More troops are heading to the provinces of Basilan and Sulu to participate in the ongoing military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf.
On Wednesday, the Army’s 10th Infantry Division said soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Scout Ranger Battalion based in Compostela Valley will be sent to either Sulu or Basilan. Two battalions are composed of about 1,000 soldiers.
Western Mindanao Command spokesperson Major Filemon Tan said on Thursday they have started deploying troops since the first week of August.
He declined, however, to give the exact number of additional troops to be deployed for security reasons.
“Hindi ko lang mabanggit kung gaano kadami yung tropa, pero I can assure you malaki….We might as well hindi ko na i-discuss para hindi ma-predict yung kalaban na ganun pala karami idagdag,” he said.
(I just cannot say the number of additional troops, but I can assure you that it’s a big deployment…I might as well refrain from discussing it so that the enemies won’t be able to predict how much we have added.)
The soldiers were pulled out from their assignments in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his directive to the troops to “destroy” the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf during his press conference early Thursday in Davao City.
This was after a teenager who was abducted by the bandits in Sulu was beheaded on Wednesday for failing to pay the P1 million ransom.
READ: Abu Sayyaf beheads 18-year-old hostage, tells family in Sulu
There are about 5,000 soldiers currently deployed in Sulu and about 3,000 soldiers in Basilan.
“Since meron tayong ceasefire with NPAs, sa halip na mamroblema tayo, mai-commit natin sa Abu Sayyaf kasi walang problema sa NPA,” Tan said.
(since we have a ceasefire with the NPAs, instead of worrying about it, let’s commit [the troops] to the Abu Sayyaf since we have no problem with the NPA.)
He explained that not all additional troops will be sent to the hinterlands at the same time.
“Kung dalawang battalion ang nag ooperate ngayon, pag medyo napagod, baba tapos akyat naman yung dalawa. Hindi necessarily na nandun sila sa bundok lahat,” Tan said.
(If there are two battalions operating now, they can move out if they get exhausted, then the other two can take their place. They won’t necessarily all be there.) CDG
READ: Rody orders troops to ‘destroy’ Abus after beheading of hostage