VOL. XXIX NO. 324 3 Sections 24 Pages P18 SATURDAY : JANUARY 2, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph
Police to enforce gun ban
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TROOPS BEAT BACK BIFF ASSAULTS ON 3 FRONTS By Francisco Tuyay
THE Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters attacked at least three military positions in Mindanao on New Year’s Eve with the fighting lasting well into the first day of the year, the military reported on Friday. Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s Sixth Infantry Division, said at least 20 BIFF fighters fired 40mm mortars at a detachment of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion in Maguindanao at 6 p.m. Thursday. “They surrounded the area and opened fire with 40mm mortars,” Petinglay said, adding that no government troops were injured or killed in the attack. About three hours later, another BIFF group attacked a detachment of the 34th Infantry Battalion in Shariff Aguak, also in Maguindanao, with fighting lasting until after midnight. Lt. Col. Edgar delos Reyes, commanding officer of the 34th IB, said their troops were able to push back the bandits with heavy gunfire. Next page
Drunk dies hugging Goodbye Philippines By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Florante S. Solmerin
New Year fire. A resident tries to fight a fire caused by a firecracker that engulfed a slum in Manila on Jan. 1 and destroyed nearly 300 homes. AFP
THE number of injuries from firecracker-related accidents was 53 percent lower this year than in 2015 but one drunk man died when he hugged the firecracker “Goodbye Philippines” before it exploded, Health Secretary Janette Garin said Friday. In a press briefing, Garin said the 384 firecracker-related and stray bullet injuries covered the period of Dec. 21 when the DoH started its monitoring Next page