Maniolas

Australia is donating two decommissioned military landing craft to the Philippines after the archipelago struggled with relief efforts following Super Typhoon Haiyan, it was announced Sunday. The vessels, which were decommissioned in November, will be refurbished with modern safety and navigation equipment before being handed over.  “I expect the vessels will be refitted and ready for handover in May 2015,” Australian Defense Minister Kevin Andrews said in a statement released by his country’s embassy.  The two 44.5-meter craft, which are designed to carry heavy supplies, will be given to the Philippine Navy to help with humanitarian assistance and relief work. The Philippines struggled because of a shortage of such vessels during relief operations after Haiyan, the strongest storm ever recorded on land, which decimated whole towns and villages in November 2013. The Australian military, including the amphibious vessel HMAS Tobruk, were dispatched to help victims of the storm, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing. The Philippine military is also considering whether to purchase three other surplus Australian landing craft that were decommissioned in 2012, the embassy added. The poorly-equipped Philippine military is one of the weakest in the region and the government is looking to foreign allies to help bolster its resources. — Agence France-Presse

A ranking official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said the group is willing to cooperate with the government to find out the truth about the bloody clash in a Maguindanao town that left 44 elite police commandos, 17 MILF fighters, and at least seven civilians dead. The official stopped short, however, of answering whether the MILD would surrender rebels involved in the firefight. In an interview with dzBB Sunday, MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said he cannot comment on the possible turnover of MILF members to authorities. “Maraming beses ko na kayong sinagot sa bagay na ito. I don’t know if you can understand… We are cooperating with the government, ano pa bang cooperation na kailangan mo na malaman?” an irked Jaafar asked dzBB anchor Rowena Salvacion. “Naipaliwanag ko na kanina, nagko-cooperate naman kami in accordance with the mechanism established for that purpose. Pero ‘yung ginigiit niyong tanong, sinabi ko na very clear, wala sa poder ko, wala sa aking authority as individual member of the central committee, as vice chairman of the MILF and vice chairman of the central committee,” he added. A report aired on “24 Oras” on Sunday night identified MILF commanders Wahid Tundok, Sakaria Goma, Ustdadz Nanan, Abdurahman Upan and Samsudin Pakinda as among the 30 rebels who engaged in a gunfight with the SAF, based on information from one of the parties investigating the incident.   Also tagged as suspects in the clash are Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) commanders Read More …

Kin grieve for fallen cops at necrological service. Relatives of the 44 slain PNP-SAF commandos killed in the January 25 Mamasapano clash attend the wake and necrological service at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig on Friday, January 30. President Benigno Aquino III offered his condolences to those left behind by the heroes. Danny Pata Was some P300 million in discretionary presidential intelligence funds used for last week’s operation that killed 44 Special Action Force policemen in Mamasapano, Maguindanao? Militant umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Sunday said President Benigno Aquino III has some explaining to do on the matter. The group said the Mamasapano operation involving 392 SAF troopers would require funding and logistics, and that transporting SAF elements from different parts of the country alone would already require a considerable amount of money. “If the operation was not run via the (Interior department) and the PNP, then someone else must have authorized the funding. The approval can only come from one other source, Malacañang. The funding could have come from the unaudited P300 million intelligence and confidential funds of the President. It would then be easy for Aquino to deny involvement,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said. “When the President has control of such unaudited funds, it is very easy for him to bypass other government agencies and embark on covert operations that can have disastrous consequences,” he added. Reyes also said suspended Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima and the United States government should Read More …

Kin grieve for fallen cops at necrological service. Relatives of the 44 slain PNP-SAF commandos killed in the January 25 Mamasapano clash attend the wake and necrological service at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig on Friday, January 30. President Benigno Aquino III offered his condolences to those left behind by the heroes. Danny Pata The remains of the last two Special Action Force policemen killed in a clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25 were brought out of Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City before dawn Sunday. Departure honors were rendered for the remains of Inspector Rennie Tyrus and PO3 Virgil Villanueva, radio dzBB’s Luisito Santos reported. The remains were brought out of the police facility at 1:50 a.m. and were to be brought to Zamboanga del Sur province, the report said. It added, a Cebu Pacific flight will carryTyrus’ remains, while a Philippine Airlines flight will take Villanueva’s. In the past days, the nation mourned the deaths of the 44 SAF men in Maguindanao. President Benigno Aquino III declared last January 30 a day of national mourning. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News