world

Armed men attack Philippines jail, free 132 prisoners

17 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2017 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

17 Comments
Login to comment

I wonder if anybody will bother to ask how these Muslim guys on isolated islands obtain weapons and ammo that are produced thousands of miles away.

When did the arms industry ever discriminate?

3 ( +5 / -2 )

This well-armed insurgency problem in Mindanao has been going on for decades. It's not new or sudden

When it isn't the the communist NPA, it's the various Muslim groups

How do ya think the communists and Muslims got their weapons

From worldwide Communist Parties to the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the Japanese Red Army to the Sandinistas of Central America to the Algerian military and the Middle East

(So yeah, Japan Red Army and China and USSR and North Korea and Middle East countries all have had their hands in Mindanao)

5 ( +5 / -0 )

What is Duterte going to do about this ?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Duterte and his minions are too busy killing suspected drug dealers, that's why his intelligence unit missed this. As of now he has so many broken promises.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

@lostrune2

Japan Red Army and China and USSR and North Korea and Middle East countries all have had their hands in Mindanao

Japan Red Army is a bunch of nutcases, unable of organizing of such a serious undertaking as a weapons supply line, And I'm curious how USSR, China or NK supplied boatloads of weapons under the nose of US Navy, based at Subic.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

And I'm curious how USSR, China or NK supplied boatloads of weapons under the nose of US Navy, based at Subic.

Mindanao is far away from Subic base that it's not even relevant

And Mindanao has had weapons smuggled in for decades that has led to developed underground networks passing thru the porous waters of the dilapidated Philippine coast guard

These communist and Muslim insurgencies didn't survive for decades if not for the underground networks

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I can hear Duterte Harry firing up the chopper now

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I lived in Mindanao for a while, and yes, it's so easy to smuggle arms in the south. It comes from Malaysia I think. The thing about Duterte is that he's extended an olive branch to some of the Muslim rebel groups (and also with communists), like the MNLF in the south. This article is talking about the....uhm...MILF. I know the Abu Sayyaf is allied with ISIS and refuses to work with Duterte. I've read that the MNLF would be able to help Duterte defeat radical Islamists if there was no US presence there. Translate that in any way you want.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

ThePBot: I've read that the MNLF would be able to help Duterte defeat radical Islamists if there was no US presence there.

How is the US presence stopping anything? What's the extrajudicial killing count up to now?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Moro Islamic Liberation Front = MILF

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The early morning attack was led by a breakaway group of the main Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front

So the attack was led by more than 100 MILFs?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

 I'm curious how USSR, China or NK supplied boatloads of weapons under the nose of US Navy, based at Subic.

The US Navy base at Subic Bay was closed in 1992.

I had a chance to see a cache of weapons that were captured by the Philippine military and Philippine National Police (PNP) during operations against insurgent groups in central and southern Mindanao. I was surprised to see a large number of M-16s, M-4 carbines and M-60 machine guns, all US manufactured. A good number of them were stamped with the letters DND which stands for Department of National Defense which is how weapons issued to the Philippine military are marked.

The general consensus was that a lot of these weapons were diverted from the supply stream of the Philippine government by individuals with access to the weapons inventory and a well developed profit motivation. I was personally offered a brand new M-4 carbine with 10,000 rounds of ammunition for 50,000 PHP ( around $1000 at the time) by an individual with connections to the PNP (Philippine National Police).

With the right connections military grade arms a readily available and relatively easy to obtain. And there are millions of them floating around the black market.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@lostrune2

Mindanao is far away from Subic base

I know geography. My point is that IF there was a serious flow of shipments of weapons from China etc the USN must have intervened to help its ally.

@Kuya 808

The US Navy base at Subic Bay was closed in 1992

The conflict in the Philippines we're talking about had started decades before that. But thanks for the information about what you saw. Interesting.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites