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Friday, March 31, 2017

Sayyaf executioner captured in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY – An Abu Sayyaf rebel tagged in the beheading of a construction worker in Sulu province was captured by security forces in the port city of Zamboanga in southern Philippines, officials said on Friday.

Officials said the 29-year old Amilton Tammang – wanted by the police for the brutal murder - who escaped a military operation in Sulu was nabbed on Thursday at the local pier.

Army Major Richard Enciso, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said Tammang was spotted by a concerned citizen who immediately notified the authorities. “The subject is a notorious member of the ASG Ajang-Ajang group operating in Sulu. He is tagged in the harassment of a construction company in Barangay Liang in Patikul town in Sulu in 2016 where a construction worker was beheaded,” he said.

Tamang was handed over to the police and is currently being interrogated. It was not immediately known whether Tammang escaped Sulu with other rebels or whether he was planning an attack in Zamboanga.

Brigadier General Rolando Joselito Bautista, the regional army commander, praised the capture of Tammang, and said the operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao are continuing. “There is no let-up in the operations against lawless elements,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)


Thursday, March 30, 2017

4 people abducted in Marawi City

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Unidentified gunmen snatched 4 people, including two minors, in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, the army said Thursday.
Major Richard Enciso, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said security forces were searching for the victims – two adults and a pair of Muslim students whose ages are 12 and 14.
They were seized by 5 gunmen near Dansalan College Foundation in the village of Marinaut. The abductors fled with their victims in a car.
Enciso said one witness told the police “the suspects were carrying firearms and wearing face masks.”
Brigadier General Rolando Joselito Bautista, the division commander, appealed to the public for any information on the abductions. “We are again calling our partner agencies, stakeholders and constituents to help us and support our endeavor to locate and rescue the said kidnap victims and stop these terroristic acts that create fear and danger to our community,” he said.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction. (Mindanao Examiner)



Gang leader with links to Sayyaf captured in Sulu

A military photo shows soldiers inspecting assorted weapons seized by security forces from a gang following a firefight in Omar town in Sulu province in southern Philippines.

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A gang leader, who is wanted by authorities for a string or criminal charges, was captured following a firefight that left 1 person dead and a civilian injured in Sulu province in southern Philippines, officials said on Thursday. 
Army Captain Jo-ann Petinglay, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command, said Saudi Hamja was captured in the village of Capual in the town of Omar. One of his followers was also killed by soldiers and policemen in Wednesday clash, but a civilian had been injured in the cross-fire and rushed to hospital in Luuk town. 
She said security forces seized three dozen automatic firearms, including a .50-caliber machine gun, grenade launchers and a Kalashnikov rifle from Hamja’s group which is believed to have links with the Abu Sayyaf. 
“Police and military operations against lawless groups are ongoing,” Petinglay said. 
Hamja is currently being interrogated in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the restive Muslim autonomous region. It was not immediately known whether Hamja’s group was involved in Abu Sayyaf piracy and cross-border raids in Sabah. 
The jihadist group has freed 5 kidnapped Malaysian and two Filipino sailors recently, but it is still holding about two dozen Asian seamen in the region. (Mindanao Examiner)


Radyo Mindanao March 29, 2017



You are listening to Mindanao Examiner Radio - also broadcast daily from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on RPN-dxXX 1008 kHz covering Western Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and Central Mindanao.

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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

5 people dead in Zamboanga boat explosion

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Five people were killed following a huge fireball explosion inside a small passenger boat in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines.
Authorities launched an investigation into Monday evening blast that triggered a fire and engulfed the whole boat. The boat had a dozen crewmen and several of them were also injured in the blaze.
Survivors said the blast occurred while the boat – ML Satellite - was pumping gasoline at the wharf. (Mindanao Examiner)


Abu Sayyaf releases kidnapped tugboat skipper in Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf rebels freed a Filipino tugboat skipper in the restive province of Basilan in the Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines.
Laurencio Tiro was recovered by soldiers in the coastal village of Basakan in Hadji Mohd Ajul town late Monday. It was unknown whether his employer paid ransom or not, but Tiro was kidnapped along with his engineer, Aurelio Agac-ac on March 23, after rebels intercepted their tugboat off Basilan.
Agac-ac was first to be freed and had been recovered by soldiers in Basilan just recently. The military was quick to say that soldiers rescued Tiro and Agac-ac. (Mindanao Examiner)


Radyo Mindanao March 28, 2017



You are listening to Mindanao Examiner Radio - also broadcast daily from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on RPN-dxXX 1008 kHz covering Western Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and Central Mindanao.

