News Roundup 25 June 2023
Jun 25, 2023 • 5 min Read
14 gov’t troops injured, 1 dead in Maimbung shootout | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Fourteen police officers, including a soldier, were wounded while a trooper died after a shootout between former Maimbung, Sulu vice mayor Pando Mudjasan’s followers and government forces on June 24, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Sunday.
PNP said the former vice mayor had been wanted for his alleged involvement in various murder cases and has been purportedly employing armed civilians and keeping loose firearms and explosives in his possession.
According to PNP’s report, a combined security force of police and soldiers carried out an operation in Barangay Bualo Lipid to serve search and arrest warrants against Mudjasan and his associates, ensuing in a fierce firefight around 7:30 a.m.
Police said Mudjasan eluded arrest after being alerted early on in the fight, which ended around 5:30 p.m.
The shootout wounded Police Captain Ergie Wanawan; Police Corporals Nelvin Roble, Butz Lenard Bakidan, Jayson Cabalquinto, Jerwin Tongala, John Lord Paasa, Simon Ligmayo, and Vileo Raven Jariolne; Staff Sergeants Julakbar Jahani and Jadier Alfad; Patrolmen Jasper Massagan and Jason Dacio; and a member of 41st Infantry Battalion.
On the other hand, Patrolman Regim Gacod, a member of the 7SAB unit, died upon arriving at the Maimbung Hospital, and a dead body was recovered within the area of the shooting incident.
Police said casualties and injuries from Mudjasan’s group have yet to be determined.
Full Story at: 14 gov’t troops injured, 1 dead in Maimbung shootout | Inquirer News
Calls mount for independent probe of Negros killings | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — A broad anti-tyranny alliance of groups and individuals on Saturday called for an independent investigation of the massacre of a peasant family in Negros Occidental province following conflicting reports from separate investigations by the police and a volunteer fact-finding mission.
In a statement on Saturday, the Movement Against Tyranny (MAT) said an independent probe would be necessary to bring justice to the four members of the Fausto family who were brutally gunned down on June 14, and the killing of farmer Crispin Tingal Jr. on May 3.
The investigation may be led by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Congress, or some special body created for the purpose, taking into consideration the alleged massive human rights and international law violations on Negros Island, according to MAT convenors Sr. Mary John Mananzan and Carol Araullo.
The alliance includes religious and political leaders, human rights activists, academics, lawyers, and journalists.
It said in a statement that similarities in the cases of Rolly Fausto and Tingal — both peasant leaders tagged as supporters of the New People’s Army (NPA) and later killed — were “not a mere coincidence.”
“It follows a pattern that has been observed in many areas where intense military operations are being conducted to flush out the NPA,” it added. “Thus, we cannot simply accept the convenient and self-serving findings of the police, Army and [National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict], considering that these are the very agencies at the forefront of such brutal military operations.”
Full Story at: Calls mount for independent probe of Negros killings | Inquirer News
No tips yet on Bantag despite reward | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has not received any tips on the whereabouts of fugitives Gerald Bantag and Ricardo Zulueta despite a P3-million bounty on their heads.
NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo said the agency continues to deploy tracker teams and are monitoring Bantag’s and Zulueta’s addresses.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier announced a P2-million bounty for former Bureau of Corrections
(BuCor) chief Bantag and a P1-million bounty for BuCor security officer Zulueta, who are wanted for the killing of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid and Cristito Palana Villamor, an inmate of the new Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
Villamor was the alleged middleman who hired self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial to kill Lapid.
“Our tracker teams have no reported tips yet. Nevertheless, we are hoping that the rewards will have results. It will be helpful,” Okubo told The STAR yesterday.
Full story at: No tips yet on Bantag despite reward | Philstar.com
ACT stressses DepEd memo compromises safety, privacy of teachers | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers condemned Sunday the memorandum ordering a list of educators affiliated with the country’s largest teachers’ group, stressing this infringes on members’ basic rights and freedoms.
The Department of Education’s operations office issued a memorandum on June 14, directing all regional and division offices to submit a list of ACT-affiliated public school teachers who are part of the agency’s Automatic Payroll Deduction System. The department said the memorandum is not meant for profiling and that DepEd is preparing similar lists of members of other teachers’ groups.
“Such acts and measures seek to stigmatize ACT’s work, repress its advocacies, and restrict civic space from teachers and education workers who are critical of the government,” ACT said in a statement.
ACT added it “has all the reasons to ring the alarm for there is no guarantee that such documents will not be used against ACT and its members knowing that the current Secretary and Vice President [Sara] Duterte is [engaged in] relentless and malicious red-tagging of ACT.”
Duterte previously accused ACT of supporting the communist insurgency. This and Duterte’s other remarks linking ACT with communist rebels prompted the group to ask the International Labor Organization to intervene.
Full Story at: ACT stressses DepEd memo compromises safety, privacy of teachers | Philstar.com
