A Marine battalion fresh from a retraining course would be deployed to Sulu to support the ongoing counterterrorism operations in the province.
Just last week, the Army also sent its 1st Battalion Combat Team to Sulu to augment the forces there that have been running after the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), which President Duterte wanted annihilated.
Maj. Gen. Alvin Parreno, commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps, declared the 8th Marine Battalion as an “operational unit” during a ceremony on Tuesday following its retraining and refurbishment.
The battalion, which originally came from Santa Ana, Cagayan, was recalled to the Marine headquarters where it underwent months of skills, doctrine and armament upgrading prior to its redeployment.
Capt. Felix Serapio Jr., spokesman of the Marines, said the Marine battalion would be sent to Sulu, although a date had not been fixed yet for its deployment to the province.
Earlier, Col. Gerry Besana of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said that soldiers are poised to intensify their operations in Sulu, since the terrorists are reportedly no longer holding any captive.
The beefing up of forces in the province is a prelude to the bigger and more focused offensive. Sulu is already hosting the Army’s 11th Infantry Division (11th ID), whose forces are being supported by elite units from the Army, the Marines and even the Navy. Army forces operates in areas under Sulu’s first district, while the Marines take charge of the second district, whose areas and municipalities are known as traditional strongholds of the ASG.
Serapio said the 8th Marine Battalion, which underwent nine months of retraining and refurbishing, will be operationally attached to the 11th ID or the Joint Task Force Sulu.