For radio advertisements and sponsorship, please call 062-9925480 or 082-2960658 or text 0995-5202358 and 0947-4823453. For more details, please visit http://mindanaoexaminer.com/ad-rates.


Radyo Mindanao March 27, 2017



You are listening to Mindanao Examiner Radio - also broadcast daily from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on RPN-dxXX 1008 kHz covering Western Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and Central Mindanao.

For radio advertisements and sponsorship, please call 062-9925480 or 082-2960658 or text 0995-5202358 and 0947-4823453. For more details, please visit http://mindanaoexaminer.com/ad-rates.


Monday, March 27, 2017

ARMM brings 'People's Day' to Basilan

BASILAN - Since February 2015, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) brought free services closer to the public through People’s Day, a monthly activity. And on Monday,  the regional government went to Basilan province's Al-Barka town, the Abu Sayyaf group’s former stronghold, to mount such event.

People’s Day brings different line agencies of the ARMM in convergence to offer free basic social services to the region’s constituents for free, and to reach the people at the grassroots level. “We want to ensure that residents in Al-Barka have access to all the vital services and assistance from the government,” said ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman, who led the activity supported by Basilan Governor Jim Saliman, Al-Barka Mayor Darussalam Lajid, heads of regional line agencies, and local officials.

'An unfavorable reputation'

The town may have earned an unfavorable reputation, but the ARMM government is leading the way to make it become a more welcoming and better place. Gov. Hataman said the aim is to free Al-Barka from banditry and poverty by guaranteeing the delivery of government projects in the town.

For 40 years, the town served as the bastion of the terror group Abu Sayyaf, which Gov. Hataman said hampered the government in bringing in support to the town. “The people here deserve quality government service and we are bringing it in,” he said.

Free services rendered

Thousands of residents of Barangay Macalang and those from nearby areas benefited from various forms of assistance during the event. Among the services rendered were: medical and dental consultation and medication; supplemental feeding; distribution of textbooks and children's books; distribution of agricultural inputs and seedlings; domestic and international jobs fair; social pension payout; and distribution of devices to persons with disabilities, among others. The Basilan provincial government also distributed relief goods to the residents.
Takasan Adirul, 65, was thankful that his family received assistance. He added that seeing many people for the first time made the distribution more meaningful. “Ngayon lang kami nakakita ng ganito karaming tao,” Adirul said. “Kahit maraming kaguluhan, alam naming maraming tutulong sa amin."

Various front line services during the activity were as follows: Office of the Regional Governor-ARMM; ARMM Regional Library;Department of Health-ARMM; Department of Labor and Employment-ARMM; Department of Social Welfare and Development-ARMM; ARMM Humanitarian and Emergency Action Response Team (HEART); Technical Education and Skills Development Authority-ARMM; Department of Agriculture and Fisheries-ARMM; Department of Environment and Natural Resources-ARMM; Regional Sports Coordinating Office-ARMM; Regional Darul Ifta-ARMM; and Department of Education-ARMM.

Millions of pesos worth of projects

Gov. Hataman said the people should lead in winning the peace in their place, with the assistance from the local government unit and the ARMM government as well. The governor also inked a memorandum of agreement and groundbreaking ceremony of the P10-million project under the ARMM-Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance and Synergy (HELPS) that would directly benefit Barangay Macalang. Barangay government center and other high-impact projects would be among the projects under the ARMM-HELPS in the barangay.

Since 2012, including the P132.5 million infrastructure budget for 2017, the Al-Barka town would receive P877 million worth of projects from the DPWH-ARMM. Almost 90% of this amount funded 45 kilometers of roads in the town.

 ARMM People’s Day

Gov. Hataman added that People's Day will also be held in the region’s five provinces – Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi – in the coming months. The primary target areas of People’s Day will be conflict-affected barangays in the five provinces.

The ARMM People’s Day is a monthly activity that serves as an opportunity for regional line agencies and offices to offer and render their front-line services to the people of ARMM. Agencies are using this platform as an exposure to actualize their objectives and goals in pursuit of an improved and effective service to people. (Bureau of Public Information)


2 injured in roadside explosion in Basilan



ZAMBOANGA CITY – A roadside explosion on Monday injured 2 followers of a municipal deputy mayor in the restive province of Basilan in the Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines, authorities said.
It said the blast occurred just as the convoy of the politician, Jul Hataman, of Sumisip town was passing the villag of Marang. Hataman, a relative of the regional governor Mujiv Hataman, was on his way to attend a public event in nearby Al-Barka town when the improvised explosive went off.
The politician was unhurt from the explosion which authorities believed was the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf. Despite the bombing, the event dubbed as “People’s Day” pushed through with hundreds of villagers attending the occasion.
The injured – Turmi Asikin and Dasid Karim – were rushed to hospital. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, but the province is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf whose leaders pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. (Mindanao Examiner)


