Monday, February 12, 2007 Small unit of army stays in Basilan, says official By Bong Garcia
A MILITARY official said not all of the Army's personnel from the 103rd Infantry Brigade would be removed from the nearby island province of Basilan, following the entry of the Marines to take over their area of operation.
Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) information officer Eugenio Batara Jr. said a company from the Army's 18th Infantry Battalion (IB) would stay behind to oversee the deployment of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) in Basilan.
Aside from Basilan, Batara said the Army's 18th IB will continue to oversee the deployment and training of Cafgu in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula.
The Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade was pulled out of Basilan on orders of Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
They will be replaced by the 1st Marine Brigade from Lanao del Norte while the entire Army brigade was reassigned to Lanao.
Batara said not all of the units under the 1st Marine Brigade are already in Basilan province since the second batch of Army had just left for Lanao over the weekend.
They are being transported by a landing ship of the Philippine Navy.
The marines were tasked to hunt down the remnants of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, which is considered as the birthplace of the terrorist group.
