Photo by Jonjon Vicencio
Philippine Star, Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Marines march onboard a transport ship at the Philippine Navy headquarters yesterday for deployment to Mindanao.
Showing posts with label marines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marines. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Marines march onboard
Marines march onboard a transport ship at the Philippine Navy headquarters yesterday for deployment to Mindanao.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Final Salute
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Marines home for holidays after 10 years in South
By Alexis Romero
The Philippine Star, Thursday, December 16, 2010
Marine Cpl. Amando Marquez, who has been assigned to critical areas like Lanao del Norte and Basilan, is excited to celebrate the holidays with his mother and siblings.
The Philippine Star, Thursday, December 16, 2010
Marine Cpl. Amando Marquez, who has been assigned to critical areas like Lanao del Norte and Basilan, is excited to celebrate the holidays with his mother and siblings.
Marquez, who hails from Tanza, Cavite, has not celebrated Christmas with his family for a couple of years since he has been deployed to the South, which is said to be the lair of various armed groups.
“We plan to eat together on Christmas. I will make up for the times that I was not with them,” Marquez, who has been in the service since 2006, told The STAR in Filipino.
Marine S/Sgt. Albert Ekid, who got enlisted in 1995, wants to visit his wife and three children in Zamboanga City as well as his father and siblings in his hometown in Mt. Province.
While Ekid was lucky to have been given the chance to visit his wife and children every Christmas, he has not seen his family in the North for years.
“We have not seen each other for a long time and we hope we can gather together (this holiday season),” said Ekid, who was involved in various operations against the Abu Sayyaf.
Marquez and Ekid are members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 6, which returned to Manila the other day for retraining after 10 years of battling lawless elements in Mindanao.
The battalion members were honored in a ceremony led by Navy chief Rear Adm. Danilo Cortez.
Lt. Col. Robert Velasco, commander of the 380-strong battalion, said his soldiers will be given the opportunity to visit their loved ones during the holidays.
“It feels great that we are returning (in Manila) during the Christmas season. All Marines are happy. They will be given the chance to be with their families,” Velasco said.
“When they were in the field, they celebrated in far-flung detachments. We also hang lanterns but it feels different if Christmas is celebrated with your family,” he added.
Velasco nevertheless said the Marines are already used to celebrating the families away from their families.
Members of the battalion will undergo retraining in various Navy headquarters, including those in Manila and Cavite. They will be replaced in Basilan by the Marine Battalion Landing Team 9.
Among the battalion’s achievements was the killing of key Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad last February in Indanan, Sulu.
The team was also instrumental in the release and subsequent rescue of Red Cross workers Mary Jean Lacaba, Eugenio Vagni, and Andreas Notter in 2009.
The battalion also saw action in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, North Cotabato, and Lanao del Norte.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
More Marines deployed in Cotabato
Daily Tribune, Friday, 12 November 2010
POLLOC PORT, Maguindanao — Fresh from their stint in Basilan, some 300 additional troops from the 7th Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) arrived here yesterday to boost efforts on restoring peace and order in Cotabato City following a spate of kidnapping and bombing incidents targeting against the local business sector.
“We are here upon the request of Cotabato City officials and business leaders,” Marine Forces Eastern Mindanao Commander Philip Cacayan told newsmen here during a welcome ceremony conducted by the city government.
The additional Marine force forms part of a small contingent, comprising some 50 Marine personnel, sent earlier this month to immediately address the rising criminality in the city.
Prior to their arrival, two kidnappings and four bombings occurred, respectively, in a span of three months in the area.
Cacayan said the 7th MBLT will not focus mainly in Cotabato City but also parts of nearby Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces where intermittent fighting between armed factions of influential clans were reported.
“Actually, another 300 Marine troopers would be deployed in the coastal areas of Kalamansig and Lebak in Sultan Kudarat and Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao,” the Marine official said.
“Our order is to stay in the areas concerned as long as our presence is needed,” he stressed. PNA
During the Marines’ first deployment here in the mid-90s, crime significantly decreased, including kidnappings and bombings, due to a series of arrests made by Marines against outlaws.
Sometime in 2002 after a change in the national leadership, the Marines were pulled out from Cotabato and reassigned to hostile parts in Basilan, Sulu and Lamitan.
“Now that they are back, Cotabatenos are somehow relieved of their fears from criminal activities that have hounded the city for several years,” Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. said.
The mayor, who led in welcoming the Marine contingent, pointed out that the soldiers could also help much on instilling “discipline” among Cotabatenos, particularly the youth.
