Mortar attack sa Maguindanao, ibinintang ng Army sa mga rebelde; NGO iniugnay sa MILF

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 25, 2009) – Mariing itinanggi ngayon ng militar na may kinalaman ito sa pagsabog ng mortar na ikinasawi ng isang sibilyan at pagkasugat ng isa pa sa lalawigan ng Maguindanao.

Ibinato naman ni Colonel Jonathan Ponce, tagapagsalita ng 6th Infantry Division, ang bintang sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ang sala at sinabing mga rebelde ang nasa likod ng atake upang siraan ang militar dahil sa umano’y paparating na fact-finding mission ng mga media mula sa Maynila.

“The mortar round came from the rogue MILF (members) as preparation for the upcoming fact-finding mission of the invited Manila-based journalists to put the blame on the military in order to destroy its image and credibility,” pahayag pa ni Ponce.

Naunang inulat ng ABS-CBN na napatay sa pagsabog ng mortar si Guiarria Enoc ng Barangay Binangga sa bayan ng Guindulungan. Naganap umano ang pagsabog nuong Miyerkoles ng gabi ng tamaan ng mortar mula sa army ang bahay nito, ayon sa kapatid na si Vanesaa Enoc.

Isa pang mortar ang sumabog halos apat na metro lamang ang layo sa naturang bahay.

"Sinasabi nila na calculated nila ang pagapaputok ng mortar. Hindi na kami naniniwala," ani Vanessa sa panayam ng ABS-CBN news team. "Kaya kami tumira dito kasi alam naming ligtas kami dito. Walang rebels dito sa aming barangay."

Isinumbong rin ni Vanessa ang pagumit ng militar sa mga inosenteng sibilyan sa operasyon nito laban sa MILF.

Inulat naman ng ABS-CBN na hindi pinayagan ng mga sundalo ang kanilang team na magtungo sa ibang mga barangay sa nasabing bayan matapos na makarining ng malalakas ng pagsabog mula sa air strikes ng mga eroplano ng Philippine Air Force.

Pinigil umano ng 46th Infantry Battalion ang news team dahil diumano sa siguridad sa lugar.

Ilang beses na rin inakusahan ng MILF ang militar ng pambobomba sa mga lugar ng sibilyan at sa pagsunog ng maraming kabahay ng mga Muslim sa Maguindanao.

Itinanggi rin ito ni Ponce at sinabing ng sumabog ang mortar na ikinamatay ng sibilyan ay pinaulanan naman ng mga rebelde ang kampo ng 64th Infantry Battalion sa Barangay Kabingi sa Datu Saudi Ampatuan. Wala naman inulat an sugatan o nasawi sa atake.

“At the same night, at about 242230, the battalion headquarters of 64 IB …was subjected by enemy mortar fires and 8 rounds coming from 81mm mortar exploded in the camp perimeter with negative casualty and damage of property on the government side.”

“The mortar round that exploded in the village of Binangga was deliberately done by the rogue MILF. An NGO (nongovernmental organization) identified with the MILF invited media from Manila paying all expenses and pocket money,” ani Ponce.

Hindi naman pinangalanan ni Ponce ang NGO, subalit ibat-ibang grupo ng mga media organizations ang nakatakdang magtungo sa Maguindanao upang siyasatin ang sitwasyon ng mga war affected communities sa lalawigan mula Hunyo 29-Hulyo 2.

Ang nasabing aktibidad ay binuo ng mga kilalang organisasyon tulad ng Maguindanao ComStrat and Policy Alternatives, ang MindaNews, Center for Community Journalism and Development, National Union of Journalist in the Philippines, Peace and Conflict Journalism Network, at ng Institute of War and Peace Reporting.

Tinatayang aabot sa mahigit 6,200 pamilya o halos 31,000 evacuees ang nasa bayan ng Datu Piang sa Maguindanao dahil sa kaguluhan at may inulat ng 95 sibilyan ang nasawi, kabilang ang 40 mga bata.

“The world's largest new displacement last year happened when 600,000 people fled fighting between the Army and rebel groups in the southern region of Maguindanao,” ayon naman sa ulat ng Oslo-based Norwegian Refugee Council.

Talamak rin ang human rights violation at maging mga food aid sa refugees ay hinaharang rin sa Maguindanao. At hindi pinapayagan ng militar ang mga NGOs na magtungo sa mga lugar na kung saan ay may mga refugee shelters sa di-pa malinaw na kadahilanan. (Mindanao Examiner)

Child killed, 4 others wounded in mortar explosion in southern Philippines

Blast victims are rushed to hospital in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 3, 2009) – A Filipino child was killed and four others were wounded after a mortar bomb they were toying exploded on Tuesday on a remote town in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said the bomb was found by children near the village of Mataya in Buldon town in Maguindanao, once of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

“We don’t know where it came from, but according to military reports the 81mm mortar was recovered by children and toyed with it and suddenly exploded. One was killed instantly from the blast,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

But a photographer of the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner, counted five wounded children at the Cotabato Medical Center where the victims were rushed by their families.

He said relatives claimed that three children, all Muslims, were also killed in the blast and immediately buried by their families in accordance with Islamic practice to bury the dead within 24 hours.

