3 soldiers wounded in NPA clash in Davao Sur

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 16, 2010) – Communist rebels shot and wounded three government soldiers in a clash Saturday in the southern Filipino province of Davao del Sur, a military spokesman said.

The fighting erupted in the village of Sinoron in the town of Santa Cruz where troops had been tracking down New People’s Army rebels behind the spate of attacks in the province.

“Three brave soldiers were wounded in the encounter and immediately evacuated to the hospital. Pursuit operation is going on to ensure these rebels could no longer pose a threat to the lives of our people,” said Lieutenant Colonel Medel Aguilar, of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

He said troops recovered 9 backpacks and tents left behind by the rebels under NPA leader Roberto Castillote, who was tagged as behind the February ambush of three policemen and a civilian in Davao del Sur’s Bansalan town.

The military did not say if there were rebel casualties, but Aguilar said security forces are tracking down the leader of the NPA band.

“Castillote is facing multiple criminal charges. We are tracking him down,” Aguilar said.

The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war for decades now.

Just this month, New Zealand blacklisted the CPP and the NPA and included the two groups in its list of international terrorist organizations. (Mindanao Examiner)

Politicians' cars break through army checkpoint in Mindanao

An army checkpoint in Davao in the southern Philippines.

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 6, 2010) – Government soldiers manning a checkpoint in the southern Philippines narrowly escaped being ran into by two cars believed owned by politicians, a military report said Thursday.

The report said soldiers were signalling the cars to slow for an inspection in the village of Kinganan in Davao del Sur’s Malita town early Wednesday night, but its passengers ignored them and broke through the checkpoint and narrowly missing the infantrymen who are members of the 39th Infantry Battalion.

The soldiers fired warning shots in the air, but the vehicles continued speeding away, the report said.

The report did not identify the passengers of the cars, but villagers said they were owned by politicians. The incident raised suspicions that the passengers were armed with guns or transporting weapons ahead of the general elections in May 10.

The Commission on Elections imposed a total gun ban in the country since the start of the campaign early this year to prevent bloodshed and fighting among candidates and their supporters.

The poll body mobilized the police and military to assist them in the implementation of the gun ban.

Authorities have so far arrested more than 2,300 people, including 73 government officials and civil workers and 56 soldiers and 93 policemen, across the country for illegal possession of firearms since the imposition of the gun ban on January 10.

Last year, at least 57 people were brutally murdered, including 32 journalists accompanying a political caravan in Maguindanao province. Members of the powerful Ampatuan political clan were linked to the November 23 carnage. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 killed in NPA ambush in Davao Sur province

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 2, 2010) – Two government soldiers were killed in a clash Sunday with the communist New People’s Army fighters in the southern Philippines, a rebel spokesman said.

Ricardo Fermiza, of the NPA’s Magtanggol Roque Command, said rebel forces ambushed patrolling soldiers and pro-governemnt militiamen under the 39th Infantry Battalion, sparking a two-hour firefight in the village of Coronon in Davao del Sur’s Santa Cruz town.

One patrol member was also wounded by rebels in the fighting, he said, adding, there were no reports of NPA casualties.

“The almost two-hour firefight resulted to two dead and one wounded on the enemy side while the NPA suffered no casualty. The NPA also seized one M14 rifle,” Fermiza said.

The military last month trumpeted that the province is free from rebels.

“This latest NPA ambush belies the military's claim that Santa Cruz town and the rest of Davao del Sur is NPA-free, a contention meant to fool the Armed Forces of the Philippines hierarchy more than they can fool the people.”

“In a desperate bid to smokescreen the utter failure of Oplan Bantay Laya, the fascist military attempts to assuage its pricked ego and for the nth time, twists facts and peddles endless lies,” the rebel spokesman said.

Fermiza said the ambush was a punishment against the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion for alleged human rights violations it committed against the masses in Davao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces.

