Scout Rangers sent to Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Philippine Army has pulled out the 5th Scout Ranger Battalion from the southern province of Sulu and deployed it to Basilan province, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, security officials said on Thursday.

The officials also said the 5th Scout Ranger under Lt. Col. Eugenio Baquiran replaced the 68th Infantry Battalion whose members were deployed to Mindoro province in January this year.

It saw action in Basilan against the Abu Sayyaf upon its deployment in 2017.

The 5th Scout Ranger stayed in Sulu for over three years and has been successful in its campaign against the Abu Sayyaf in the province.

Maj. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, lauded the members of the 5th Scout Ranger and expressed his gratitude for their invaluable contribution to the accomplishment of the task force’s mission.

He said the troops were ferried by a Philippine Navy boat on Thursday, November 17.

Marine Brig. Gen. Arturo Rojas, acting commander of the Western Mindanao Command, urged the 5th Scout Ranger to maintain the highest standard of soldiery as expected of the Scout Rangers.

“I enjoin the 5th Scout Ranger troops to maintain the highest dignity of a soldier as they embark on a new journey and face new challenges in a new operational area. The Rangers will fill the vacuum left by the 68th Infantry Battalion in order to keep the momentum going of the improving security condition in Basilan,” he said.

The deployment came after recent clashes between soldiers and former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in Ungkaya Pukan town that killed three infantrymen and seven gunmen.

The fighting sparked after gunmen attacked soldiers in the town, a known lair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014.