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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Saturday, June 17, 2017
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ILOILO City – Early morning today, a battalion of Philippine Army soldiers based in Miag-ao, Iloilo will be shipped to war-torn Marawi City.
With a total of 525 soldiers, the 82nd Infantry Battalion (82IB) will augment the government forces fighting the Maute terrorist group holed up in Marawi since May 23.
“We will be deployed there until mag-settle down ang ginamo sa Marawi,” said Lieutenant Colonel Vener Morga, battalion commander.
It was very likely that the Maute group planned their Marawi attack for some time as evidenced by their continued resistance to government forces despite suffering severe losses, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brigadier General Restituto Padilla yesterday in Metro Manila.
“They may have laid caches of arms in certain areas that will sustain them as they move into the interiors when they make a retreat or consolidation,” he added.
The 82IB’s area of coverage is the provinces of Antique and Guimaras, the 1st and 2nd districts of Iloilo province, and Iloilo City. The 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) and the 301st Brigade have flagged out forces to secure these areas while the 82IB is in Marawi City.
“A company of the 31st Infantry Battalion is also coming over to Panay Island from Negros Occidental,” added Morga.
This would be the first time for troops from his battalion to be deployed to Mindanao, said Morga.
According to Padinna, the Maute group managed to capture firearms and ammunition from the police and jail stations very early in the conflict.
“Even before the fight started they were able to get hold of ammunition and firearms in the arms caches of prison, of the police stations and other equipment so the collective sum of all these items is a sizeable cache (and could be) sustaining them for some time,” said Padilla.
Gov. Rhodora Cadiao of Antique, the chairperson of the Regional Peace and Order Council, 3ID commander Major General Jon Aying and 301st Infantry Brigade commander Colonel Pio Diñoso will be sending off the 525 82IB soldiers today.
The soldiers will be boarding a C-130 military transport aircraft at the Iloilo Airport around 6 a.m. today.
“The training they received when they were still recruits, the tactics, techniques and procedures, they should recall and apply these. The training was conducted to ensure that nothing will happen to them there,” said Morga.
The troops were advised to “limit unnecessary movements” once they reach Marawi City.
Morga said he did not allow his troops to bring their motorcycles.
A lot of soldiers on motorcycles were ambushed or killed there, he explained.
Morga also urged the families of his men to “keep praying that everything will be fine.”
“When the need arises, we are deployed anywhere in the country,” he said.
As of 6 p.m. on June 15, the number of Maute group members neutralized was placed at 225 with government losses at 59 and civilians executed by the terrorists at 26.
Civilians pulled out or rescued from the danger zone were placed at 1,629 and firearms recovered from the bandits at 208. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
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