ZAMBOANGA CITY - A new battalion of Marine soldiers were deployed to Sulu on Tuesday, just a few days after the attack in the municipality of Indanan which left seven people dead and 22 others wounded.

The Marine Battalion Landing Team 8 was welcomed first in Zamboanga City during the arrival ceremony headed by Naval Forces Western Mindanao.

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NAVFORWEM Commander Rear Admiral Erick Kagaoan said MBLT-8 is not new in this part of the country since they were previously assigned in Mindanao.

The battalion came from Tawi-Tawi and then assigned to Cagayan before they underwent 9-month retraining.

MBLT-8 Commander Lt Col Allan Tolentino said their main task is to destroy the Abu Sayyaf.

“As for casualties, kami po ay risk mitigators and managers. It is part and parcel of our job kung kinakailangan at mangyayari, nakahanda naman lahat ng tao,” said Tolentino.

Tolentino asked for the cooperation from residents of Sulu since they cannot fulfill their tasks without the community’s help.

With the deployment of MBLT-8, the newly created 4th Marine Brigade which dissolved the Philippine Marine Ready Force is now composed of 3 battalions of marine soldiers.