PNP, US troops to hold joint counter-terror, anti-crime exercises

One hundred police commandos will take part in this year’s Balikatan military exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US military in March.

Chief Superintendent Leocadio Santiago, Special Action Force (SAF) director, said this is the first time the police commandos will join the Balikatan since it started in 1991.

“We might be lucky to be accommodated in the training,” he said.

Santiago said the four-week training will involve lectures and field exercises.

The SAF will join the military exercises as part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, he added.

Santiago said the SAF men will undergo the same rigid training as those of the military.

After the Balikatan, SAF men who took part in the exercise will pass on what they have learned to other police commandos, he added.

The US military has been training Filipino policemen and soldiers to improve their capability to fight terrorism and other crimes.

The first Balikatan exercise was held in 1991.

It is aimed at improving Philippine-US planning, combat readiness and interoperability, and to demonstrate US resolve to support the Philippines against external aggression.

62 Abus killed in 2008

Sixty-two Abu Sayyaf terrorists were killed in military operations in Mindanao last year.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Armed Forces public information chief, said the terrorists were slain in military encounters from January to December last year.

“For the year (2008), we were able to successfully neutralize 62 Abu Sayyaf (members),” he said.

However, Torres said the military has yet to come up with an estimate of the remaining Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

The military is conducting an intelligence assessment to determine the number of homegrown terrorists still operating in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, he added.

Torres said the number of the Abu Sayyaf could not be exactly determined because the terrorist group could have taken in new recruits.

“It is always possible that they were able to recruit some members,” he said.

“So we are still doing an assessment as to how many were recruited during the year (2008).” – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jaime Laude