THE Philippine Marine Corps yesterday deployed to Palawan the 67th Marine Raiders Company, a newly trained quick-reaction unit, to go after terrorists, communists and other security threats.

Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Jonas Lumawag said members of the 67th were taken from the Marine Force Recon and given "enhanced" training. He likened the unit to the Army's counter-terrorist Light Reaction Company which was trained and equipped by the US.

"It's a quick-reaction unit that will deal with missions that are emergency in nature. It's highly mobile, anti-communist, anti-terrorist, internal security operations, it's all-encompassing," said Lumawag.

The unit would be operationally attached to Landing Team 9, the only Marine battalion deployed in Palawan. "Instead of pulling out Marines deployed in one area, we have the quick-response unit that will respond to (an) emergency. We are stretched in Palawan, we only have one battalion there."

The Dos Palmas resort in Palawan was where the Abu Sayyaf Group made their high-profile abduction of 20 foreigners in April 2001. In September 2007, government troops also arrested in Palawan several ASG members reportedly planning to conduct bombings and abductions in time for the 9-11 carnage in New York in 2001.