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| Police Regional Office XII - Central Mindanao PRO 12 Camp Amando Dumlao Sr, Isulan, Sultan Kudarat (083) 555-5149/[SAT] 0985-411-661 |
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| Year 2008 MONTH JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | ARCHIVE 2007 | |
JULYProvincial News, Thursday, July 17, 2008 Two explosions rock Sarangani jail GENERAL SANTOS CITY, July 17 (PNA) – Police authorities on Thursday suspected that two explosions near the Sarangani Provincial Jail that occurred Wednesday evening might be a possible attempt by communist rebels to spring out one of their colleagues incarcerated in the facility. The explosions happened at 8:30 p.m. about 40 meters across the road from the gate of the provincial jail which is located in a secluded portion atop a hill in Baluntay, Alabel town, Sarangani. Sarangani police director Senior Supt. Danilo Peralta said they were not discounting such a possibility considering that a ranking leader of the local front of the New Peoples Army (NPA) is detained in the jail. Peralta was referring to Jeramil Benedicto, alias Kumander Warren, an NPA leader suspected of having led attacks on communication facilities and government officials in Sarangani and Davao del Sur provinces. “We have considered this threat with the detention there of Warren but we are not discounting other possibilities,” Peralta said. "At the moment, we are still trying to determine the real motive behind the explosions," he added. Meanwhile, jail warden Renato Purisima said there were no casualties in the twin explosions and did not cause any damage. He said the explosions were followed by gunshots prompting jail guards to fire warning shots. Purisima said they have been on alert the past weeks following informations that a high profile inmate will be rescued. Initially, the explosions were believed to be that of an M79 grenade launcher, but the regional crime laboratory has yet to release its findings based on fragments that were recovered from the blast scene. Last week, a grenade exploded in front of the municipal police station in Maasim town. No one was hurt in that incident. On Wednesday night, an explosion partly damaged a police patrol parked in front of the police station in Tambler, this city. No one was hurt in the incident but authorities are looking into the possible link of a former army soldier who was earlier arrested for illegal gun possession. "The explosions happened in separate distant areas, but we are not keeping our guards down. We are not discounting possibilities that these cases are interconnected and that there is something deeper behind these incidents," Peralta said. (PNA) Provincial News, Thursday, July 17, 2008 NorCot town top wanted man arrested KIDAPAWAN CITY, July 17 (PNA) – Lawmen collared on Tuesday in Magpet, North Cotabato the town’s most wanted person. In a belated report, Inspector Luis Savilla Pederio, Magpet police chief, identified the suspect as Aldrin Negre, a farmer from Basak village in the area. The arresting police team recovered from the suspect a hand grenade. The suspect, long wanted for an attempted homicide case filed under the sala of Judge Henelinda Molina-Diaz of the Regional Trial Court here. “The suspect was spotted in a house of a certain Tasio Aportadera in same village,” Pederio said. He added that it was Barangay Basak chair Ronaldo Delgado and several village watchmen who tipped the police over the suspect’s presence in the area. Delgado told police that the suspect was causing trouble at Aportadera’s house when arrested. Apart from the attempted homicide case, Pederio said they are also preparing illegal possession of explosives charges against the suspect. (PNA) APRILProvincial News, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Security tightened following Midsayap blast KORONADAL CITY, April 28 (PNA) – Police authorities heightened their security operations here and the neighboring areas in the wake of the weekend bomb attack on a passenger bus in Midsayap town in North Cotabato. Sr. Supt. Robert Kiunisala, South Cotabato police director, said they have alerted all their security units in the province to avert possible movements by suspected extortionists and alleged terror groups in the area. "They started it again in North Cotabato. This only means anything similar may happen here if we're not vigilant enough," he warned. He advised local commuters and public transport operators to be extra vigilant and immediately report any suspicious movements to authorities. A unit of the Weena Bus Inc. parked near the public terminal in Midsayap town was damaged Saturday night following a powerful explosion reportedly caused by a bomb planted at a nearby ditch. Authorities blamed the latest attack to extortion group Al-Kohar, which was tagged in the series of bomb explosions in this city, Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato City, Kidapawan