The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday said the focused military operations against the communist terrorist group in Bukidnon are still ongoing despite the ill-fated incident involving an Air Force jet fighter.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the military operations against the New People’s Army (NPA), led by the Philippine Army’s 403rd Infantry Battalion under the 4th Infantry Division, began on 3 March.

“There was an initial 30-minute encounter on the first day of the operation and our troops requested support, including artillery and air support operations,” she told reporters in an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. 

“Over and above that, the conduct of pursuit operations continues,” she added. 

Padilla explained that the military is targeting a communist group with a large membership, totaling 60 rebels.

“Based on our intelligence on the ground, this group has a large number of members, and we have major personalities involved. So, given the nature of our intelligence reports, we are conducting these operations accordingly,” she said.

“And of course, whatever is requested from us, it's for us to give the proper support to them,” she noted. 

Padilla said the Philippine Army is concentrating on the insurgency operations while other troops are supporting the search and retrieval operations for the remains of the pilots who perished in the FA-50 crash incident.

“We have search, rescue and retrieval teams from the Army’s special forces battalion who have been deployed from the crash site. They are specialized for such operations,” she added. 

One of the Philippine Air Force (PAF)’s jet fighters was reportedly missing while conducting a tactical night operation in support of the army’s ground operation against the rebels in Bukidnon, dawn of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Padilla said that the aircraft incident had strengthened the resolve of the military troops to successfully complete their ground mission and combat insurgency.

“Nandun yung drive ng ating mga kasundaluhan (The drive of our soldiers) on the ground to really pursue these operations to completion. Itong nangyaring ito (This incident), actually, further fuels their drive to really perform at their utmost.  So lahat yan, talagang very high yung kanilang drive to continue with the mission, both for the operations and also for the search and rescue that we're conducting,” she said.