Well, this is merely a continuation of my prior entry, so still Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 and it is now 3:27 PM here in the Philippines.
A couple of entries ago when I gave an update of my life thus far, back in Mindanao. I mentioned the 2 soldiers taken captive by the NPA (communist insurgency).
OFFICIALLY the govt says that 500 Govt soldiers, marines, etc have been killed in combat here since 7/01/2008.
The one good bit of good news in all this bloodshed is that only one Islamic group is fighting out of a total of 8. Well, not exactly true, but here on Mindanao it is the major one at the moment although Abu Sayyaf is also active in Zamboanga, and JI (as in the Bali Bombers) had one of its major bomb makers caught in Maguidanao last week.
On 11/10 OV-10 planes and MG-520 gunships, as well as the 4th and 403rd Artillery units utilising 105 mm Howitzers and 81 mm mortars took on unknown MILF units in Sumgot on the border of Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon Provinces here on Mindanao (which always worries us because it is very near to where Ariel is).
On 11/16 roughly 1,000 soldiers from the 48th,
64th, 68th, and 75th Infantry Brigades were deployed into Datu Saudi Ampataun, Shariff Aguak, and Mamsapano villages in Maguidanao Province here on Mindanao, where they engaged roughly 300 guerillas from the MILF's 105th Base.
They continued fighting over the next few days, and on 11/18th the 46th infantry Brigade was sent in. Its Bravo Company was clearing Barangay Malingaw in Shariff Aguak when it when it was engaged by the same MILF 105th.
By 11/27 fighting had moved into Barangay Muslim in Guindulungan in Maguindanao Province when the MILF's 105th enaged the 46th infantry Brigade (still deployed in the province) with 60 mm mortars. Overnight fighting spread to Barangay Makir, Datu Odin Sinsuat also in Maguindanao with the 6th infantry being engaged by an unknown MILF element, probably from the 105th though, which had continued in a 2 day engagement in Guindulungan.
On 12/03 the 403rd infantry Brigade was engaged while protecting 2 Bisayan villages, Tagolo'an and Salvador in Lanao del Norte Province here on Mindanao, after an earlier engagement between the MILF (unknown element) and the 32nd Infantry.
On 12/10 the 10th infantry had established an FOB ( a temp. camp) and was engaged by the MILF's 102nd Base.
On 12/11 fighting got bad on Basilan, an island right off of Mindanao and governmentally attached to us. After a bloody engagement against the MILF and Abu Sayyaf in al Baraka village, marines had returned to their FOB in Ungkaya Pukan and had barely calmed down when enaged in a greanade attack, but only 2 marines were killed.
As I used to say in my Journal, Muslim fighting never gets closer than Targum, and rarely ever closer than Davao City which is almost 200 klicks south of us, so while we monitor it closely, especially now that we are dealing down south, it is the communists that we watch VERY carefully.
There are actually 3 communists insurgencies in the country, after the 4th officially laid down arms and entered the political arena a few years back. On our island though there are 2, MRA which is in talks with the govt for the past few months and inactive as we speak, and the NPA which is VERY active and fighting all around my village now.
On 10/25, NPA's Front 3 engaged the 3rd Special Forces which had been harrying it for days around Montevista and Monkayo villages in Comval Province (actual name Compostela Valley, which is the one right next to us, within walking distance). They caught up with the Special Forces on National Hiway in Barangay Bonlay in Monkayo, which is where we always travel so it gives you an idea of how life is here right now.
A simaltaenous strike took place on another detachment of the same 3rd Special forces by a second squad from Front 3, in Barangay Canidkid in Montevista, which is right next to Monkayo, and 2 soldiers were killed. the 3rd Special Forces would have a detachment wiped out a few days later, when they took a detachment CO, a 2nd LT (Commayo) as prisoner in what I discussed in an earlier entry.
Also that day, to the east, far out in the bush in New Bataan village, 8 soldiers including their CO, a 2nd LT were killed by remote detonated landmine, by Front 25 of the NPA.
New Bataan is incredibly bloody right now. It is hugely rich with gold, and full of multinational firms, I believe 9 that I know of. Dad used to mine there way back in the day. Used to copter in and out from National Hiway.
I have talked of National Hiway before. It is the main north to south artery on the island, runs right through the middle of my village. Up around Monkayo, and especially in Montevista you can see some of the most beautiful scenery of anywhere in the world, bar none.
