AFP to implement 15,000 civil-military activities in 2011

MANILA, Philippines - About 15,000 civil military operations (CMO) will be implemented next year as part of the Armed Forces’ new security plan to focus on development programs.

Col. Ferozaldo Regencia, assistant chief for CMO of the National Development Support Command (NADESCOM), told The STAR in an interview the projects will be undertaken by about 50 military units nationwide.

“Based on rough estimates, there will be around 50 units nationwide focused on CMO,” he said.

“If we can do 300 or more (operations) in one year then that is 15,000 in a year.

“These (operations) will attack the root causes of the insurgency problem in different areas.”

Regencia said the projects will be conducted by CMO units within field divisions, brigades, unified commands, and major services.

The operations will include engineering works, medical and dental missions, and various outreach programs, he added.

Regencia said among the key areas to benefit from the CMOs are Caloocan, Oriental Mindoro, Davao, Negros, Samar, Leyte, Bicol provinces, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan.

“We can partner with NGOs (non-government organizations) so the projects would not be that expensive,” he said.

Regencia said agencies like the Department of National Defense, Armed Forces, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process have been coordinating to ensure the timely disbursement of the needed funds.

They are also cooperating with other civilian agencies in the conduct of their community programs, he added.

Meanwhile, a leader of a Catholic group has expressed support for the military’s developmental initiatives.

Argentine priest Fr. Luciano Feloni, assistant director of Caritas Novaliches, told The STAR  lack of development forces people to sow disorder.

“It is part of human nature to be peace-loving,” he said.

“But if they do not have anything to eat, their children are sick or they cannot send them to school, that is where rebellion starts. If the community is peaceful, people’s lives would be orderly.”

Last Monday, the military launched “Bayanihan,” an internal security plan focusing on non-combat operations and human security.

Officials said the term was adopted since the campaign plan would involve the participation of all sectors in curbing insurgency.

Bayanihan, which will take effect on Jan. 1 and continue until 2016, seeks to address the causes of rebellion like poverty.

It also aims to make the communist insurgency irrelevant and to isolate and defeat terrorists.

However, the military said it will not abandon combat operations against the lawless.

Bayanihan replaced “Oplan Bantay Laya,” a campaign plan launched in 2002 to end communist rebellion in the country.

Oplan Bantay Laya lapsed on June 30 without achieving its goal of wiping out insurgency.