and Makilala in North Cotabato during the last two years. Last year, the Yellow Bus Line Inc. here lost several passenger buses to bomb attacks staged by the Al-Khobar group. Prior to the attacks, the group had demanded the payment of "protection money" but bus company officials repeatedly ignored them. Kiunisala confirmed that the Al-Khobar group has been sending extortion demands again to several businessmen in the province. He said a businessman, whom he refused to identify, reportedly received several extortion letter from the group. "But we're still trying to validate these letters if they indeed came from (the Al-Khobar) because it's possible that some enterprising individuals are just taking advantage of the situation," he said. He advised traders not to give in to any extortion demand and immediately report these activities to police or local officials. "Just be careful in dealing about these. In case they come to you again, inform us immediately so we can track them down and make the possible arrests," he added. (PNA) Provincial News,
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Sr. Insp. Elias Dandan, Pikit town police chief, identified the suspect as Abdul Haqq Balabagan, 30, of Barangay Lagundi, Pikit, and an erstwhile member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel group. Police officers collared Balabagan during a highway inspection on Saturday along the Kabacan-Pikit highway. Authorities confiscated from the suspect an unlicensed pistol. Balabagan has a standing arrest warrant for his involvement in a string of motorcycle theft and highway robberies since 2005, according to Dandan. The suspect also figured prominently in a 2005 highway robbery where he and his gang killed a member of the provincial police mobile group who was on board a public transport bus on its way to Pikit. Balabagan also heads a local carnapping syndicate operating in North Cotabato and in nearby provinces, reports from Pikit police office added. The suspect hid in Luzon sometime in 2005 following an arrest warrant issued against him. “He returned to his hometown in Pikit in 2007 and went back to his old nefarious activities until his arrest on Saturday,” Dandan said. Appropriate charges were filed against the suspect, the police official added. In another incident, police authorities in Kidapawan also arrested a motorcycle thief on Sunday following a saturation drive. Chief Insp. Leo Ajero, Kidapawan police director, identified the arrested carnappers as Luis Suarez, 39, of Barangay Lanao here. Ajero said they are still trying to establish the possible link of Suarez is to an organized carnapping group operating in the city and the rest of the province. (PNA) LAP/NYP/Malu C. Manar/jmd/utb
FEBRUARYProvincial News Student hurt in North Cotabato highway robbery KIDAPAWAN CITY, Feb. 25 (PNA) - A college student was injured when one of the six holdup men shot him on the chest during a weekend bus highway robbery in the outskirts of Carmen, North Cotabato. The victim, identified as Roland Diazon, 18, a sophomore at the College of Agriculture in the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, sat next to the bus driver of the Weena bus unit. He sustained a gunshot wound in his right chest when fired upon by one of the perpetrators. Interviewed later at a hospital in this city, Diazon said that he only tried to raise his arms as sign of surrender when one of the holdup men pointed his gun to him and opened fire. Sr. Insp. Reynate Cabico, Carmen police chief, believed that the holdup gang members are renegade elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front based in the jungles of Carmen. Diazon said that the perpetrators spoke the Maguindanaon dialect. The armed men boarded the bus along the highway in Barangay Limbalod, Kabacan, and later declared a hold-up along secluded Barangay General Luna in Carmen. Cabico said the robbers succeeded in carting away cash and valuables from the bus passengers and sped off aboard waiting getaway motorcycles parked near the highway. (PNA) LAP/NYP/Malu C. Manar/jmd/utb Provincial News Old Maguindanao clan war settled COTABATO CITY, Feb. 24 (PNA) – A deep-seated animosity between the political families of Matanog, Shariff Kabunsuan Mayor Nasser Imam and relative Kahir Macapeges was recently settled peacefully through the arbitration of The Asia Foundation (TAF), Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and ARMM police office. The 12-year-old feud between the two clans stemmed from a violent mayoral rivalry in the area that has also cost the lives of several respective family members. Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, ARMM police director, said it took the TAF and Ampatuan, through the ARMM’s Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission, several months of dialogues in convincing the Imam and Macapeges clans to settle their disputes for good. Amid this, however, Goltiao said his office has set up a post-conflict management center in the area to watch over and guide the two clans return to their normal lives without fear of reprisals. “Members of the two clans now stroll around town without sans their firearms,” the police official stressed. For their part, both the Imam and Macapeges clans have pledged before Ampatuan an equitable power-sharing scheme to govern their municipality in the future. (PNA) LGI/NYP/rsm Provincial News Chief Insp. Leo Ajero, city police director, said Musali Calo, an arrested bombing suspect, informed them on the presence of bomb-making component at the house of Ustadz Abdul-Aziz Hassan in Barangay Nuangan here. Ajero said following the arrest of Calo on Feb. 21, he confessed that at least six improvised explosive devices were kept in the Hassan’s house. A search warrant issued by Judge Francis Palmones of the Regional Trial Court Branch 17 prompted them to raid the house of the Muslim cleric, he added. “The raid was legal and done in a proper manner. We did not violate any rules or rights,” Ajero stressed. Hassan, leader of the Ustadz-Priests-Imam Federation (UPIF) in Cotabato, is a relative of Muhalidin Hassan; one of two arrested suspects in last year’s KMCC Mall bombing here that killed a mall employee and injured eight others. Relatives of Hassan, however, got infuriated when police told media that what they confiscated from the house were bomb-making ingredients, citing the materials recovered were only several kilos of urea and fertilizers. The seized materials were given to us last year by the North Cotabato provincial government under its rubber development program. These were not given to produce bombs but for rubber and banana,” said Alluden Hassan, village councilor and son of the arrested suspect. The younger Hassan said the police violated their constitutional right to privacy as police has set up a watch post a few meters away from his father’s house a day before the raid. (PNA) LBV/NYP/Malu C. Manar/jmd/rsm Provincial News,
Thursday, February 07, 2008 GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Feb. 6 (PNA) -– The police here claimed they already have leads in the recent bombing attack near a tuna processing facility in the city that killed four and injured some 27 others. Supt. Harisson Martinez told newsmen in a press conference that they were working on a witness who saw those who left the explosive near the Philbest Tuna Canning Company along the national highway in Tambler. Martinez said the suspects include a female and two males. Cartographic sketches are being prepared based on details given by a suspect. He declined to give further details even as he claimed that they were still trying to validate all the information given by the witness. The police official said they were also trying to look into what the city mayor of Kidapawan have said on media that the extortion group Al Khobar was behind the attack. Kidapawan mayor Gantuangco said that they received a phone call from an individual who claimed that Al Khobar was behind the deadly January 30 blast. "We will be interviewing mayor Gantuangco for him to shed more light on this," Martinez said. Meanwhile, Philbest has yet to confirm about loose talks that the explosion was due to a row in the company and that some disgruntled personnel were behind it. Philbest is one of the homegrown companies of the Rivera family-owned RD Group which also runs a ship drydock facility in nearby Maasim town, Sarangani Province. Aside from fishing companies and fish processing firms, RD Group also operates a hotel and resort chain, a bank chain, pawnshops and realty businesses. (PNA) DCT/RGR/utb Provincial News,
Thursday, February 07, 2008 GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Feb. 6 (PNA) – The provincial police office in Sarangani has started to recall high powered firearms from its various police units, particularly those in the hinterlands, and replaced these with shotguns. Sarangani police director Sr. Supt. Danilo Peralta said the recall is in keeping with a directive from Philippine National Police director Avelino Razon who issued the order after findings that communist rebels have often carted away high powered weapons in their attacks of police outposts in remote areas. "We will be replacing M16s with shotguns," he said. Sarangani has seven municipalities spread in the coast along Sarangani Bay and the Celebes Sea. It has a lone municipality – Malungon, that is landlocked and known to have the presence of communist rebels. The move has drawn opposition from local leaders, especially the town mayors, who claimed that the decision to recall the high powered weapons lessen the firepower capability of their municipalities in thwarting outlaws. Peralta, however, said that they have to follow the directive and cannot do otherwise. He said municipalities can acquire guns on their own if they want to, since the law allows them to. Apprehensive about the weapons recall, local leaders said the police hierarchy must reconsider its position as it would make their locality vulnerable to the entry of lawless elements, considering the location of the province. There had been reports in the past that Abu Sayyaf bandits have used the long coastline of the province as a landing area as they enter mainland Mindanao and join their colleagues inland. (PNA) LAP/RGR/utb Provincial News,