Ponce said the blast occurred at around 2.30 p.m. It was unknown whether the mortar came from the military or rebels, but the town was scene of previous clashes between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas.

Fighting was also continuing in the province since Sunday after government planes bombarded an MILF stronghold where a wanted rebel leader Ameril Kato was believed to be hiding.

On Monday, the military said eight MILF rebels were killed in clashes in North Kabuntalan town near the province of Shariff Kabunsuan.

Ponce said government planes bombed rebels under Ameril Kato, one of three MILF commanders wanted by authorities for the series of deadly attacks last year in Mindanao.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is fighting for independence in the restive region of Mindanao. Government peace talks with the MILF were stalled after the failed signing of the Muslim homeland deal. (With a report from Mark Navales)

Police disarm IED near Zamboanga City bus depot

Philippine policemen disarmed a powerful improvised explosive Thursday, January 1, 2009 left near a commuter bus depot in Zamboanga City in Mindanao Island. The discovery of the bomb came a day after an explosion in General Santos City left 22 people wounded.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 1, 2008) – Philippine policemen on Thursday disarmed a powerful improvised explosive left near a commuter bus depot in Zamboanga City.

“It was powerful enough to inflict serious damage and casualties had it exploded,” said one bomb expert, who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

He said the explosive was assembled from an 81-millimeter mortar bomb and connected to a clock. The bomb was left in the village of Guiwan, several meters from the bus depot which was heavily guarded by policemen and soldiers.

The explosive was discovered by residents at around 9 a.m. and informed the police about it.

The mortar bomb, he said, is probably brand new. “It’s probably new. It is clean and still had that warning label. We don’t know who was behind this failed bombing,” he said.

No group or individual claimed ownership of the bomb, but its discovery came a day after a grenade explosion in General Santos City left more than two dozen people injured.

Officials said the explosion occurred at a park at around 10 p.m. At least 22 people were wounded in the attack, said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, of the Task Force Gensan.

He said an unidentified man hurled the grenade to a crowd at the park. "At least 22 people are wounded in the grenade explosion and they have been rushed to hospitals," he said.

An improvised bomb also exploded late Tuesday in a motorcycle taxi near a police checkpoint, killing its driver and wounding an officer in the village of Saliao in Sultan Kudarat's Esperanza town.

The improvised explosive, assembled from 81-millimeter mortar bomb, was inside a sack full of charcoal when it went off while the policeman was inspecting the vehicle. Officials said faulty bomb assembly had triggered the explosion. (Mindanao Examiner)

Palpak Na U.S. Mortar, Iimbestigahan Ng Marines

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Jul) - Bubusisiin ng Philippine Marines ang naging pagpalpak ng ilang mortar na umano'y galing sa Estados Unidos habang nasa kasagsagan ng pakikipaggiyera sa mga miyembro ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) sa Basilan.

Sinabi ni Philippine Marine Corps spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan na bagamat prayoridad nito ang pagtutugis sa mga sumalakay sa tropa nito, mahalaga ring maungkat ang sanhi ng pumalyang mortar ng militar.

"On the level of the AFP, this will be addressed and our primary concern is to ensure that our weapons are working properly and that we are efficient in combat," ani Caculitan.

Magugunitang labing-apat na Marines, kung saan ay sampu ang napugutan ng ulo, sa naturang engkuwentro.

Inihayag naman ni AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro na batay sa lot number ng mga pumalpak na mortar, natunton na nagbuhat ito sa Estados Unidos, ngunit hindi niya matiyak kung binili ito o donasyon lamang.

Sinabi ni Bacarro na posible ngang hindi pumutok ang isang mortar ngunit imposible nang makailang ulit ang pagpalya nito.

Zero-defect aniya ang nasabing mga mortar subalit posibleng nagkaroon ito ng damage nang dalhin ng mga sundalo sa field na bukas sa ibat-ibang epekto ng kalikasan.

Ang bawat mortar ay nagkakahalagang $134 kada isa at may fuse na aabot naman sa $150.
Samantala, inatasan na ng Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo si Acting Defense Secretary at National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales na madaliin ang full implementation ng modernisasyon ng Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Ayon kay Gonzales, pinag-aaralan na nito kung paano maipatutupad at mapopondohan ng mabilis ang pagbili ng mga makabagong kagamitang pandigma ang militar.

Ayaw ng kalihim na gumamit pa ang mga sundalo ng mga segunda-mano o donasyong gamit mula sa ibang bansa sapagkat buhay ng mga tauhan ng AFP ang nakataya o nalalagay sa alanganin.

Ipinag-utos rin ni AFP chief General Hermogenes Esperon Jr., ang suspensyon sa paggamit ng libu-libong rounds ng 81-milimeter mortar nito habang iniimbestigahan ang pagkakapalya ng mga bala sa kasagsagan ng giyera ng Philippine Marines sa MILF.

Binigyang ni Esperon ang investigating team sa pamumuno ni Brigadier General Henry Galarpe, deputy Armed Forces Inspector General, ng pitong araw upang tapusin ang pagbusisi nito maging sa mga nangyari sa engkuwentro. (Juley Reyes)