RP ranked 9th among 162 countries affected by terrorism in 2013 2 wounded in another Cotabato blast by Mario J. Mallari Saturday 22 Nov 2014 Two civilians were wounded after another improvised explosive device (IED) exploded along a busy area in Cotabato City on Thursday night. Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, public affairs officer of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) identified those wounded as Leslie Encina, 18, and Kristel Mae Uy, 20. According to Petinglay, the IED, composed of a 60mm high explosive mortar ammo with mechanical-type detonation, exploded along the vicinity of Sinsuat Avenue in front of Petron Station in Cotabato City at around 6 p.m. “Incidentally, a passing military vehicle was able to witness the said incident and according to one of the soldiers, they saw a person throwing a package which eventually exploded,” said Petinglay. The two wounded civilians were immediately brought to a nearby hospital for treatment. Police Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) teams are conducting post-blast investigation. Authorities have yet to identify who was behind the latest bombing. Recent explosions in Central Mindanao were blamed to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which is talking peace with the government of the Philippines (GPH). Contrary to BBL hype, Manilakbayan shows no peace in Mindanao — KMU Written by Pat C. Santos Saturday, 22 November 2014 00:00 font size Print Be the first to comment! Expressing support to Manilakbayan, national labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said yesterday that the ongoing protest-caravan of hundreds of national minorities and peasants from Mindanao shows that there is no peace in the southern island, contrary to the hype about the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). In a prepared statement, the labor group said the Aquino government is making it appear that the law, currently being deliberated in Congress and Senate and will pave the way to the creation of a political entity set to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, will bring about genuine peace in Mindanao. “The Manilakbayan shows that there’s a silent but bloody war going on in Mindanao, contrary to the government’s hype about the BBL. The Aquino government is pursuing a war against the people of Mindanao in the interest of big foreign mining and logging companies,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, KMU chairman. The labor leader said the KMU fully supports the people of Mindanao who are holding the Manilakbayan to protest the widespread human-rights violations in the island in the form of displacement of communities due to militarization, filing of trumped-up charges against, and extra-judicial killings of, activists opposing corporate mining and logging. “The Aquino government’s push for the plunder of Mindanao’s resources by big foreign capitalists shows that it is not implementing pro-people reforms. There could not be peace in Mindanao or anywhere in the country without such reforms,” Labog added. Human-rights group Karapatan reports that 500 activists opposing corporate mining and logging face trumped-up charges; that there have been eight incidents of forced evacuation of the 19 Lumad communities in the area in 2014 alone, affecting more than 700 families with over 2,900 women, men and children; and that there have been 83 cases of extra-judicial killings in the six regions of Mindanao under the Aquino presidency. Mindanao activists claim that all mining areas in Mindanao, covering about half a million hectares including small-scale mining areas, face heavy deployment of military troops, paramilitary forces and private armies in the form of security agencies. “The Aquino government’s policies in Mindanao are only fueling the resistance of the people, not planting the seeds of peace, in the island. We condemn it for responding to the people’s growing opposition to corporate mining and logging with intensified repression,” Labog stated.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 23:37:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015