AFP deploys Marines vs. ASG in Sulu

FILE: SULU BOUND. Members of Marine Battalion Landing Team – 7 prepare to board a Philippine Navy ship during send-off ceremonies at the port of Polloc in Maguindanao on Sunday (June 16, 2019). The Marines were sent to Sulu to help crush the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group. (Photo courtesy of MBLT-7 via PNA)

POLLOC PORT, Maguindanao — Officials of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) and the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) sent off Sunday the Marine Battalion Landing Team (MBLT) 7 from this province to Sulu to help crush the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) operating in the area.

In a statement, Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, 6ID chief and head of Joint Task Force Central (JTFC), told the Marine battalion to “bring peace to Sulu the way you helped bring about peace in Central Mindanao”.

MBLT-7, one of the battle-tested units of the PMC, had helped liberate Marawi City from the hands of terrorist groups in 2017 and was re-deployed to the coastal towns of Lebak and Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat; and to North and South Upi and Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao after the Marawi siege.

Brig. General Juvymax Uy, assistant 6ID commander, represented Sobejana, during the send-off ceremonies also graced by Major General Alvin Parreño, commandant of the PMC.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has earlier ordered the deployment of Marines to Sulu to finish off the ASG, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has chosen the MBLT-7 to augment the forces of Joint Task Force Jolo in the area.

The Marine unit had been successful in the maintenance of law and order in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.

“I hope that you succeed on replicating your accomplishments, and soon bring just and lasting peace in Jolo, Sulu,” Sobejana said.

Parreño reminded MBLT-7 troopers to always include prayers “in whatever you do for it is the best weapon wherever we are and whatever we do.”

Parreño lauded Sobejana and the Army-led JTFC for accommodating MBLT-7 in its area of responsibility in Central Mindanao.

“We would like to thank the JTFC for accommodating us for we have seen high brotherhood and solidarity in the AFP,” Parreño said.