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John Felix M. Unson, a newsman, Bangsamoro Region, Cotabato City (2025)

08/05/2025

P7.14-M worth of shabu seized in two PDEA-9 operations

COTABATO CITY (May 8, 2025) — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P7.14 million worth of shabu in separate operations in two provinces in Region 9 on Wednesday, May 7.

PDEA-9 agents, along with operatives from various units of Police Regional Office-9, first arrested 22-year-old Khaleed Gara Aquilan at his residence in Barangay Kitbog, Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay, where they seized P136,000 worth of shabu during a court-ordered search operation.

The search team also discovered an additional P204,000 worth of shabu hidden in the utility box of Aquilan’s motorcycle, which was parked outside his house.

Maharani Gadaoni-Tosoc, director of PDEA-9, told reporters on Thursday, May 8, that Aquilan is now locked in a detention facility, to be prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Gadaoni-Tosoc said PDEA-9 agents, backed by police from various PRO-9 units, also arrested 32-year-old Nasrodin Macari Acmad on Wednesday night after he sold P6.8 million worth of shabu to authorities in an entrapment operation in Barangay San Carlos, Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur.

Acmad, a resident of Barangay Poblacion in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte, yielded peacefully when he found out that he had sold his illegal merchandise to plainclothes anti-narcotics operatives.

Gadaoni Tosoc said the entrapment that led to the detention of Acmad and the confiscation from him of P6.8 million worth of shabu was planned with the help of confidential informants long aware of his large-scale shabu peddling activities. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 8, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P7.14 million worth of shabu in separate operations in two provinces in Region 9 on Wednesday, May 7.

07/05/2025

5 more terrorists surrender in Maguindanao del Sur

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY (May 7, 2025) — Five more local terrorists, all experts in fabricating improvised explosive devices, surrendered to an Army unit in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur, and vowed to reform for good in the presence of local officials and representatives from the Bangsamoro regional government.

The five members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) first turned over their fi****ms and explosives to the Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion, led by Lt. Col. Kenny Rae Tizon, before formally renouncing their affiliation with the group during a surrender ceremony in the town center of Salibo on Tuesday, May 6.

Janine Gamao, a ranking staff member in the Ministry of Public Order and Safety-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, representatives from the 601st Infantry Brigade, the Datu Salibo local government, the Datu Salibo Municipal Police Station and senior officials of different Army units in Maguindanao del Sur were also present in the symbolic event.

Major Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Wednesday, May 7, that he is grateful to all local officials and Moro community elders who helped the 48th IB and Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu of the 601st Infantry Brigade in convincing the five terrorists to avail of the 6th ID's reconciliation program for members of the BIFF and its ally, the Dawlah Islamiya.

“It feels good to see this battalion, a virtual newcomer in our area of responsibility, deployed here only for brief election security functions, and the 601st Infantry Brigade together securing the surrender of these local terrorists,” Gumiran said.

Units of the 6th ID in six provinces and four cities in Central Mindanao had worked out the surrender in batches of 737 BIFF and Dawlah Islamiya members since 2022. They are now thriving peacefully in their hometowns as workers in agricultural farms, as tricycle drivers and laborers in public markets and big commercial establishments in the region.

The 48th IB, a component battalion of the 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija, was deployed in Maguindanao del Sur just last month to support the security thrusts of the 6th ID that are parallel with the efforts of the Commission on Elections to ensure a peaceful electoral exercise in the province on May 12. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 5, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

Five more local terrorists, all experts in fabricating improvised explosive devices, surrendered to an Army unit in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur, and vowed to reform for good in the presence of local officials and representatives from the Bangsamoro regional government.

07/05/2025

Groups unite vs poll violence

John Unson, BusinessWorld

COTABATO CITY (May 6, 2025) — Seven big groups promoting good governance, human rights and Muslim-Christian solidarity have set up an election monitoring system to ensure peaceful and clean elections in southern Moro communities on May 12.

The nonpartisan Independent Election Monitoring Center (IEMC) will be jointly operated by the nongovernment Institute for Autonomy and Governance, National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting-Cotabato City, Climate and Conflict Action Asia and the Coalition for Social Accountability and Transparency.