“The Marines as an elite fighting force has the reputation of valueing discipline and this can be instilled on the minds of the young Cotabatenos who are exposed on illegal acts such as gang wars, drugs and gamblings, among other vices,” he said.
The 7th MBLT was based temporarily in Pedro Colina Hill, a military reservation area in Cotabato, where the undermanned local police force, comprising of 150 cops and personnel, is also holding office.
Cotabato City has a population of over 200,000 Christian and Muslim settlers.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Marines honored for poll integrity
By: Alexis Romero, The Philippine Star
Sunday, 05 September 2010
Marines who refused a bribe offer in Patikul,
Sulu during the May 2010 elections have been
awarded the Philippine Marine Corps Plaque.
In a statement, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard
Arevalo said feted were 2Lt. Marcelo Flores
and his 15-man team deployed to secure poll
precincts in Kaumpang Elementary School.
"The team ... was reportedly approached by
campaign leaders and supporters of local
candidates who offered them money. They
wanted the Marines to leave the school to
let the unscrupulous politicians to fill
up the remaining ballots for their favored
candidates," Arevalo said.
He said Pfc. Rhomel Divina, one of the
members of the team, was approached by a
campaign leader and offered Pl00,000.
Divina turned down the offer and told the
briber that his money "cannot buy my
services."
SSgt. William Magpili was reportedly told
that he would be taken care of as long as
he would allow the men to fill up the rest
of the ballots. Magpili also rejected the offer.
"The award given to them is unique. It gives
importance to their display of integrity,
devotion to duty and incorruptibility,"
Arevalo said.
"Their heroism was displayed during the
time when people tended to doubt the outcome of
the elections... What they did was critical
since it was the first automated elections."
Sunday, 05 September 2010
Marines who refused a bribe offer in Patikul,
Sulu during the May 2010 elections have been
awarded the Philippine Marine Corps Plaque.
In a statement, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard
Arevalo said feted were 2Lt. Marcelo Flores
and his 15-man team deployed to secure poll
precincts in Kaumpang Elementary School.
"The team ... was reportedly approached by
campaign leaders and supporters of local
candidates who offered them money. They
wanted the Marines to leave the school to
let the unscrupulous politicians to fill
up the remaining ballots for their favored
candidates," Arevalo said.
He said Pfc. Rhomel Divina, one of the
members of the team, was approached by a
campaign leader and offered Pl00,000.
Divina turned down the offer and told the
briber that his money "cannot buy my
services."
SSgt. William Magpili was reportedly told
that he would be taken care of as long as
he would allow the men to fill up the rest
of the ballots. Magpili also rejected the offer.
"The award given to them is unique. It gives
importance to their display of integrity,
devotion to duty and incorruptibility,"
Arevalo said.
"Their heroism was displayed during the
time when people tended to doubt the outcome of
the elections... What they did was critical
since it was the first automated elections."
Marines to use K9 units in Mindanao
By: Elena L Aben, Manila Bulletin
Saturday, 04 September 2010
To help track down foes during combat operations,
the Philippine Marines will use 12 specially-
trained dogs to Mindanao, a Navy spokesman
said yesterday.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy Public Affairs
Office director, said demonstration of the
dog's capabilities in combat tracking operations
will be held on Monday at the Naval Station
Jose Francisco in Ft. Bonifacio, Taguig.
Rear Admiral Danilo Cortez, Navy flag
officer-in-command, Brig. Gen.Rustico Guerrero,
Marine Corps commandant, will witness the
event which precedes the send-off ceremony for
the Marine Drum and Bugle Team which will
fly to Gangwan-do, South Korea for the Wonju
Tattoo 2010 Music Festival.
According to Arevalo, the use K-9 dogs
will enhance the Marines' security operations,
specially in Southern Philippines where
government troops have to deal with members
of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
and other enemies of the state.
"What happens usually is that every time
there's an encounter, we often read (in the
news) the enemy withdrew towards a direction
and then bloodstains were all over the place
indicating there were casualties on the enemy
side," Arevalo said.
He said that while the miltary now wants
to get rid of the body count syndrome,the
recovery of firearms and physical count of
enemies, whether dead or wounded, remains
the measure of success of combat operations.
Saturday, 04 September 2010
To help track down foes during combat operations,
the Philippine Marines will use 12 specially-
trained dogs to Mindanao, a Navy spokesman
said yesterday.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy Public Affairs
Office director, said demonstration of the
dog's capabilities in combat tracking operations
will be held on Monday at the Naval Station
Jose Francisco in Ft. Bonifacio, Taguig.
