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)

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)

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)

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)