Army rescued more child warriors in Samar

By Maj. FELIX M. MANGYAO (INF) PA
October 15, 2006

CAMP LUKBAN, Catbalogan, Samar – Troops from 14th Infantry (Avenger) Battalion of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army rescued another band of child warriors at Barangay 4 Poblacion, San Jose De Buan, Samar on October 8, 2006 at 4:00 in the afternoon.

The rescue was an off shot of information given by a Barangay resident about the presence of three suspicious individuals roaming around the area. The troops immediately verified the veracity of the information and yielded to the rescue of new NPA recruits who are minors, namely: Judy Boy C. Rebato alias Nene, 16 years old of Brgy Can-aponte, San Jose De Buan; Ramil Mañoso alias Otoy, 18 years old and resident of Sitio Cadarangan, Barangay Can-aponte, all members of the Lawin Platoon; and, Robert R. Mabanan, 13 years old and a resident of Barangay San Nicolas, San Jose De Buan and member of Dalogdog Platoon.

Last week, two (2) female child warriors were rescued by the elements of 34th Infantry Battalion in a far flung Sitio of Cabungahan, Barangay Tuturingon, Catbalogan, Samar. Ms Luz Tacal, the Provincial DSWD Director of Samar Province, was immediately informed regarding the rescue of these minors.

MajGen. Rodrigo F. Maclang, the Commanding General of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, is calling the local chief executives of the municipalities where these child NPA recruits belong to extend their support to these innocent children who are victims of the CPP/NPA’s inhuman activities.

He said “I challenge the so-called human rights advocates KARAPATAN-SB KATUNGOD to speak out and condemn the CPP/NPA/NDF for deliberately recruiting children into their ranks. Children have the rights to live a peaceful life and should be spared from any armed conflict. They have grossly violated the provisions of Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

During the 58th Charter Day Anniversary of Calbayog City

PGMA to give ‘special’ SONA for Samar people

By RICKY J. BAUTISTA
October 14, 2006

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar  –  In her second visit to this city’s 58th Charter Day Anniversary on Monday (October 16), President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has prepared a very special day, as she is expected to deliver her “special” State of the Nation Address (SONA) exclusively for the constituents of three provinces of Samar Island.

Using a private plane, Mrs. Arroyo will be arriving at the Calbayog City Airport located at Brgy. Trinidad, here at around 10 a.m. which would be welcome by Rep. Reynaldo S. Uy (1st District-Samar), Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento, among other city officials.

In an exclusive interview, Calbayog City Administrator Edgar Isidro yesterday informed this writer that the visit of the president is now confirmed.

“It’s all systems go for PGMA’s visit her as her advance party (PMS) will be on their way now to this city, which is the only city of Samar Island,” Isidro said.

Apparently, the absence of two of Samar Island’s governors, namely Samar Governor Milagrosa T. Tan and Northern Samar Raul Daza in last July’s SONA of President Arroyo at the House of Representatives triggered the president to have her special SONA delivered which initially would include all priority development and tourism plans for the three Samar provinces.

According to Isidro, these development plans for the Samar provinces were, in fact, deliberated and approved by members of the Regional Development Council (RDC) recently.

Being part of the Central Philippines Mega Region dubbed as the tourism center under PGMA’s Medium Term Investment Plan, Samar Island expects the president to include in her special address SONA the government’s flagship project One Town One Product (OTOP) which taps a particular industry and assist every town to develop such.

OTOP is a government program that seeks to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs through identification by local chief executives of specific products and services that have competitive advantage.

Still being part of the tourism center of the Central Philippines Mega Region, the promotion of Calicoan Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar which was mentioned during PGMA’s July 2006 SONA, the three provinces is pushing for it to be packaged with other good tourist destinations in other Western and Northern Samar towns.

“We would like for other tourist destinations nga mahilakip in the promotion of the Calicoan Island in a sort of a tour package that would feature other tourist destinations in Samar’s northern and western provinces,” City Administrator Isidro said.

Meanwhile, top priority infrastructure project that would be unveiled by President Arroyo is the rehabilitation of the Calbiga-Calbayog road network, which according to Samar Congressmen Reynaldo Uy and Catalino Figueroa, may start soon after the ‘notice to proceed’ from the JBIC has arrived.

Aside from delivering the special SONA, President Arroyo’s visit would also see to the unveiling of project markers for the Cagbayang Bridge, Sakay Na Project of the Department of Education, TransCo Lines, Botika ng Bayan, Tindahan Natin, Calbayog City Sports Complex and the Mariculture for the Poor Livelihood project.

