TIMRA Reports

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Basilan’s Lamitan City and Sumisip town were accorded the Seal of Good Local Government (SGLG) Award, making them the only local government units (LGUs) in the province to receive the prestigious recognition this year.

The awarding ceremony, led by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., was held Thursday afternoon at the Manila Hotel.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY - A big group of New People’s Army guerillas, 13 of them experts in fabrication of home-made bombs, surrendered in Sarangani province this weekend. 

The 36 NPAs from Sarangani’s adjoining Maasim, Kiamba ang Maitum towns turned in assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and improvised explosive devices. 

COTABATO CITY - Two from an extortion group of the New People’s Army, one of them a minor, surrendered to the Army in Maitum town in Sarangani province.

The duo belonged to the NPA’s self-styled Guerilla Front Musa-Far South Mindanao Region, whose senior leaders are wanted for dozens of criminal cases pending in different courts.

COTABATO CITY – Authorities intercepted in Zamboanga City Wednesday five boats carrying P52.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes, two of which were bound for seaside towns in two Bangsamoro provinces.

The five boats were spotted and immediately impounded while about two miles off the seaside Barangay Labuan in Zamboanga City.

COTABATO CITY - Eight seafarers in boat adrift due to engine trouble some five miles off Sibutu Island in Tawi-Tawi were rescued by a Navy team before dawn Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Wednesday personnel of the Philippine Navy’s Task Group Task Group Tawi-Tawi had managed to rescue the eight passengers of M/L Rihana using a patrol craft.

The M/L Rihana was sailing from Sibutu, an island town in Tawi-Tawi, to the provincial capital, Bongao, when its engine malfunctioned.

COTABATO CITY - The police foiled Thursday an attempt by smugglers to deliver P886,000 worth of imported cigarettes to traders in Indanan, Sulu.

Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Friday the contraband, consisting of 78 large boxes of cigarettes with Indonesian brands, is now in the custody of the Indanan Municipal Police Station.

He said the confiscated cigarettes shall be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.

COTABATO CITY - Local officials and line agencies are relocating to safe areas thousands of residents affected by the cashes since Tuesday between soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front members in Ungkaya Pukan, Basilan

Local executives and senior police officials in the province said Thursday four MILF members and three soldiers have since been killed in the skirmishes, first in Barangay Ulitan in Ungkaya Pukan that subsequently spilled over to Mebak and Bato areas in the same town.

COTABATO CITY - Four people were killed in a gun attack wounded before dawn Tuesday in Barangay Baas in Lamitan City in Basilan.

A report received by the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region here stated that four were killed in the incident that also left a villager badly wounded.

Brig Gen. John Guyguyon, director of PRO-BAR, identified two of the four fatalities as Gappal Mustapha Pagi and Ardayan Dammang Amoto, who both died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Glass panels of at least three business establishments were shattered early Saturday when a liquefied petroleum gas tank exploded inside the City Commercial Center (C3) in Pagadian City.

Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said the explosion happened around 3:55 a.m. at the Chowking fast-food chain outlet in C3 located in Barangay Santiago, Pagadian City.

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Floods spawned by Tropical Storm Paeng left four persons missing and displaced more or less 3,000 families in this southern port city on Friday.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) under the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) recorded a total of 42 barangays affected by flash floods with three barangays still on evacuation alert on Saturday as Paeng progressed into a severe tropical storm.