Valley’s Monkayo town, also in the
restive region. Last year, police raided a house in Taluksangay village and seized two one-liter bottles containing ammonium nitrate and weapons from Samandi Imbas and Sagumbahar Akbar. In August 2017, police here also confiscated 300 kilos of ammonium nitrate and dozens of blasting caps in a raid on a house in the coastal village of Arena Blanco. The house owner, Pagal Aliasan, 25, admitted purchasing the chemical from the black market in Tawi-Tawi, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, and sold homemade explosives to fishermen. (Mindanao Examiner)
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The Mindanao Examiner
March 04-10, 2019
Experimenting with the art of mission command
Philippine officials inspect weapons taken from insurgents in Marawi. Continued from page 1 that first deployment to the country. What I didn’t know was that the mission he was tracking was particularly significant: the first engagement in what would become the Battle of Marawi. That siege would rage in the southern city for five months. As the capital of Lanao Del Sur province, Marawi serves as a symbol of the government. More importantly, it represents the Muslim capital of the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country. The fight to retake the town after its capture by Islamic State group fighters received less Western attention than the battle for Raqqa, Syria, which took place over roughly the same period. But while media attention tended to focus on the fighting in Iraq and Syria, on the other side of the world, the Philippine Army slowly expelled Islamic State group fighters and regained control of Marawi, killing the group’s leader in the Philippines, Isnilon Hapilon, and other high-value targets along the way. However, victory does not come easy. The battle holds a number of important lessons to be learned, especially given the role of a U.S. special operations task force known as SOTF 511 in the country. Specifically, the special operations experience lends insights into how the key concept of Mission Command can be made to work under difficult circumstances—working with foreign partners in a precarious situation. Flat Communications A key to SOTF 511’s success hinged on the robust linkages it formed with key partners throughout what’s known as the JIIM—joint, interagency, intergovernmental and m u l t i n a t i o n a l — e n t e rprise, which in turn relied on flat communications throughout the network. This network encouraged vertical and lateral coordination and information-sharing, which
produced disciplined initiative, improved the situational awareness of every member of the team and allowed JIIM stakeholders to federate information and collaborate efforts. Additionally, for time-sensitive and crisis-response situations, the robust linkages and flattened communications facilitated rapid and judicious decision-making through delegated authority and trust. Internally, SOTF 511 incorporated liaisons from an array of other U.S. military entities. Special operations forces from multiple services, intelligence personnel, civil affairs soldiers and others worked together with SOTF 511’s joint operations center. Each liaison brought its parent unit’s strengths to the SOTF team and provided reach-back support from those units. To complement this effort, SOTF 511 supplied its own personnel to subordinate task forces. Thus, in the vertical chain of command, each element provided direct representation to each other. Critically, this setup also increased mission buy-in and ensured dedication to mission objectives. Robust Liaison Network Externally, SOTF 511 invested in a similarly robust liaison network. It sent liaisons to the Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC) Logistics Support Facility in Singapore to increase collaboration and ensure smooth logistics support. Interagency liaisons at SOCPAC and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii facilitated transparency and improved deconfliction with other government stakeholders. This healthy checks-and-balances system helped build trust and cooperation between SOCPAC, SOTF 511 and its interagency partners. In the Philippines, Task Force 511.1, one of Task Force 511’s subunits, collaborated daily with other elements within the embassy, including the State Department’s political section, the defense at-
