Members of the 8th Field Artillery Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Cabansay.
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Philippine Army has sent an artillery unit in Mindanao to support ground troops in fighting rebels in various fronts in the restive southern region, officials said Monday.
Major Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the Army Artillery Regiment based in Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province in central Luzon, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner that the newly-activated 8th Field Artillery Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Cabansay left on November 23 and arrived here for deployment in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, all in the Muslim autonomous region.
She said Brigadier General Leandro Loyao III, commander of the Army Artillery Regiment, designated Cabansay, a seasoned and well-decorated artillery officer who fought Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in Mindanao from 1996 to 2003.
“As our military leadership puts their trust and confidence to the Army Artillery, I also put my trust on you, Jeff and your men, because it takes not only skills, but also the experience to help our infantrymen on the ground as they fight in order to secure the civilian communities and eventually win the peace,” Loyao told Cabansay before heading to Mindanao.
Loyao told Cabansay to continually train and enhance skills of his artillery personnel if there is no operations in Mindanao, saying, “your mission there is very critical and any miscalculated action is unaccepted,” and reminded the artillery battalion to always uphold their dignity as soldiers and maintain their discipline and always give utmost respect to the people and its culture in the area.
Manuel said the artillery (105 mm howitzer) battalion was activated on October 16 in order to provide command and control over the three batteries currently deployed in Basilan and Sulu previously under 7th Field Artillery (155 mm howitzer) Battalion. (Mindanao Examiner)
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