402nd Brigade chief
refutes allegations of activist group in SurSur
By Lt. Karl Jan Devaras
SURIGAO DEL SUR, Mar. 17
(PIA) - Commander of the 402nd Infantry (STINGERS) Brigade, Philippine Army
Col. Isidro Purisima refutes the allegations of an activist group tagging a
legitimate encounter as a strafing incident and wounding a farmer allegedly perpetrated
by the 2nd Special Forces (SF) Battalion.
It can be recalled that on
March 11, the 2nd SF Battalion encountered a group of lawless bandits belonging
to the Guerilla Front 21 which resulted to the capture of one wounded outlaw.
The said outlaw was assisted and immediately rushed to a hospital in Tandag
City by the elements of the 2nd SF Battalion.
In the hospital, the said
wounded outlaw confessed to the authorities and media practitioners of his
participation with the Sandatahang Platun Pampropaganda 21B (SPP 21B), the
lawless bandit group, which was encountered by the said army unit. Furthermore,
he was also identified by his former comrades in arms who have already
surrendered to be a member of the group.
The 2nd SF Battalion
immediately reported the incident to the Philippine National Police and filed
appropriate charges to the wounded outlaw.
Accordingly, Col. Purisima
immediately directed the 2nd SF Battalion to conduct an investigation with
regard to the incident.
The official also assured
the people of Surigao del Sur that their soldiers adhere to the respect of
human rights and will not tolerate any abuse of the troops.
“We are committed to
respecting human rights as stipulated in the Internal Peace and Security Plan
Bayanihan and we will not tolerate any abuse of the troops,” Col. Purisima
said. (NGBT/CMO Battalion/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
SurSur BIR chief assures
to resume construction work of P45M office building
By Greg Tataro Jr.
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del
Sur, Mar. 17 (PIA) – Amanoding Esmail, revenue district officer (RDO) of the
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) District Office here, vowed to start again,
after several months of break, the construction of the P45 million five-storey
office building in this city by the second quarter of this year.
Since taking over the post
from Monib Dimakuta during the latter part of last year, the local BIR chief
said that he already made some follow up with their regional office the purpose
of getting done with this.
Esmail shared the same
view that such edifice might turn into a “white elephant” if continued to be
left neglected.
Before he returned to the
province to run the same office for another stint, construction work of the new
BIR building, which began in early 2014, had already gone to a complete stop.
The local BIR chief said
that their office here had nothing to do with the contract and construction or
anything whatsoever for that matter but their regional office, adding that he
was not even privy to how this ended this way.
Notwithstanding the
predicament, Esmail expressed optimism that the new BIR building would be
finished in due time.
Just like what he bared
before, during his previous stint, about some three years ago, this building
would be equipped with elevator, the first to have such a facility in the
province, pointing out, however, that funding for that would be separate.
Esmail was first assigned
as RDO in Surigao del Sur in February 2009 up to September 2013; he was
replaced by Dimakuta for about two years, then, came back in October 2015.
(NGBT/Radyo ng Bayan-Tandag/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
P4.8M projects to be
implemented in AgNor
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, Mar. 17 (PIA)
- The provincial government of Agusan del Norte will implement various priority
programs and projects amounting to P4,892,000.00 based on the endorsement by
the Provincial Development Council (PDC) Executive Committee to the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan (SP).
The SP recently approved
the recommendation of the PDC considering the importance and significance of
the projects for immediate implementation, which are essential in the delivery
of basic services and facilities of the province.
These projects included:
1. Completion of the
Provincial Veterinarian Quarantine Station - P1,500,000.00
2. Provincial counterpart
for the construction of Katugasan-Bayabas Bridge, Cabadbaran City (Payment of
RROW and affected Improvements) - P1,500,000.00
3. Purchase of lot for the
resettlement site, Cahayagan, Carmen,
Agusan del Norte - P1,000,000.00
4. Embankment of
Navintalan-Talaganahaw FMR, Matabao, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte - P350,000.00
5. Replacement of
submersible pump, Barangay Pinanaan, Las
Nieves - P172,000.00
6. Improvement of Level II
Water System, Purok 1, Barangay San Antonio, RTR - P166,000.00
7. Construction of Potable
Drinking Water, Marcos Calo, Las Nieves - P150,000.00
8. Gravelling of Proposed
Barangay Road, Purok 2, Barangay Basilisa, RTR - P30,000.00
9. Purchase of 24 pieces
toilet bowls, Barangay Malapong, Buenavista - P24,000.00
Provincial officials were
hopeful that these various projects and programs will improve the welfare of
the province and its constituents. (LGU-Agusan del Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
4 more NPA rebels
surrender in SurSur
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del
Sur, Mar. 17 (PIA) – Four more New People’s Army (NPA) rebels voluntarily
surrendered to troopers of the 2nd Special Forces (Airborne) Battalion under
the 402nd Infantry Brigade, Phil. Army on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.
Reports forwarded by 1st
Lt. Karl Jan S Devaras, company
commander of the 41st Civil Military Operations (CMO) Company, 4th CMO
Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, Phil. Army said the surrendered rebels are
from the NPA’s Guerilla Front 21B.
The said surrendered
outlaws brought along with them one M16 assault rifle, 12 81mm rounds of mortar
explosives, 13 rounds of M203 grenade ammunitions and several subversive
documents upon surrendering to the said military unit.
During the conduct of
debriefing to the four surrendered outlaws, they positively identified a
wounded male bandit as one of their members.
It can be recalled that on
March 11, 2016, elements of the said military unit encountered an undetermined
number of lawless communist bandits belonging to Guerilla Front 21B while
conducting security operations at vicinity Baroboan, Barangay Caromata, San
Miguel town of this province.
