Army reconnaissance unit deployed in Basilan for election security operations

COTABATO CITY (Updated 7:13 p.m.) — A hundred rapid deployment Army troops, trained in ranger-style maneuvers, arrived in Basilan on Sunday, April 20, to support the Commission on Elections’ security efforts in the island province.

Brig. Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade in Basilan, and Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, separately told reporters on Monday, April 21, that the troops deployed in the province last Sunday belong to the 113th Division Reconnaissance Company of the 11th Infantry Division in Sulu.

Sulu and Basilan are both component provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Luzon personally led the simple arrival honors for the 113th DRC at the headquarters in Lamitan City, Basilan, of the 14th Special Forces Company of the Army’s 4th Special Forces Battalion.

“The deployment of this unit in Basilan is part of the effort of the Western Mindanao Command and the Joint Task Force Orion to ensure a safe and clean elections in the province in May 2025,” Luzon told reporters on Monday.

The Army-led Joint Task Force Orion is an anti-terror contingent covering the island provinces in Western Mindanao. 

“The deployment of this Army reconnaissance company augurs well with our joint police-military election security initiatives in Basilan,” Macapaz, speaking on PRO-BAR's behalf, said.

Lamitan City Mayor Rhoderick Furigay and Basilan Governor Hadjiman Salliman separately told reporters via text message on Monday that they welcomed the deployment of the 113th Division Reconnaissance Company (DRC) to the province.

“It does not imply that we here are beset with security problems. Basilan is now peaceful, totally cleared from the presence of the Abu Sayyaf. Still, we are not taking chances. We are thankful to all  Army and police officials in Basilan for their joint efforts to have peaceful elections in the province next month,” Salliman, chairperson of the multi-sector Basilan Provincial Peace and Order Council, said.

Luzon, along with his superiors, Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, and Major Gen. Leonardo Peña, who oversees the JTF Orion, jointly presided over an election security dialogue in Isabela City on Saturday, April 19. The meeting gathered officials from all Army units in Basilan to discuss preparations for the May 2025 elections.

Nafarrete said part of their overall security plan includes mitigating potential threats to the electoral process through ongoing dialogues with local officials, traditional community elder  and leaders from both Muslim and Christian religious sectors in the province.

Nafarrete said members of the cross-section provincial peace and order council, led by Salliman, support their election security preparations. 

Peña, who has operational control over the 101st Infantry Brigade, emphasized during the conference that Army units in Basilan must also analyze past local election security issues. This would serve as a basis for planning strategies to prevent any recurrence during the May 2025 elections.