Launched on May 5, the IEMC, located inside the campus of the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City will monitor the May 12 elections and disseminate information through partner media on possible election-related violence that need policy and military intervention.

The IEMC will also operate in the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in October, Benedicto R. Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, told reporters. — John Felix M. Unson, May 6, 2025, BusinessWorld

COTABATO CITY — Seven big groups promoting good governance, human rights and Muslim-Christian solidarity have set up an election monitoring system to ensure peaceful and clean elections in southern Moro communities on May 12. The nonpartisan Independent Election Monitoring Center (IEMC) will be jo...

06/05/2025

7 private entities unite for safe, clean polls in BARMM

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (May 6, 2025) — Seven big organizations espousing good governance, human rights and Muslim-Christian solidarity had established an election monitoring system supporting efforts to ensure peaceful and clean elections on May 12 in southern Moro communities.

The non-partisan Independent Election Monitoring Center (IEMC) shall be jointly operated by the non-government Institute for Autonomy and Governance, National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame Broadcasting Corp., Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting-Cotabato City, Climate and Conflict Action Asia and the Coalition for Social Accountability and Transparency.

Launched on Monday, May 5, in the presence of reporters, the IEMC, located inside the campus of the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, shall monitor the conduct of the May 12 elections and promptly disseminate to the public, via cooperating media outfits, issues and concerns pertaining to the electoral exercise, including possible election-related hostilities that shall need immediate intervention by the police and the military.

Benedicto Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance that has various multi-sector, inter-agency governance capacity-building programs, had told reporters, during the event, that the IEMC shall also operate during the first ever October 2025 parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“We shall focus on keeping the public abreast about the conduct in the Bangsamoro region and in Sulu of the May 12 elections,” Bacani, a lawyer, said.

Three members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament, the physician-ophthalmologist Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., who is concurrent BARMM health minister, and the lawyers Paisalin Tago, who is overseeing the region’s transportation and communications ministry, and Naguib Sinarimbo told reporters on Tuesday, May 6, that they will support the operation of the IEMC.

Sinolinding and Tago had separately said that BARMM’s health and transportation and communications ministries have hundreds of employees in the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu and in the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato from whom they can get updates about the May 12 electoral exercise that they can promptly relay to reporters who shall help operate the IEMC.

“We shall willingly support that outfit. Its objective is very sensible and pro-democracy,” said Sinarimbo, who had served as Bangsamoro local government minister prior to his appointment last March by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. as member of the regional lawmaking body.

Bacani and a Catholic diocesan priest, Benjamin Torreto, a senior official of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting-Cotabato City, had informed reporters that ranking officials of the Commission on Elections in BARMM had been notified about the intricacies and goals of the IEMC.

Torreto, in-charge of the Queen of Peace parish in Cotabato City, said the IEMC shall also document, for reference purposes, all election constraints and challenges permeating in the Bangsamoro region and in Sulu. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 6, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

LINK TO PHILIPPINE STAR WEBSITE:

Seven big organizations espousing good governance, human rights and Muslim-Christian solidarity had established an election monitoring system supporting efforts to ensure peaceful and clean elections on May 12 in southern Moro communities.

06/05/2025

Suspect in heinous crimes nabbed while in hospital

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (May 6, 2025) — Policemen are now guarding tightly in a hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte a patient wanted for multiple murder and frustrated murder after serving him warrants of arrest with permission from physicians on Monday, May 5.

The now detained 31-year-old Sadam Lumbos, also known as Samin Talib Silongan, is a resident of Tuka Maror in Bongo Island in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Tuesday, May 6, that combined personnel of the Parang Municipal Police Station and operatives from different PRO-BAR units together launched the operation that led to the arrest of Lumbos after tipsters had reported his confinement at the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital in Barangay Ungap in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte.

The multiple warrants for the arrest of Lumbos, wanted for multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder, was issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 13 in Cotabato City, signed by Judge Annabelle Piang, without a recommended bail for his temporary release from detention.

Macapaz said policemen from the Sultan Kudarat Municipal Police Station, under Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, were also instrumental in locating Lumbos at the hospital and even helped in serving him the warrants for his arrest from the RTC Branch 13. (JOHN UNSON, PHILIPPINE STAR, MAY 6, 2025)

Policemen are now guarding tightly in a hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte a patient wanted for multiple murder and frustrated murder after serving him warrants of arrest with permission from physicians.

