Army now escorts North Cotabato teachers

By Edwin O. Fernandez

THE military has deployed forces to serve as escorts of public school teachers assigned in critical villages of PIkit, North Cotabato following the killing of a teacher and wounding of another on May 26.

Lt. Colonel Rowel Gavilanes, 90th Infantry Battalion commander, said starting Tuesday (May 30) his unit also deployed “riding tandem” soldiers in “full battle gears” to protect the public school teachers as they travel to and from their respective schools.

“We are here providing them security in support of the local police,” Gavilanes said in a radio interview.

Since Tuesday, police and military forces have been roaming around communities and conduct vehicle and foot patrols near public schools to thwart attempts to harm teachers, students and anyone.

In Barangay Manaulanan, one of the critical villages in Pikit, unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed Joel Reformado and injured Elton John Lapined both riding on a motorbike.

They were among the victims of gun attacks in Pikit that hit this town since last year.

The local police listed more than 40 victims of shooting in different villages of Pikit since 2022 to date.

Education officials have condemned the killing of Reformado and urged authorities to take bold steps to ensure safety of teachers and students.

In February this year, unidentified gunmen, for still unknown reasons, shot three pupils walking for home for lunch in Barangay Gli-Gli, killing one of them and wounding two others. The perpetrators remained.

Gavilanes said he was sad by the turn events on Friday that left a teacher dead in Barangay Manaulanan.

He said that ambush against Reformado and his companion has “broken the 3-month silence, peace and tranquility of Pikit” or the three months of “zero violence.”

Alarmed by the killing of Reformado, Dr. Romelito Flores, Cotabato schools division superintendent, also gathered the 36 school heads of Pikit schools district to determine the level of risks in their areas of assignments.

“Write your feelings and assess the situation in your place, also write what can be improved,” Flores told the head teachers during his intimate session with Pikit head teachers.

“What can you say or reaching about the murder of Reformado,” he said during the meeting. Silence prevailed in the session room.

He then asked them to write their assessment of the risks in their areas of assignment.

Their sharing shall serve as input in policy formulation for long term and immediate intervention for short-term response, he said.

Army, PNP response to Dawlah threats cited

LANAO del Sur officials have expressed appreciation for the prompt response of the military’s Western Mindanao Command and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for promptly responded to the threats last week by the Dawlah Islamiya to attack Marogong town.

The PRO-BAR deployed this week personnel to strategic spots in Marogong town in Lanao del Sur, which the outlawed Dawlah Islamiya has threatened to attack.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. said Tuesday is thankful to Police Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, director of PRO-BAR, for personally supervising Monday's positioning of more police officers in Marogong.

Thousands of residents have evacuated to other towns, fearing an attack by members of the DI terrorist group.

In an interview on Alerto Bangsamoro, Marogong disaster risk officer Ronaldin Damiano said at least 3,550 residents have gone to safer areas outside town, with some seeking shelter as far away as Iligan and Cotabato cities.

He said classes were suspended and only around half of establishments are open as the town worries about a repeat of the Marawi Siege of 2017.

The outlawed Dawlah Islamiya, in 2-way radio messages and Facebook posts, threatened to enter the town proper of Marogong following the arrest of four Dawla Islamiya members.

More than 20 Dawlah Islamiya members also fell in anti-narcotics operations in the province in recent months, now detained and are being prosecuted for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Nobleza said Tuesday a platoon from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion and personnel of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Mobile Company are now positioned around the town proper of Marogong as part of their preparations for any Dawlah Islamiya incursion.

Adiong to Maranaws: Rise above threats

MARAWI CITY —

Unshaken by extremists’ rumored takeover of Marogong town, Governor Mamintal Bombit Alonto Adiong Jr. said Lanao del Sur residents should rise above the challenges of underdevelopment, terror threats and criminalities.

On Tuesday, Adiong received farm equipment from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at the PEO grounds, New Capitol Complex here.

It can be recalled that amid rumored threat by extremists Dawlia Islamia, some 259 families have fled Marogong to seek safe refuge in nearby Binidayan, Tubaran, Bayang and Masiu towns. Adiong himself survived a daring daylight ambush where he was wounded severely, and four of his escorts killed.

BARMM Interior and Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo had visited Marogong to assess projects funded by his office.

Adiong accepted the equipment, underscoring the importance of ensuring the province’s food security. By empowering the farmers, he said, they would be able to contribute much to agricultural sustainability and development of the province.

Also on Tuesday, Adiong laid the cornerstone for the mounting of photovoltaic plates to generate solar energy to help power the Tamparan District Hospital local terrorist

The 22KW solar energy project in the Tamparan District Hospital (TDH) is funded by the United Nations Development Programme and the Department of Energy.

The system will be installed to energize primarily the hospital’s blood bank, laboratory, emergency room, and hospital corridors, among others, said Provincial Information Officer Salma Jayne Alonto Tamano.

TDH has been using diesoline generator set due to erratic power supply.

THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) have joined efforts to boost the coconut industry in North Cotabato, officials said Monday.

PARPO II Evangeline Bueno, DAR Provincial Agrarian Refomr Program Officer II, said validation activities have been going on and DAR has been looking for potential Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) that will be developed as a central hub for coconut processing under the proposed coconut value chain boosting project.

"Potential ARBOs will be assessed for further interventions to strengthen their operations and to establish tie-ups with private sectors in order to expand their markets," Bueno said in a statement.

The validation team composed of DAR regional and provincial officials visited the Bagong Pag-asa Credit Cooperative (BPCC), a DARassisted organization engaged in virgin coconut oil production in New Panay, Pigcawayan.

Roldan Ali, Al Haj, assistant regional director for administration and support services, explained that DAR wanted to improve the process and product of the ARBOs to have a steady market or expand them to a bigger market.

Seminiana Bawik, BPCC project manager, was grateful to DAR for the continued assistance given her

He said a company-size contingent from the Army’s 32nd Infanty Battalion had also been deployed in different barangays in the municipality.

Felix Unson