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 KIDAPAWAN CITY, Feb. 5 (PNA) - The Philippine National Police in Region 12 (PNP-12) has chosen the Kidapawan police unit as the best in the region. At the same time, the North Cotabato police force was adjudged best provincial police unit in the region by the PNP-12 award-giving body. The awarding ceremony was held on February 4 at the PNP-12 headquarters situated in Barangay Tambler, Gen. Santos City in connection with the regional police office’s founding anniversary this year. In an interview, Kidapawan police director Chief Insp. Leo Ajero said he believes that the local police force stood out among other police units in the region despite many issues and problems they faced last year. Four of seven major terror bomb attacks in North Cotabato occurred in this city that killed two people and injured more than 40 others. Ajero noted that they managed to collar two suspected bombers linked to the KMCC mall blast which took place on Nov. 22, 2007. He added that they also filed charges against a wanted Malaysian national and 22 of his cohorts who were responsible for the extortion bombings in the city last year. “Massive military and police operations are going on to neutralize the Al Khobar extortion ring soon,” he stressed. The latest award for the Kidapawan police was its second since 2004. Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco lauded the local police office for the honor it has given to the locality amid recent criticisms both the local government and police force received from various sectors in the city. Both Gantuangco and Ajero were censured over money deposits for the Al Khobar group in a bid to get its members. The covert operation, however, went sour after no Al Khobar suspect was arrested and the bank account where the money was deposited was later discovered to be somewhere in the Zamboanga area. “What the public did know that the money was used as basis for filing charges against those involved in the extortion,” the mayor said on the disparagements hurled against him and Ajero. (PNA) LAP/NYP/MCM/jmd/utb
JANUARYProvincial News, Friday, February 01, 2008 GenSan police in uphill battle vs illegal gambling GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Jan. 31 (PNA)-– Police officials here are planning to create a special task force that will directly deal with the rampant illegal gambling activities, especially "last two." Senior Supt. Robert Po, city police director, said the proposed task force will be tasked to lead the cleansing of the city of various suspected illegal gambling lairs, their financiers and operators. "We have not stopped our anti-illegal gambling operations and we want to intensify them more," he said. The local city earlier intensified its campaign against illegal gambling after drawing criticisms from several local officials over the proliferation of the "last two" illegal numbers game in the city. "Last two," is played by picking the last two digits of the daily lottery draw of the government-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office as the winning numbers. Bet takers do it in the open and PSCO lotto outlets even double as illegal numbers game bet collectors, a city official said. Po said he had instructed all police units in the city to monitor the operations of suspected illegal gambling operators and financiers in the city. He also belied speculations that they slowed down their operations due to alleged interventions from several influential personalities. "That's not true at all. No one has been meddling with our operations against illegal gambling," he said. Po said the local police did not slowed down their operations against illegal gambling but they only refocused their resources and personnel during the past several days to various shooting incidents and other criminal activities that occurred in the area. Earlier this month, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) stormed a printing press in the city that it described as a major source of illegal gambling materials in the area. Dominic Cerro, NBI investigator, said they seized from the Blue Eagle Printing Press several printing machines and printed tally sheets of the "last two" illegal numbers game. (PNA) LOR/RGR/AVE/utb Provincial News,
Friday, February 01, 2008 GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Jan. 31 (PNA)-– Police authorities are focusing their investigation on extortion and labor dispute as possible motive behind the bomb explosion Wednesday night infront of a tuna canning plant here that killed four people and injured 27 others. Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio, Region 12 police director, said this morning that police investigators are already looking into various vital information and several witnesses that may possibly identify the suspects behind the bomb blast near the gate of the PhilBest Canning Corp. in barangay Calumpang here. "We are focusing our assessment and investigation on the angle involving the business establishment," he told reporters. Serapio said he initially coordinated with officials of Philbest Canning Corp., which is part of the RD Group of Companies of fishing magnate Rodrigo Rivera Sr., but they reportedly claimed that they did not have any problem prior to the attack. Although stressing that they are not ruling out other possible angles, Serapio cited that last night's explosion happened at least eight kilometers away from the city's center. Most of the previous bomb explosions here, which were blamed on local terrorist groups, occurred at the city's downtown area. As of this morning, Serapio said they have yet to determine the type of explosive used in the bomb attack. "The explosive materials were crushed to bits because it was a high order explosion. We are still awaiting the result of the post-blast investigation of our bomb experts," he said. Senior Supt. Robert Po, city police director, said investigators could not yet determine the type of explosive used in the attack since they only recovered small pieces of the explosive's materials. "We will reconstruct these materials and subject them to chemical tests. Hopefully we can complete them within the day," he said. Meantime, Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. strongly condemned the attack, which he described as an "inhuman act." The mayor said he has mobilized personnel of various agencies of the local government and other government offices in the city to provide the necessary assistance to the victims. "Our police and military are already on the trail of these criminals, I am expecting results within the next 24 hours," he said in an emailed statement. He advised residents to remain calm and not to be intimidated by the latest terror attack. "Terrorists feed on fear. We must never give them the satisfaction that they have won," Acharon said. The mayor also urged residents to continue being vigilant, stressing that complacency offers a window of opportunity for terror attacks. "Let us show these criminals that their act cannot stop us from continuing to live in a city that is peaceful and progressive," he added. (PNA) LOR/RGR/AVE/utb Provincial News,
Friday, February 01, 2008 KIDAPAWAN CITY, Jan. 31 (PNA) – Philippine National Police Director Gen. Avelino Razon Jr. has instructed North Cotabato Provincial Office Director Sr. Supt. Lester Camba to conduct dismissal proceedings against two members of the Kabacan police force involved in extortion activity. The cops, identified as SPO2 Romulo Eugenio and SPO1 Ramon Vicente were arrested on Jan. 22 in an entrapment operation set up by the NCPO in Kabacan town. The erring policemen received marked money from the mother of a drug suspect they arrested in Kabacan in October last year. Camba said the payment of some P50,000 to the erring cops was in exchange for the drug suspect’s release and non-pursuance of a criminal case against him. The NCPO has filed an administrative case for grave misconduct against the extorting cops. However, Camba said the duo continue to report to their work after posting a bail bond of P100,000 each in connection with the extortion case. (PNA) DCT/NYP/WAM/jmd/utb Provincial News, Thursday, January 31, 2008 GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Jan. 31 (PNA) – Police are looking into a possible extortion angle in the powerful explosion that killed four persons and injured some 27 others here early Wednesday evening. This, as authorities earlier launched a manhunt against a Malaysian national and 23 other suspected members of the Al Khobar extortion group. The explosion occurred a few meters from the gates of the Philbest Canning Corp., along the national highway in Calumpang, this city. Senior Supt. Roberto Po, city police director, said they were still investigating on the type of explosives used. He did not elaborate. A powerful explosion instantly killed Marahasssan Kamad, an 11-year old Maguindanaon banana cue vendor. Also killed were Chely Velez, 27, Alberto Alajan and Cresencia Dedula, all residents of this city. Some 27 others, many of them Philbest workers, were injured and rushed to different hospitals. Relatives of blast victims condemned the incident. Roy Kamad, father of the 11-year old fatality, said his son was merely trying to earn for his school allowance.". "It was payday and my son was there to sell banana cue, which he usually does after school" he said in the vernacular. The slain Velez left a two-year old child, her sister said. "She went out to buy milk for her baby and this happened," she said. Meanwhile, investigators trained their sight on a group of extortionists who could possibly be behind the explosion even as Philbest officials have yet to issue any statement on the incident or whether they have received threats or not. Earlier this week, police began hunting down a Malaysian national whose identity was withheld. The Malaysian heads the Al Khobar group and is allegedly linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and allegedly behind the series of bombings on business establishments in Southwestern Mindanao (Region XII). Reports said the group was behind the Nov. 22, 2007 bomb attack at the KMCC Mall in Kidapawan City that killed a mall employee and injured eight others, including a policewoman. Two suspected cohorts of the Malaysian -- Alex Tatukan Sanduyugan and Muhalidin Sulaik Hassan, were arrested and jailed for their participation in the KMCC Mall attack. (PNA) DCT/RGR/cbc Provincial News, Thursday, January 31, 2008 5 killed in firefight between 2 MILF factions in Lanao del Sur COTABATO CITY, Jan. 30 (PNA) – A Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander and four of his comrades were killed on Wednesday in a firefight with another MILF faction in Diamaro, Malabang, Lanao del Sur. Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, Philippine National Police – Autonomous Regain in Muslim Mindanao director, identified the slain rebel commander as Khagi Maunara Dumatar alias “Commander Sultan Base” while his followers as Kasan Gandamra, Asrab Taub, Apo Burob and Mama Utingan. Goltiao said Maunara’s faction has a land ownership conflict with MILF Commander Orak Tawakil Pangadag alias “Commander Rocky” in the same area. “The land dispute triggered the firefight,” he noted. He added that the MILF Central Committee is now working on the problem. (PNA) LAP/NYP/utb Provincial News, Thursday, January 31, 2008 Military, police forces hunt down Malaysian, 23 Al Khobar extortionists KIDAPAWAN CITY, Jan. 30 (PNA) – Joint military and police forces have launched a massive manhunt against a Malaysian national and 23 other members of the Al Khobar extortion group operating in North Cotabato province and the rest of Southwestern Mindanao region. The North Cotabato Provincial Office (NCPO) declined to disclose the identity of the Malaysian national but noted that he is linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group and allegedly behind the series of bombings on business establishments in the region as pulled out by Al Khobar comrades. Accordingly, the latest bombing planned by the foreigner was the Nov. 22, 2007 bomb attack on the KMCC Mall here that killed a mall employee and injured eight others, including a policewoman. The same NCPO report stated that the Malaysian national is charged with extortion and robbery, along with Nacir Abison, a top Al Khobar leader who extracted some P100,000 from Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco last November through a bank account. Currently, several local politicians here are criticizing Gantuangco for using government funds to pay the extortion money demanded by the Al-Khobar group over a bungled police entrapment operation. The account was later traced to a bank situated in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay. Authorities launched the manhunt operations against the Malaysian national, Abison, and 22 others, after Kidapawan Regional Trial Court Judge Rogelio Naresma here issued last Jan. 23 separate arrest warrants for their arrest. Earlier jailed for murder charges were Alex Tatukan Sanduyugan and Muhalidin Sulaik Hassan, both suspected Al Khobar members, for their participation in the KMCC Mall attack. The duo was nabbed shortly after the KMCC bombing incident. (PNA) DCT/NYP/Malu C. Manar/jmd/utb Provincial News, Friday, January 25, 2008 GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Jan. 24 (PNA) -- The police here have bared that they were looking at an ancestral land claimant as the possible mastermind in the killing of the officer-in-charge of the National Commission for the Indigenous People (NCIP) in Region XII. Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio, Region XII police director, said results of initial investigations revealed the possible suspects in the killing of NCIP XII officer in charge Tommy Dawang. He, however, declined to name the suspect pending arrest. Dawang was shot dead on Sunday at his frontyard in nearby Polomolok town, South Cotabato, by a gunman who was wearing a bonnet and black jacket. Serapio said in a press conference that the killer was the same person who sent threatening SMS messages to Dawang. Citing testimonies from the wife of the victim, the police official said the victim even talked with the suspect before he was killed. The suspect is a claimant in an ancestral domain in the city. Meanwhile, Supt. Raul Supiter, Polomolok police chief, said they already have the sketch of the gunman based on description