COTABATO CITY — The anti-terror task forces in Basilan and Sulu that neutralized more than 500 Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the past seven years has been deactivated and replaced with a single but bigger peacekeeping contingent that covers both provinces plus Tawi-Tawi.
Lt. General Steve D. Crespillo, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) and Brig. Gen. Alvin V. Luzon, who heads the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade, separately announced on Tuesday the activation of the new Task Force Orion.
The anti-terror and other security missions of Task Force Orion, composed of military units under WestMinCom, are aimed at sustaining the peace, Mr. Crespillo said.
Reacting to the formation of the new task force, Mayor Roderick H. Furigay of Lamitan City, also in Basilan, said: “It is our duty, as elected government officials, to flex our authority in enforcing law and order in our communities.”
Last Monday, Mr. Luzon led the folding of the Task Force Basilan banner in a symbolic rite that ended its stint at their headquarters in Isabela City, Basilan.
Records from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and the WestMinCom in Zamboanga City indicate that the now defunct Task Force Basilan had secured the surrender of 393 Abu Sayyaf members and supporters since 2018 with the help of Basilan Gov. Jim H. Salliman and other local officials.
BARMM Local Government Minister Naguib G. Sinarimbo, who is chairperson of PRO-BAR’s multi-sector Regional Advisory Group, said he will compel his subordinate provincial officials to help connect the newly organized Task Force to local executives in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. — John Felix M. Unson
