News Roundup 12 November 2022
Nov 12, 2022 • 3 min Read
6th ID has new artillery unit, modern cannons vs terror groups | PHILSTAR.COM – Efforts to neutralize local terrorist groups got a big boost with the activation of a 200-member artillery unit, now in Maguindanao del Sur and equipped with eight modern 155 millimeter canons from Israel. Officials of the two-week-old 10th Fire Artillery Battalion and Major Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, on Friday showed to local officials and reporters the efficiency of the unit’s eight 155 Self-Propelled ATMOS 2000 Howitzers in actual artillery fires at Barangay Talisawa in Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao del Sur. The bombardment drill, targeting unpopulated hills nearby and witnessed by Datu Abdullah Sangki Mayor Datu Al Wali Mangudadatu, capped off the culmination event for the three-day orientation course of the 200 personnel of 10th FAB, based in Barangay Talisawa. Local executives in Maguindanao del Sur told reporters the testing of the artillery equipment, cannon shell blasts heard in towns around, was enough message for members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Dawlah Islamiya and the Al-Khobar groups to know that the 6th ID’s anti-terror Joint Task Force Central has additional firepower it can use against them. Galido told reporters Friday while their units have frequent tactical engagements with forces of the three groups, operating in the adjoining provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, the 10th FAB shall only be utilized if extremely necessary. The 155 MM ATMOST Israeli-made cannon has a 40-kilometer reach and its shell has a 75 to 200-meter blast radius. “Our efforts to convince members of these groups to return to the fold of law and get reintroduced into mainstream society with livelihood support is our top priority,” Galido said. There is BIFF and Dawlah Islamiya presence in a number of towns in Maguindanao del Sur, those close to marshes and large rivers that connect to central Mindanao’s Liguasan Delta that Filipino and foreign experts found to have large deposits of natural gas.
Teachers’ group to DOJ: Investigate Bantag’s claims in Percy Lapid slay case | INQUIRER.NET – The ACT Teachers party-list on Saturday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to look into the claims made by suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag regarding the killing of broadcast journalist Percy Lapid (real name: Percival Mabasa). According to ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) “must also investigate the statements made by suspended BuCor chief Bantag to make sure that all those involved in the killing of journalist Percy Lapid must be held to justice.” “The DOJ and the NBI must not turn a blind eye to the exposés of the suspended BuCor Chief just because he is now pointing fingers at the DOJ secretary for what is being done to him,” said Castro. Castro also urged Congress to hear House Resolution 468 filed by the Makabayan bloc, which urged an independent probe from Congress over Lapid’s killing. Bantag broke his silence on Friday since murder complaints were filed against him over the death of Lapid and Cristito Palaña (formerly identified as Jun or Crisanto Villamor). Bantag tagged a convicted drug lord German Agojo as the one responsible for the deaths.
Storm Paeng death toll hits 160; agri, infra damage pegged at over P11-B | INQUIRER.NET – The number of reported deaths due to Severe Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae) has jumped to 160, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Saturday. The combined agricultural and infrastructure damage has surpassed P11 billion, the NDRRMC’s latest report showed. According to the NDRRMC’s latest report, 132 of these reported deaths are confirmed while the rest are being validated. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao still has the highest death toll among the regions with 64 people confirmed dead. Western Visayas has the second highest death toll at 37 deaths, followed by Calabarzon with 33 deaths, the NDRRMC reported. Meanwhile, 29 people are still missing and 146 were reported injured, the NDRRMC added. The number of people affected by Paeng is now 5,410,106, with 25,672 individuals still sheltered in evacuation centers.
