AFP to beef up forces after Southcom split

DAVAO CITY — With the plan to divide the Southern Command (Southcom) into two units to better address security threats in the South, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it is set to beef up forces in that part of the country.

Negotiations with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) are reportedly underway for turning the old Davao International Airport facility into the command and operation base of the proposed Eastern Mindanao Command, which would virtually divide the Southcom into two.

Currently, the Southcom has almost more than half of the total resources of the entire AFP, including manpower.

Senior AFP officials said certain units would be deactivated and renamed in order to effect the establishment of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

Preparatory to the setting up of this new AFP command was the establishment last week of a new major unit —the 10th Infantry (Agila) Division based at the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao headquarters in Camp Panacan here.

Army Maj. Gen. Ernesto Boac assumed the post of the first commanding general of the new Army division. He said he will work to win the war against communist insurgents in the South.

Boac told The STAR that dividing the Southcom would help effectively address the security threats in Mindanao, including communist insurgents, the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and Muslim rebel groups in the area.

Along with the setting up of the 10th ID was the deactivation and renaming of the 404th and 601st Infantry Brigades, which would now both be under the new Army division.

The 404th and 601st brigades were renamed 1001st and 1002nd Infantry Brigades, respectively. The two units would be joined in by the brigade-sized Task Force Davao to comprise the over 5,000 personnel of the 10th ID.

Boac told The STAR that the establishment of the 10th ID was deemed necessary in line with President Arroyo’s agenda of wiping out insurgency by 2010.

The area of responsibility of the 10th ID covers territories known to be strongholds of communist insurgents such as Compostela Valley, Agusan del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte.

"I am determined to win this war. This division shall do its best to win the war against the insurgents," Boac stressed.

Boac explained that his first agenda as commander of the 10th ID is to pursue an effective command and control.

"I have been given 15 days to organize the staff and everything else in the division and so far, so good. And we also hope to build a culture within the division that would be based on discipline and respect among our men," Boac added.