Sunday, April 10, 2022

Sea curfew in Sabah extended to April 25

 Posted to The Star (Apr 10, 2022): Sea curfew in Sabah extended to April 25 (By STEPHANIE LEE)



KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s dusk to dawn sea curfew has been extended to April 25.

Sabah police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah said with this curfew in place, residents in the areas involved are not allowed to leave their homes during curfew hours, while outsiders are not allowed to enter curfew zones.

He said the extension of the 6pm to 6am sea curfew was needed due to continuous threats from cross-border criminals, including from kidnap-for-ransom groups.


The curfew covers areas up to three nautical miles off Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran.

“There is a need to continue the curfew in these waters to prevent the encroachment of terrorists and criminals who can threaten the safety of locals, international researchers and tourists on islands,” Idris said in a statement on Sunday (April 10).

He said according to intelligence sources, kidnap-for-ransom groups and Abu Sayyaf militants are still trying to attack and commit cross-border crimes.

He said the curfew allows authorities to ensure the safety of the people of Sabah who use the waters and are staying near the Esszone.

“The curfew is to facilitate enforcement and monitoring of boat activities in the area as well as establish a sense of security with nearby chalet owners and fishermen through the presence of a security team,” Idris said.

“I have also given the authority to all district police chiefs to issue permits to any eligible applicants who fit the criteria to conduct fishery activities in the areas affected by the curfew.” he added.

The curfew was first implemented on July 19, 2014, following a spate of kidnappings, which saw the beheading of Sarawakian Bernard Then Ted Fed and the killing of several others, including a policeman and tourists.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/04/10/sea-curfew-in-sabah-extended-to-april-25

Kalinaw News: Farmers Group Calls out Rebels to Stop Recruitment

Posted to Kalinaw News (Apr 10, 2022): Farmers Group Calls out Rebels to Stop Recruitment



KIDAPAWAN CITY – Various Kidapawan Farmers’ Association conducted Walk for Peace to condemn the deceptive recruitment, atrocities and violence of the CPP-NPA-NDF that led to the demise of an NPA leader Ezequiel Daguman held in Barangay Poblacion, Kidapawan City on April 10, 2022.

The Walk for Peace is simultaneous to the burial of Daguman in Cotabato Memorial Cemetery. Also, said farmers were former members of the Underground Mass Organization (UGMO) of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG), but now decided to return to the folds of the law.

A certain alias “Ming”, former UGMO member and now President of Farmer’s Organization based in Kidapawan said in vernacular, “Nagpahigayon mi ug rally diri sa Kidapawan kay gipakita namo sa katawhan na undangon na ang pagpang recruit sa NPA. Kay ug ipadayon pa gihapon ni nga grupo daghan na ang kinabuhi nga makalas.” (We facilitated a rally here in Kidapawan to show to the people that the recruitment of the NPA should be stopped. Because if it (referring to the recruitment) continues, many lives will be lost.)

Meanwhile, MGen Nolasco A Mempin, Commander 10ID expresses his deepest sympathy to the family of Daguman. “The deceptive recruitment of the CTG must be stopped, otherwise many lives of our fellow Filipino will again be wasted,” said MGen Mempin.

Daguman family expresses their heartfelt gratitude to the Agila Division for the proper turn over and transportation of the cadaver of Ezequiel back to his family.



[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]

https://www.kalinawnews.com/farmers-group-calls-out-rebels-to-stop-recruitment/

Kalinaw News: 303rd Brigade and LGU Bacolod City commemorates Day of Valor

Posted to Kalinaw News (Apr 10, 2022): 303rd Brigade and LGU Bacolod City commemorates Day of Valor



CAMP GERONA, Murcia, Negros Occidental – The 303rd Infantry Brigade, 3ID, Philippine Army, and the Local Government of Bacolod City represented by Atty Renecito Novero together with Bacolod City Veterans Association and Bacolod City Police Office commemorated the 80th Araw ng Kagitingan, or Day of Valor at the Monument of Unknown Soldier, Bacolod Public Plaza, Bacolod City on April 09, 2022 (Saturday).

Atty Renecito Novero, alongside Lt.Colonel Arnel Calaoagan, 303rd Brigade Executive Officer who represents BGen Pasaporte and Bacolod City Veterans Association Post Presidents laid flowers at the Monument of the unknown soldier.

In his message, Lt.Colonel Arnel Calaoagan, 303rd Brigade Executive Office said that “On this day we commemorate the Fall of Bataan, the culmination of a bloody battle for the Philippines—the last standing free nation in Eastern Asia during World War II. The stout and stubborn defense mounted by the courageous Filipino soldiers inspired strong resistance against expansionist ambitions throughout the world, especially at home, where many continued the struggle until the day of our liberation. Our veterans serve as our inspiration to continue serving our people and securing our land, our country from the enemies that will take away our liberation.”

Meanwhile, BGEN Pasaporte gives his message and said that “We honor the many allies who fought and continue to fight with us to this day even our modern COVID-19 frontline heroes. We thank all those who have stood by our country in its battle against insurgency especially the Negrense. Guided by our shared values of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, let us unite so that together, we can overcome today’s challenges in a way that will move the rest of the Negros Island and even our country along the straight path towards a more just, harmonious, and prosperous future.” BGEN Pasaporte said.



[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]

https://www.kalinawnews.com/303rd-brigade-and-lgu-bacolod-city-commemorates-day-of-valor/

Missing NDF consultant was abducted and killed in Davao del Norte, spokesperson says

From the periodically pro-CPP/NPA/NDF online publication the Davao Today (Apr 9, 2022): Missing NDF consultant was abducted and killed in Davao del Norte, spokesperson says

The National Democratic Front Southern Mindanao said claims by the Armed Forces of the Philippines that their peace consultant Ezequiel ‘Ka Rey’ Cortes Daguman was killed in an encounter in Davao del Norte was not true.

Its spokesperson Rubi del Mundo in a statement said Daguman, age 50, was abducted and killed.

The NDF made public that their consultant was abducted on March 17 ten days after the consultant was reported missing.

They said Daguman along with his driver, Bensito “Jojo” Julio, 38, was abducted by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) while en route to a peasant community in one of the banana plantations in New Corella town in Davao del Norte.


The Eastern Mindanao Command declared on March 27 that troops of the 1001st Infantry Brigade killed Daguman and two of his companions identified as Ruel Baylon and Quirino Remegio during an encounter in Brgy. Tupaz Maragusan, Davao de Oro on March 27.

“Our troops who have been conducting focused military operations since last year to sustain our crackdown against the remaining CTG (communist terrorist groups) were alerted by concerned citizens on the presence of armed groups attempting to plant an IED (improvised explosive device) along the road. This was immediately responded to by the 1001st Brigade’s troops, which led to a series of armed encounters and resulted in the death of Daguman and his comrades,”
Eastmincom commander Lieutenant General Almerol said in a statement.


The military said Daguman was wanted for various crimes including kidnapping, serious illegal detention, double murder, robbery with violence, and murder.

But del Mundo said that the AFP has unwittingly exposed its standard operating procedure of misinformation and fake news to conceal its innumerable crimes.

“The same script had been used to cloak the AFP’s brutal murder of five civilians known as New Bataan 5, who were abducted and executed in New Bataan, Davao de Oro in late February,” she added, referring to the murders of Lumad school volunteers and a community health worker whom the military claimed were NPA rebels.

The NDF asserted that as a peace consultant, Daguman is covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. The peace talks between the government and the NDF resumed in 2016 but President Rodrigo Duterte terminated it in late 2017.

Del Mundo urged human and peace advocates to condemn this case of state terror and that justice should be served to Daguman’s family and other victims of Duterte’s tyranny.

http://davaotoday.com/main/headline/missing-ndf-consultant-was-abducted-and-killed-in-davao-del-norte-spokesperson-says/

Omar Solitario Ali: “I cannot be and I will not be a terrorist”

Posted to MindaNews (Apr 10, 2022): Omar Solitario Ali: “I cannot be and I will not be a terrorist” (By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS)

Former Marawi City mayor Omar Solitario Ali, a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Lanao del Sur during the Marcos dictatorship, lost his battle with brain tumor on Friday in a hospital in Cagayan de Oro City, his plea for a day in court unheeded.

“I was never accorded a day in court, or the right to confront my accusers, and I can never agree that our Department of National Defense can just come up with a listing of hundreds of names (out of unverified / unclassified raw intel reports contaminated with local political feuds) and that will make those listed as fugitives … What is happening to our country?” Solitario posted on his Facebook page on March 17, 2019.

“I cannot be and I will not be a terrorist,”
he declared.


The 70-year-old Solitario served as mayor of Marawi City for two terms, from 2001 to 2007, ran for mayor in 2016 under the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP) whose standard bearer then was Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, but lost to Majul Gandamra of the Liberal Party.
 

