Military official says NPA strength declines in Zamboanga Peninsula

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Aug. 29 (PNA) -- A top military official said the strength and weapons of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have been steadily decreasing here in the Zamboanga Peninsula area.

Army’s 1st Infantry Division commander Brig. Gen. Gerardo Barrientos attributed it to the ongoing “Bayanihan” peace development efforts as well to the continued collaboration of his command with the local government units within the command’s area of jurisdiction.

“The number of NPA members in the region and their firearms continue to decrease. NPA manpower in the said region was reduced by around 10 percent while their firearms were reduced by five percent,” Barrientos said in a statement.

Barrientos said that last week, the troops from the Army’s 53rd Infantry Battalion have recovered two serviceable M-16 Armalite rifles and ammunition in an arms cache in the forested tri-boundary of Zamboanga Del Sur, Zamboanga Del Norte and Misamis Occidental.

He said the troops also recovered two handheld radio transceivers, two pairs of military uniforms, medical paraphernalia, personal belongings and subversive documents of high intelligence value.

Lt. Col. Alvin Luzon, 53rd Infantry Battalion commander, the discovery of the arms cache came after residents and former rebels informed them of the place where the NPA rebels kept their stash of weapons.

“These items were left behind because the NPA lacks the manpower to bring it due to numerous surrenderees and the capture of their members,” Luzon added.

Barrientos commended the troops involved in the recovery of the arms cache citing it was brought about by the good rapport of the soldiers with the community.(PNA)
LAP/TPGJR/PJN

Filipino peacekeepers still holding position in Golan Heights

By Priam F. Nepomuceno

MANILA, Aug. 29 (PNA) -- Despite the numerous odds, 81 Filipino peacekeepers deployed to conflict-racked Golan Heights are still holding their positions despite being surrounded by Syrian anti-government forces Thursday morning.

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP public affairs office chief, said that the stand-off between Filipino troops and Syrian rebels took place around 10 a.m. Syria time (4 a.m. Manila time).

Initially, the rebels occupied the positions of the Fijian of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights and demanded that they surrender their firearms.

"However, upon surrendering their firearms, the 43 Fijian Peacekeepers were taken hostage," Zagala stressed.

Later, the Syrian rebels surrounded the Philippine contingent’s encampments with Fijian hostages in tow and demanded that the Filipino troops surrender their firearms, the AFP public affairs chief.

"The Philippine peacekeepers held their ground and demonstrated their resolve to defend their positions. They did not surrender their firearms as they may in turn be held hostage themselves. This resulted in a stand-off which is still the prevailing situation at this time as UN officials try to peacefully resolve the situation," he added.

Zagala said the Philippine government and the United Nations are in close coordination and are working together to ensure the safety and security of the Filipino troops in the stand-off. (PNA)
FPV/PFN

PPA strengthens security in Zamboanga port

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Aug. 23 (PNA) -- The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has beefed up security measures at the local port, which is one of the busiest ports in the country.

Port Manager Liberto Dela Rosa said the move is an anticipatory measure after text messages of impending bombing and attacks by lawless elements spread like wild fires the past days.

The spread of such text messages caused panic among residents prompting parents to fetch their children from at least two schools in this city.

Dela Rosa asked for the indulgence of the public as strict security check is being implemented before entry at the passenger terminals at the local port.

Pagadian City trains ‘MotorCop’ group to combat motorcycle-riding criminals

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?&sid=6&pfn=674448&arch=1&go=Go&search_arch=Pagadian%20City,%20Zamboanga%20del%20Sur&andor=and&mdte_arch=8&ddte_arch=0&ydte_arch=2014

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Aug. 19 (PNA) -– The local police in partnership with the city government has trained selected policemen to comprise the “MotorCop” group to combat motorcycle-riding criminals in this city.

Supt. Glenn Dulawan, local police chief, said Tuesday the “MotorCop” group would be comprised of 30 policemen who have just completed a two-day training from Saturday until Sunday on gun handling while driving and marksmanship.

