Today is Saturday, June 26th, 2010 and it is now 847 AM here in Makati, Luzon, in the Philippines.
To recap, I was back in the family compound in San Franz, Mindanao, and seeing Col. Carlos Lademora...
I had said in my last entry that he and I were "relieved," that we had escaped attention after the "Maguindanao Massacre." As I had briefly mentioned, the "Massacre" took place at the hands of a pro-government paramilitary.
After it happened there was a lot of public sentiment demanding the dissolution of all official paramilitaries. There was also A LOT of attention paid to alleged misdeeds committed by these paramilitaries.
The Philippines has ALWAYS been a nation of "warl-rds" and little fifedoms. The central government in Manila offers tremendous latitude as long as it gets the votes it desires come election time.
The paramilitary in the "Massacre" was the Ampatuan family's and consisted of CVO (Civilian Volunteer Organisations). CVOs are usually found in Muslim majority areas and they service LGUs (Local Government Units), meaning Barangay, Town/City and Province.
Normally they are outfitted with M1 Garands which are pretty useless in today's world but that is how it is. Applicants who join a CVO get almost 2,700 Pesos a month (about 57 US), and 45 days military training, at least on paper.
They only serve in the community to which their particular CVO is attached. The equivalent in non-Muslim areas like mine is a CAFGU (Kaf-Goo), meaning "Civilain Auxilary Force Geographical Unit.
I have spoken in past entries about my nascent paramilitary, and that it s a type known as "CAFGU-SS." The actual label is, "SSCA," (Special CAFGU Active Auxilaries).
CAFGUs and CVOs are paid for by the government and armed at the government's discretion, ergo crappy rifles and shitty training. SS though are created by landholders and businessmen. We fund it, we arm it, or rather we tell the government what to order for us since it has to go through their end user certificates (difficult ordering up 400 AR15s from the US, to the Philippines, without it).
We can train them ourselves if we choose though they try to get us to put them through the government's 45 days training for quasi-reservists.
So, after the "Massacre" there was serious talk over re-vamping the entire system but the government knows this is impossible to do. They created a stupid commission with no teeth, to identify, list and then demobilise "private" paramilitaries but what this translated into was nothing but a few newspaper blurbs.
In fact, before I continue, I should offer some more details about how Jackie and I actually met. As I said in past entires it happened at the military base Jackie was born and raised on, the same base she was living on when we met.
My section of Mindanao is the Eastern half of the island, ergo "EASTMINCOM" (Eastern Mindanao Command). EASTMINCOM has 2 AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Army Divisions, the 4th and the 10th.
My village, or town, borders the 4th and 10th, though our compound falls within the 4th. Jackie's base is the 4th Division's main base.
When Col Lademora put the bug in my ear about forming my own SS (he has his own and the idea is to buil mine sufficiently and then fold them into each other and create quite a formidable force), he introduced me to the 4ths CO, Major General Mario Chan, at his office on that base, Camp Edilberto Evangelista.
General Chan put me in touch with 2 Lt.Cols., COs of 2 different Battalions, the 23rd and 29th (in the 402nd Brigade), directly. The Philippine military is quite different from any I have ever known. Normally he would have introduced me to the Brigade CO but in this case it took the form of a 5 minute phone call, a courtesy call if you will, informing him that he was hooking me up with the 2 Battalion COs.
2 days later the LT Col of the 23rd met me for lunch in San Franz and then took me to Esperanza, a small town in my province that I have mentioned in past entries since we have an important rice broker of ours doing business up there.
Esperanza is not like San Franz. Our town is locked up tight, it is the home of the Ilaga Movement,a pro-government movement that I have talked about before. Ergo, the NPA (Maoist Insurgency) leaves us totally alone, excepting 1 offencive about 18 months ago when most of the town had become refugees, but I am meandering too much.
Esperanza on the other hand is in deep conflict. From barangay to barangay (neighbourhood to neighbourhood) one can find the NPA ruling with a shadow/parallel government, or one can find pro-government paramilitaries holding strong.
Esperanza is one of 3 "capitals" of the Higaon-on Hilltribe, Jackie's father's tribe. Like "indigenous" Peoples the world over Hilltribes are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse (don't I sound so very trite using that "cat and mouse" shtick?).
The 23rd IB, whose CO was chauffering me around, is the point unit for a pro-government paramilitary known as the "BLA" (Bungkatol Liberation Army), the armed wing of a political movement known as "BULIF."
BULIF seeks to gain much more autonomy for the Higao-on, though at this point not to secede.
When I got involved the organisation was at its germination, just coalescing. I admired the foresight of the 4th ID to seize the iniative and turn what could have been yet another seccessionist organisation into pro-government force.
The word "Bungkatol" basically translates into English as, "The true and earnest laws and customs of our tribal elders." They wanted to avoid being used by the NPA, but at the same time they agreed with the NPA that the government's COIN (Counter-Insurgency) protocols were not serving the needs of the Hilltribesmen.