The president would also distribute secure tenure certificates for about 1,700 informal settlers represented by eleven homeowners’ association presidents.

She would also grace the barangay assembly awarding ceremony for the Susbaranan 2006 Brgy. Best Practices Award of the City of Calbayog.

A Sarakiki-Hadang Streetdance would likewise be performed in honor of the President.

The October 16 visit will be President Arroyo’s second visit to the city of Calbayog, the first was when she graced as the resource speaker during the graduation ceremony of the Tiburcio Tancinco Memorial Institute of Sciences and Technology (TTMIST) in 2002.

NPA child warrior claims she was lured by leftist propaganda

By ELI C. DALUMPINES (PIA Samar)
October 14, 2006

CATBALOGAN, Samar  –  It was not her dream to become a revolutionary; much more of being a woman red warrior, but the intense propaganda of the left enticed her to join the communist movement in an early age.

Ka Liza, 16 years old and one of the women warriors (popularly known as “amazona”) rescued by elements of the 34th Infantry Battalion last October 4 in a hinterland barangay of Catbalogan, in an interview Tuesday claimed she was just 14 years old when she joined the movement.

She narrated that sometime in 2004, a certain Tito, whom she later identified as the commander of the “Batter” platoon unit under the Central Front-Samar 1 operating within the San Jorge-Catbalogan area, came to their house in Brgy. Catundan, San Jorge town and invited her to attend a three-day lecture conducted by the group.

Her parents, according to her, expressed disapproval of her attending the lecture but curiosity prompted her to listen to the lecture which actually lasted for a week.

“Pinaagi hadto nga edukasyon gintututdu-an kami parti han istorya han Pilipinas, ngan mga especial nga kurso han mga sector han parag-uma, kababayen-an ngan kabata-an (In that lecture, we were taught about the History of the Philippines, as well as specialized courses on the different sectors like the farmers, women and youth),” she informed.

The lecture, she recalled, culminated in the teaching of the BKP or the Batakang Kurso Pampartido which oriented them on the political aspects of the revolutionary movement.

“Katapos hito nga edukasyon, gin-obserbahan ako nira sulod han usa ka bulan basi ako na liwat an magdumara hin pagpanutdo han bag-o nga mga nag-api (After that I was given one month observation period while I did the Educating to the new recruits),” she added.

Later, however, she was trained to become a medical officer, a position which she holds until her rescue last October 4.

Ka Liza said they were in Sitio Cankahayag, Brgy. Tuturingon to mill corn when they were spotted by elements of 34th IB’s Alpha Company who were patrolling the area. The milled corn is supposed to be a part of the sustenance of her unit, she said.

Lt. Col. Glorivine Dida, Commanding Officer of the 34th IB informed that his men reported that Ka Liza and her companions showed unusual reaction when they saw the patrolling unit. That prompted his men to conduct body search to the three who attempted to seek refuge in a nearby hut.

Recovered from Ka Liza was a cal. 45 pistol with a few live ammunitions. She later admitted that the recovered weapon was given to her by her unit just three days before their capture.

P4 million donation of Samar to Guinsaugon tragedy is missing?

CATBALOGAN, Samar  –  “Dapat dili nila gamiton ang natabo sa amu-a sa ilahang corruption ug lain pang klase sa pangawat sa kwarta ug tabang nga dapat para sa amu-a”, this was the sad statement of Guinsaugon Brgy. Chairman Genio Coquilla when he learned that Samar province allocated P4 million as assistance [view SP resolution] to the victims of the tragic mudslide that totally erased their community from the map.

The Catbalogan Cable TV Media Advocates Nucleus (CCATMAN), a Samar-based media group in search of the missing amount went to Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte to investigate the whereabouts of the said donation, but were dismayed knowing that not a single centavo had reached its supposed recipients.

Brgy. Chair Coquilla deplored the exploitation of the Guinsaugon tragedy by some corrupt government officials, disclosing that the missing Samar donation is not the only assistance given to them that need to be accounted with, and revealed that there are still other donations which are yet to be declared, but by far smaller compared to the 4 million pesos allocated by Samar province.

“They are making the lives of the survivors more miserable, di ko ma-imagine nga ana-a gud di-ay mga tawo nga ing-ana, nga itabang na lang gani, kawaton pa gyud, abe nako sa mga slum area ra makita kining klase na mga tawhana”, alleged Coquilla as he presented to the media copies of various resolutions from other cities and provinces which until now have not reach their end.

As the data gathering mission of the CCATMAN continue, it stumbled on a certified list of donors of “in-kinds” or goods which were coursed through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development of Southern Leyte stipulating a total value amounting to P57,732,291.70 of goods was received by the said agency.