taché office and many others. These complementary relationships—whether at SOCPAC, in the embassy or elsewhere—proved critical to gaining buy-in for initiatives, facilitating information-sharing, establishing trust and, most importantly, creating a collaborative environment instead of a competitive one. Finally, bilaterally, SOTF 511 maintained close working relationships with critical host-nation counterparts. Within the northern and central Philippines, dedicated liaison elements within 511.1 maintained relationships with specified strategic and operational partners, including Philippines land-based and maritime special operations forces, Philippine Air Force elements engaged in the counterterrorism fight and Philippines civil-military operations partners. In the south—where the Battle of Marawi took place—Task Force 511.2 partnered with the Western Mindanao Command and with teams embedded directly with Philippines conventional forces throughout the command to provide lethal advice and assistance. These relationships would prove vital when Filipino conventional forces moved to Marawi during the siege. Task Force 511.2 also partnered with tactical host-nation civil-military operations components deployed in the southern Philippines, and both sub-task forces included intelligence elements that regularly met with Filipino intelligence counterparts. Without each one of those relationships—internal, external and bilateral—SOTF 511’s ability to influence its partners and execute its initiatives, even as the fighting in Marawi grew more intense, would have been severely degraded. In effect, these relationships enabled it to conduct Mission Command, and the lesson is clear: Mission Command, whether working with partners or subordinates
within a single unit, depends on strong relationships based on trust and effective communication. Transparency Maximized With these relationships established, SOTF 511 sought to maximize transparency, going so far as to deliberately over-report information. The task force produced weekly operations and intelligence situation reports, daily Marawi situation reports, and operations and intelligence briefings for SOCPAC, while taking active part in embassy synchronization meetings, targeting working groups, nonlethal effects working groups, intelligence working groups and other forums. The SOTF stressed the importance of flattened communication and aggressive dissemination of information. Every outgoing email had to pass the “who else needs to know this” test before being sent. This robust communication would prove critical: During the siege of Marawi, SOTF 511 was one of the only reporting mechanisms giving the U.S. government a sense of what was going on. Early on, the SOTF’s intelligence sections identified that the key to success against the Islamic State group in the Philippines would be maximum intelligence-sharing with other services and agencies, allies and Filipino intelligence partners. This required them to consistently “write for release” to non-U.S. partners and allies and merge knowledge management and dissemination processes across the globe. When this overwhelmed SOTF 511’s in-country resources, the task force outsourced
intelligence processing, exploitation and dissemination to external agencies and organizations, leveraging these external resources as they rapidly established sharing coalitions. The SOTF even leveraged relationships with units far outside the region, like the U.S. Central Command, which collaborated on efforts to stem the flow of transnational foreign fighters. This collaborative approach and transparency allowed outside organizations to triage, exploit, analyze and disseminate finished intelligence products on behalf of SOTF 511, dramatically expanding on their organic capabilities. The counterterrorism fight in the region—and the Battle of Marawi that was quickly becoming its most dramatic manifestation—demanded an enhanced intelligence for release to the host nation to take action. SOTF 511 assertively sought out approval for more robust foreign disclosure authorities to enable U.S. special operations forces on the ground to more effectively support their counterparts with actionable intelligence. Important Lessons In the Army, we often think of Mission Command as something leaders conduct with subordinates in their own formations. But there are important lessons to be learned by expanding our viewpoint. In the Philippines, by using liaisons, emphasizing interagency collaboration, streamlining capabilities-based organizational design, enhancing conventional and special operations integration, and adopting
unconventional procedural changes, SOTF 511 proved its version of Mission Command tremendously effective. Just seven months after the Battle of Marawi and 16 months after the establishment of SOTF 511, the Islamic State group in the Philippines (and its precursor, the Abu Sayyaf group) lay decimated, with many of its top 30 leaders captured or killed and around 1,000 of its fighters dead. Today, the group struggles to find refuge in Southeast Asia. The cost of this effort to the U.S. government: $15 million, 100 additional personnel deployed and zero U.S. forces killed. Of course, the bulk of the credit for this success belongs primarily to the heroic and dedicated efforts of the professional men and women of the Philippines security forces who risk their lives daily. But credit also goes to SOTF 511—and its higher headquarters and many partners inside and outside the U.S. government. As I sat across from that Filipino general in May 2017, neither of us knew—indeed, nobody could have known—how the Battle of Marawi would play out. But it unfolded and ended successfully at least in small part because of the actions of SOTF 511. In the current strategic environment, marked by competing resource demands and diverse threats to U.S. interests, the SOTF 511 model provides a range of exportable lessons—not least of which relate to Mission Command—for Army units engaged in other theaters and against other threats.(By Maj. Emmanuel Sioson, Capt. Adam Jannetti, www.ausa.org)
