Abu orders further study on Southcom transfer

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Armed Forces chief Gen. Efren Abu has ordered an in-depth study on the implications and resource requirements of the planned transfer of the Armed Forces Southern Command (South—com) headquarters from this city to Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.

With Abu’s order, Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff, said in a press briefing at the Southcom headquarters here that the directive of President Arroyo for the transfer may not be immediately carried out.

Adan said the military has informed Mrs. Arroyo about the study which will look into the near- and long-term social, economic and security implications of the Southcom transfer.

Adan said the in-depth study, which he will lead, could take months, after which recommendations will be submitted to the Armed Forces board and to the President.

Last Monday, the Zamboanga City government, headed by Mayor Celso Lobregat, initiated the wearing of red arm bands as a show of protest against the Southcom transfer which Mrs. Arroyo announced during her visit to Pagadian City last March.

"Today is a historic and momentous day for the people of Zamboanga as we are showing the unity to preserve our dignity," Lobregat said.

For its part, the city’s bankers’ association bared plans to shut down local banking operations tomorrow as a sympathy move.

Meanwhile, a former Southcom commander who retired in 1986 branded Mrs. Arroyo’s order to transfer the Southcom headquarters from this city to Pulacan as "impossible," saying he doubts if the transfer would ever materialize.

Maj. Gen. Delfin Castro, the longest-serving commanding general of Southcom (1981-1986), said Pulacan "is a remote place for a big command." Pulacan hosts the Army’s First (Tabak) Division.

Castro, who also served as the commanding general of the Central Mindanao Command (Cencom) based in Cotabato City prior to being Southcom chief, said Pulacan has limited access by air and water from any of the major points in Mindanao.

He said the reliability of the Pagadian airport is "doubtful" and its wharf "limited."

Castro said major commanders of the Navy, Air Force, Marine and the 1st Division based in Zamboanga would have a difficult time reporting for conferences, and so with the Southcom chief in going around Mindanao.

"It will also put the Southcom commander at risk if he has to move from one place to another," he said, adding that the shifting of reserve forces to threatened areas could best be done in Zamboanga City where Navy and Air Force capabilities are based.

Worse, Castro said the Southcom, being just a tactical command headquarters, may not have the capability of defending itself and may have to be protected by other units if it stays in Pulacan.

"Getting overrun would be within the present capability of the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and the NPA (New People’s Army) through the use of their mobile forces," he said.

Castro also gave other factors justifying Southcom’s present location in Zamboanga City:

• Moving the Southcom headquarters to Pulacan would entail millions of pesos that may not be within the capability of the Armed Forces since it even lacks the funds to support the back dues of its active personnel and its retirees;

• The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA, MILF and the Abu Sayyaf would love the idea; and

• There will be better control, coordination and direction of efforts since the commanders of the Navy, Air Force and Marines are based in the vicinity of the Southcom headquarters here.

What Mrs. Arroyo was probably thinking, Castro said, was not to transfer the Southcom headquarters, but to set up an advanced command post in Pulacan or Pagadian City to carry out operations against terrorists holed up in critical areas in Mindanao.

Given the terrain and the present Army facility in Pulacan, Castro said it would be more difficult to direct military operations from there.

Castro, a one-time intelligence officer who is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (Class 1951), said Mrs. Arroyo might be falling into the intentions of the terrorists who may want Southcom transferred.

The House committee on national defense and security led by Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez conducted a hearing on the issue last May 9. Another hearing is scheduled in Zamboanga City tomorrow.

The privilege speech delivered by Zamboanga City Rep. Erico Basilio Fabian triggered the congressional inquiry.

Lobregat said the verbal order of Mrs. Arroyo to transfer the Southcom headquarters has caught not only the residents but the military personnel and officials here by surprise.

In consultations made by Lobregat, the people of Zamboanga think that the President was ill-advised on the issue and that her move was a political vendetta considering that she lost badly to the late Fernando Poe Jr. during the 2004 presidential elections here.

Of late, the President has also directed the transfer of the regional center from this city to Pagadian and allowed the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) government to occupy the 84-hectare Cabatangan property, the scene of the bloody siege staged by the Misuari breakaway group on Nov. 27, 2001.