Correspondence Reports:
The �Orgullo� Brigade is a failure in Bicol

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

�Ever since the 9th �Orgullo� Brigade was set up, it has been obsessed with recruiting many Bicolano youth to become soldiers,� said National Democratic Front-Bicol spokesperson Gregorio Ba�ares in a statement. When the Philippine Army unit was formed last year, the plan was to form an all-Bicolano division. The new unit adopted the moniker �Orgullo,� which means �pride� in Bicolano, because it was supposedly the Bicol region�s pride. The 9th Brigade is the main military unit in charge of the entire Bicol region and has its headquarters in Camp Canuto in Pili, Camarines Sur.

Officials cite budget deficits as an excuse for their failure to recruit a sufficient number of men for the �Orgullo� Brigade. Beyond this, the brigade has failed because it is loathed by the people for its long record of crimes and abuses. From the start, the people have opposed its recruitment efforts for the CAFGU and its construction of detachments in various areas.

Moreover, it is no secret to the people and to CAFGU elements themselves that they are the victims of the ineptness of the AFP, PNP and their officials. Some examples: On February 20 this year, the police killed a CAFGU member and wounded two others in a misencounter in Barangay Mapinya, Masbate City when CAFGU elements responded after an NPA unit meted punishment on Barangay Captain Laloy Danao, a member of a criminal syndicate. The PNP made it appear in its report to media that the NPA assaulted a Kababayan Center, killing and wounding the CAFGU members.

In another misencounter, soldiers of the 2nd IB killed two CAFGU elements in Barangay Bangao, Baleno, Masbate, but media reports claimed that they were slain in an encounter with the NPA. Angered, other members of the CAFGU unit went AWOL en masse.

Because of such incidents, more and more troops are bolting the AFP and the CAFGU. Some of them have surrendered to the NPA while others have even joined it. According to the NDF-Bicol, 13 CAFGU elements bolted the 31st IB in Barangay Bagong Silang II in Labo, Camarines Norte in the second week of September. �They left because they could no longer stomach the abuses of the officers of the 31st IB Charlie Company and the frequent delays in their meager allowances,� said Ba�ares.

(Based on the NDF-Bicol�s open letter to the CAFGU and rank-and-file soldiers of the 9th Brigade, September 25, 2003)

21 October 2003
English Edition

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