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The Mindanao Examiner
March 04-10, 2019
Across : 1. I’ll will 6. Ike’s monogram 9. Guided 12. Jeopardy 13. Sweet potato 14. ___ de toilette 15. Sports locale 16. Learned 18. Frighten 20. Actress Meryl ___ 23. Pseudonym 27. Metal spike 28. Tiny speck 31. Not home 32. Classic song 33. Charged particle 34. Lack of secrecy 36. Lions’ homes 37. Coins from Mexico 38. Come out 40. Knife or fork 43. Small bomb 46. Bangor’s state 50. Nothing 51. Mild exclamation 52. Not outer 53. Raises 54. Culmination 55. Hot chocolate Answer to last week’s crossword: Down : 1. Health farm 2. ___ capita 3. Extreme anger 4. Christmas glitter 5. Gladden 6. Tinter 7. Small arrow 8. Act like 9. Luau garland 10. Munch 11. Payable 17. Sandwich store 19. Orchard fruit 20. Be nosy 21. Brownish gray 22. Ceremonies 24. More frosty 25. Accompanying
26. Feel 29. Classified ___ 30. Gets up 32. Visible to the audience 35. Name word 36. Franklin ___ Roosevelt 39. Imitate 41. Paradise 42. Destitution 43. African antelope 44. Pull apart 45. Raised railroads 47. Co. abbr. 48. Agent Smith’s nemesis 49. Historic time
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The Mindanao Examiner
March 04-10, 2019
Navy intensifies patrol in Southern Philippines
Philippine Navy photos released February 26, 2019 to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner show the rescued passengers of an ill-fated off Tawi-Tawi province. ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Philippine Navy said it has added patrol vessels in the South as part of an intensified maritime operations in the waters near Sabah. Just recently, a navy patrol rescued 7 people whose boat nearly sank after huge waves battered the vessel off the southern province of Tawi-Tawi. This was confirmed by Rear Admiral Rene Medina, chief of the Naval Forces in Western Mindanao, who said the ill-fated boat, which came from the capital town of Bongao, was loaded with lumber and heading to the is-
land-town of Sitangkai when it developed engine trouble and tossed by giant waves. He said one of their patrol vessels, PC387, spotted the boat, ML Jomong, and quickly rescued the passengers and brought them back to Bongao for medical examination. PC387 immediately manuevered to the direction of the ill-fated boat and conducted rescue operations to the crew and recovery of its cargoes,” Medina said, adding, the boat was also towed by the navy vessel and turned over to the Philippine Coast Guard. “The successful rescue
of the crew of M/L Jomong is a result of an intensified maritime patrol and operations of the Philippine Navy. Through the Naval Forces Western Mindanao, the Philippine Navy will remain vigilant in its area of operations for a secured and safe Western Mindanao maritime environment,” he added. Medina did not say how long the passengers of the ill-fated boat were floating at sea, an area near Sabah where Abu Sayyaf militants frequently pass to target Malaysian and Indonesian trawlers. (Mindanao Examiner)
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March 04-10, 2019
Duterte threatens to kill Cebu businessman Nakipagkita siya sa akin kasi gusto niyang mag-explain. Sabi niya Mayor, hindi ko magawa. May mga anak ako,” Duterte recalled Lim as telling him during the meeting. Duterte said that because Lim did not have a criminal case filed against him or arrest warrant yet, he just listened to his explanation. However, Duterte said had there been a case or ar-
rest warrant against Lim, he might have done things differently. “Eh wala pa kasing kaso noon na may warrant eh. Kaya kung noon ‘yung panahon na ‘yon may warrant na siya, pagkatapos ng interview barilin ko na siya doon sa hagdana,” Duterte explained. Duterte earlier called Lim to just kill himself rather than surrender to the authorities. “I am warning
yung mga nasa Visayas. Peter Lim, if I were you, I would commit suicide, never ever surrender to me alive, you will commit suicide. I-abbreviate mo na, ikaw pa magtali sa leeg mo,” he said. Lim is facing criminal charges after confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa linked the businessman to the illegal drug trade. (Azer Parrocha)
NBI nabs man who pretends to be Duterte spokesman Peter Lim and President Rodrigo Duterte.