He said as early as 2006, the 39th Infantry Battalion had been terrorizing peasants and tribesmen and that many of them were arrested on suspicion as members or supporters of the NPA and paraded them publicly. Some were even tortured to exact confession.

“They have put up detachments within civilian communities and forcibly conscripted residents for the Barangay Defense System. By arming village officials and ordering them to spy against the revolutionary movement, the 39th Infantry Battalion is guilty of violating the war protocols of the Geneva Conventions that specifically prohibits involving the civilian populace for military operations,” Fermiza said.

He said the same army unit was also responsible for the murder of a captured NPA member Ernesto Baldevieso in March. Baldevieso was tortured and executed by soldiers after failing to get information about the NPA.

“Instead of upholding his rights as a prisoner-of-war in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, the 39th IB summarily killed him - a brazen violation of international humanitarian law and the protocols of war,” Fermiza said.

There was no immediate statement from the military about the ambush, but the NPA is fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Fire hits Davao Sur market

The aftermath of the fire that gutted the Bansalan market in Davao del Sur province on Sunday, December 27, 2009. (Mindanao Examiner / Geo Solmerano)

DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / December 29, 2009) – A fire swept gutted a market building in the southern Philippine province of Davao del Sur, police said.

It said the fire probably started in an area in Bansalan market where pyrotechnics were being sold, but an investigation into the cause of the blaze is going on.

The fire occurred over the weekend, but police said there were no reports of casualties.

Police warned firecracker sellers to conform to fire safety. (Geo Solmerano)

Road hazard in Digos City in Davao del Sur province

An overloaded truck transporting chicken manure has stalled near a bridge Saturday, March 21, 2009 in Digos City in Davao del Sur province in the southern Philippines. The truck driver failed to put any early warning device to caution other vehicles that the truck is stalled.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geo Solmerano)

DSWD Davao Sur Caravan Hailed

Davao del Sur Representative Franklin Bautista (right) and Mayor Johnny Johnson of Don Marcelino town listen as officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development report Tuesday, March 9, 2009 programs and services implemented in the 2nd Congressional District of the province. (Photo by Carmela Duron)

DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 13, 2009) – Davao del Sur 2nd District Representative Franklin Bautista praised the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the success of the Caravan Cum Program Review held in the town of Malita.

“I would like to commend the DSWD for conceptualizing this kind of activity. This would help us address problems of social concern. This would guide us perform our role effectively and efficiently. I hope my office can contribute and give sufficient assistance in relation to social services,” Bautista said on Tuesday.

Bautista even committed to work closely with DSWD in his social development programs. The event was also participated by mayors Johnny Johnson of Don Marcelino town; Roel Paras of Malalag town; Benjamin Bautista of Malita town; and Sarangani Vice Mayor Jovanie Almierol, municipal social welfare officers, other local officials and DSWD regional officials.

Paras said he appreciated the DSWD’s programs his town benefited, saying, “it’s only now that I am able to express my gratitude to the Director and to the regional staff.”

Municipal Social Welfare Officer Esther Hermosisima of Malita said her town is also a recipient of numerous DSWD programs and she looks forward to another DSWD project – the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction Program or NHTS-PRP.

Initiated by DSWD Director Ester Versoza, the caravan aimed to directly report to legislators, chief executives and municipal social welfare officers the agency’s performance and accomplishments in their respective areas.

Assistant Director of DSWD Priscilla Nidea-Razon said: “Through this kind of interaction, we are able to immediately obtain the reaction, feedback and comments of the concerned officials relative to implementation of DSWD programs and services.”

Simultaneous with the caravan was the screening of some 67 enumerators who will conduct the household assessment under the NHTS-PRP. Interview of enumerators are also being conducted in the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Davao City.

For this new program, DSWD Davao Region is expected to hire at least 231 enumerators, encoders, area coordinators and supervisors. Using the Proxy Means Test Method of determining who and where the poor are, the national assessment will run for two months.