Omar Solitario Ali after signing the candidates’ pledge for a clean and honest election in Marawi City in 2019. the former mayor (2001 to 2007) ran for mayor in 2016 and 2019 but lost to Majul Gandamra. Photo from his FB page

In August 2016, however, his name was included in President Duterte’s list of personalities allegedly involved in illegal drugs and during the Marawi Siege in 2017, was ordered arrested for alleged involvement in the attack on Marawi, his name included in the Arrest Orders 1 and 2 of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, then the martial law administrator.

Lorenzana’s arrest orders, issued following the declaration of martial law on May 23, 2017 — Day 1 of the Marawi Siege — directed the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Director-General of the Philippine National Police, Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation and Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration to “arrest, take into custody and conduct/continue the investigation on the following personalities for violation of Article 134 (Rebellion) of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines or any crime related thereto.”

“Kampi ka sa gobyerno or kalaban tayo?”

On June 9, 2017, Duterte in a speech before soldiers in a military camp in Sultan Kudarat recalled that he gave Solitario a mouthful during his recent phone conversation with him.

“Sabi ko, put__ina, ano ka ba? Kampi ka sa gobyerno o kalaban tayo? Kasi sabi ko pinapahuli ka ni Lorenzana, put__ina, ipapatay talaga kita” (I told him, put__ina, what are you? For government or against us. I told him Lorenza wants him arrested, I will have you killed).

Duterte said he told Solitario to first clear his name before Lorenzana before they could continue communicating with each other.

Solitario denied involvement in illegal drugs and in the Marawi Siege.
 

Peace rally at the Oval of the Iligan City High School with MNLF commander Omar Solitario Ali (extreme right) sometime in 1987. (L to R) Col. Raul Aquino, military commander of the Lanao provinces, Iligan Bishop Fernando Capalla and Ike delos Reyes of the National Democratic Front-Northwestern Mindanao. MindaNews photo by BOBBY TIMONERA

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza even vouched for him, explaining he was a consultant in the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Dureza succeeded in getting Solitario delisted from Lorenzana’s arrest orders. Solitario and his two sons were removed from the list on August 16, 2017 on the basis of a “conditional clearance” given by Lorenzana but six days later, on August 22, Lorenzana revoked it, citing “vehement objections” from the AFP, PNP and local leaders in Marawi and Lanao Sur.

Martial law, supposedly only for 60 days, was extended thrice, until December 31, 2019.

PDP rally

On April 12, 2019, still under martial law and still supposedly “wanted” on the basis of the Lorenzana arrest orders, Solitario showed up at the rally of the PDP-Laban at the Dimaporo Gym in Marawi City, a rally that was supposed to have been graced by President Duterte. The latter was a no-show.

Solitario sat on the front row facing the stage and was publicly acknowledged by senatorial bets but was intercepted by the military as he stepped out of the Dimaporo Gymnasium and brought to the headquarters of the 103rd Infantry Brigade.

The military said they did not arrest but merely “invited” the former mayor.

 

Former Marawi Mayor Omar Solitario speaks in Meranaw to pacify his companions and supporters just outside the Dimaporo gymnasium where he attended the rally of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino on Friday,April 12, 2019. Solitario was intercepted by the military and “invited” to the 103rd Infantry Brigade which was later ordered to release him. MindaNews photo by CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS

Solitario in 2019 was one of nine candidates for mayor, running under the People’s Consultative Party but his campaign materials posted on social media bore the faces of President Duterte and PDP senatorial candidates Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Ronald dela Rosa. There was no PDP candidate for mayor. 


Campaign material of Omar Solitario Ali in 2019. Photo from his FB page

“We just invited him for an interview,” the commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade then, Col. Romeo Brawner, said in response to MindaNews’ query if Solitario was arrested.

Asked where Solitario was, Brawner said he had been released. “We received orders to release him,” he said, but sent no reply when asked who ordered them to release Solitario.

MindaNews asked Lorenzana then on the status of Solitario, if he had been cleared of the charges. “We are in the process of doing it. We’ll know in a couple of days if he will be cleared and removed from the arrest order(s).”

Then Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal was also asked who ordered Solitario’s release but did not reply as well.

On April 13, 2019, the day after the PDP rally, Solitario posted on his Facebook page a statement: “This is to clarify that Hon. OMAR SOLITARIO ALI was just INVITED by AFP and some VIP Guests in Brigade to discuss matters regarding the turn-over of his houses in MSU, Marawi City.”

