Maximum tolerance policy at Sona on Monday, says PNP

By Julie M. Aurelio, Margaux Ortiz
Inquirer
Last updated 02:30am (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines – Police officials yesterday assured militants that maximum tolerance will be exercised during Monday’s State of the Nation Address at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City.

 

In a meeting with representatives of militant groups, Director Reynaldo Varilla, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, also urged the organizers of protest actions to keep an eye on their ranks to avoid infiltration from unruly elements.

 

“The police will be there as your protectors and not your aggressors,” Varilla assured the leaders.

 

The dialogue was held at the Sulo Hotel yesterday morning. In attendance were Rusty Delizo, Linggoy Alcuaz, Rep. Etta Rosales, Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel from Akbayan, and Renato Reyes of Bayan.

 

Supt. Rhodel Sermonia, NCRPO spokesperson, said the regional director meant to thresh out the concern and issues of the militant leaders for Monday’s protest rallies at the Batasan Complex.

 

The Quezon City Police District is set to deploy 3,000 of its operatives in the Batasan area for the Sona.

 

“As much as possible, we would protect those holding their protests in the area because the police force is not only meant to serve those in power,” QCPD director Senior Supt. Magtanggol Gatdula told the Inquirer. He said the operatives, previously assigned to QCPD’s stations and precincts, would be part of a civil disturbance management group.

 

“My men would have no guns with them. We want everyone to know that we are not the enemy here,” Gatdula stressed.

 

The police chief said he had talked with various leaders of militant groups who assured him that they would hold their protests along the stretch of Commonwealth Avenue—from Ever Gotesco Commonwealth mall to the area before St. Peter’s Church.

The men allegedly behind beheading of dead Marines

By Ramon Tulfo
Inquirer
Last updated 02:31am (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Many readers were shocked upon reading in this column Thursday about the alleged participation of the men of former Basilan governor and now Rep. Wahab Akbar in the massacre of Marines in the province.

 

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and Akbar’s men reportedly conspired in ambushing the Marines who were returning home after a futile search for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.

 

Here’s another shocker: The MILF was telling the truth when it denied that its members committed the beheading and mutilation of the dead Marines.

 

My source in the military intelligence alleges that the people who beheaded and mutilated the dead Marines were Akbar’s men!

 

Akbar, as you know, is a former leader of the Abu Sayyaf who surrendered to the government.

 

With the massacre of the Marines, it would look like Akbar’s loyalties are still with the Abu Sayyaf.

 

The MILF and Akbar’s men, according to my source, ambushed the Marines to give covering fire for the Abu Sayyaf who were fleeing with Bossi.

 

My source, quoting some people in the community where the ambush took place, said the Abu Sayyaf thought the Marines came to the area to rescue Bossi.

 

In fact, the Marines, according to an official government report on the massacre, were on their way home and were just passing through.

 

Akbar’s men allegedly beheaded and mutilated the dead Marines to show their fellow MILF ambushers they held sway in the area.

 

* * *

 

Representative Akbar, whose wife is now the governor, should be made to account for the crime of his men, if true.

 

Military intelligence should dig into the source of the 800 pieces of M-16 and M-14 rifles, grenade launchers and mortars that were reportedly given to Akbar before the May 14 election.

 

If the military intelligence earnestly investigates the source, it would face the proverbial blank wall.

 

Why?

 

Because, according to my informant, the weapons given to Akbar came from the government itself!

 

Why was Akbar given such a huge cache of weaponry?

 

My informant, who is himself with military intelligence, said that Akbar made a government bigwig win in Basilan during the 2004 election.

 

Also, the government thought wrongly—that Akbar would be fighting his former Abu Sayyaf comrades.

 

* * *

 

A member of a police group assigned at the piers that has been disbanded with the creation of the PASG (Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group) is still collecting protection money from smugglers.

 

The guy goes by the alias “Kalabaw.”

 

The guy may soon face arrest for allegedly using a policeman’s name in the tong collection racket at the piers.

 

* * *

 

Why do the South Expressway authorities allow vehicles with no taillights to cruise along the expressway at night?

 

I saw a car ahead of me Tuesday night nearly run smack into a slow-moving truck with no taillights at the expressway.

 

The South Expressway authorities apparently don’t care if lives and limbs are lost so long as they earn money from toll.

Voters’ registration risky business

By Allison Lopez
Inquirer
Last updated 03:14am (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines – A narrow, dead-end street and a dilapidated building could spell disaster for thousands of Manila residents rushing to beat the deadline for registration for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October.

 

The other day three people were slightly injured as an unruly group scrambled to enter the building before it closed at 5:30 p.m., according to Station 5 commander Supt. Rogelio Rosales.

 

Rosales denied reports that there was a stampede. He said the three only had minor scratches.

 

“We have also added 12 policemen to the 12 already there. They’re mostly at the entrance because that’s where the pushing happened,” he said.

 

Comelec Manila election officer Jovencio Balanquit said two waiting ambulances brought the victims to a hospital. Barricades and steel railings had been set up to contain the crowd.

 

“Thursday had double the number of people on Wednesday. I think there were almost 4,000 persons,” he said.

 

Angeli Magat of Sampaloc, who was registering for the first time, said she feared a stampede due to the huge crowd and the lack of another exit on Arroceros Street, where the local Manila Comelec office was. “The registration should have been done at the barangays or in schools,” Magat said, adding that she had already been to the office three times.

 

Under a Comelec resolution, registration can only be done in the office of the election officer. In Manila, the place to go to was the old structure on Arroceros Street.

 

Balanquit said they had no choice but to follow the resolution.

 

Outside the Comelec office thousands waited under the sun, with lines extending from the building to the LRT Central station.

 

Anthony Duico of Parola, Binondo, was able to register by 10 a.m. yesterday only because he stood in line with some neighbors at 1 a.m.

 

“We lined up early so we could finish early,” he said. “On Thursday we were here at 2 a.m. and went home at 4 p.m. The system is slow. The SK registrations should have been held in a different place.”

 

Balanquit said the nearby Universidad de Manila might let them use its lobby for the SK registrations.

 

But speeding up the process, he said, was difficult because there were different application forms for first-time registration, re-registration, and transfer of registration.

 

He said only one biometrics machine was allotted to each of six districts, and it took 2 ½ minutes to take a person’s picture and fingerprints.

Metro workers to get lower-than-expected wage hike

By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 05:59pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines–Metro Manila workers may get their long-sought minimum wage hike next week but the amount may be smaller than they had asked for, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said Saturday.

 

“I’m expecting a development on the week of July 23,” Brion told reporters when asked about the pending P75-minimum wage hike petition filed by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

 

He added that the regional tripartite wages and productivity board in Metro Manila was already wrapping up its deliberations and expected to come out with a ruling on or before July 28, the deadline he had set.

 

“I hope they will already have a decision by that time,” he said.

 

Brion said he does not have an idea of the exact amount of increase to be granted by the board, but he added that it would be “definitely” lower than what TUCP had asked for.

 

“Historically we never approved the same amount as stated in the petition, so it would probably be lower than the P75 demand,” he said.

 

The Secretary ruled out an announcement of the wage hike by President by Macapagal-Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address on Monday.

 

“It’s unlikely because the wage board would not complete its deliberations by that time,” Brion added.

 

TUCP filed its petition last April, citing the need to increase the daily take-home pay of workers to restore their purchasing power following higher fuel costs that led to a rise in the prices of commodities and services.

 

The Metro Manila wage board last granted a P25-basic pay adjustment in 2006., bringing the existing minimum wage to P350 per day.

 

Meanwhile, militant workers groups said they would revive their bid for a P125-across the board, nationwide minimum pay hike in Congress.

 

The Kilusang Mayo Uno and other groups managed to secure the passage of the wage bill by the House of Representatives and elevate the proposal to the Senate, but the House subsequently withdrew the measure.

 

“We have learned many lessons and we have crafted new strategies in approaching this struggle,” KMU national chair Elmer Labog said.

 

For its part, the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino rejected the President’s statement that she would announce the income tax exemption of minimum wage earners in her speech to Congress on Monday.

 

BMP president Leody de Guzman said “mere token efforts” won’t solve the burgeoning problem of Filipino workers. He said the latest government action is a case of “too little, too late”, since the administration has been promising the exemption since she was installed as president after the 2004 national elections.

 

De Guzman said tax exemption is “hypocritical,” adding, “After all, this regime already squeezed its needed revenues out of the blood and sweat of Filipino workers through its gargantuan consumption taxes, such as the Revitalized Value Added Tax (R-VAT) implemented February last year.

 

De Guzman complained that the R-VAT increased the cost-of-living way beyond what a common worker can afford, explaining that the purchasing power of workers is not enough. “How would workers afford prime commodities which had increased in prices, when their salaries never increased at all?” he said.

2 shot dead in Greenhills robbery

5 men ambush victims leaving bank By Kristine L. Alave
Inquirer
Last updated 02:24am (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines – Two employees of a cargo firm were killed yesterday morning by five unidentified gunmen who could have fled with a large amount of cash the victims withdrew from a bank in Greenhills, San Juan City.

 

Roel Prescillas and Fernando M. Pascua were riding a motorcycle when five armed men on two motorcycles blocked their way and fired at them in front of the Max’s Fried Chicken Restaurant .

 

The incident occurred at about 9:30 a.m., shortly after the victims left an Equitable-PCI Bank branch, P02 Rio Tuyay said. The two were pronounced dead on arrival at the nearby Cardinal Santos Medical Center. Prescillas and Pascua were employees of RRJP Cargo Services, Inc., in Annapolis, San Juan. Prescillas was a messenger, while Pascua was operations manager.

 

The bank would not give details on how much money the pair had with them. But sources close to the victims said they could have left the bank with about P1-3 million. Teams have been deployed by the police to track down the suspects.

Demolition of condemned Manila buildings sought

By Tina Santos
Inquirer
Last updated 09:29pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines–The City Council of Manila has passed a resolution calling for the demolition of all condemned buildings and infrastructure in the city.

 

Written by Councilor Ma. Lourdes “Bonjay” Isip-Garcia, the resolution urged the local government to implement the demolition of all old and dilapidated structures in Manila.

 

Isip-Garcia, chairperson of the committee on housing and urban development and resettlement, lamented that the city has many condemned buildings that remain standing.

 

“There have been a lot of notices (for demolition) but I have yet to see actual demolition take place. These structures are dangerous to the public. They might collapse anytime, might harm or kill people and cause damage to other properties,” she said, adding that condemned buildings “attract the homeless, curious little children, particularly street kids.”

 

She also noted that condemned structures are eyesores, tarnishing the beauty of the community.

 

“Their demolition is both for public safety and aesthetic purposes,” the councilor said, adding that the past administration did not undertake demolition because it’s costly.

 

The measure also directed the City Engineering’s Office to provide a list of condemned buildings and infrastructures.

 

“After the city engineer’s office has come up with a list, the local government will coordinate with property owners for the smooth implementation of the demolition,” Isip-Garcia said.

 

She said owners of the condemned buildings might have civil and criminal liability. She added that Mayor Alfredo Lim has stated in his 11-point program that the demolition of condemned structures will be given top priority.

Mindanao tribal leaders seek military’s help vs NPA

By Dennis Jay Santos
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 05:42pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007

DAVAO CITY — Tribal leaders from all over Mindanao have sought the military’s help in seeking justice for alleged alleged abuses committed by communist rebels in their communities.

 

On Thursday, 58 tribal leaders attending the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Conference for Peace and Development passed a resolution asking Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon to help them bring the abuses to the attention of the Supreme Court which recently organized a multi-sectoral conference aimed at finding solutions to the continuing political killings and disappearances of militants.

 

The tribal leaders said the abuses committed by the New People’s Army have been going on for decades now but justice remains elusive for the victims.

 

“We seek the assistance of the AFP leadership to intercede for IP’s in Mindanao to bring to the attention of the Supreme Court to investigate and to give justice to the violations of IP rights caused by the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines- New Peoples Army-National Democratic Front)” the resolution read.

 

The resolution did not specify any of the alleged abuses but the tribal leaders presented documents, including police blotter excerpts, to back up their call.

 

Rosela Ayap, 18, a Manobo girl from Sitio Rano in Barangay Binaton, Digos, Davao Del Sur, said village elders often tell her she was one of the survivors of the infamous 1989 Rano massacre. She was then two-months old, she said.

 

At least 38 people, including her mother, were killed when NPA rebels stormed a church in the village.

 

“My mother hid me under her dress before she was shot dead,” Ayap quoted relatives as saying.

 

Esperon, who was named honorary datu during the conference, vowed to help the tribal or lumad communities.

 

But while he supports an investigation of alleged atrocities committed by communist rebels, Esperon said his position on the need for the resumption of the peace talks with the insurgents remained the same.

“We have done that with the MILF, what’s so different with the NPA? The military is not just for war. It is important that we go for peace,” Esperon said

Cops uncover ’shabu’ lab on Mindoro

By Marlon Ramos
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 05:36pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna — Anti-narcotics agents and members of the Mindoro Oriental provincial police office swooped down at dawn Saturday on a suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) laboratory in the middle of a fishpond in Calapan City and confiscated chemicals which could produce P2.1 billion worth of the illegal drug also known as “ice.”

 

Senior Supt. Agrimero Cruz, Oriental Mindoro police director, said his men and personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) raided the makeshift factory in Barangay Navotas at around 5:30 a.m.

 

He said the operation was covered by a search warrant issued by Calapan Regional Trial Court Judge Tomas Leynes.

 

Two suspected operators of the illegal drug manufacturing unit were able to escape using a motorized boat before authorities entered the area. Recovered from the place were seven drums of ephedrine which police said could produce more than 700 kilograms of shabu.

 

Also confiscated were 18 boxes of hydrochloric acid, 10 boxes of carbon chemical and other ingredients used in manufacturing shabu, also known as the “poor man’s cocaine.”

 

Police also confiscated a big generator and other electrical equipment.

 

Cruz said they received information about the operation of the shabu lab almost two months ago.

 

“We believe that the syndicate behind this was able to fully operate just after the May 14 elections,” he said in a mobile phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

 

He said to avoid any legal impediments, they patiently conducted surveillance operations to identify the operators of the shabu factory.

 

“We were then able to pinpoint at least three Chinese nationals who were seen frequenting the area,” he said. Cruz said despite its location, the shabu factory had sophisticated security equipment, including a surveillance camera.

 

“That’s why before we could even destroy the gate’s padlocks, the suspects have already boarded the boat and sped away,” he said.

 

Cruz said they are now tracing the other suspected members of the drug syndicate.

 

He said they will also investigate the owner of the fishpond which started to lease the area to the suspects last March.

4 killed in Jolo market blast

By Julie Alipala
Inquirer
Last updated 08:12pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007

ZAMBOANGA CITY – An explosion, caused by unspecified chemicals allegedly being sold illegally, ripped through the public market in Jolo, Sulu Saturday afternoon, killing at least four people and wounding three others, officials said.

 

Col. Antonio Supnet, commander of the 104th Army Brigade stationed in the Sulu capital, immediately ruled out terrorism as the cause of the explosion, which occurred at 3:20 p.m. and killed three people on the spot. The fourth fatality was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.

 

“We rule out terror in this incident; it’s plain negligence from store owners selling illegal and prohibited chemicals, such as ammonium nitrate,” Supnet told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview.

 

Those killed on the spot were identified as Ahmadul Akang, his wife Jurian and an unidentified Badjao customer. Four injured were rushed to a hospital, where one of them was declared dead on arrival.

 

Supnet said the Akang couple, under the guise of being cooking oil dealers, were illegally selling banned chemicals.

 

The military discovered 50 sacks of unspecified chemical substances at the back of the Akangs’ store.

 

Task Force Comet chief Maj. Gen. Reuben Rafael said the explosion occurred while Ahmadul Akang was trying to improvise blasting caps to be sold to fishermen using dynamite to catch fish.

 

He said the explosion damaged three nearby stalls.

4 Sayyaf men bolt Basilan jail after release of Bossi

By Julie Alipala, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
Last updated 01:53am (Mla time) 07/21/2007

ZAMBOANGA CITY—At least 16 inmates, including four suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits, escaped from the Basilan provincial jail in Isabela City around 2 a.m. yesterday, shortly after Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was freed from captivity, police and military officials said.

 

Brig. Gen. Ramiro Alivio, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade in the province, said the inmates sawed off the iron grills of their cells.

 

Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, intelligence chief of the PNP in Western Mindanao, said among those who escaped were four members of the Abu Sayyaf, who had been earlier arrested for various offenses.

 

Casimiro did not identify the bandits but said “they were high-value targets.”

 

Jumadil Sali, Basilan jail warden, identified the four escaped bandits as Itting Askalani, Enteng Anjil, Abog Sampang and Wakil Sampang.

 

An Inquirer source named the other escapees as Jipon Morales, Boyong-boyong Isnijal, Gapor Jainal, Fernan Ramoncito, Mannan Paetong, Eric Ajibon, Bisit Jabdali, Jan Jappal, Darkis Marisa, Ebrahim Mandol, Hussin Ajibon and Naim Latip.

 

It was not immediately known what cases the other escapees were facing.

 

Asked how the escape took place, Sali said the inmates, who were detained in cells No. 1 and 13, used a sharp object in cutting down the window grills.

 

They then used blankets to get out of the cells through the small windows.

 

The inmates then jumped over the fence of the jail.

 

Sali admitted that the four guards on duty, including the officer of the day, “were lax” when the escape took place.

 

He said the guards, Sixto Diaz, Mujiv Ungkung, Rommel Adjal, Asapad Katoh and the officer of the day, Ahmad Alibasa, are now being made to explain why they failed to prevent the jail break.

 

“They are now subject to investigation why these inmates were able to escape without noticing it and they will immediately be relieved from service,” Sali said.

 

On April 10, 2004, 53 inmates—including several Abu Sayyaf bandits—also bolted the Basilan provincial jail.

 

Nine of the inmates were killed during pursuit operations while nine others had been recaptured.

 

Among those still at large is Abu Black, a notorious Abu Sayyaf leader involved in various kidnapping cases in Western Mindanao.

 

Alivio said Marines had been sent to help police run after the escapees.

 

He added that as of late yesterday afternoon, none of the escapees had been sighted.

 

Provincial jails are under the supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).