According to DSWD records, Davao del Sur has the most number of households identified for the assessment at over 58,000. Phase 1 of the assessment targets about 87,777 poor households in Davao Region and the first batch training for enumerators is slated in Malita on March 16. (Carmela Duron)

Fishers head out to sea in Mindanao

Filipino fishermen head out to the open sea on Monday, February 23, 2009 off Digos City in Davao del Sur province. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geonarri Solmerano)

Troops pursue ambushers in South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 02, 2009) – Government soldiers mounted fresh operation Monday to capture communist rebels who ambushed a group of policemen in the southern Philippines, officials said.

The ambush occurred in the village called Managa in Davao del Sur’s Bansalan town and reports said three policemen were killed.

“There is a pursuit operation right now. We are awaiting reports,” Col. Roland Bautista, spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The attack was largely blamed to the New People’s Army which is waging a secessionist war the past three decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country.

The policemen were returning to their base when the rebels opened fire at them.

Last week, communist rebels also ambushed a military convoy and raided a police station in separate attacks that left at least 10 people in the troubled region.

The rebels set off a landmine on the convoy Thursday in Davao City’s Paquibato district and wounding seven soldiers. Three policemen were also wounded when another group of NPA rebels raided their station in South Cotabato’s Tampakan town.

The NPA has vowed to intensify its offensive against police and military targets in the southern Philippines.

Rebel leaders broke off peace talks with the Arroyo government in 2004 after the United States listed the communist rebel group, including the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front, as foreign terrorist organizations and froze their assets abroad on government's prodding. (Mindanao Examiner)

Photo: Midnight Mass In Digos City

Policemen stand guard as Filipino Catholics attend midnight mass in Digos City in the southern Philippine province of Davao del Sur. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geonarri Solmerano)

President Arroyo To Inspect Projects In Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines — Just hours after her arrival from Hong Kong, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to visit Jose Abad Santos town in Davao del Sur province in Mindanao on Thursday to inspect a road project, according to the official Philippine News Agency.

The completion of the road project in the village of Balangonan will pave the way for the construction of the Kitayo-Balangonan and the Meybio in the towns of Jose Abad Santos and Glan. These road sections are part of the P30-million Davao del Sur-Sarangani Coastal Road.

Upon her arrival in Balangonan, Arroyo is expected to be briefed by Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane on the road project construction and development, according to Assistant Regional Director Reynaldo Tamayo of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Tamayo said the concreting of Davao del Sur-Sarangani Coastal Road (Kitayo-Balangonan section) in the village of Kitayo and Balangonan in Jose Abad Santos would make it easy for farmers to transport agricultural and other products to the agri-industrial center in General Santos City.

Started in August 2008, the Kitayo-Balangonan section is expected to be completed in July 2009.

If completed, the project will provide better linkages and access to other villages and hasten the economic development of the municipalities of Jose Abad Santos and Glan in Sarangani.

The clearing and construction of the Davao Del Sur-Sarangani Coastal Road (Meybio, Jose Abad Santos-Glan section), willl also provide access to the municipalities of Don Marcelino and Jose Abad Santos, both in Davao Del Sur, and Glan in Sarangani.

The DPWH said some 50,000 residents of the 16 isolated villages of Jose Abad Santos will directly benefit from the project.

Located in the village of Meybio and Balangonan here, the 21.420-kilometer road project has a total funding of P100 million.

The road is envisioned to provide a direct link between the agriculture-rich municipalities of Davao del Sur and Sarangani, particularly to the fast-growing General Santos City.

Once completed, the project will serve as an effective access to the communities in the interior parts of the two provinces whose potentials as agriculture production areas have remained largely untapped due to lack of roads.

Truck Slams On Tree, Driver Hurt In South RP

An unidentified man tries to help victims of a road accident Thursday, November 13, 2008 in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geonari Solmerano)

DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 13, 2008) – A truck transporting lumber slammed into a tree Thursday in the southern Philippines hurting its driver and passengers.

Police is investigating the accident which occurred at around 7.15 a.m. on a highway near the village of Kinuskusan in Bansalan town. The identities of the driver and his passengers were not immediately available.