“Dirty politics”

In a post on March 17, 2019, he blamed “dirty local politics” for the accusations against him. “Politicians will saturate our information with politics to use the AFP to neutralize their political opponent. That is what happened to me and my family.”

“I, Omar Solitario Ali, have nothing to do with the Mautes of Butig. It was just a coincidence that my brother Pre Salic was married about 35 years ago to Rasmia Romato who happened to be a first cousin of the Maute Brothers. That was before the Maute Brothers were born. Those guys were infected with the extremists virus perhaps just five years ago, but the greater number of their relatives abhor their idea of extremism,” he wrote.

 He said he met the Maute brothers in Butig only when then Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza sent him to talk to them.

“I met the Maute brothers in Butig when I was sent by Sec Jesus Dureza to talk to them, the day the president visited Butig, and I did talk to them but it flowed very confrontational – Omar conciliatory but Abdullah and myself debated very heatedly on their concept of Islam and social change.” President Duterte visited Butig on November 30, 2016.

He noted that if he were not a revolutionary leader before and had no relation by affinity, “they might have killed me right there and then.” He went home, “gave up the idea of convincing them to stop fighting and to give the President a chance to prove he will cause shift to federalism, which will accommodate their demand for a society substantially Islamic.”

But religious leaders prevailed upon him to give it another try, spoke to the Mautes and reported to him three days later that the Mautes had organized a team to talk with him three days later. “Unfortunately, OPAPP conveyed to me that AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) disliked the idea,” he said.

“After Marcos, violence should only be in Moro history books”

Solitario narrated that on Day 1 of the siege on May 23, 2017, he was in a meeting in Chali Beach, Cagayan de Oro City, with “10 old comrades in the MNLF, 10 high ranking officials of the MILF … many Ulama, Professionals, and youth leaders” to discuss “ways to oppose and contain the spread of the radical and destructive Islamic State ideology.”

He said he had a radio program every Sunday night for four years discussing the “menace of extremism and the need to stick to the Authentic Islam” which he said he studied for decades and “I believe I am a strong pillar of moderation in religion.”

“I am 67 years old. I finished law school. I have MDM (Master in Development Management) degree from AIM (Asian Institute of Management). I used to be a PA Major in the Reserved Command, I have 46 grandchildren. I used to be the Regional President of PDP-Laban, I cannot be and I will not be a terrorist,” Solitario said, ending his narrative by saying he was “never accorded a day in court, or the right to confront my accusers,” that the arrest orders contained a list of “unverified/unclassified raw intel reports contaminated with local political feuds” and this question: “What is happening to our country?”

Ten days later, on March 27, 2019, Solitario again posted on his Facebook page that some people, whom he did not name, were trying to pin down his family “after they failed in their first attempt to fabricate stories.”

“Hanap pa sila ng paraan para i-pin down nila ang aming pamilya (They are still looking for ways to pin down my family) after they failed in their first attempt to fabricate stories. This is another attempt to malign my family,” he wrote.

He said the “fabricator” of stories against him could launch attacks and blame these on his family. “Para sa akin at sa pamilya ko (For me and my family), after Marcos, violence should only be in Moro History books,” Solitario said.

In another post on February 16, 2019, Solitario said he believes it was “not a coincidence but a divine determination that I am not the leader of Marawi when the siege happened.”

“I would definitely have asked those Daula Islamia terrorists to abandon the city and prevent its fatal destruction or I led to fight them and die in the process. I may also have pleaded and insisted to our AFP to give me time to negotiate the pull out of those bad guys, and not bombard and destroy MARAWI. I do not want to live and lead to witness the destruction of my birth place, unless the perpetrators will kill me in the process,” he said.

Triumphant

MindaNews asked Lorenzana on Saturday if Solitario had been cleared in relation to the Marawi siege. He said he has to check. “Too long ago. I’ll check with the PNP” (Philippine National Police), he said.

Friends of Solitario told MindaNews he did not receive any written clearance. An official in a government office who is a close friend of Solitario said there may have been a clearance but “verbal only.”

Lawyer Omar Sema, Member of Parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), described Solitario as “one of the MNLF leaders who has proven the democratic process works in our collective search for self-determination and genuine self-governance.”