06/05/2025

2 Army combatants missing after boat mishap found dead

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY (May 5, 2025) — Two soldiers who went missing after their scout boat capsized on Friday, May 2, in a deep section of the Butalo River in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur, were found dead around 20 hours later.

Private First Class Manuel Bermudez and Corporal Dennis Abrea, both members of a unit under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, were aboard one of two small scout boats that overturned while navigating a wide and deep section of the Butalo River in Barangay Butalo, Datu Salibo.

Bermudez, Abrea and their companions were on a routine riverine anti-terror security mission when one of the two scout boats capsized.

Major General Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said on Monday, May 5, that the bodies of Bermudez and Abrea were recovered separately on Saturday, May 3, by military rescuers and barangay officials in Butalo.

“To all of those who helped us find both of them, we are grateful,” Gumiran said.

Gumiran said the remains of Bermudez and Abrea will be immediately turned over to their families in distant provinces, with the 6th Infantry Division also assisting in the burial arrangements. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 5, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

Two soldiers who went missing after their scout boat capsized on Friday, May 2, in a deep section of the Butalo River in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao del Sur, were found dead around 20 hours later.

05/05/2025

NPA 'tax collector' killed in Sultan Kudarat encounter

COTABATO CITY (MAY 4, 2025) — Soldiers killed a member of the New People’s Army, part of a group notorious for extorting money from hapless farmers, in a brief clash in an upland area of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, on Thursday, May 1.

Members of the multi-sector Palimbang Municipal Peace and Order Council told reporters on Sunday, May 4, that the NPA fatality, Marlindo Pandila Maglangit, was wanted for several high-profile criminal cases pending before various courts in Central Mindanao.

Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, commander of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, said Marlindo Maglangit and his companions opened fire on troops approaching their location in Sitio Sandawagen, Barangay Bambanen, Palimbang, prompting a gunfight that led to Maglangit’s death.
His companion fled into a nearby hinterland after the soldiers, acting on reports of their presence, responded and returned fire.

Santos said their troops found an M16 assault rifle, medical supplies and explosives beside the cadaver of Maglangit.

Community leaders, including chieftains of indigenous groups, told reporters that Maglangit’s group had been frequently visiting Barangay Bambanen to forcibly collect money from unarmed villagers. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 4, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

Soldiers killed a member of the New People’s Army, part of a group notorious for extorting money from hapless farmers, in a brief clash in an upland area of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, on Thursday, May 1.

04/05/2025

Housewife killed, 4 injured in Koronadal tricycle-car collision

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY (May 4, 2025) — A car driven by a drunk driver rammed into a tricycle in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, before dawn on Friday, May 2, killing one passenger and injuring four others, including two grade school pupils.

Koronadal City police officials told reporters on Sunday that the incident resulted in the immediate death of a housewife, Juliet Ortiz Jaco, and left her husband, Benjamin Jaco, her sister, Judith Ortiz, and two children injured

They were on their way home to Barrio 6 in Koronadal City from the wake of a relative in nearby Banga town, South Cotabato, when the tricycle they were riding, driven by Jaco’s husband, was hit head-on by a wayward car along a supposedly wide thoroughfare in the city center.

According to personnel from the Koronadal City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and police officials, the car's driver was heavily intoxicated at the time of the crash. He was immediately detained by responding police investigators. --- JOHN UNSON, MAY 4, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR

A car driven by a drunk driver rammed into a tricycle in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, before dawn on Friday, May 2, killing one passenger and injuring four others, including two grade school pupils.

04/05/2025

Cops seize P36.7-M worth smuggled ci******es in Zamboanga City

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (May 3, 2025) — The police foiled on Friday, May 2, an attempt by seafaring smugglers to deliver to contacts in Basilan and in seaside areas in the Zamboanga peninsula P36.7 million worth of ci******es from Indonesia.

Ranking officials of the Police Regional Office-9 and counterparts in the Bangsamoro regional police told reporters on Saturday, May 3, that the small boat carrying the contraband, the M/L J-Minda, was immediately held by policemen after villagers reported that it had docked at a small wharf in Barangay Campo Islam in Zamboanga City for a brief stopover.