I have seen video of fjords in Scandanavia that may be prettier but by my own eyes , that part of National Hiway is the prettiest scenery on the planet. You stand there, in Montevista, opposite the entry to the 1001st Infantry Camp, and you can literally see for 30 or 40 klicks , mountaintop after mountaintop, each one verdant, absolutely stunningly electric green.
You can see a wisp of curling smoke from some illegal cannabis farmer, from an illegal logger, or even a Highland Tribe or two (and of course NPA as always). It is just breathtaking. I have been meaning to post pics of it here and I will, I promise.
Dad used to pay almost 100 US each way for the copter trek in and out of the land now offically named New Bataan and formally incorporated as a village, but back then that area had no name whatsoever. 100 US even now is a fortune, a months wages for most here. So he was paying 2 months wages of our labourers, just so could go to and from work without trekking days each way, that is how rich the land is...and that was a good decade ago!!!
I need to regress a bit, and also need to be very, very, very careful with what I say. On 10/23 the 1001st Infantry, whose main camp is in Montevista, deployed 10 truckloads of infantrymen into New Bataan, saying it was for a "Medical Drive." The next day in Monkayo Front 25 ambushed an army truck ferrying an army landmine victim, in Monkayo but only wounding a soldier. The fighting has been non-stop since then.
On 10/26. Acting on Intel the 402nd and 23rd Infantries killed an NPA CO and 2 underlings of Front 21 in Mount Carmel, a part of Bayugan which is walking distance from my home.
Mt Carmel College (actually not a college per se, but a private elemntary and HS) is my wife's alma mater for grade school and secondary, and it is where our entire family goes to school, as the only private academy in this part of Mindanao.
On 10/31 an NPA Sparrow Unit (public assasination squad) killed a man they said was a spy, in Monkayo, but the unit, from Front 33, also inadvertantly shot a very young girl to death, as she played in the street.
It was on 11/7 that the 3rd Sepcial Force's LT Cammayo was taken POW in Monkayo, by Front 3. He is being tried they say, along with another recent prisoner, for "Crimes Against the People." I pray for him and his family every night. The other man taken prisoner was taken from an impromptu roadblock set up by the NPA, which is why I AM ALWAYS armed. I almost killed Govt soldiers 2 times in the last year at roadblocks, but to be honest I would rather be killed then taken prisoner, so I do not over analyse my mistakes.
The NPA no longer target private Westerners (I am not a Westerner but certainly look the part), but willingly boast of killing US personell and collaborators, so go figure where my white complexion puts me.
On 11/11 we had an interesting day. The 30th and 402nd Infantries seized an entire NPA (major) camp which had 20 bunkers, just a kilometer from one of our main farms, in Barangay La Purisma, Prosperidad which is the next village from us and the Provincial capital (our province of Agusan del Sur). Amazingly though, and again I am saying this CAREFULLY, they failed to even wound one NPA guerilla.
The same day, up in La'ak village in Comval Province, a few kms from here the 10th Infantry engaged an unknown NPA element but my guess would be Front 3.
On 11/28 in Sus Dalaga on Mt. Diwata in Monkayo village the 25th Infantry engaged a 10 man NPA unit when they surpised that squad at its camp, and entered into a 20 minute firefight during which the NPA "got away," the army recovered a cache of Claymores (mines) being crafted into IEDs.
On 12/03 a squad of PROMEX (non-combatant soldiers who examine soldiers for promotion, etc) were en route to an assignment in Surigao, a klick or 2 down my road and they hit a landmine killing 5 of them and wounding 4 others. The 401st Infantry then pursued squads from the NPA's Front 20 into the Diwata Mountains (which surround my home). They were able though to recover a decent cache of various landmines which always makes me happy, makes me drive alot easier.
On 12/13 the planes, gunships, and Howitzers began firing again to provide cover to the 36th Infatry as it engaged Front 20 of the NPA for days on end (still taking place ), in Surigao del Sur on the other side of us, about 1 km away (we are in Agusan del Sur, right between Surigao del Sur and Comval Provinces).
Also on 12/13 in Bulan village in Sorsoyon a Humvee full of soldiers from the 9th Infantry were ambushed by an unknown element of the NPA and 1 soldier was killed.
So...All in all, do you think I am being overly paranoid? Am I wrong for saying this island is a dangerous place? Stupid Westerners come here, live in rich villas in major cities, and think that their world is the center of everybody else's existence. The same as they act anywhere else in the world. Reality is waiting for them though. Me? I will never get caught sleeping.
