AFP launches rescue for kidnapped soldier

MANILA, Philippines - The military has launched full-scale rescue operations for an enlisted Army soldier who was abducted by heavily armed New People’s Army (NPA) rebels during a raid at an Army detachment in Monkayo, Compostela Valley last Monday.

Outgoing 10th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu said there is an ongoing ground operation to recover of Cpl. Dominador Alegre.

Alegre was the Army’s patrol base commander based in Barangay Casoon, Monkayo kidnapped by NPA insurgents.

The rebels also took 18 high-powered firearms from an 18-man Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) they overpowered without firing a single shot when they entered the Army patrol base of 72nd Cadre Battalion posing as elements of the Army Special Forces.

“Rescue operations for Corporal Alegre are now ongoing,” Mapagu said, adding that they already have identified the area where his rebel captors are holding the Army soldier.

The rebels, he said, are part of the remaining 900-strong NPA force operating in Compostela Valley.

Mapagu however declined to discuss details of the rescue operations but said that the operations would not stop until Alegre is recovered.

Meeting the President’s deadline

Meanwhile, Army chief Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit is confident the military would still be able to comply with President Arroyo’s 2010 deadline on the defeat of the communist insurgency.

This, despite diverting a large chunk of its resources to disaster rescue and relief operations in the latest calamities that hit the country.

Bangit said this would be done by providing more hardware, more soldiers, creating individual units, and providing more vehicles.

“With only eight months remaining, all efforts of the Philippine Army are geared towards meeting the June 2010 deadline of defeating the communist insurgency,” he said.

Bangit said various measures have been undertaken in the past months in support of the AFP’s internal security campaign, such as the activation of two additional civil-military operations battalions tasked to perform development and nation-building activities especially in rebel-infested areas, and three more infantry battalions which are tasked to address the remaining threats of communist insurgency in certain parts of the country.

“We must deliver the winning shot for the AFP in this last phase of anti-insurgency campaign,” he said.

Bangit said he has ordered the proper training and sustaining of civilian armed auxiliaries to function as force multipliers in disaster response capability buildup.

“These efforts were proven to be effective as NPA’s strength has weakened considerably brought about by mass surrenders, arrests, and neutralization of enemy camps,” he said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro admitted that recent calamities, particularly tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng,” have affected a large portion of internal security operations of the military.

Teodoro said the military, particularly those stationed in Metro Manila and its outskirts, has committed a big portion of its manpower and resources to rescue victims and now to provide relief goods.

However, he clarified that the shift only involved operating units, leaving them with special operations forces to respond to any threat from various armed groups, mainly the NPA.

He said intelligence operations continue despite the turnaround in their operations, so as not to give threat groups a chance to take advantage of the situation.

At the height Ondoy’s devastation, military rescue units were deployed to affected areas, particularly in Marikina, Quezon City and several towns in Rizal province.

The defense chief, who also heads the National Disaster Coordinating Council, said that overall, the AFP has deployed around 20,000 troops and hundreds of military vehicles to rescue the affected residents.

The AFP has been providing the much-needed mobility and manpower so that relief goods could reach the evacuees, especially in far-flung areas.       – With James Mananghaya