Anti-smuggling teams from different units of PRO-9 found 642 boxes of ci******es in the boat, according to local executives.

Radio reports had stated that three boatmen, Eding Alsad Kinsang, 54, Alwijar Hadjali Binang, 33, and the 35-year-old Basar Julaid Dahim, who were detained by policemen, had confirmed that their illegal merchandise, from suppliers in Sulu and in Tawi-Tawi, were consigned to traders in seaside areas in Zamboanga City and in nearby Basilan in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Local executives in Basilan had told reporters that they are thankful to Police Brig. Gen. Roel Rodolfo, PRO-9 director, and BARMM regional police officials for having acted on reports about the supposed delivery of the smuggled ci******es to coastal areas in the island province, enabling policemen to promptly prevent it.

Rodolfo had reportedly ordered the turnover of the confiscated P36.7 million worth of smuggled ci******es to the Bureau of Customs for its proper disposition. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 3, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

The police foiled an attempt by seafaring smugglers to deliver to contacts in Basilan and in seaside areas in the Zamboanga peninsula P36.7 million worth of ci******es from Indonesia.

03/05/2025

Reporters, 6th ID promoting, protecting suffrage rights together

John Unson, May 3, 2025

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — News reporters from across Central Mindanao and officials of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division have fused ranks for an extensive dissemination of the 6th ID’s planned May 12 election security operations.

Army officials, led by Major Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of 6th ID, took turns explaining to reporters, during a gathering at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Friday, May 2, their preparations for the May 12 polls.

The 6th ID has units in several towns where there are known election hotspots, beset with intense rivalries among politicians, some of them locked in deadly clan wars, called "rido" in the local vernaculars.

Gumiran said the media can help keep the public aware of the security measures they are to enforce during the May 12 elections.

Gumiran underscored, during their engagement with reporters last Friday, the need for prompt and extensive dissemination to the public on how they are helping the Commission on Elections ensure a safe electoral exercise in 6th ID's territory, to ward off potential saboteurs.

The dialogue on Friday among military officials and members of the Kampilan Defense Press Corps (KDPC), composed of reporters covering the six provinces and four cities in Central Mindanao that are covered by units under 6th ID and the Navy’s 1st Marine Brigade, was part of the joint commemoration then of the World Press Freedom Day by the division and the region's media community.

The president of the KDPC, Drema Quitayen Bravo, manager of the Catholic Station DXMS in Cotabato City, said she is thankful to the 6th ID for organizing Friday’s “Talakayan sa Kampilan” at Camp Siongco that capped off the capped off the event.

She then told military officials present in the event that news reporters in Central Mindanao appreciate 6th ID’s efforts of protecting them from potential dangers as consequences of their profession.

Brig. Gen. Patricio Ruben Amata, who is 6ID’s deputy commander, Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu of the 601st Infantry Brigade, Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, Brig. Gen. Vladimir Cagara of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, Col. Ronel Manalo of the 1st Mechanized Brigade and Capt. Glen Gabertan of the 1st Marine Brigade participated in the press forum that delved on issues and concerns pertaining to the May 12 elections.

Under 6th ID’s control, the 1st Marine Brigade, led by Brig. Gen. Romulo Quemado, has units in parts of Maguindanao del Norte, one of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

All of the Army and Philippine Marine officials who attended the three-hour Talakayan sa Kampilan had told reporters that among the concerns they are focusing attention on is the presence of armed groups in some far-flung areas that are identified with certain politicians.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front, which have separate peace compacts with Malacañang, had earlier assured to help the 6th ID guard against election violence in areas where each have enclaves that are now recognized as “peace zones” by the police and the military.

“We are thanking all sectors, the local government units, the religious communities, the traditional leaders and the media for supporting our efforts to have clean and safe elections in our area of responsibility,” Gumiran said. "The media plays a vital role in educating voters on the good benefits of exercising their right of suffrage.

The stations in Central Mindanao of the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, most known as the NDBC of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation, are actively educating voters, many of them in areas where past elections were marred with extreme hostilities and massive electoral fraud, on the importance of the right of suffrage and the need to support the security operations of state security forces during the actual polling day.

