Sunday, February 1, 2015

Must read: Why Coordination is very important?



"COORDINATE!! WHY?"
The framework agreement is more than a hundred pages but the gist of it is basically these:

1. Creation of CCCH (Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities) and AHJAG (Ad Hoc Joint Action Group). These are two committees comprised of people both from GPH and the MILF to ensure abidance on the Agreement provisions

2. No MILF or GPH combatant/s is to trespass an MILF or AFP area WITHOUT prior coordination with AHJAG or the GPH or MILF command post in the said area
3. No GPH or MILF combatant/s is to blatantly carry firearms on a GPH or MILF-determined camp/territory

4. No MILF or GPH combatant/s is to usurp, threaten, or attack any GPH or MILF base
Basically, the gist can be summed up in one word: COORDINATION. Like the peace agreement itself to which it is pegged, COORDINATION between the two parties is of utmost importance. Violation of such is a breach to the entire agreement and if the agreement is broken, well, we know what will come next. (To those who do not get it, FIREFIGHT comes next.)"

When we speak of coordination, it doesn't mean you coordinate with MILF. You coordinate BOTH with the AFP and MILF through AHJAG. For YEARS, combat operations in the areas of Maguindanao and North Cotabato are done in coordination with AHJAG. Do you remember the MOA-AD war of 2008? Do you know what caused it? Breach of the ceasefire agreement. A group of MILF combatants trespassed GPH territory when they found out that the MOA-AD was rejected by the Supreme Court. This is why after 2008, both the GPH and the MILF are very careful when it comes to this matter.

It might seem like a lot of hassle to some. Because, seriously, we just need to get that criminal, why do we need to coordinate?

You need to coordinate because if you do not, you will risk your security and you will die. Everyone, even NGO workers who do not even carry firearms, need to coordinate to ensure their safety when they go to these areas. These places are technically considered conflict-zones. It does not mean that it rains bullets every day there but chances are, it will do so, at any given time if threat happens.Be reminded that these areas are not easily accessible so you cannot reason out that you just happened to pass by that area. If you did not coordinate and you entered the area, the GPH or the MILF will automatically see you as a threat and you will die.

Imagine yourself (whether a GPH soldier or an MILF combatant, it’s up to you) sitting on your post, drinking coffee at 3am in the morning because it is your turn on guard and you have to be awake. Imagine seeing more than fifty figures from the distance, slowly treading their way to your camp. You immediately pick up your walkie-talkie (IDK what’s the military term for this) and ring up CCCH and AHJAG to ask if these guys were allowed to be at your area at this time of the night. CCCH and AHJAG answers that they do not know and that they were not informed of any operation happening around that time. As a person trained in combat, whether by a national institution like the AFP or an armed group like the MILF, what will come to your mind?
Surely these are not a bunch of prankster teenagers who thought sneaking up a military base is a good way to pass time, right? And then you also realize that in that area, there are other armed groups residing too (such as your not-so-friendly-neighborhood BIFF guys and other criminal groups).
THIS IS WHY COORDINATION IS VERY IMPORTANT.

Oh, okay, Bam. So, does this mean that the PNP cannot go to an area and arrest criminals just because it is an MILF-territory? We are talking about criminals here, isn’t it the mandate of the PNP to go after them?
YES, it is the mandate of the PNP to go after them and NO, I did not say that the PNP cannot go to an area and arrest criminals. They can surely go there ANYTIME as long as they coordinate. In fact, the commander of the MILF command SAF clashed with got arrested by the CIDG themselves a few years back right at his camp. It’s because CIDG properly coordinated with everyone.

Source : MON CHING
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