Army elite forces to go after Central Mindanao terrorists

The Philippine Army is reactivating its elite Special Forces (SF) Riverine Companies to go after local and foreign terrorists, kidnappers and other lawless elements operating in Central Minda­nao, a senior Army official said yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, SF regimental commander, said the 12th Special Forces Company has been reactivated and once the Australian military grant of airboats arrived, the troops would be immediately dispatched to Central Minda­nao.

Aside from the 12th Special Forces Riverine Company, Ortiz said elements of the 11th SF Riverine Company are now undergoing training at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija in preparation for their Mindanao assignment.

The SF regiment is the main beneficiary of the Australian military’s anti-terror grant of 28 high-speed airboats slated to arrive in September.

In 2004, the SF Riverine companies have been scaled down to only two companies following the creation of Army’s Special Operations Command (Socom).

Each SF Riverine Company is composed of 120 officers and enlisted personnel.

Despite this large number, the unit usually operates in small teams, with the objective of penetrating enemy lines, identify and neutralize key targets in preparation for the launching of a major military offensive.

“They’re  highly trained for this kind of mission,” said a senior military official.

SF riverine elements are highly dependable in breaking into lines through water-borne operations.

For its water-borne military skills, the 8th SF Riverine Company is now deployed for counter-insurgency operations in the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan and in the swamps of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija.

Two teams are also currently deployed to Umiray-Infanta to go after the New People’s Army (NPA) in the area.

“The Army saw the need for a unit that can pursue the enemy on water. Our terrain is filled coastlines,” Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said.

Asked if the water-borne troops would be deployed to the vast Liguasan Marsh in Central Mindanao, Torres said, “the area has always been a problem. You make your own conclusions.”

It is no secret to the military that the Liguasan Marsh is home to the Pentagon Kidnap-for-ransom gang, as well as the al-Qaeda’s Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf and other lawless elements in Central Mindanao.

However, the military found it very difficult to operate in the area, much more to permanently deploy its troops in the area in the absence of logistical and water-borne support.

Army chief, Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, was himself once a commander of the already disbanded SF Riverine Battalion, Torres said.