Accidents are common in the area and police appealed to motorists and travelers to take extra precaution and obey road rules. (Geonarri Solmerano)

Teener Kills Self In South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 6, 2008) – A youth leader in the southern Philippine town of Santa Cruz was found dead inside his room and his family claimed he committed suicide.

Police is already investigating the death of Marvin Laglagan who was discovered hanging from inside his room on Wednesday in the village of Sentro. The 17-year old student was a member of the Sangguniang Kabataan.

Police said Laglagan’s family reported the matter after his body was discovered at around 4.30 p.m. It was not immediately known what drove the teenager to kill himself. (Romy Bwaga)

Reds Attack Army Patrol In South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 5, 2008) – Communist rebels attacked Thursday an army patrol, wounding at least five government militias, in the southern Philippines.

The attack sparked a running gun battle between soldiers and rebels in the remote village of Dongan Pekong in Davao del Sur’s Matanao town, a rebel spokesman said.

“Five militias are wounded in the fighting,” said Rigor San Juan, of the local communist front.

He did not say if there were rebels killed or wounded in the fighting, but the province is a known stronghold of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Military officials did not give any statement about the fighting and army spokesmen were not immediately available to deny or confirm the government casualty.

Last week, NPA rebels boasted their war victories against and vowed to launch more attacks against military and government targets across the country.

Rigoberto Sanchez, a rebel spokesman, said NPA forces had killed 32 soldiers and wounded dozens more in fighting the past two months in Mindanao.

He said the NPA also captured two soldiers and seized at least 35 assorted weapons in various raids in less than two months. He the rebels will continue offensive operations in Mindanao.

The numbers of rebel attacks in Mindanao have significantly increased in recent years despite government offensives in the region where troops are also battling Muslim insurgency and terrorism.

The rebels claimed to have the support of many people, particularly the indigenous tribes in Mindanao, which they say had been victims of human rights violations by government soldiers.

The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which broke off peace talks with Manila in 2004 after accusing President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on a deal that would lead to the release of all political detainees and respect for human rights, a stop on all extra-judicial killings of activists, among others. (With reports from Romy Bwaga)

Apat Patay Sa Baha, Landslide Sa Mindanao

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 23, 2008) – Apat na katao umano ang nasawi, kabilang ang isang sanggol, at halos isang dosenang iba pa ang nasaktan o sugatan matapos na magkaroon ng landslide sa lalawigan ng Davao del Sur.

Sanhi umano ng malakas na ulan at pagbaha sa mga nakalipas na araw ang naging dahilan sa pagguho ng mga bitak ng lupa sa bayan ng Santa Maria. Hindi naman agad mabatid kung gaano karaming pamilya ang apektado ng pagbaha at landslide.

Unang nagbabala ang mga awtoridad na mag-ingat sa baha o landslide ang mga naninirahan sa mga gulod at tabing-ilog dahil sa patuloy na pagbuhos ng malakas na ulan.

Bagamat walang bagyo sa Mindanao ay bahagi umano ng tail-end ng isang cold front ang sanhi ng pagulan.

Nuong nakaraang lingo ay unang binaha ang lalawigan ng Maguindanao at maraming lugar doon ang lubog sa tubig. Madalas bahain ang maraming lalawigan sa central Mindanao sa tuwing malakas ang ulan. (Mindanao Examiner)

9 Dead In New Bombings In Philippines

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Jun) At least 9 people were killed in one of two commuter bus bombings on Friday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said a bomb exploded inside a bus in the town of Bansalan in Davao del Sur province at around 6 p.m., killing as many as 9 passengers. At least seven more were injured in the blast, said Lt. Col. Rolando Bautista, of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

“We are still awaiting reports,” he said.

