3 alleged ambushers of governor nabbed

THREE alleged perpetrators of the February 17 ambush Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr, were arrested in a police operation in Bukidnon.

Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional OfficeBangsamoro Autonomous Region, said that Palawan Macalbom, 34, Nagac Dimatingkal Baratomo, 38, and the 29-year-old Amirodin Dimatingkal, were arrested in Sitio Panamsamon in Barangay Ninoy Aquino in Kalilangan, Bukidnon.

Guyguyon said they did not resist arrest when combined personnel of PRO-BAR and the Police Regional Office 10 arrived at their hideout in Kalilangan and showed them warrants for their arrest for 2019 criminal cases, filed against them long before the ambush of Adiong.

Kalilangan is an upland town in Bukidnon, a component province of

Region 10.

The Lanao del Sur Provincial Police and PRO-BAR are still to file criminal cases against Macalbom, Baratomo and Dimatingkal for their alleged involvement in last month’s ambush of the convoy of Adiong in Barangay Bato-Bato, Maguing, Lanao del Sur.

Adiong and his staff, Ali Tabao were wounded in the attack that also resulted in the demise of three of their police escorts, Staff Sergeant Mohammad Jurai Mipanga Adiong, Cpl. Johanie Lawi Sumandar, Cpl. Jalil Ampuan Cosain, and a civilian driver named Hasanor Pundaodaya.

Adiong and his companions were on their way to Wao, Lanao del Sur from Marawi City when gunmen positioned along a roadside hill shot their vehicles with assault rifles.

Guyguyon said last week criminal cases had been filed against three of the ambushers, Lomala Baratumo, Oscar Gandawali and Acsanie Hadji Salic, based on accounts of people aware of their involvement in the atrocity.

Adiong said Saturday he is thankful to PRO-BAR and the Lanao del Sur provincial police for cooperating in putting a closure to the ambush that he survived.

He said he is also grateful to Maranaw leaders helping locate the culprits who are still at large. John

Felix Unson

Marines find war materiel in Maguindanao Norte

GOVERNMENT forces pursuing remnants of Maute terrorist group and other local terrorist groups stumbled upon several abandoned houses with high powered firearms and explosives in Maguindanao del Norte, the military said Thurday.

Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, 6th Infantry Division commander, said that members of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-5 (MBLT-5) discovered five abandoned houses in Barangay Nabalawag, Barira town on Sunday afternoon.

Rillera, also chief of Joint Task Force Central (JTFC), the Marines were scouring the area for possible enemy tracks when they recovered six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 19 81mm ammunition, two mortar base plate, undetermined number of cal. 50 ammunition, undetermined number of rifle grenades, undetermined number of M203 ammunition, one rocket-propelled grenade, and other war materials.

Troops also found a printed tarpaulin with markings "Bangsamoro Government Headquarters, BRD, GHQ."

Following the discovery, the operating troops established defensive positions, secured the area, and coordinated with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team of the 1st Marine Brigade for the recovery of the explosives and ammunition.

The EOD immediately disposed the explosives and brought other war materials to 1st Marine Brigade Headquarters at Sitio Bomabaran, Barangay Togaig, Barira for documentation and safekeeping.

Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, Western Mindanao Command chief, lauded the Marine troops of MBLT-5 for this accomplishment.

"Rest assured that we will remain steadfast in neutralizing the remnants of the different threat groups in our area of operation. This accomplishment proves that the enemies of the state have nowhere else to go but to return to the folds of the law," Lt. Gen. Galido said.

On Feb. 4, a Marine sergeant was killed and three of his companions were injured in an ambush by suspected Dawlah Islamiyah Maute terrorist group in Lanao del Sur.

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The Marines were conducting intelligence

Councilor arrested for alleged act of terror

THE police is now in custody of a municipal councilor wanted for violation of the antiterror law in connection with his having allegedly masterminded the bombing of a polling site during last year’s elections.

The 23-year-old Abdulwadod Sangki, 23, had just alighted from a commercial plane at the airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, from Mania, when policemen served him a warrant of arrest for alleged violation of the Republic Act 11479, also known as Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional OfficeBangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters Wednesday Sangki, who is president of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, is now in the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. He was on his way home to Ampatuan when intercepted by agents of the CIDG-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region while proceeding to the parking area of the airport.