The NDBC’s Station DXMS in Cotabato City has been facilitating daily, for two weeks now, the convergence, together each time, in its broadcast center of rival candidates for local elective posts where they explain, on air, their plans on how to address domestic peace and security issues, promote commerce and trade and religious and interfaith solidarity among the city's culturally-divergent communities if elected to office.

Cotabato City, which has 37 barangays that are home to mixed Muslim, Christian and non-Moro indigenous Teduray residents, is BARMM's regional capital. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 3, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

News reporters from across Central Mindanao and officials of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division have fused ranks for an extensive dissemination of the 6th ID’s planned May 12 election security operations.

03/05/2025

P36.7 milyong puslit na yosi nasabat sa Zamboanga

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (May 4, 2025) — Umiskor ang pulisya matapos nilang masabat ang nasa P36.7-milyong halaga ng puslit na sigarilyo na nagmula pa sa Indonesia na takdang ideliber ng mga smugglers sa kanilang mga kontak sa Basilan at sa seaside areas ng Zamboanga peninsula nitong Mayo 2.

Ayon sa mga ranking officials ng Police Regional Office-9, kabilang si Brig. Gen. Roel Rodolfo, at kanilang counterparts sa Bangsamoro regional police nitong Sabado, isang maliit na bangka na M/L J-Minda, na may kargang kontrabando ay agad na pinigil ng mga pulis matapos na iulat sa kanila ng mga residente na nakadaong ito sa maliit na wharf sa Barangay Campo Islam sa Zamboanga City para sa kanilang stopover.

Nakumpiska ng anti-smuggling teams mula sa iba’t ibang units ng PRO-9 ang nasa 642 kahon ng sigarilyo na sakay ng bangka.

Tatlo ang nadakip sa operasyon na kinilalang sina Eding Alsad Kinsang, 54, Alwijar Hadjali Binang, 33, at 35-anyos na si Basar Julaid Dahim.

Kinumpirma ng tatlo na ang kanilang dalang kontrabando ay mula sa kanilang mga supliers sa Sulu at Tawi-Tawi, na naka-consign sa mga negosyante sa seaside areas ng Zamboanga City at kalapit na Basilan sa Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Iniutos na ni Brig Gen. Rodolfo ang pag-turnover sa nasamsam na P36.7 milyong halaga ng smuggled ci******es sa Bureau of Customs para sa kaukulang disposisyon. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 4, 2025, PILIPINO STAR NGAYON)

Umiskor ang pulisya matapos nilang masabat ang nasa P36.7-milyong halaga ng puslit na sigarilyo na nagmula pa sa Indonesia na takdang ideliber ng mga smugglers sa kanilang mga kontak sa Basilan at sa seaside areas ng Zamboanga peninsula nitong Mayo 2.

02/05/2025

5 busted in 2 Central Mindanao ops

John Unson, Philippine Star

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (May 1, 2025) — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested five shabu peddlers, including two drug den owners, in separate entrapment operations in two Central Mindanao cities within just two days.

Agents of the PDEA-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao clamped down three drug dealers, two of them operating a drug den, after selling to them P54,400 worth of shabu in a clandestine tradeoff on Wednesday, April 30, in Mother Barangay Bagua in west of Cotabato City.

Gil Cesario Castro, director of PDEA-BARMM, told reporters on Thursday, May 1, that the three suspects, one of them a woman, yielded peacefully when they learned that they had sold shabu to non-uniformed anti-narcotics agents and policemen within the premises of their drug den in Barangay Mother Bagua.

Castro said the operation that led to their arrest was assisted by Col. Jibin Bongcayao, Cotabato City police director, and confidential tipsters, who provided them information about the drug trafficking activities of the suspects.

Agents of the PDEA-12 had also entrapped two shabu dealers in Barangay Balindog in Kidapawan City in Region 12 last Wednesday, April 30.

Benjamin Recites III, director of PDEA-12, said the male and female suspects, both of legal age, were arrested by their agents and operatives of the Kidapawan City Police Office after selling to them P34,400 worth of shabu.

Recites said the two suspects are now locked in separate detention cells, awaiting prosecution for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. (JOHN UNSON, MAY 1, 2025, PHILIPPINE STAR)

Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested five shabu peddlers, including two drug den owners, in separate entrapment operations in two Central Mindanao cities within just two days.

John Felix M. Unson, a newsman

08/05/2025

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