MINDANAO NEWSBIT

PUBLIC

Mindanao Newsbit for January 7, 2015

January 6, 2015

BRGY. CHAIR SLAIN

Kidapawan City, North Cotabato – A barangay chairman was slain in an ambush by armed men riding in tandem Monday afternoon in Carmen City here, local authorities said yesterday. Sr. Insp. Basilio Parcon, Carmen City police chief, reported that Eliazar Pilapil was shot by still-unidentified suspects at about 4 p.m. shortly after leaving the town hall. Pilapil, chairman of Barangay Ugalingan, was on his way home, riding their family-owned motorcycle, when he was ambushed. He died five hours after undergoing treatment at a hospital here due to three bullet wounds on different parts of his body. (Ali G. Macabalang)

CHECKPOINT BUST

Surigao Del Sur – Two suspected illegal drug couriers and a minor were arrested at a checkpoint at the Municipality of Lianga, here Monday evening Sr. Insp. Emmanuel Guillermo of the Lianga Municipal Police Station said they conducted a checkpoint along the national highway of Purok-3, Barangay Poblacion after receiving a phone call from a concerned citizen about illegal drug couriers on motorcycles who were about to enter the town. The suspects, identified as Mark Balabag Iyog, 34; Noel Salinas Cacho, 30; and a 15-year-old minor were apprehended at 11 p.m. Three heat-sealed transparent cellophane containing still-undetermined quantity of suspected shabu, a weighing scale, P900 cash and a mobile phone with charger were confiscated from the suspects (Mike U. Crismundo)

INSIDE JOB?

Kabacan, North Cotabato – Local authorities are looking at the possibility that the robbery pulled off at the municipal treasurer’s office here may have been an inside job. According to Chief Insp. Ernor Megarejo, Kabacan Police chief, the said office was ransacked by still-unidentified men, probably between Dec. 31, 2014 and Jan. 3, 2015. Ressa Galay, an employee of the treasurer’s office, discovered the incident. Mayor Herlo Guzman Jr. has ordered a thorough investigation on the incident, hinting that some town hall workers are privy to the location of valuables in the office. About P600,000 cash, checks and other valuables were reportedly missing from the office. (Ali G. Macabalang)

ATM RUNS OUT OF CASH

Surigao Del Sur – The destruction of Hubo Bridge in Tandag City by Typhoon ‘Seniang’ last Dec. 29, 2014 has severed the flow of traffic here, which rendered the automated teller machine (ATM of Land) Bank of the Philippines (LBP) cashless since January 1, 2014. An LBP-Tandag City Brach official said the detour bridge traversing the Hubo River in Barangay Buhisan, San Agustin town, 64.5 kilometers south of Tandag City, created a problem in transporting cash money. Surigao del Sur DPWH District Engineer Joseph Calderon suggested motorists bound for Butuan City and other destinations outside of Caraga Region to travel via Surigao del Norte as an alternate route. (Mike U. Crismundo)

PEACE, DEV’T PROJECTS

Butuan City – The completed 2014 Peace and Development Projects (PDP) of the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program will benefit 78, 435 households in conflict-affected communities in Caraga region, a government official said yesterday. Region Xlll DSWD Regional Director Dr. Minda Brigoli said the 180 sub-projects, with a P53.7 million grant under the program, include solar and electric-powered street lights; multi-purpose buildings; concrete pathways; drainage canals; concrete roads; level II gravity-driven water systems; communal rainwater harvesters; tribal house; and pre-and-post harvest facilities. (Mike U. Crismundo)

Source: MB News