Sangki, as municipal Sangguniang Kabataan president, is an ex-officio member of the Ampatuan Sangguniang Bayan.

He was implicated in the bombing on May 9, 2022 in the campus of the Abdullah Sangki Elementary School.

The police said the attack was meant to disrupt the conduct then of the synchronized local and national elections in polling precincts inside the school campus.

Guyguyon said the warrant for the arrest of Sangki was issued by Regional Trial Court in Iligan City, dated October 7, 2022. John Felix Unson

DAR-12, IFAD project to boost farmers’ lives

TO boost the economic lives of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARB) in the Soccsksargen region, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), are set to launch the newest foreign-assisted project dubbed as “Value Chain Innovation for Sustainable Transformation in Agrarian Reform Communities” (VISTA) Project.

In a statement, DAR said the VISTA Project aims to improve the livelihood and enhance the community resilience of vulnerable rural populations through a Value Chain Development (VCD) approach anchored to natural ecosystem adaptation.

The IFAD mission team is composed of experts from around the globe who specializes in rural finance, value chain innovation, environment and natural resources, institution, governance, land tenure, gender, and targeting and social inclusion, to name a few.

Relevant activities will be undertaken by the combined IFAD and DAR teams to conduct focused group discussions on the project, together with the recipient ARB organizations, partner LGUs/PLGUs, agencies, microfinance institutions, private sectors, and other necessary stakeholders involved in the value chain of coffee, cacao, and coconut.

DAR Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Office Assistant Secretary Rene Colocar said this activity is in line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., through the leadership of DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III, to improve the livelihood of the ARBs nationwide.

"In line with the Philippine development plan for 2023-2028, the DAR and IFAD will once again prove our strong partnership in order to provide adequate and sustainable support services to our ARBs," Colocar said.

POWERFUL EXPLOSIVES. These 81mm mortars were part of war materials found by Marines in Maguindanao del Norte and to be disposed properly by the military’s bomb disposal units. These were found abandoned in several houses in Barangay Nabalawag, Barira town.

SoCot councilor jailed for rape

GEN. SANTOS CITY The municipal councilor in Tantangan, South Cotabato wanted for rape is now awaiting prosecution, the spokesperson of the city police said Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Aldrin Gonzales, spokesman of the General Santos City Police Office, said June Seneca was clamped down last week after policemen had located his hideout here and immediately served him a warrant for his arrest.

Seneca, a member of the

Tantangan Sangguniang Bayan, voluntarily turned himself in when combined personnel of the Police Regional Office 12 and GSCPO arrived at his hideout and showed him a warrant for his arrest from a court.

Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, director of PRO 12, had earlier said vigilant residents of Tantangan helped police intelligence agents locate him in Barangay Bula in this city.

Seneca was charged with rape in regional court in South Cotabato in late 2022.

The presiding officer of the Tantangan Sangguniang Bayan, Vice Mayor Cesar Dasilao, has confirmed that Seneca disappeared in the municipality in January after learning that a court had ordered his arrest, without recommended bail for his temporary release. Dasilao said they have since withheld the salary of Seneca and other benefits from the Tantangan municipal government. John Felix Unson

Dorothy Lucks, IFAD team leader, has expressed excitement over the possibilities that this region can offer since the project will innovate coffee, cacao, and coconut production and marketing, for the benefit of ARBs in agrarian reform communities (ARCs).

"The VISTA Project aims to increase employment, improve food security and nutrition, and reduce poverty while maintaining the cultural integrity of the recipient communities, as well as preserve the natural ecosystem in the area," Lucks said in a statement.

The team has identified four towns in the Soccsksargen region to visit for comprehensive data gathering from farmers and stakeholders on how to design the project, molded to the needs of the farmers in the target areas.

The ARC sites to be visited are in Tupi, South Cotabato, Pres. Quirino town in Sultan Kudarat, Maasim town in Sarangani and Antipas in North Cotabato.

Farmers are expected to increase productivity and income with more government initiated projects coming their way through DAR. Edwin O. Fernandez