ANOTHER BATALLION SENT TO BASILAN (tags)
-The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is deploying another Marine battalion in Basilan to augment government forces massing up in the province in preparation for the hunt for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels behind the June 10 ambush. “We will be deploying another Marine battalion to the area, on top of the earlier deployment of a Marine battalion from Sulu to Basilan,” AFP Public Information Office chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said. He said the deployment of additional troops is in anticipation of a bigger force against military operations following “punitive actions against the suspects.”