The said armed engagement
resulted to one wounded outlaw who was captured and immediately rushed by the
elements of the 2nd SF Battalion to a hospital in the city.
Meanwhile, a
non-government organization claiming as a human rights group tagged the
legitimate armed encounter as a strafing incident allegedly perpetrated by the
elements of the 2nd SF Battalion which allegedly prompted the lumad community
in Caromata, San Miguel town to evacuate.
Alarmed by this claim,
Datu Rico Maca, the Municipal Tribal Chieftain of the Manobo Tribe in San
Miguel Surigao del Sur together with representatives from the local government
unit conducted a dialogue with the evacuees to assess the situation of the
evacuation.
In an interview, Datu Maca
debunked the claim of the non-government organization who tagged the legitimate
encounter as a strafing incident perpetrated by the 2nd SFBn. “Sa akong
pakighinabi sa akong mga katribu nga namakwit, wala gayud may mihisgot nga sila
gi straping sa kasundaluhan. Busa, sila namakwit sa pagtuo sa giingon sa usa ka
opisyales sa barangay nga pabakwiton sila (During the dialogue with my fellow
tribesmen, it was found out that there was no strafing incident perpetrated by
the soldiers. The reason why they evacuated was due to a false alarm by one of
the members of the barangay council in Caromata),” bared Datu Maca.
He further added that the
encounter site was at a distant area from the community and that the people of
Barangay Caromata were frightened by the presence of lawless communist armed
group in their community. “Layo ra man daw ang giengwentrohan sa militar ug sa
bandidong kumunistang grupo; apan nahadlok gayod ang katawhan sa Caromata kay
aduna sila’y pirmi mamatikdan nga bandidong kumunistang grupo duol sa ilang
kumunidad (The encounter area between the military and the lawless communist
armed group was far from the community; but the people of Caromata are
frightened by the presence of the said outlaws near their community),”
expressed Datu Maca.
He also disclosed that the
said lumad evacuees immediately returned to their respective homes after their
dialogue. “Mipauli dayon ang akong mga katribu human nasayran nila ang
kamatuoran ug nasuko sila sa mga bandidong kumunistang grupo sa padayon nila sa
pag samok-samok sa among tribu (The lumad evacuees immediately returned to
their respective homes after realizing the truth behind the false evacuation
alarm; and they were enraged by the lawless communist armed group for
continuously terrorizing their tribal communities),” added Datu Maca.
(JPG/NGBT/with a report from 1LT Karl Jan S Devaras, CMO/ PIA-Caraga)
PDI steps up greening
project
SAN JOSE, Dinagat Islands,
Mar. 17 (PIA) – In a bid to step up its greening project, another project was
recently implemented by the province of Dinagat Islands (PDI) dubbed as
“Verde-Dinagat Highway Project”, a tree planting activity which was officially
launched on March 9, 2016 at Barangay Wilson, San Jose, this province.
The activity is one of the
components of Verde-Dinagat Province program in line with national government's
national greening program wherein it targets to plant at least one billion
trees nationwide in order to combat the ill-effect of global warming that is
considered a threat to humanity.
In fact, the island
province experience water turbidity due to man-made deforestation.
Meanwhile, DENR-Provincial
Environment and Natural Resources Officer Agapito Patubo requested the barangay
captains of the seven municipalities to simultaneously plant trees for the
upcoming international day of forest on March 21, 2016.
The launching was
spearheaded by the provincial government's Environment and Natural Resources
Office headed by PENRO-LGU Zacarias Valez in coordination with the DENR-PENRO
participated by the different department heads and representatives from the
national line agencies, municipal environment and natural resources officials,
and board members Antonio Ensoy and Joslyn Ecleo. (PIO-Dinagat
Islands/PIA-Dinagat Islands)
Cebuano News: Lungsod sa
Alegria nakadawat ug daghang mga proyekto
Ni Mary Jul Escalante
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del
Norte, Mar. 17 (PIA) – Ubay-ubay nga mga proyekto ang giturn-over ug
gibendisyunan didto sa Lungsod sa
Alegria kagahapon nga adlaw, Marso 16, 2016.
Unang gibendisyunan ni
Rev. Fr. Edito Alcala ang bag-ong Early Childhood Care and Development Center
(ECCD) nagkantidad ug P3 milyones ug dayon ang Disaster and Rescue Equipment.
Ang maong okasyon
gitambungan ni Gobernador Sol F. Matugas uban nila Board Member Melva Garcia,
mga opisyales sa barangay ug lungsod nga gipanguluhan ni Mayor Dominador Esma
ug uban pang mga bisita.
Pagkahuman sa blessing
gipahigayon ang programa diin ubay ubay ang mga proyekto ang gitunol atol sa
maong okasyon sama sa Flood Control Facilities para sa Brgy. Alipao, Evacuation
Center sa Brgy. Anahaw, Drainage Canal ug Expansion sa Level II Water System
para sa Brgy. Budlingin ug sa Brgy. Camp Eduard.
Samtang usa ka Evacuation
Center ang nadawat sa Brgy. Julio Ouano, 400 LM Concrete Pathway sa Brgy.
Ferlda, Improvement of Brgy. Hall sa Brgy. Gamuton, Drainage Canal ug Repair
and Improvement of Brgy. Health Station sa Brgy. Ombong, Drainage Canal sa
Brgy. Poblacion, Evacuation Center sa Brgy. Pongtud, Repair and Improvement of
Brgy. Hall sa Brgy. San Juan ug Evacuation Center sa Brgy. San Pedro. (PGO-PIC)