But upon verification made by the group, the said list do not contain the name of the province of Samar, but the group had noticed that the Office of the President in Malacañang likewise donated 4 million pesos to the mudslide victims.

The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines topped the said list as the biggest donor - that was coursed through the social welfare office - amounting to P26, 691, 893.38.

But aside from the DSWD, it was gathered that more donations were routed to the provincial government of Southern Leyte headed by its chief executive Gov. Rosette Lerias, but upon checking at the Southern Leyte capitol, the provincial treasurer Pedro Llevares, Jr. issued a certified list which upon verification do not contain the name of the province of Samar again.

According to Llevares’ list, the total cash donation that the provincial government has received amounted to P28, 532,744.65 plus $23,582.00, and no cash or goods was received coming from Samar as of August this year.

On the other hand, the municipality of St. Bernard likewise has their own list of donors for cash and “in-kind” assistance that are directly coursed through to them.

Mr. Inovencio P. Carbonilla, the town’s treasurer furnished the media group a complete list of their cash donors last August 11, 2006 that upon computation totaled to P9,076,270.76, and further certified that no donations had been received by his office from the province of Samar since the occurrence of the Guinsaugon tragedy in February 17 up to the issuance of the said certificate.

In the same instance, the over-all monitoring agency of the relief operations for the Guinsaugon tragedy led by the town’s Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council (MDCC), which is supervised by Tita I. Lorica, as the Municipal Assessor of St. Bernard LGU told in his certification that they haven’t received any form of good or “in-kind” donations from Samar since they started handling their relief operations. The certification was issued last August 11, 2006.

Meanwhile, a local NGO Athena Inc., that was established by the families and relatives of the people who perished in the Guinsaugon tragedy, whose mission is to monitor that all incoming donations are properly receipted and accounted for decried the exploitation of the death of their loved ones.

Ms. Reggie Cabugos, spokesperson of the NGO told CCATMAN in a phone interview that they will conduct their own investigation regarding the missing P4 million supposed donation of Samar province and subsequently voiced out an appeal to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Samar to cooperate with them, if not, urged the said legislative body to conduct their own investigation regarding the realization of the SP resolution that they have passed authorizing the governor of Samar to draw out money from the province’ calamity fund using the Guinsaugon tragedy as the basis.

“We wanted the truth to come out, we don’t want these people to exploit the Guinsaugon tragedy for their own benefit, ma-awa naman sila sa mga taga Guinsaugon “, said Ms. Cabugos.

Meanwhile, insiders from the Capitol’s accountant office informed that they could not find documents that will show that Governor Tan has donated the P4 million to the Guinsaugon tragedy.

The Accounting department here likewise did not confirm if the P4 million has been drawn out from the provincial coffer last March when the resolution of the authority was finally approved.

But insiders who refused to be identified informed that the money could have been paid directly to the suppliers of goods that are supposed to be delivered to St Bernard, but refused to divulge the names of the said suppliers.

It can be recalled that after the Samar Day celebration in August 11, 2006, news in capitol told that the LGU Samar has delivered 100 sacks of rice and medicines to Southern Leyte, and as of this writing, the rice delivery as of September already reached 300 sacks.

However, the Athena Inc. is still validating the report with concerned relief operations groups in Southern Leyte to determine if indeed such donations had reached their end.

“Pero sir, kahit na sabihin natin na nakarating nga ang mga gamot and the 300 sacks na iyan sa amin, for the medicines I don’t think that is still needed, iyong bigas okey, but still that figure is not enough to account the total value of the supposed donations which is P4 million, hindi sa hinahabol naming ang pera na iyan kasi bigay nga iyan dapat, ang sa amin lang is for the Samarnons to know na hindi kami kalian man nakipag-kutsaba sa mga corrupt na tao sa gobyerno para gawing P4 million ang 300 sacks of rice, your capitol people in Samar should know that as well”, Ms. Cabugos explained.

“Saka ang tagal na sir simula ng tulungan kami ng iba-ibang lugar, sing-tagal na rin nang ma-approved ng Samar ang halaga na iyon to be donated to the people of Guinasaugon, just imagine na Marso pa ho iyon, ang tanong ho namin at dapat siguro itanong ng mga Samarnon, bakit ngayon lang?”, the Athena Inc. spokesperson concluded.

The CCATMAN tried to get in touch with Governor Tan last week to inquire if the supposed donation did push through, because of the absence of the name of the province in various donor’s list obtained by media group, but the governor is unavailable.