Manila Bulletin, Saturday, 22 August 2009
By: Elena Aben
The Exercise Southeast Asia Cooperation
Against Terrorism (SEACAT)
2009 concluded on Thursday in General
Santos City after participating assets
from the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao
(NFEM) have completed the series
of activities that began last Monday
in the waters off Zamboanga.
Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard
Arevalo said Naval Forces Western
Mindanao (NFWM) and NFEM dispatched
patrol gunboats, patrol ships,
and Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) teams to engage the United
States Navy Ship (USNS) Safeguard
in scenarios such as the Maritime
Interdiction Operation (MIO)and Visit
Board Search and Seizure (VBSS).
"These activities focused on information
exchange, coordinated surveillance
operations, locating, tracking,
and intercepting of enemies that allow
the participating naval forces to employ
appropriate measures in dealing with
pirates and other lawless elements at
sea during real-life situations," Arevalo
said.
Also dispatched was the Philippine
Navy Islander aircraft that conducted
maritime air patrol/reconnaissance in
support of the floating assets, Arevalo
added.
Coast Watch Station-Zamboanga
was also utilized during the exercise
in monitoring the movement of USNS
Safeguard - the designated target vessel
during the MIO and VBSS.
The USNS Safeguard sets sail to
Singapore for the closing ceremonies
the other day.
"By undertaking the exercise, participating
naval forces are exposed to
techniques useful to combat maritime
threats and fight lawless elements
operating in the high seas. The exercise
also enhances the naval forces'
cooperation." Arevalo said.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
US warship stopped off Mindanao
Philippine Star, Saturday, 22 August 2009
By: Jaime Laude
Philippine Navy gunboats stopped a
US warship off the coast of Mindanao
and Navy commandos went on board as
part of regional war games with the US
Navy.
Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard
Arevalo said commandos from Naval
Forces Eastern Mindanao and Naval
Force Western Mindanao boarded the
USNS Safeguard during a drill concluding
the weeklong regional naval anti-terror
exercise dubbed SEACAT (Southeast
Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism).
SEACAT involved a series of activities
that started Monday in waters off the
Zamboanga Peninsula.
The militalry exercise called for the deployment
of Navy gunboats, patrol ships,
and Naval Special Operations commandos to engage the Safeguard as part of
Maritime Interdiction Operation and Visit
Board Search and Seizure.
"These activities focused on information
exchange, coordinated surveillance
operations, locating, tracking, and intercepting
of enemies that allow the participating navies to employ appropriate
measures in dealing with pirates and other
lawless elements at sea during real-life
situations," Arevalo said.
A Philippine Navy reconnaissance
plane monitored the Safeguard's movement
in Mindanao waters.
Following the conclusion of the exercise
in General Santos City the other day,
the Safeguard sailed to Singapore for the
closing ceremony of the regional sea drill.
"By undertaking the exercise, participating navies exposed to techniques
useful to combat maritime threats and
fight lawless elements operating in the
high seas," Arevalo said.
By: Jaime Laude
Philippine Navy gunboats stopped a
US warship off the coast of Mindanao
and Navy commandos went on board as
part of regional war games with the US
Navy.
Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard
Arevalo said commandos from Naval
Forces Eastern Mindanao and Naval
Force Western Mindanao boarded the
USNS Safeguard during a drill concluding
the weeklong regional naval anti-terror
exercise dubbed SEACAT (Southeast
Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism).
SEACAT involved a series of activities
that started Monday in waters off the
Zamboanga Peninsula.
The militalry exercise called for the deployment
of Navy gunboats, patrol ships,
and Naval Special Operations commandos to engage the Safeguard as part of
Maritime Interdiction Operation and Visit
Board Search and Seizure.
"These activities focused on information
exchange, coordinated surveillance
operations, locating, tracking, and intercepting
of enemies that allow the participating navies to employ appropriate
measures in dealing with pirates and other
lawless elements at sea during real-life
situations," Arevalo said.
A Philippine Navy reconnaissance
plane monitored the Safeguard's movement
in Mindanao waters.
Following the conclusion of the exercise
in General Santos City the other day,
the Safeguard sailed to Singapore for the
closing ceremony of the regional sea drill.
"By undertaking the exercise, participating navies exposed to techniques
useful to combat maritime threats and
fight lawless elements operating in the
high seas," Arevalo said.
