AFP seeks inputs from civil society for new anti-insurgency campaign

The Philippine military will solicit suggestions from civil society groups in drafting a new anti-insurgency strategy to replace the much-criticized Oplan Bantay Laya, a military official said Thursday. Armed Forces human rights office chief Col. Onesimo Bañaga said his unit is in the process of getting inputs from non-government organizations and actual communities to help in formulating the military’s new anti-insurgency campaign plan. "We are formulating right now a strategy…. Part of the campaign plan is the involvement of different stakeholders… May inputs coming from civil society, non-government organizations and the community in general," Bañaga told GMANews.TV in an interview Thursday. He added that the military is trying to get feedback from various groups in drafting a replacement to Oplan Bantay Laya to make sure that "human rights are taken into account." Bañaga likewise said the military only decided to extend the previous administration’s anti-insurgency strategy until January 2011 so that an "interim plan" is in place while the AFP is formulating a new one. "We were trying to implement another campaign plan, pero habang hindi pa natin napapatupad ‘yun, kung baga, may interim kang plano. Hindi naman (inadopt) ‘yung buong Oplan Bantay Laya, only some parts," he said. Extension Last month, the military announced that it was extending Oplan Bantay Laya II, which the military began implementing in June 2007 and expired at the end of the Arroyo administration last June, for six months. (See: AFP extends battle plan linked to extra-judicial killings) Military chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo David said that through Bantay Laya II, the military reduced the New People's Army's strength from 7,000 to less than 5,000, a figure he described as “inconsequential" considering that the NPA strength used to be more than 20,000 in the 1980s. But the announced extension drew sharp criticisms from various human rights advocates, saying it might continue the spate of extrajudicial killings. As expected, communist rebels chided President Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III for extending Oplan Bantay Laya, despite his administration’s plan to pursue peace talks with various insurgent groups. Take out the weaknesses For her part, Human Rights Commissioner Cecilia “Coco" Quisumbing said the military should carefully draft its new anti-insurgency battle plan to prevent it from becoming a "human rights risk" like Oplan Bantay Laya. "We can understand that the new administration has to study what to replace it with, but hopefully, when they are studying it, they notice the weaknesses of Oplan Bantay Laya, and in their next ‘Oplan’ take out those weaknesses, not just have a copy of the previous one," Quisumbing told GMANews.TV in a separate phone interview. She likewise said the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) welcomes the military’s moves to prioritize human rights in its operations, in accordance with President Aquino’s order. "It’s very good that the new leadership of the AFP is open to finding new ways to make human rights really a part of the institution. We welcome these steps," she said. Quisumbing, however, said the commission would appreciate it more if the AFP’s plans would be carried out "in the right way." "The CHR would like to encourage that it should be done in the right way, hindi lang pang-PR [public relations]," she said. Earlier, the military announced that it will be holding a human rights summit in October, where NGOs and militant groups will be invited. (See: AFP to invite activists in its first human rights summit) In addition to the summit, the military is also set to release a handbook on human rights that will serve as guide in the operations of its field units. — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV