Spike in IED use during elections expected

DESPITE security preparations to ensure a safe election, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) still sees a spike in the use of improvised explosive devices (IED) that may be used not only against government security forces but also against politicians.

Army commanding general Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes expressed his apprehension before US Army officials during his recent visit at the Asia Pacific Counter ID Fusion Center (APCFC) at Bellows Airfiled, Hawaii.

“Every election cycle sees a spike in IED activity and this year will be no different. We have a mandate to protect all Filipinos. We might see an increase in IED explosions—it could be targeting our own soldiers, but in my opinion they will be targeting politicians,” Coballes said in an article published at the official homepage of the United States Army.

It said that Coballes visited the US Army Pacific forces on February 3 to 9 as a guest of Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, commanding general of the US Army Pacific.

The APCFC is the executive agency of the US Pacific Command for all counter IED intelligence gathering and training. Its primary mission is to prepare U.S. forces for overseas contingency operations. The center has also trained more than 2,000 soldiers from 11 partner nations including the Philippines.

Coballes confirmed that he went to Hawai but denied the statement attributed to him by the US army website.

During his visit, Coballes was briefed by Col. Geoffrey Steves, the director of the APCFC, and taken to an observation lane where he was shown the latest training techniques for detecting potential IED emplacements.

Coballes, according to the cited article, was highly impressed with the capabilities of the center, saying that he would like also to have a similar training center in the Philippines.

“This will definitely help soldiers stay alive in the combat zone,” Coballes was quoted as saying.

“We’ve been doing this, but not as detailed as you have here,” said Coballes who walked right over an inert device planted in the road setting off buzzer.

“We teach some of this in our schools, but not a center dedicated to IED awareness,” he added.

Coballes was also told that for a third straight year the APCFC will be part of Balikatan, the annual bilateral training exercise designed to enhance the interoperability and country- to- country military relationships between the armies of the Philippines and the US.

IEDs are frequently used against soldiers by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and by the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and also by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) prior to the signing of ceasefire agreement.

Last year, 22 members of the elite Scout Ranger Company (SRC) of the Philippine Army were wounded after tripping on an IED planted by the ASG around its main jungle camp in the mountains of Basilan province.

Also last year, two children, age six and five years old, became victims of IED explosions in Barangay Tacayan, Tapaz town in Capiz, a known bailiwick of leftist rebels.

On February 20, 2012, the insurgents used IEDs to bomb the La Casa Transloading Station of Sugarcane Central in Barangay Mianay, Sigma, Capiz for failure to pay so-called revolutionary taxes.

On August 2011, the NPA also laid IEDs when they ambushed army troopers belonging to the 61st Infantry Battalion in Barangay Switch in Tapaz, Capiz.

They also allegedly set up two IEDs near the Igcabugao Elementary School in Igbaras, Iloilo sometime on March, 2010 which were recov- ered by army personnel.

Military records also showed that IEDs were always recovered in almost all NPA encampments overran by government forces.

Earlier, the AFP, through the Government of the Philippines (GPH) negotiating panel, filed a complaint against the NPA’s continued use of IEDs and landmines in its operations in violation of the agreement signed by the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The use of land mines and IEDs are prohibited under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). The CARHRIHL is the first of four agreements in the substantive agenda of the peace negotiations between the GPH and the NDFP.

WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL