Lumads in Paquibato evacuate after NPA threat

MALAGOS, Davao City – At least 17 families of a lumad tribe in Marilog District, this city, were evacuated after receiving threats from New People’s Army allegedly eyeing the tribe’s village as the site for the forthcoming anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) next month.

Datu Tresio Lumuyok, tribal chieftain of Matigsalog tribe, said residents have abandoned their houses in Purok 26, Sitio Alon, Brgy. Malabog and seek refuge in Brgy. Marilog since November 6. He led his people in search for a safe place after Leoncio Pitao, head of NPAs operating in the hinterlands of Paquibato, threatened and forced them to take part in rallies and demonstrations in protest to the presence of government troops in the area. He added that residents were suspected as military informants scouting the whereabouts of the notorious group after several encounters transpired in the area.

“Pitao said that we are feeding information to soldiers about their presence and that we betrayed their group. Because of that we are scared of going back to our village”, said one of the evacuees, who requested not to be identified for security reasons.

According to Lumuyok, Pitao is planning to make their village the venue for the 44^th year of CPP on December 27.

Datu Buaya Ansaud welcomes the evacuees in his village in Sitio Malikongkong as Davao City Social Services and Development Office had been providing for their needs in cooperation with 84^th Infantry Battalion.

“We see how the NPAs jeopardize the safety of these families who are living peacefully in the area”, said Lt. Col. Edgar Nigos, commander of 84^th IB.

He said that the incident is a wake-up call for everybody to denounce the presence of the rebels in the area instead of the military. “It is our mandate to protect the people and not to harm them. That’s why we would like to encourage everyone specially the government leaders to condemn the presence of the NPAs so that we can all live peacefully”, he said.

Off-Duty soldiers Massacred in Paquibato

MAWAB, Compostela Valley Province – Four members of 60^th Infantry Battalion’s Peace and Development Team were massacred by more or less ten members of New People’s Army in Sitio Cinco, Brgy. Mapula, Paquibato District, Davao City.

The four were said to be on board three motorcycles, on civilian attire and unarmed when attacked by NPA fighters 5:30 p.m. yesterday, 10^th Infantry Division Spokesperson Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza said.

He identified the casualties as Pfc Ahian Vir Dolero , Pfc Marvin Lauronal, Pfc Noel  Sigan whose remains are now in Villa Funeral Homes, Panabo City while Private Marcelo Himaya, who is said to be missing earlier, was found dead in a nearby area and believed to be summarily executed.

“They were on their way back to their detachment after marketing when the incident happened”, Paniza said adding that troops are now on hot pursuit operations to apprehend the perpetrators.

ANAD OFFERS HELP TO KA JINGGOY IF HE DECIDES TO CHANGE HEART

Davao City – ANAD Partylist expresses willingness to help arrested NPA leader Elizalde Canete, alias Ka Jinggoy of Local Terrorist Front 3, CPP-NPA-NDF Southern Mindanao Region should he decides to return to the folds of the law.

ANAD Partylist counts among its ranks several former NPA and MILF rebels who chose to reintegrate into and work within the mainstream of the society.

According to ANAD Partylist-Mindanao Coordinator and Spokesman Arthur Tariman, ANAD could help find ways to support the rehabilitation and retraining of the young rebel leader who was wounded during the encounter with the Army’s 8th Special Forces Company, 3rd SF Battalion on Jan. 30 afternoon.

On the other hand, ANAD also supports the call of Chief Supt Pedro Tango, Police Regional Office XI director, to let the court decide on the custody issue over Ka Jinggoy.

Partisan groups and individuals such as Karapatan and some bishops of the Philippine Independent Church (PIC) should refrain from muddling the custody issue as it is the exclusive domain of the court that has jurisdiction over Ka Jinggoy.

“They don’t have personality on the criminal cases Ka Jinggoy is facing in court, lest they are his lawyers, which is not the case. Their over eagerness on the issue only exposes their true color – that they belonged to the same organization which is the CPP-NPA-NDF,” Tariman stressed.

Reports showed that the court has already designated the military as temporary custodian of Ka Jinggoy while recuperating from his wounds at the military hospital in Camp Apolinario in Panacan here.

This early, Ka Jinggoy already showed sign that he would change heart and cooperate with the government. (ANAD PARTYLIST-MINDANAO NEWS AND INFO BUREAU)

for more, here's the link to GMA News:
http://www.gmanews.tv/video/54650/soldiers-donate-blood-for-wounded-npa-leader-in-davao

ANAD PARTYLIST STANDS PAT THAT DAVAO CITY IS NOT PEACEFUL

The Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) Partylist laughed off the action of City Councilor Nilo Abellera reportedly denouncing its efforts as well as those of BANTAY Partylist to expose the real state of the law and order situation of Davao City even as it expressed willingness to face the entire City Council on the issue.

“Who is he (Abellera) questioning our presence in Davao City. He does not owned the city. ANAD’s constituency is nationwide and therefore we have every right to challenge the claim of the Duterte administration and his Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod party that Davao City is “peaceful,” ANAD Partylist Representative Jun Alcover declared in a live phone-patch interview in the “Alsa” radio program over DXIP Bantay Radyo-Davao hosted by Manny Autida and James Pala from 12 to 1 p.m. yesterday.
During the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod yesterday morning, Abellera delivered a privilege speech questioning the intention of Cong. Alcover and Cong. Jovito Palparan, Jr. of BANTAY on exposing the tenuous law and order condition of the city.

Abellera, chairman of the SP Committee on Peace and Order, reportedly claimed that Cong. Alcover’s and Cong. Palparan’s expose projected a “negative” image of the city.
In response, Alcover stressed that contrary to Mayor Rody Duterte’s claim, Davao City is not and has not been as “peaceful, lawful and orderly” as he wanted the people to believe.

“The fact that more than 952 people, mostly from the lowly class of the society, were summarily killed in the city during Mayor Duterte’s 20-year administration and none was hauled to court to answer the murders proves that criminal justice system is not really working in Mindanao’s prime city,” Alcover commented, adding that “it is a blow to the image of law enforcement agencies particularly the PNP, the prosecution, the court, the penal institutions and the community at large.”
Compared to Gen. Santos City that has zero explosive incident in 2009, the Maoist NPA blasted at least six improvised explosive devices and killed at least 28 persons, 13 of them happened in Paquibato District, last year, ANAD Partylist-Mindanao records showed.

For his part, ANAD Partylist-Mindanao Arthur J. Tariman pointed out that the prevailing “peace” in Davao City is not “authentic and enduring” but a negative one. This kind of peace is short-term, fragile and unstable.
“What we in ANAD Partylist aspire to bring about is a peace that is characterized by the absence of direct or personal violence, structural violence, and cultural violence. A positive peace,” Tariman explained.

According to Tariman, “what we have in Davao City is a temporary peace because we never have addressed the rootcause of the problem despite the P800-million peace and order discretionary fund of the hizzoner.”
“The law must be fully implemented without fear or favor in order to have real peace and order in Davao City,” Tariman concluded. (ANAD PARTLIST-MINDANAO INFONEWS BUREAU)

ANAD CALLS FOR JUSTICE FOR SLAIN RADIOMAN FERDIE LINTUAN

The Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) Partylist joins local media groups in calling for justice for slain Davao City-based broadcaster Ferdie “Batman” Lintuan two years ago tomorrow, Dec. 24.

ANAD Partylist reechoed the call for law authorities to bear all the results of their investigation into the killing of Lintuan, Juan “Jun” Pala, Jr. and other media personalities in the region and to speed up the prosecution of suspects.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said ANAD Partylist Representative Jun Alcover, also a broadcaster and president of the Cebu Association of Media Practitioners (CAMP).

To commemorate the second death anniversary of Lintuan, the Tri-Media Organization for Peace and Alliance in Mindanao (TROPA) led by broadcaster Manny Autida is sponsoring a high noon holy mass on Dec. 24 at the St. Peter Parish in Davao City.
A wreath-laying would follow at 2 p.m. at the crime scene in the corner of R. Castillo and San Antonio Sts., Brgy. Agdao. A merienda and media fellowship would cap the event at Kane Restaurant on Magallanes st. from 3 to 4 p.m.
ANAD Partylist-Mindanao Coordinator Arthur Tariman said his group is actively supporting the events.

WHITEWASH

There have been suspicions of whitewash in the investigation into the killing of Lintuan and Pala, both broadcasters of radio station DXGO in Davao City.
Ferdie was aboard his Volkswagen car with broadcasters Lucio Ceniza and Edgar Banzon when shot dead by a motorcycle assassin after his morning radio show on Dec. 24, 2007 few meters from DXGO broadcast studios.

Unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle shot Pala while he was walking home with a bodyguard and a friend in Davao City early dawn on Sept. 6, 2003.
Lintuan and Pala’s killings had the mark of extra-judicial executions carried out by the shadowy Davao Death Squad (DDS), believed to be behind the spate of unsolved summary killings in the city.

Since the Duterte administration started, 952 persons including Lintuan and Pala were killed in Davao City by suspected DDS gunmen.

Lintuan, an anti-communism broadcaster, survived the communist terrorists’ bloody attack on radio station DXRA on Magallanes st. in Davao City on August 27, 1987 where nine people were killed including anti-communism crusader Leo Palo, former radio public affairs host-tandem of Pala at DXOW.

Pala, spokesman of the Alsa Masa anti-communism movement in the ‘80s, survived at least two previous attacks. His murder prompted the creation of an inter-agency Task Force Usig that looks into media killings.

They were both known for their stingy criticisms on City Hall and government anomalies and malpractices. They did not even spare the tough-talking Mayor Rody Duterte in their fearless tirades.

Lintuan was accusing anomalies on Mayor Duterte’s P71-million People’s Park project before his murder, while Pala was harshly critical of the Duterte administration for years preceeding his killing.

Investigators however arrested and filed charges against fellow DXGO broadcaster Nilo Larosa for the killing of Lintuan. There has been no news on the progress of the case.(ANAD PARTLIST-MINDANAO INFONEWS BUREAU)

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for reference:

ARTHUR J. TARIMAN
Spokesman, ANAD Partylist-Mindanao