A couple of entries ago when I gave an update of my life thus far, back in Mindanao. I mentioned the 2 soldiers taken captive by the NPA (communist insurgency).
OFFICIALLY the govt says that 500 Govt soldiers, marines, etc have been killed in combat here since 7/01/2008.
The one good bit of good news in all this bloodshed is that only one Islamic group is fighting out of a total of 8. Well, not exactly true, but here on Mindanao it is the major one at the moment although Abu Sayyaf is also active in Zamboanga, and JI (as in the Bali Bombers) had one of its major bomb makers caught in Maguidanao last week.
On 11/10 OV-10 planes and MG-520 gunships, as well as the 4th and 403rd Artillery units utilising 105 mm Howitzers and 81 mm mortars took on unknown MILF units in Sumgot on the border of Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon Provinces here on Mindanao (which always worries us because it is very near to where Ariel is).
On 11/16 roughly 1,000 soldiers from the 48th,
64th, 68th, and 75th Infantry Brigades were deployed into Datu Saudi Ampataun, Shariff Aguak, and Mamsapano villages in Maguidanao Province here on Mindanao, where they engaged roughly 300 guerillas from the MILF's 105th Base.
They continued fighting over the next few days, and on 11/18th the 46th infantry Brigade was sent in. Its Bravo Company was clearing Barangay Malingaw in Shariff Aguak when it when it was engaged by the same MILF 105th.
By 11/27 fighting had moved into Barangay Muslim in Guindulungan in Maguindanao Province when the MILF's 105th enaged the 46th infantry Brigade (still deployed in the province) with 60 mm mortars. Overnight fighting spread to Barangay Makir, Datu Odin Sinsuat also in Maguindanao with the 6th infantry being engaged by an unknown MILF element, probably from the 105th though, which had continued in a 2 day engagement in Guindulungan.
On 12/03 the 403rd infantry Brigade was engaged while protecting 2 Bisayan villages, Tagolo'an and Salvador in Lanao del Norte Province here on Mindanao, after an earlier engagement between the MILF (unknown element) and the 32nd Infantry.
On 12/10 the 10th infantry had established an FOB ( a temp. camp) and was engaged by the MILF's 102nd Base.
On 12/11 fighting got bad on Basilan, an island right off of Mindanao and governmentally attached to us. After a bloody engagement against the MILF and Abu Sayyaf in al Baraka village, marines had returned to their FOB in Ungkaya Pukan and had barely calmed down when enaged in a greanade attack, but only 2 marines were killed.
As I used to say in my Journal, Muslim fighting never gets closer than Targum, and rarely ever closer than Davao City which is almost 200 klicks south of us, so while we monitor it closely, especially now that we are dealing down south, it is the communists that we watch VERY carefully.
There are actually 3 communists insurgencies in the country, after the 4th officially laid down arms and entered the political arena a few years back. On our island though there are 2, MRA which is in talks with the govt for the past few months and inactive as we speak, and the NPA which is VERY active and fighting all around my village now.
On 10/25, NPA's Front 3 engaged the 3rd Special Forces which had been harrying it for days around Montevista and Monkayo villages in Comval Province (actual name Compostela Valley, which is the one right next to us, within walking distance). They caught up with the Special Forces on National Hiway in Barangay Bonlay in Monkayo, which is where we always travel so it gives you an idea of how life is here right now.
A simaltaenous strike took place on another detachment of the same 3rd Special forces by a second squad from Front 3, in Barangay Canidkid in Montevista, which is right next to Monkayo, and 2 soldiers were killed. the 3rd Special Forces would have a detachment wiped out a few days later, when they took a detachment CO, a 2nd LT (Commayo) as prisoner in what I discussed in an earlier entry.
Also that day, to the east, far out in the bush in New Bataan village, 8 soldiers including their CO, a 2nd LT were killed by remote detonated landmine, by Front 25 of the NPA.
New Bataan is incredibly bloody right now. It is hugely rich with gold, and full of multinational firms, I believe 9 that I know of. Dad used to mine there way back in the day. Used to copter in and out from National Hiway.
I have talked of National Hiway before. It is the main north to south artery on the island, runs right through the middle of my village. Up around Monkayo, and especially in Montevista you can see some of the most beautiful scenery of anywhere in the world, bar none.