I will continue in yet another post because of the wonderful character count.
(Edited for spelling)
To recap, I was back in the family compound in San Franz, Mindanao, and seeing Col. Carlos Lademora...
I had said in my last entry that he and I were "relieved," that we had escaped attention after the "Maguindanao Massacre." As I had briefly mentioned, the "Massacre" took place at the hands of a pro-government paramilitary.
After it happened there was a lot of public sentiment demanding the dissolution of all official paramilitaries. There was also A LOT of attention paid to alleged misdeeds committed by these paramilitaries.
The Philippines has ALWAYS been a nation of "warl-rds" and little fifedoms. The central government in Manila offers tremendous latitude as long as it gets the votes it desires come election time.
The paramilitary in the "Massacre" was the Ampatuan family's and consisted of CVO (Civilian Volunteer Organisations). CVOs are usually found in Muslim majority areas and they service LGUs (Local Government Units), meaning Barangay, Town/City and Province.
Normally they are outfitted with M1 Garands which are pretty useless in today's world but that is how it is. Applicants who join a CVO get almost 2,700 Pesos a month (about 57 US), and 45 days military training, at least on paper.
They only serve in the community to which their particular CVO is attached. The equivalent in non-Muslim areas like mine is a CAFGU (Kaf-Goo), meaning "Civilain Auxilary Force Geographical Unit.
I have spoken in past entries about my nascent paramilitary, and that it s a type known as "CAFGU-SS." The actual label is, "SSCA," (Special CAFGU Active Auxilaries).
CAFGUs and CVOs are paid for by the government and armed at the government's discretion, ergo crappy rifles and shitty training. SS though are created by landholders and businessmen. We fund it, we arm it, or rather we tell the government what to order for us since it has to go through their end user certificates (difficult ordering up 400 AR15s from the US, to the Philippines, without it).
We can train them ourselves if we choose though they try to get us to put them through the government's 45 days training for quasi-reservists.
So, after the "Massacre" there was serious talk over re-vamping the entire system but the government knows this is impossible to do. They created a stupid commission with no teeth, to identify, list and then demobilise "private" paramilitaries but what this translated into was nothing but a few newspaper blurbs.
In fact, before I continue, I should offer some more details about how Jackie and I actually met. As I said in past entires it happened at the military base Jackie was born and raised on, the same base she was living on when we met.
My section of Mindanao is the Eastern half of the island, ergo "EASTMINCOM" (Eastern Mindanao Command). EASTMINCOM has 2 AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Army Divisions, the 4th and the 10th.
My village, or town, borders the 4th and 10th, though our compound falls within the 4th. Jackie's base is the 4th Division's main base.
When Col Lademora put the bug in my ear about forming my own SS (he has his own and the idea is to buil mine sufficiently and then fold them into each other and create quite a formidable force), he introduced me to the 4ths CO, Major General Mario Chan, at his office on that base, Camp Edilberto Evangelista.
General Chan put me in touch with 2 Lt.Cols., COs of 2 different Battalions, the 23rd and 29th (in the 402nd Brigade), directly. The Philippine military is quite different from any I have ever known. Normally he would have introduced me to the Brigade CO but in this case it took the form of a 5 minute phone call, a courtesy call if you will, informing him that he was hooking me up with the 2 Battalion COs.
2 days later the LT Col of the 23rd met me for lunch in San Franz and then took me to Esperanza, a small town in my province that I have mentioned in past entries since we have an important rice broker of ours doing business up there.
Esperanza is not like San Franz. Our town is locked up tight, it is the home of the Ilaga Movement,a pro-government movement that I have talked about before. Ergo, the NPA (Maoist Insurgency) leaves us totally alone, excepting 1 offencive about 18 months ago when most of the town had become refugees, but I am meandering too much.
Esperanza on the other hand is in deep conflict. From barangay to barangay (neighbourhood to neighbourhood) one can find the NPA ruling with a shadow/parallel government, or one can find pro-government paramilitaries holding strong.
Esperanza is one of 3 "capitals" of the Higaon-on Hilltribe, Jackie's father's tribe. Like "indigenous" Peoples the world over Hilltribes are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse (don't I sound so very trite using that "cat and mouse" shtick?).
The 23rd IB, whose CO was chauffering me around, is the point unit for a pro-government paramilitary known as the "BLA" (Bungkatol Liberation Army), the armed wing of a political movement known as "BULIF."
BULIF seeks to gain much more autonomy for the Higao-on, though at this point not to secede.
When I got involved the organisation was at its germination, just coalescing. I admired the foresight of the 4th ID to seize the iniative and turn what could have been yet another seccessionist organisation into pro-government force.
The word "Bungkatol" basically translates into English as, "The true and earnest laws and customs of our tribal elders." They wanted to avoid being used by the NPA, but at the same time they agreed with the NPA that the government's COIN (Counter-Insurgency) protocols were not serving the needs of the Hilltribesmen.
I will continue in yet another post because of the wonderful character count.
(Edited for spelling)