P
RESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte has again threatened to kill Cebu businessman Peter Lim and warned him not to return home following reports that the wealthy trader may have fled the country after being linked by authorities to the illegal drug trade. “Ikaw Peter Lim ka, Punta ka doon sa China, of Davao City and Lim want‘wag ka talagang magpakita balik ka. Bahala ka. Pero ‘pag ed to speak to him to explain dito sa police, military o ako nakita kita dito sa Pilipinas, and deny his alleged links to kasi ‘pag nakita kita, papa- you’re dead.” illegal drugs. tayin kita,” Duterte said. Duterte recalled a time “Di ba nag-usap kami “Wala akong pakialam. when he was still the mayor bago pa akong Presidente.
Coast Guard steps up security CEBU CITY — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Central Visayas has activated its substation in Southern Cebu to ensure safety of tourists in the province. Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael Encina, PCG spokesperson, said the activation of the substation was the outcome of the inter-agency summit on safety and security held in the towns of Badian and Oslob. The summit was conducted following the issuance of a travel advisory by the United Kingdom last month, warning its citizens against going to southern
Cebu after a terrorist attack in Mindanao. Commodore Ronnie Gil Gavan, commander of PCG in Central Visayas, intended to strengthen maritime safety and security in southern Cebu, which is the southern gateway from Mindanao, according to Encina. “The intention of our commander is to increase our presence in the area so that mabantayan natin ng maayos ang mga turista ng (we can closely watch the tourists in) southern Cebu,” Encina told the Philippine News Agency. He explained that the PCG in the region has an ex-
isting maritime campaign plan in securing the coast of Central Visayas. “Meron po tayong campaign plan na I-CARE na magpapatuloy sa ating mga programa,” he said, referring to the Intensified Community Assistance Response Enforcement which aims to secure the maritime community. Because of this campaign, a PCG substation was opened on Camotes Island. Encina said aside from protecting the tourists, the substation will also boost the campaign against illegal fishing in the area. (John Rey Saavedra)
THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced the arrest of a man in Mandaue City who allegedly duped unsuspecting people by pretending to be Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on social media. Jose A. Villafuerte, a native of Bulacan, solicited donations from his victims by pretending to be Panelo on Facebook. The social media account bore Panelo’s name and copied and reported posts from the legitimate Facebook account of Panelo. He was arrested in an operation conducted by the NBI
Special Task Force on February 21, the NBI said. “All the legitimate activities and photos exclusively done by the Secretary and the OCPLC (Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel) are posted as well,” the NBI said. There were instances where victims who wanted to converse with Panelo and duped into thinking it was the real account would be asked to send money which will be used allegedly as donations to bogus projects being claimed by Villafuerte as his. In the entrapment operation, the respondent de-
manded from NBI agents money which he claimed will be used in a rehabilitation project for typhoon victims in Naga City. In exchange, Villafuerte said NBI agents, who pretended to be a businessman named Henry Tan, will receive contracts from the Department of Health. The NBI said it will file charges of computer-related identity theft, obstruction of justice, unlawful use of alias, use of falsified documents, falsification of public documents, usurpation of authority and use of fictitious names against Villafuerte. (Benjamin Pulta)
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