Update) Mayor Salazar convenes Zamboanga City CMC for the rescue of abducted businesswoman

By Teofilo P. Garcia Jr.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Aug. 19 (PNA) -- Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has convened the Crisis Management Committee (CMC) while troops are tracking down the heavily-armed men who abducted a businesswoman from a coastal barangay here Monday night.

First reports said gunmen believed to be members of a kidnap-for-ransom-group (KFRG) seized a businessman, Noel Panes, and his wife Michelle at around 7:26 p.m. Monday at Purok 5, Barangay Labuan, this city.

Panes was able to escape but his wife was taken by the suspects, who fled aboard a motorboat locally known as “Jungkung” toward Zamboanga del Norte.

Barangay Labuan is the second to the last barangay in this city’s west coast toward the boundary with the province of Zamboanga del Norte.

Salazar and other city government officials, including Zamboanga City police director Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, motored to Barangy Labuan to get a first-hand information on the incident and where the mayor convened the CMC.

The CMC met with Panes but no statement yet has been issued by the committee.

Casimiro said the gunmen seized the Panes couple from their business establishment and dragged and forced them to board into one of two motorboats.

The gunmen also seized Asbi Abirin along the way but released him upon reaching the seashore.

The Panes couple owns and manages a grocery, which is located less than a hundred meters away from the shore of Barangay Labuan.

“Mr. Noel Panes was able to escape when responding elements of Police Station 10 arrived and engaged the abductors,” Casimiro said.

The gunmen shot Panes but missed after he fell into the water while trying to overturn one of the two motorboats of the suspects. (PNA)
SCS/TPGJR/TPGJR/EBP

SEC warns public of new pyramiding scam in Northern Mindanao

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Aug. 19 (PNA) -– The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Northern Mindanao on Wednesday has warned the public anew of a new pyramiding scam in the region.

Renato Egypto, SEC Region 10 director, said that the SEC has received information about a new pyramiding scheme operating in Cagayan De Oro City, Davao, Iligan City, and Dinagat Island.

Egypto warned that a pyramiding scheme is a highly regulated business. “One should first inquire with the SEC to verify if the offered pyramiding scheme has a permit to operate,” Egypto said.

He said that the SEC and other government financial institutions have been on alert on this kind of investment plans because of many complaints involving hundreds of individuals who reportedly lost money in the scheme.

According to Egypto, the scheme usually offers the would-be-investor a 20 to 50 percent return on the invested money.

At first, the investor gets the promised return. However, in the succeeding period, the investor will no longer get what he expects, Egypto said.

“Perhaps, it is because of the hard times that people easily fall into dubious money schemes,” he said.

Egypto also warned the public of the online pyramiding scheme. The unscrupulous pyramiding investors also engaged in social networking as a revolutionary approach to fool people, he said.

He said it would be very hard to trace the people involved in the online pyramiding scam because one would not know about whether the information online are legitimate. (PNA)
LAM/CD/UTB

(Update) Death toll in Biak na Bato drowning rises to 5; search continues for 2 missing

By Emil G. Gamos

MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan, Aug. 20 (PNA) -- The death toll in the Monday drowning incident at the Madlum river in San Miguel town rose to five Wednesday morning as rescuers continue to search for the two other missing tourism students of Bulacan State University.

The first year tourism students of Bulacan State University were swept away by raging waters triggered by a sudden downpour on Monday afternoon.

Latest reports from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said that the body of Janet Rivera was retrieved around 10:20 am Tuesday several miles away from where the students were swept away by the rampaging current.

As of press time, two others are still missing, according to Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado who cancelled previous engagements to personally lead the search and rescue operations since Monday.

The subject of the search and rescue operation are Madel Navarro and Maico Bartolome.

Meanwhile, the four students whose bodies were retrieved Tuesday afternoon were identified as Michael Alcantara, Michelle Banzil, Helena Marcelo and Sean Alejo.

In the wake of the accident, Alvarado issued an executive order banning field trips and trekking activities at the said river.

“While the pristine waters within the Biak-na-Bato national park continues to allure tourists, we must not discount the dangers that sudden rains in the mountains could bring,” the governor said adding, that warning signs and precautionary measures should be put in proper places to ensure that accidents would not happen again.

