Volume VIII, No. 215
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Wednesday, February 6, 2019
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MORE COPS DEPLOYED. Police officers from Cagayan de Oro arrive at the Mindanao Civic Center in Tubod, Lanao del Norte on Monday, to help secure the province as they vote on Feb. 6 for or against the inclusion of its six towns to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao following the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law. photo by gerry lee gorit
Pray before voting for plebiscite: Murad
Several families in Lanao evacuate ahead of plebiscite By DIVINA M. SUSON, Correspondent
TUBOD, Lanao del Norte-The Philippine National Police in Lanao del Norte has been telling the public not to panic and instead remain vigilant as the referendum to decide if the province’s six municipalities will be included in the new Bangsamoro region under the Bangsamoro Organic Law. This after 11 families from the towns of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, L ala, Kolambogan, Baroy and Kapatagan were evacuating to neighboring places in Misamis Occidental and Ozamiz City. Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Cabanag, provincial director of Provincial Police Office-Lanao del Norte, said in a press conference Tuesday (February
S ince
5), the PNP have already verified these families and found out that they are temporarily staying with their relatives. “Posible na natakot sila dahil sa mga maling impormasyon. Pero kino-convince na sila ng local government units na babalik sa kanikanilang mga lugar para maka-boto sa plebisito, pero wala pa tayong info kung may umuwi sa kanila,” Cabanag said. “We encouraged them (families) na huwag matakot. Manindigan sila para sa Lanao del Norte,” he added. This paper verified that some families from the towns of Tubod and Kauswagan were also fleeing to their relatives in Iligan City. See EVACUATE, page 11
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By DIVINA M. SUSON, Correspondent
AIGO, Lanao del Norte--A Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) official told his fellow Muslims to go to a mosque and pray before they will go to their respective polling precincts to participate in the plebiscite in Lanao del Norte on February 6. In his visit to Maigo last January 24, MILF Chairman Murad Ibrahim told hundreds of Muslims and non-Muslims to pray and ask from Allah what they want for -that the 'yes' will win for the inclusion of the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) under the
Bangsamoro Organic Law. "It is a religious tradition if we will ask for something big, the night before, we will have sambayang (prayer) to pray to Allah that He will grant us our prayers," Murad said in the interview. More than 300,000 registered voters in Lanao del Norte will cast ballots at around 1,000 clustered precincts in the plebiscite areas
MILF Chairman Murad Ibrahim
on Wednesday (February 6) to decide if they allow or not to be included in the BARMM. The BOL was ratified during the referendum in January 21. “Respect the result” In the same visit, Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the
MILF-Peace Implementing Team, assured the public that the result of the plebiscite will be respected. "But we have to ensure that there is no manipulation, there is no intimidation to the voters, for as long as the result is clean, no problem, we will not create amok," Iqbal said. He said, the MILF is committed to respecting a democratic process. Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Dimaporo, who strongly campaigned against the inclusion of the six municipalities, also said they will respect the will of the people and asked the MILF leaders to let the people of the province to vote freely. See PRAY, page 11
83 sitios in Misor, Bukidnon still infested with NPAs: Military By MARK FRANCISCO, Correspondent
THERE are still 83 sitios in Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon that are still under the influence of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels or their unarmed wing, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF). In a security briefing before members of Oro Chamber last Monday, 403rd Infantry Brigade commander Col. Edgardo de Leon identified the fol-
lowing cities and municipalities with communist presence and the number of sitios they have penetrated there: Gingoog City (15), Claveria (8), Medina (5), Balingasag (10), Lagonglong (3), Salay (2), Talisayan (1), Opol (6), all in Misamis Oriental; and Malaybalay City (9), Valencia City (9), Malitbog (3), Manolo Fortich (2), Impasug-ong (6), Sumilao (1) and Lantapan (3), all in Bukidnon.
Cagayan de Oro City’s barangay Besigan has a sitio that is also in the list. According to de Leon, there are only few sitios though with armed NPAs. Most are penetrated by CPP members “who are already brainwashed into joining protest rallies in urban centers such as Cagayan de Oro City, Gingoog City or Butuan City.” In sitios where there are armed NPAs present, these people are the ones who provide food and other logistics to the rebels, de
Leon claimed. The 403rd Infantry Brigade, whose jurisdiction includes Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, is also watching out for NPA sightings in Iligan City. “If there are NPAs in the remote mountainous areas in Iligan City, this may become a launching base in penetrating the sitios in western Misamis Oriental such as those located in Opol,” de Leon worried. The Army colonel adSee NPA, page 11
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