General Headquarters
ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES
PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERVICE AFP
Office of the Group Commander
Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo
Quezon City
PRESS BRIEFING
02 June 2000
The bloody mortal combat between our Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MILF fighters that began last March 15 until May 31, 2000 in the provinces of Lanal del Norte, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, Basilan, and spurt in Cotabato City sparked a nationwide alarm that endangered the cities especially Metro Manila, Iligan, Marawi, Zamboanga, General Santos, Davao and Kidapawan. This liberation war waged by the MILF and the bombing incidents in Metro Manila greatly destabilized the country's economy as tension escalated all over Mindanao. It has apparently marked the fiercest encounter ever fought by the government and AFP troopers against the Moro freedom fighters. It exceeded in magnitude, such as the number of AFP casualties and P50-million daily expenditure of the Defense Department, the pacification campaign launched by the AFP against the MNLF in the 1970s under the martial law regime of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos.
Breaking the vow of secrecy on classified information regarding real statistics
of AFP casualties in every encounter, the Office of the Public Affairs Service AFP
is pressured by the public invoking the policy of transparency of the Estrada
Administration to release this figure of AFP Casualties of War incurred during the
pacification campaign agianst the MILF.
| Lanao del Norte: Kauswagan, Munai, Baloi, Tagoloan, Bacolod, Maigo, Matungao, Sapad (March 15 - April 21, 2000) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | 78 | 297 | - |
| Philippine Marines | 23 | 162 | 3 |
| Subtotal | 103 | 409 | 3 |
| Maguindanao:
Buldon, Matanog, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Talayan,
Datu Piang, Shariff Aguak, ampatuan, Upi, Pagalungan, Kabuntalan (April 28 - May 31, 2000)
(AFP began attacking the perimeter defenses of Camp Abubakar in Buldon on Friday, April 28) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | 98 | 203 | 5 |
| Philippine Marines | 301 | 792 | 47 |
| Subtotal | 399 | 995 | 52 |
| Lanao del Sur:
Kapatagan, Balabagan, butig (April 28 - May 31, 2000)
(AFP began attacking the perimeter defense of Camp Bushra at Darul Iman, Butig on Friday, May 26 until June 1) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army |
103 (Cp. Bushra - May 29: 53 KIA May 30: 35 KIA May 31: 20 KIA) | 340 | 16 |
| Philippine Marines |
112 (Cp. Bushra - May 29: 47 KIA May 30: 28 KIA May 31: 25 KIA) | 247 | 19 |
| Subtotal | 215 | 587 | 35 |
| North Cotabato Aleosan, Midsayap, Pikit, Carmen (May 2-10, 2000) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | 36 | 31 | - |
| Philippine Marines | - | - | - |
| Subtotal | 36 | 31 | - |
| Sultan Kudarat: Esperanza, Isulan, Palimbang, Tacurong, Pres. Quirino (May 3, 2000) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | 29 | 94 | - |
| Philippine Marines | - | - | - |
| Subtotal | 29 | 94 | - |
| South Cotabato: Tupi(May 3, 2000) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | 8 | 14 | - |
| Philippine Marines | 2 | 9 | - |
| Subtotal | 10 | 23 | - |
| Basilan: Lamitan (May 5, 2000) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | 13 | 9 | - |
| Philippine Marines | - | - | - |
| Subtotal | 13 | 9 | - |
| Cotabato City: ND Village, Timako 1111, Pier(Pulangi River) (May 5, 2000) | |||
| Service Branch | Killed in Action | Wounded in Action | Missing in Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philippine Army | - | - | - |
| Philippine Marines | 5 | 8 | - |
| Subtotal | 5 | 8 | - |
| Grand Total | 810 officers and men | 2156 officers and men 1573 seriously wounded, 583 slightly wounded) | 90 |
The appropriated identification viz-a-viz claims/bonuses/incentives for every AFP Casualty of War in consonance with President Estrada's declaration of an "ALL OUT WAR POLICY" against the MILF on March 21, 2000 are as follows - P50,000 for the beneficiary of a killed in action, P30,000 for a seriously wounded-in-action, and P20,000 for those slightly wounded. Most of the wounded soldiers are confined and well attended for at Camp Siongco Hospital in Awang, Maguindanao, Camp Navarro Hospital in Zamboanga City, Camp Evangelista Hospital in Cagayan de Oro City, Mactan Airbase Hospital in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu, and at the country's premier hospital for the soldiers, the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City.
While the GRP-MILF Peace Talks resume on May 29-30, 2000 at Cotabato City, military offensives still ensue in the vicinity of Camp Bushra in Lanao del Sur, particularly in the Municipalities of Butig and Masio; Camp Abubakar As-Siddique in Maguindanao, especially in the Municipalities of Buldon, Bariara, Parang and Matanog, in Kapatagan and Balabagan, both in Lanao del Sur, the number of AFP Casualties of War from June 2000 has not been properly accounted for.
Camp Aguinaldo, 02 June 2000