300 unemployed college graduates join Marines
Manila Bulletin Saturday, 22 August 2009
By: Tony Rimando & Vic Arevalo
ZAMBOANGA CITY - Failure to
find employment for the past several
years prompted some 300 local college
graduates from the Zamboanga
Peninsula and Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to join
the Philippine Marines, completely
ignoring the high risk in the life of
soldiers who suffered 23 casualties
during a recent armed clashes with
members of the Abu Sayyaf Group in
nearby Basilan.
Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commanding
general of the Philippine
Marines (PM), said the 300 local
recruits were among the 1,200 soldiers
the Marines intends to recruit
nationwide this year, where close to
850 of them or 70 percent have been
enlisted as of the end of July after
passing the necessary physical and
neuro examinations.
The new local recruits - 23 of
them females - took their oath early
this week before Sabban at the Naval Forces Headquarters at the Western
Mindanao Command (Westmincom)
here.
They are scheduled to report to
Ternate, Cavite to undergo a six month
rigorous training.
According to Sabban, this year's
biggest number of qualified applicants
came from the Western Mindanao
provinces ofZamboanga del Sur;
Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga
Sibugay and Zamboanga City,and the
ARMM provinces of Basilan, Tawi-
Tawi and Sulu.
Sabban said a part of the new recruits'
six-month training period will
be conducted right here in Western
Mindanao where, he said, most of
them will later be deployed.
The newly recruited soldiers said
they enlisted in the Marines not only
to help the government pursue its
peace and order drive but also because
of financial difficulty owing to
their failure to find jobs after finishing
their college education, many of them
graduates of Bachelor of Science in
Criminology, several years ago.
By: Tony Rimando & Vic Arevalo
ZAMBOANGA CITY - Failure to
find employment for the past several
years prompted some 300 local college
graduates from the Zamboanga
Peninsula and Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to join
the Philippine Marines, completely
ignoring the high risk in the life of
soldiers who suffered 23 casualties
during a recent armed clashes with
members of the Abu Sayyaf Group in
nearby Basilan.
Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commanding
general of the Philippine
Marines (PM), said the 300 local
recruits were among the 1,200 soldiers
the Marines intends to recruit
nationwide this year, where close to
850 of them or 70 percent have been
enlisted as of the end of July after
passing the necessary physical and
neuro examinations.
The new local recruits - 23 of
them females - took their oath early
this week before Sabban at the Naval Forces Headquarters at the Western
Mindanao Command (Westmincom)
here.
They are scheduled to report to
Ternate, Cavite to undergo a six month
rigorous training.
According to Sabban, this year's
biggest number of qualified applicants
came from the Western Mindanao
provinces ofZamboanga del Sur;
Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga
Sibugay and Zamboanga City,and the
ARMM provinces of Basilan, Tawi-
Tawi and Sulu.
Sabban said a part of the new recruits'
six-month training period will
be conducted right here in Western
Mindanao where, he said, most of
them will later be deployed.
The newly recruited soldiers said
they enlisted in the Marines not only
to help the government pursue its
peace and order drive but also because
of financial difficulty owing to
their failure to find jobs after finishing
their college education, many of them
graduates of Bachelor of Science in
Criminology, several years ago.
Friday, August 21, 2009
This military group saves taxpayers money
Tuesday, November 18, 2008, PDI, pageA3
By: Jocelyn R. Uy
AMID THE FINANCIAL SCANDALS SET OFF
by colleagues in the armed services, a group of
naval; officers with an eye for detail an a
reputations for grit is prudently weeding out
beneficiaries from the long list of military
pensioners who no longer deserve to be there.
In the first three months of the year alone,
the Armed Forces of the Philippines was able
to save over P120 million in taxpayer money
after some 4,100 beneficiaries were removed from
the pension rolls.
At the same time, legitimate pensioners
have started receiving their monthly
payments on time, a sign the government may be
slowly making a dent on its backlong of
pension arrears totaling P14.5 billion since 2000.
All this is thanks to the Philippine Navy's
Capt. Cornelio de la Cruz Jr., Lt. Commander
Brendo Casaclang, Commander Antonio Cantoria
and Lt. Maynard Cabungkal, the core group from
the AFP Finance Center that introduced the
plan in November last year that is effectively
cleansing the military pension rolls.
For the achievement, all four were accorded
the Outstanding Achievement Medal by the
Department of National Defense at Camp
Aguinaldo during the DND's 69th founding anniversary
last week.
"A pension is taxpayer money so we have
to do our part in making sure it ends up with
the rightful beneficiaries. This is the
hard-earned money of our soldiers too," said
De La Cruz, chief of the AFP Finance Center, in an
interview with the INQUIRER.
The pensions range from P4,800 to more
than P31,000 a month, depending on one's rank.