I have seen video of fjords in Scandanavia that may be prettier but by my own eyes , that part of National Hiway is the prettiest scenery on the planet. You stand there, in Montevista, opposite the entry to the 1001st Infantry Camp, and you can literally see for 30 or 40 klicks , mountaintop after mountaintop, each one verdant, absolutely stunningly electric green.
You can see a wisp of curling smoke from some illegal cannabis farmer, from an illegal logger, or even a Highland Tribe or two (and of course NPA as always). It is just breathtaking. I have been meaning to post pics of it here and I will, I promise.
Dad used to pay almost 100 US each way for the copter trek in and out of the land now offically named New Bataan and formally incorporated as a village, but back then that area had no name whatsoever. 100 US even now is a fortune, a months wages for most here. So he was paying 2 months wages of our labourers, just so could go to and from work without trekking days each way, that is how rich the land is...and that was a good decade ago!!!
I need to regress a bit, and also need to be very, very, very careful with what I say. On 10/23 the 1001st Infantry, whose main camp is in Montevista, deployed 10 truckloads of infantrymen into New Bataan, saying it was for a "Medical Drive." The next day in Monkayo Front 25 ambushed an army truck ferrying an army landmine victim, in Monkayo but only wounding a soldier. The fighting has been non-stop since then.
On 10/26. Acting on Intel the 402nd and 23rd Infantries killed an NPA CO and 2 underlings of Front 21 in Mount Carmel, a part of Bayugan which is walking distance from my home.
Mt Carmel College (actually not a college per se, but a private elemntary and HS) is my wife's alma mater for grade school and secondary, and it is where our entire family goes to school, as the only private academy in this part of Mindanao.
On 10/31 an NPA Sparrow Unit (public assasination squad) killed a man they said was a spy, in Monkayo, but the unit, from Front 33, also inadvertantly shot a very young girl to death, as she played in the street.
It was on 11/7 that the 3rd Sepcial Force's LT Cammayo was taken POW in Monkayo, by Front 3. He is being tried they say, along with another recent prisoner, for "Crimes Against the People." I pray for him and his family every night. The other man taken prisoner was taken from an impromptu roadblock set up by the NPA, which is why I AM ALWAYS armed. I almost killed Govt soldiers 2 times in the last year at roadblocks, but to be honest I would rather be killed then taken prisoner, so I do not over analyse my mistakes.
The NPA no longer target private Westerners (I am not a Westerner but certainly look the part), but willingly boast of killing US personell and collaborators, so go figure where my white complexion puts me.
On 11/11 we had an interesting day. The 30th and 402nd Infantries seized an entire NPA (major) camp which had 20 bunkers, just a kilometer from one of our main farms, in Barangay La Purisma, Prosperidad which is the next village from us and the Provincial capital (our province of Agusan del Sur). Amazingly though, and again I am saying this CAREFULLY, they failed to even wound one NPA guerilla.
The same day, up in La'ak village in Comval Province, a few kms from here the 10th Infantry engaged an unknown NPA element but my guess would be Front 3.
On 11/28 in Sus Dalaga on Mt. Diwata in Monkayo village the 25th Infantry engaged a 10 man NPA unit when they surpised that squad at its camp, and entered into a 20 minute firefight during which the NPA "got away," the army recovered a cache of Claymores (mines) being crafted into IEDs.
On 12/03 a squad of PROMEX (non-combatant soldiers who examine soldiers for promotion, etc) were en route to an assignment in Surigao, a klick or 2 down my road and they hit a landmine killing 5 of them and wounding 4 others. The 401st Infantry then pursued squads from the NPA's Front 20 into the Diwata Mountains (which surround my home). They were able though to recover a decent cache of various landmines which always makes me happy, makes me drive alot easier.
On 12/13 the planes, gunships, and Howitzers began firing again to provide cover to the 36th Infatry as it engaged Front 20 of the NPA for days on end (still taking place ), in Surigao del Sur on the other side of us, about 1 km away (we are in Agusan del Sur, right between Surigao del Sur and Comval Provinces).
Also on 12/13 in Bulan village in Sorsoyon a Humvee full of soldiers from the 9th Infantry were ambushed by an unknown element of the NPA and 1 soldier was killed.
So...All in all, do you think I am being overly paranoid? Am I wrong for saying this island is a dangerous place? Stupid Westerners come here, live in rich villas in major cities, and think that their world is the center of everybody else's existence. The same as they act anywhere else in the world. Reality is waiting for them though. Me? I will never get caught sleeping.
.