Rear Admiral Danilo Cortez, Navy flag
officer-in-command, Brig. Gen.Rustico Guerrero,
Marine Corps commandant, will witness the
event which precedes the send-off ceremony for
the Marine Drum and Bugle Team which will
fly to Gangwan-do, South Korea for the Wonju
Tattoo 2010 Music Festival.
According to Arevalo, the use K-9 dogs
will enhance the Marines' security operations,
specially in Southern Philippines where
government troops have to deal with members
of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
and other enemies of the state.
"What happens usually is that every time
there's an encounter, we often read (in the
news) the enemy withdrew towards a direction
and then bloodstains were all over the place
indicating there were casualties on the enemy
side," Arevalo said.
He said that while the miltary now wants
to get rid of the body count syndrome,the
recovery of firearms and physical count of
enemies, whether dead or wounded, remains
the measure of success of combat operations.
Marine K-9 dogs see action
By: Elena L Aben, Tempo
Saturday, 04 September 2010
To help track down fleeing enemies during
combat operations, the Philippine Marines has
deployed 12 especially trained canines that will
see action in Mindanao, a Navy spokesman said
yesterday.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy Public Affairs
Office (NPAO)director, said a capability
demonstrationof six of the 12 canines for
combat tracking operations willbe held on
Monday, Sept. 6, atthe Naval Station Jose
Franciscoin Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Rear Admiral Danilo Cortez, Navy Flag
Officer-in-Command(FOIC), together with
Brig. Gen.Rustico Guerrero, commandant,
Philippine Marine Corps, will witness the
event that precedes thesend-off ceremony
for the MarineDrum and Bugle Team that will
fly to Gangwan-do, South Koreafor the Wonju
Tattoo 2010 Music Festival.
According to Arevalo, the K-9 unit will
enhance the Marines'security operations,
especially inthe southern Philippines where
government troops have to deal with members
of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
and other enemies of the State.
"What happens usually is that every time there
is an encounter,we often read (in the news) the
enemy withdrew towards a direction and then
bloodstains were all over the place
indicating there were casualties on the
enemy side," Arevalo said.
He added, while the military now wants to
get rid of the body count syndrome , still the
recovery of firearms and physical count of
enemies whether dead or wounded, are the
tangible results that can be seen in
terms of operations as he noted that the
enemies usually drag with them their escape.
"So with the advent of the K-9 units that
we are forming, we will now be able to
counter this," Arevalo said, adding,
"Our K-9 units will help us track them down."
Aside from helping chase fleeing enemies,
Arevalo said the dogs can also be used to
augmentthe Marines' ordnance explosives
experts, having been trained to locate
bombs and booby traps.
Saturday, 04 September 2010
To help track down fleeing enemies during
combat operations, the Philippine Marines has
deployed 12 especially trained canines that will
see action in Mindanao, a Navy spokesman said
yesterday.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy Public Affairs
Office (NPAO)director, said a capability
demonstrationof six of the 12 canines for
combat tracking operations willbe held on
Monday, Sept. 6, atthe Naval Station Jose
Franciscoin Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Rear Admiral Danilo Cortez, Navy Flag
Officer-in-Command(FOIC), together with
Brig. Gen.Rustico Guerrero, commandant,
Philippine Marine Corps, will witness the
event that precedes thesend-off ceremony
for the MarineDrum and Bugle Team that will
fly to Gangwan-do, South Koreafor the Wonju
Tattoo 2010 Music Festival.
According to Arevalo, the K-9 unit will
enhance the Marines'security operations,
especially inthe southern Philippines where
government troops have to deal with members
of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
and other enemies of the State.
"What happens usually is that every time there
is an encounter,we often read (in the news) the
enemy withdrew towards a direction and then
bloodstains were all over the place
indicating there were casualties on the
enemy side," Arevalo said.
He added, while the military now wants to
get rid of the body count syndrome , still the
recovery of firearms and physical count of
enemies whether dead or wounded, are the
tangible results that can be seen in
terms of operations as he noted that the
enemies usually drag with them their escape.
"So with the advent of the K-9 units that
we are forming, we will now be able to
counter this," Arevalo said, adding,
"Our K-9 units will help us track them down."
Aside from helping chase fleeing enemies,
Arevalo said the dogs can also be used to
augmentthe Marines' ordnance explosives
experts, having been trained to locate
bombs and booby traps.
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