given by witnesses. "We have the gunman's identity," he said but refused to divulge the gunman's name. He said they were already preparing to file the appropriate charges in court. (PNA) vcs/RGR/utb Provincial News, Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Grenade lobbed at Cotabato gas station COTABATO CITY, Jan. 15 (PNA) – A grenade blast ripped Monday dawn through a Caltex gasoline station along Barangay Tamontaka here, hurting no one. Sr. Insp. Rodolfo Ampang, city police sub-station 3 commander, said the explosive landed and exploded beside the vacated cashier’s booth situated at the center of the gasoline station near the gas pump apparatus. Prior to the blast, nightshift gas station personnel said they saw two motorcycle-riding attackers tossed the grenade shortly before 4 a.m. towards their direction, prompting them to scamper for cover. Ampang theorized extortion as the motive behind the attack. (PNA) LAP/NYP/utb Provincial News, Tuesday, January 08, 2008 South Cotabato Police destroys seized firecrackers KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Jan 7 (PNA) – Authorities destroyed here Monday morning at least P200,000 worth of confiscated pyrotechnics and firecrackers that were reportedly imported from China by several local businessmen during the recent Christmas season. Supt. Nasser Pendatun, South Cotabato deputy provincial police director, said they seized the illegal pyrotechnics and firecrackers during raids conducted last month by police and fire department personnel on business establishments and public markets in the province. The confiscated items were dumped on a pit located inside the South Cotabato Provincial Police Office compound and were soaked with water by a fire truck of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP). Pendatun said most of the confiscated items were seized from at least two commercial establishments this city and traders in Surallah, Sto. Nino and Polomolok towns. "Most of these items were illegally imported from China by some local businessmen while the others were found to be illegally-manufactured and don't have licenses or permits," he said. Senior Fire Officer III Rolando Pagunsan, BFP team leader here, said they disposed the confiscated pyrotechnics and firecrackers after their owners failed to present any license or permit to sell them. After they confiscated the items last month, he said they sent them to the Philippine National Police Explosives and Ordinance Division for safekeeping to give time for their owners to secure their permits. "We gave ample grace period to our traders so they could get permits from the PNP central office or their local governments but most of them still failed to comply with it," he said. Pendatun said they already recommended the filing of charges against several local traders for violation of Republic Act 7183 that regulates "the sale, manufacture, distribution and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices." According to the Department of Justice's website, violators of RA 713 may face imprisonment for at least six months to one year and/or a fine of P20,000 to P30,000. (PNA) LOR/RGR/AVE/utb Provincial News, Monday, January 07, 2008 3 suspects in Cotabato blast nabbed COTABATO CITY, Jan. 6 (PNA) - Security forces have arrested three men believed responsible for the Jan. 3 blast inside a videoke bar here which killed a woman and wounded eight others. Sr. Supt. Willy Dangane, city police chief, identified the suspects as Ryan Mato Kalid, Rustom Rakim and Abdul Tahir. They were arrested at their hideout in Barangay Mother Kalanganan, this city last Friday. The suspects, all residents of Tagudtungan, Bonggo Island in Parang, Shariff Kabunsuan, did not resist arrest, Dangane said. Dangane said one of the suspects left the improvised explosive devise fashioned from a live 81-milimiter mortar inside the videoke bar along Bonifacio and Jose Lim Streets. "Our witnesses, the bar's security guard and a guest relations officer, positively identified the suspects. They were supposed to leave the explosive somewhere but when they saw a police patrol car passing by, they hurriedly got inside the bar, and minutes after the explosion took place,” he said. Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Felizario Serapio, Central Mindanao police director, said that witness security guard Joseph Gerbano said that Mato was seen as the one carrying the homemade bomb stuffed inside a plastic bag. It jibed with the findings of the police. "Two other witnesses corroborated the statement of the security guard pointing to the trio as the bombers," Serapio said. On Christmas eve, a powerful explosion also ripped this city, injuring three civilians, including a two-year-old boy. The bomb, fashioned from a 60-mm mortar attached to a cellular phone as detonator, exploded along Macacua St., beside the Jollibee outlet here.(PNA) RBC/jmc/NYP/JBM/rsm
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