Sema, son of Muslimin Sema, chair of a faction of the MNLF (now Labor Minister of the BARMM), said Solitario and “the other leaders with no established machinery paddled their way against the current of traditional politics in the Bangsamoro – and by all means they were triumphant. Their success is a barometer for the current brass of revolutionary leaders who have embraced the process as a way to achieving total victory. Total victory of the Bangsamoro Jihad Fii Sabilillah.”

https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/04/omar-solitario-ali-i-cannot-be-and-i-will-not-be-a-terrorist/

Troops recover powerful bomb in South

From the Mindanao Examiner (Apr 10, 2022): Troops recover powerful bomb in South



Government troops recovered a powerful improvised bomb on a corn field in the restive province of Maguindanao in the Muslim autonomous region where security forces continue to battle extremist groups allied with the Islamic State.

Army Col. Oriel Pangcog, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, said patrolling members of the 40th Infantry Battalion discovered the improvised explosive in the village of Matagobong in Ampatuan town over the weekend.



Photos released by the 6th Infantry Division to regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner show the recovered improvised explosive.

He said the explosive was assembled from an 81mm mortar projectile rigged to a pair of batteries, a blasting cap and remote control transmitter. Pangcop described the bomb as a “high explosive anti-personnel mine.”

“They (troops) immediately cordoned the area to allow members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to render safety procedures and disarm the IED,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the 6th Infantry Division and the Joint Task Force Central Mindanao, has urged villagers to stay vigilant and immediately report to the authorities any suspected improvised explosives in their locality. “This kind of explosive, if not properly disposed of, could destroy properties and cause the loss of innocent lives,” he said.

No individual claimed ownership of the bomb, but several armed secessionist groups are actively operating in the province and had been fighting security forces for many decades now in an effort to put up a Islamic state in the South.

Most of the fighters were former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front whose leader Murad Ebrahim signed a peace deal with the government in March 2014. Ebrahim was eventually appointed as regional governor along with his deputies who now hold key positions in the autonomous region composed of other Muslim provinces Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Lanao del Sur.

http://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com/2022/04/troops-recover-powerful-bomb-in-south.html

Arrested Anakpawis nominee on the run for nearly a year

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 10, 2022): Arrested Anakpawis nominee on the run for nearly a year (By Villamor Visaya, Jr.)



ARRESTED. Anakpawis party-list-Cagayan Valley coordinator and fourth nominee Isabelo Adviento (right) is led into a waiting vehicle after his arrest at a fast-food restaurant in Barangay Luyang, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya on Friday night (April 8, 2022). Adviento has a standing arrest warrant for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives. (PNP-Bayombong photo)

The case of Anakpawis party-list-Cagayan Valley regional coordinator and fourth nominee Isabelo Adviento (alias Buting) began with the discovery of firearms, ammunition, and other explosive materials at his house in Barangay Carrupian, Baggao, Cagayan province on Dec. 2, 2020.

Judge Pablo Agustin of Tuguegarao City Regional Trial Court issued an arrest warrant on June 17, 2021 for violation of Republic Acts 10591 (Comprehensive Law On Firearms and Ammunition), 9516 (Illegal/Unlawful Possession, Manufacture, Dealing In, Acquisition Or Disposition Of Firearms, Ammunition Or Explosives), and 8294 (Codifying the laws on illegal/unlawful possession, manufacture, dealing in, acquisition or disposition of firearms), the basis of Adviento’s arrest at a fast-food restaurant in Barangay Luyang, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya on Friday night.

A report of the SMNI News-Cagayan Valley said Adviento heads the Regional White Area Committee under the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Reports also indicated that the 57-year-old Adviento has ties with Agnes Mesina, the regional coordinator ng Makabayan Bloc-Cagayan Valley nabbed for murder in Aparri, Cagayan in February.


She was eventually released after cops learned that the charges against her have been dismissed in 2021.

Joint intelligence operatives of the Regional Intelligence Division of the Philippine National Police-Region 2, led by Maj. Peter Bometivo, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Bayombong police, and allied units served the warrant of arrest against Adviento at about 8 p.m.

No bail was recommended for Adviento, who was brought to the Bayombong municipal jail for temporary custody and will be turned over to the court of origin in Baggao, Cagayan.

Supporters of Adviento claimed the evidence were planted while an Anakpawis statement said the case was “fabricated”.

Mesina was implicated in the 2018 killing of Garito Tiklonay Malibato, an indigenous community leader of the Karadyawan group in Kapalong, Davao del Norte.

Anakpawis represents the marginalized sectors of workers, peasants, fisherfolk, national minorities, and urban and rural poor.

It is reportedly an electoral wing of labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno and peasant group Kilusang Mangbubukid ng Pilipinas, both allied with the CPP-NPA.


The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171908