Residents in the area said that the river always become “wild and raging” every time heavy rains fall in the mountains of Biak-Na-Bato, where massive extraction of the rare but expensive tea rose marble took place more than four years ago.

The mining of the expensive marble was only stopped when Alvarado assumed post as governor in 2010.

Initial reports received by the PDRRMO said that four buses carrying tourism students of the BSU went on a field trip at the historical Biak-na-Bato caves.

PDRRM executive officer Liz Mungcal said that while trekking the river near the Madlum cave, the river suddenly rose and swept away the students.

The river is full of big boulders and limestone that are highly dangerous when the river gets swollen with strong raging current. (PNA)
LAM/ZST/EGGAMOS/PS

ARMM: Arrested drug courier in Davao not DENR employee

By Edwin O. Fernandez

COTABATO CITY, Aug.13 (PNA) –- Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on Wednesdat said one of the three suspected drug couriers nabbed in Davao City was not an employee of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-ARMM).

Lawyer Laisa Alamia, ARMM executive secretary, alleged large-scale drug courier Sainudin Lidasan, was not an employee of the DENR-ARMM based on the agency’s roster of employees.

Alamia told DXMS Radyo Bida her office immediately coordinated with DENR-ARMM Regional Secretary Kahal Kedtag and initial verification showed that there was no such person among the list of employees of the DENR ARMM in the regional office or in its provincial and municipal environment offices.

‘Tabak’ Division releases P427,050 retirement pay to 13 militiamen

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Aug. 5 (PNA) -– The Philippine Army through the First Infantry “Tabak” Division has released P427,050 retirement pay to 13 Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) personnel who retired from the militia service.

Army’s First Infantry Division Public Affairs Officer-in-Charge Capt. Franco Suelto on Tuesday said each of the 13 CAFGUs received P 32,850 in check each as a separation or gratuity from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Suelto said they have served more than eight years in the militia service under the Army’s 5th Infantry “Cadre” Battalion. Eight of them are from Lanao del Norte while the other five from Zamboanga del Sur.

Suelto said the checks were personally handed over last week by First Infantry Division Chief-of-Staff Col. Agapito Carmelo Nagrampa, Jr. to the militia retirees in an event in conjunction with the closing ceremony of Civilian Active Auxiliary (CAA) Replacement Training at CAFGU Training Center (CTC) in Barangay Pigkalawag, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Sur.

Suelto said the CAAs or better known in the community as CAFGUs are part-time soldiers who render duty for 15 days in a month’s time in detachments in their respective communities.

Being a CAFGU, Suelto said, it entails services rendered in meeting local insurgency threat including disaster rescue and response. The CAFGU are automatically included in the ranks of reservists in Mobilization Center per provinces of the Ready Reserve Units of the AFP.

He said there are more than 10,000 CAFGUs serving in seven provinces that are within the jurisdiction of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division. (PNA)
CTB/TPGJR/HIROHITO D. CADION/UTB

Army’s First Infantry Division assures loyalty to duly constituted authorities

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Aug. 6 (PNA) -– Army’s First Infantry Division commander Brig. Gen. Gerardo Barrientos, Jr. has assured the public of their loyalty to the duly constituted authorities.

Barrientos’ assurance is in reaction to the recent statement of Senator Antonio Trillanes, IV that retired generals affiliated with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are plotting a coup against President Benigno Simeon Aquino, III.

“The officers and men of the First Infantry Division will remain steadfast and loyal to the constitution, to the duly constituted authorities, to the flag, to the country, and to the people,” Barrientos said in a text message Wednesday.

Barrientos said the AFP is a professional, disciplined and non-partisan organization citing “we will always be focused on our mandate of protecting the people and the state. With this, there is no reason for the military to join any destabilization plot.”

Barrientos’ command has jurisdiction over five infantry brigades and a task force and these are the following: 101st Infantry Brigade, Piñan, Zamboanga del Norte; 102nd Infantry Brigade, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay; 103rd Infantry Brigade, Marawi City; 104th Infantry Brigade, Isabela City, Basilan; 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Iligan City; and, Task Force Zamboanga, Zamboanga City. (PNA)
LAP/TPGJR/HIROHITO D. CADION/UTB