AFP clips powers of ISAFP

The once powerful and feared Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) will now be under the control of the five area commanders nationwide.

In a move that surprised a number of middle-grade and senior military officers, AFP chief Efren Abu ordered the ISAFP’s Military Intelligence Groups (MIGs) to be put under the operational control of the five major area commands.

The AFP has five area commands — the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) based in Tarlac, the Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) based in Lucena City in Quezon, the Western Command (Wescom) based in Palawan, the Visayas Command (Viscom) in Cebu, and the Southern Command (Southcom) in Zamboanga City.

AFP deputy chief for operations Maj. Gen. Pedro Ramboanga said Abu issued the directive during a recent command conference on putting intelligence-gathering operations under the control of the AFP’s five area commanders.

"It was announced by General Abu during our command conference," Ramboanga said.

Under the new setup, MIG agents are required to report directly to the U-2 (the unified intelligence arm) of the respective area commands.

"They (MIGs) will be attached to the five area commands where they will directly report and to serve as force providers," Ramboanga explained.

MIG commanders and their men were previously required to report directly to the ISAFP chief. The intelligence reports will be gathered by the ISAFP chief for briefing the President as the Commander-in-Chief.

Under the new setup, the job of the ISAFP chief has now been relegated to purely administrative control over its intelligence personnel.

AFP deputy chief Vice Adm. Ariston de los Reyes explained the order placing the ISAFP under the control of the five area commanders was not meant to clip its wings, but to facilitate the evaluation of intelligence information for immediate military response.

De los Reyes, however, admitted he had yet to receive an update over the issue since the ISAFP still has supervision and control over its personnel, including the MIGs.

De los Reyes likewise was not able to explain why the AFP brass decided to clip the powers of the ISAFP amid persistent reports of destabilization and constant terror threats.

Military insiders claimed the changes in the command structure of the ISAFP have disrupted major intelligence projects being developed by MIG agents along with "support assets," also known as deep penetration agents.

Insiders said there is a "deeper reason" for Abu’s order which they described as "unusual," but did not elaborate.

AFP Public Information Office (PIO) chief Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual dismissed these observations, saying the new military policy is aimed at facilitating and strengthening the military’s intelligence legwork.

"This new policy is for the purposes of timeliness or immediacy," Pascual said.

He added new policy guidelines exempted MIGs from operating in Metro Manila.

In the past, Pascual pointed out, ISAFP reports which required immediate military response were not acted upon since they had to be reviewed by the ISAFP chief first before any action could be taken.