The Marines has big dreams in protecting the country’s southern territory. It’s proposing to build an amphibious force.

The water village of Sitangkai in Tawi-Tawi province is known as the miniature Venice to those who had the rare opportunity to travel to the remote area.

Its two-kilometer canal is a thriving community of small bazaars, provision stores, and local cafes operating on the banks of perilous wooden planks jutting out of a two-hectare island. It is home to a population of 55,000 Muslims from the Tausug and the Sama tribes. Some of them have made good business in producing agar-agar seaweed for export. There is no running water or electricity.

Located at the tip of the country’s land territory in the south and a stone’s throw away from the Malaysian coast, Sitangkai is also a home to a Marine company detachment.

With Sitangkai’s reputation as a refuge for strange types of criminals, any marine officer’s being stationed there on his first assignment is a baptism of fire. Equipped with only rubber boats and small fast crafts, Marine officers here chase after and exchange bullets with terrorists, bandits, and smugglers.

The military strategy in previous years had so often shifted the deployment between the Army and the Marines. The two rivals are sometimes co-equal in power. Other times, one is superior over the other.

At home in the water

But early this year, three marine line brigades—with the help of a combat service support brigade—was given the job to take over Basilan, Sulu, Tawi Tawi, and Palawan. The Army was moved to the land-locked mainland Mindanao, where it has four divisions under its control. (One-third of the military’s strength is based in Mindanao.)

The Marines wouldn’t have it any other way. They say the Fleet Marine is the answer to the troubles in the southern archipelago because they are at home in the water.

“The Army sees land as a continent, they don’t consider water as a maneuvering space that should be controlled and where you can play around,” said Brig. Gen. Jonathan Martir, deputy commander of the Marines.

On the other hand, Martir said, “The Marines consider this as a playing area.”

The Marines has big dreams in protecting the country’s southern territory. Martir is the proponent of the Fleet Marine concept, which proposed the eventual buildup of an amphibious force.

Changing warfare

The original idea is to improve the country’s counter-insurgency policy by building up a naval service that “will be complete with the Marine brigades under the traditional command and control of the Naval Operating Forces.” This is where the relevance of the Philippine Navy—to which the 9,500-strong Marines belong—is heightened.

The Fleet Marine concept was later reduced into a smaller scale due to the changing nature of warfare. Surgical strikes are becoming more effective. For example, the marine company in Sitangkai can be quickly called to action under the Coast Watch South station.

With its current facilities, the battalion landing teams are “still capable but limited,” said Rear Admiral Ernesto Marayag of the Naval Forces South.

“We need boats and air comptroller. At present all you need is a platform and small boats that can transfer them to the beaches. This is not the same as in the Saving Private Ryan film. We put in one or two teams or one company during the right time, under cover of darkness, because surprise is vital in any special operations,” Marayag added.

Wish list

The battalion landing teams are supposed to be stationed in what they call the “poise,” the vessel that’s also maintained as a camp if they were on land.

They also need the following:

• Landing Ship Tank (LST) that can load about 2,000 men
• Logistics Support Vessel (LSV) like the Roll-on/Roll-off (RORO) ships used in inter-island transport
• Offshore patrol vessel
• Oiler to keep the ships running
• Water tender
• Helicopter gunship

There is none of this excessive force in Sitangkai, a lonely outpost where the marine company is rotated every year. The Marine officers know it would take time before a superior fleet can be assembled.

Given the rivalry between the Army and the Marines, they are also expecting criticisms against the Fleet Marine concept.

The Marines’ battalion landing teams of the brigades have been operating like a territorial force based on the islands—a territory claimed by the Army. The Marines carry out civil military operations as well.

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