Initially the project entailed poring long
hours over lists of deceased soldiers buried
in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, cross-checking
these with records of the Philippine
Veterans Affairs Office and National Statistics Office,
said De La Cruz.
The operation also required them to scrutinize
marriage contracts and birth certificates
to make sure pensioners' widows and widowers had
not remarried and children receiving a pension were under 21.
The group sometimes went the extra
mile, setting off to pensioners' homes to
personally verify their eligibility.
Along the way, there were assurances the
project was going to work.
Inspecting the voluminous death records
on one occasion, they found out one beneficiary
had long been dead but money continued to be
deposited into his account until this grew to over P100,000.
The discovery allowed them to retrieve
the money, said De La Cruz.
The group also temporarily shifted the
mode of paying out the pensions from
automated teller machines to checks which had
to be personally claimed by the pensioners.
This way the beneficiaries' qualifications
could be thoroughly checked.
Once a pensioner had claimed his check,
he would receive the succeeding ones via ATM.
"When you put out the best carrots in
town, all the rabbits will come to you, so we
have to carefully validate them," said De La Cruz.
A military person should be at least 56
years old and have rendered at least 10
years of service in order to receive a
pension, said De La Cruz.
When a pensioners dies, the spouse
continues to receive the pension until he or she
remarries. Their children below 21 years of
age are legitimate beneficiaries.
The records of 70 percent of the 106,000
military pensioners across the country have
been validated, Casaclang said. The cleansing
group has been traveling from one
province to another since last year. Work now
awaits them in northern Luzon, they said.
By: Jocelyn R. Uy
AMID THE FINANCIAL SCANDALS SET OFF
by colleagues in the armed services, a group of
naval; officers with an eye for detail an a
reputations for grit is prudently weeding out
beneficiaries from the long list of military
pensioners who no longer deserve to be there.
In the first three months of the year alone,
the Armed Forces of the Philippines was able
to save over P120 million in taxpayer money
after some 4,100 beneficiaries were removed from
the pension rolls.
At the same time, legitimate pensioners
have started receiving their monthly
payments on time, a sign the government may be
slowly making a dent on its backlong of
pension arrears totaling P14.5 billion since 2000.
All this is thanks to the Philippine Navy's
Capt. Cornelio de la Cruz Jr., Lt. Commander
Brendo Casaclang, Commander Antonio Cantoria
and Lt. Maynard Cabungkal, the core group from
the AFP Finance Center that introduced the
plan in November last year that is effectively
cleansing the military pension rolls.
For the achievement, all four were accorded
the Outstanding Achievement Medal by the
Department of National Defense at Camp
Aguinaldo during the DND's 69th founding anniversary
last week.
"A pension is taxpayer money so we have
to do our part in making sure it ends up with
the rightful beneficiaries. This is the
hard-earned money of our soldiers too," said
De La Cruz, chief of the AFP Finance Center, in an
interview with the INQUIRER.
The pensions range from P4,800 to more
than P31,000 a month, depending on one's rank.
Initially the project entailed poring long
hours over lists of deceased soldiers buried
in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, cross-checking
these with records of the Philippine
Veterans Affairs Office and National Statistics Office,
said De La Cruz.
The operation also required them to scrutinize
marriage contracts and birth certificates
to make sure pensioners' widows and widowers had
not remarried and children receiving a pension were under 21.
The group sometimes went the extra
mile, setting off to pensioners' homes to
personally verify their eligibility.
Along the way, there were assurances the
project was going to work.
Inspecting the voluminous death records
on one occasion, they found out one beneficiary
had long been dead but money continued to be
deposited into his account until this grew to over P100,000.
The discovery allowed them to retrieve
the money, said De La Cruz.
The group also temporarily shifted the
mode of paying out the pensions from
automated teller machines to checks which had
to be personally claimed by the pensioners.
This way the beneficiaries' qualifications
could be thoroughly checked.
Once a pensioner had claimed his check,
he would receive the succeeding ones via ATM.
"When you put out the best carrots in
town, all the rabbits will come to you, so we
have to carefully validate them," said De La Cruz.
A military person should be at least 56
years old and have rendered at least 10
years of service in order to receive a
pension, said De La Cruz.
When a pensioners dies, the spouse
continues to receive the pension until he or she
remarries. Their children below 21 years of
age are legitimate beneficiaries.
The records of 70 percent of the 106,000
military pensioners across the country have
been validated, Casaclang said. The cleansing
group has been traveling from one
province to another since last year. Work now
awaits them in northern Luzon, they said.
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