Another bomb exploded at a bus depot in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province, but there were no reports of casualties, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

“The bombing in Cotabato left no casualties, unlike in Davao where nine people are reported dead. The authorities are on high alert now because of the bombings,” Ando told the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the twin blasts, but Ando said the explosion in Cotabato City could be the handiwork of extortionists, saying, the bus firm, Weena Bus Lines, received a letter on Thursday demanding two million pesos as “protection money.”

“The extortion letter was signed by one Commander Barum Bado. We never heard of the name, not even on the military’s order of battle. It could be an alias to cover the real identity of the bomber,” Ando said.

On Tuesday, Police foiled a possible car bombing after a car, laden with explosives, was discovered abandoned near the municipal hall of Surallah in South Cotabato province.

An informant tipped off authorities about the car bomb. Provincial police chief Robert Kiunisala said the car contained mortar bombs rigged to electronic timers and other explosives that would trigger detonation.

Last week, at least eleven people were wounded in separate bus bombings in South Cotabato.

Eleven people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in separate bomb attacks last month in Mindanao, where security forces are battling members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiya.

The United States, Canada and Britain have issued travel warnings and strongly advised their citizens not to travel to the southern part of the Philippines because of threats of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners. (Mark Navales and Romy Bwaga)

Gunmen Kill 2 In South RP

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 29 May) – Gunmen shot dead two people in separate attacks in the troubled region of the southern Philippines, police said Tuesday.

Police said armed men barged in a house in the village of Magsaysay in Compostela Valley’s New Bataan town and killed Gloria Magalon.

The 54-year old woman was preparing breakfast fro her family when the gunmen shot her in the head. The woman, police said, died instantly in the weekend attack.

Gunmen also shot dead the 15-year old Randy Bilinario inside his house in the village Cogon in Kiblawan town in Davao del Sur province.

Provincial police said the victim was just resting inside the house when the suspects barged inside and shot him with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The motives of both attacks are still unknown, police said. Just last week, a motorcycle gunman also shot dead a young woman, Venus Maquiran, in a broad daylight attack in Panabo City in Davao del Norte province.

Police said the woman was heading for work on her motorcycle when the gunman drive by her side and shot her in the head.

Extra-judicial killing is common in the dangerous region of the southern Philippines, where murder can be contracted for as low as one hundred dollars. (Romy Bwaga)

Militant Leader Slain In South RP

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Mar) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a leader of a militant group in a daring broad daylight attack Friday in the southern Philippine city of Digos, police said.

Police said Renato Pacaide was walking with his daughter when motorcycle-gunmen shot him in the head. His daughter was unharmed.

The 53-year old Pacaide was the secretary general of Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa Davao del Sur (NAMADS) and coordinator of the party list group, Anakpawis, in the province.

His group condemned the killing and blamed the government and the military for the attack.

“We hold the Arroyo government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines responsible for the killing of Pacaide," Editha Duterte, spokesperson for the Anakpawis in Southern Mindanao, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

She said Pacaide was assassinated by two armed motorcycle-riding men at around 10:45 a.m. along Rizal Avenue corner Lim Street.

"In the midst of national and international condemnation against political killings, the senseless and brutal killings against members and leaders of progressive party-lists and organizations continue without compunction,” Duterte said.

Duterte accused the military of political partisan. She said soldiers, from the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion, have been campaigning against Anakpawis and its allied party-lists in Davao del Sur.

The military linked the party list group to the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels. The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which is fighting the past three decades for a separate Marxist state in the country.

"Such maneuvers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines had put our lives in peril. By relentlessly linking us with the CPP-NPA, the AFP under the aegis of the Arroyo government is giving outright license to kill our members and leaders," Duterte said.

More than 800 mostly political activists and members of militant groups have been killed since President Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001. An independent commission linked soldiers to most of the killings, but the military denied the accusations.

Philip Alston, United Nations Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur, who was in the Philippines this month to investigate the spate of killings, said the military is in state of total denial about the involvement of soldiers in the attacks.

"We demand justice for Pacaide! We dare the AFP and the Arroyo government to face their responsibility with the political killings," Duterte said. (Mindanao Examiner)