Sayyaf frees 3 Malaysian sailors

SULU – Abu Sayyaf rebels have freed 3 kidnapped Malaysian sailors in the southern Philippines where security forces are battling the ISIS-affiliated jihadist group blamed for the spate of cross-border attacks in Malaysia.
The trio - Mohd Ridzuan Ismail, 33, Fandy Bakran, 27, and Mohd Jumadil Rahim, 24 - were released late Sunday in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region. Two of their companions - Abd Rahim Summas, 63, and Tayudin Anjut, 46, - were also released by the Abu Sayyaf on March 23 and had returned home on Sunday.
The sailors – tugboat crew of Serudong Tiga - were all kidnapped at sea off Sabah’s Lahad Datu town in July 18. It was unknown if Malaysia or their employer paid ransoms to the Abu Sayyaf, but the jihadist group had originally demanded P30 million ransom for each of the sailors.
The Philippine military insisted that troops rescued the sailors. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding at least 2 dozen more Asian sailors kidnapped off the provinces Muslim province of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sabah. (Mindanao Examiner)


Sunday, March 26, 2017

Tawi-Tawi joins Earth Hour 2017

Some of the residents in Bongao town in Tawi-Tawi join the Earth Hour held March 25, 2017.





TAWI-TAWI – The province of Tawi-Tawi in southern Philippines joined the whole country and the millions of communities around the world as residents literally “turn out the lights” for Earth Hour 2017 under the leadership of Governor Rashidin Matba. 
This is in support of Earth Hour - held on Saturday - which is the world’s largest mass participation event that aims to heighten awareness on climate change and symbolize that working together, the people of the world can make a difference in the fight against global warming and pursue a common future.
This year, the Marine Biology and Environmental Science Student Association mobilized the different student organizations at the Mindanao State University (MSU) and in Tawi-Tawi such as Youth4Nature, ECOWATCH Tawi-Tawi, Brotherhood Senior High Students, Supreme Student Council of MSU-TCTO and the Kilusan ng mga Kabataan para sa Kalikasan for Earth Hour. 
Before the switch off, there was a countdown program held at the MSU-TCTO Parade Ground in Sanga-Sanga in Bongao town.  As part of the environmental advocacy and to raise awareness on how to reduce the impacts of climate change, several speakers were invited to share their inspirational messages. 
Among those who gave Earth Hour messages were Governor Matba, who was represented by Yasmin Bulante, Head of the Provincial Monitoring Team. He said that the provincial government has started to put up solar street lights in Mapun and Tabawan to be followed by other municipalities as part of its renewable energy program to combat global warming and climate change.  
The OIC Chancellor of MSU-Tawi-Tawi , Dr. Alma Berowa, said it was her first time to witness Earth Hour being celebrated by MSU Tawi-Tawi and she expressed appreciation that the youth embraced and owned Earth Hour and said that this can be replicated in other campuses of the MSU System.
Police Senior Inspector Nelson Amsiwen, Jr., of the Special Action Force, said the one hour of darkness was one small action, but this can be supplemented by little acts like unplugging electrical appliances when not in use, walking instead of taking a tricycle, among other energy savings measures.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Filemon Romero said that Tawi-Tawi is already experiencing sea level rise which inundated several coastal areas during the highest high tide, storm surges that washed out several houses on stilts, severe drought which affected agricultural production and gave a presentation the rational and objectives of the activity and how we can combat climate change. 
The student leaders, who shared their views about the importance of Earth Hour and the challenges of climate change, were Anina Haslee Julkanain, IOES Governor, Fatima Zarah Hussein, Senior High President and Al-Jayson Abubakar, SSC Senator.  Entertainment numbers were provided by the Andy Basion an outstanding performer Tabawan and student of MSU, film showing and finally a mass Zumba Dance capped this year’s program.  
After the switch off, the participants formed a human chain with flash lights and torches   to symbolize the 60 minutes of sacrifice for Planet Earth.  Earth Hour was celebrated in this southernmost frontier, despite some power outages the Tawi-Tawians are one with the whole world in making a statement that even if we sometimes have power outages, we are willing to sacrifice one hour of darkness to avert Global Warming and Climate Change.
With Tawi-Tawi participation, no doubt this year, the Philippines would once again be number one in terms of number of participation in Earth Hour, an honor which it has maintained for the last six years. (With a report from Fileron Romero.)