Off The Beaten Path

2 soldiers wounded in NPA ambush in Sorsogon

IROSIN, Sorsogon – Two soldiers were wounded when elite Army Scout Rangers were ambushed by suspected New People’s Army guerrillas in Irosin town, Sorsogon province, Monday night, a police official said Tuesday.

Troops of the 7th Scout Rangers Battalion based in Barangay (village) Beguin, Bulan town were on their way to Irosin when the mini-truck they were on was fired upon by the rebels at a junction near the bridge in Barangay San Pedro, Irosin, acting town police chief Senior Inspector Rosalito Gapan, said.

The rebels withdrew after a brief exchange of gunfire, Gapan said.

The rebels had blocked the right lane of the highway leading to San Pedro bridge with a maroon van and a passenger jeep.

The wounded, indentified as Privates First Class Jenan Saliling, 27, and Martin Navarro, 27, were brought to the Irosin District Hospital for treatment.

P1M taken in 2 Sorsogon robberies–police

SORSOGON CITY, Philippines — About P1 million worth of cash and assorted jewelry was carted away by robbers in two incidents here Sunday night, police said Monday morning. 

At about 7:30 p.m., two armed men wearing bonnets robbed the couple Salamuddin and Jamaica Damiano in their house in Barangay (village) Balogo. 

Taken from the victims were 80 cellular phones, 20 MP4 and MP3 players and pieces of jewelry, all estimated at P500,000, police said. 

In another incident, police said armed men forced their way into an apartment in Barangay Pangpang around midnight and carted away P200,000 cash they found in a drawer. 

The victims — Cristina Bañares, 28, of San Fernando, Sto. Domingo, Albay, Shirley Acosta of Donsol, Sorsogon, and Vallega Sarte of Pilar, Sorsogon — are nurses who work in this city and rent the apartment unit.

NPA plot to bomb Globe site in Sorsogon foiled–military

SORSOGON CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Army foiled a plot of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) fighters to bomb a Globe cell site in the village of Guruyan in Juban, Sorsogon Thursday, the military said.

Captain Razeleigh Bansawan, civil military officer of the 901st Infantry Brigade, said in a phone interview Friday that members of the 3rd Scout Rangers Brigade based in the village of Anog, Juban were patrolling when they encountered some 10 NPA guerrillas.

The outnumbered rebels withdrew after a 10-minute firefight.

No casualties were reported.

Bansawan said villagers had tipped the Army to the presence of the rebels.

Fish kill reported in Sorsogon’s two towns, district

SORSOGON CITY, Philippines — Residents of the towns of Casiguran and Gubat and the Bacon district here have expressed alarm over the discovery of dead fish and crabs in their seas.

Serafin Lacdang, an official of the Office of the Provincial Agriculture here, said the dead fish and crabs were found by fishermen in Casiguran and Gubat towns at the Sorsogon Bay at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Dead fish were earlier found at the city’s Bacon district portion of the Sorsogon Bay.

Officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the marine products filled one and a half sacks.

They said they could not yet determine the cause of the fish kill but said they would immediately announce the result of the tests on water and fish samples they got from the affected areas.

Councilor Roberto Dolleson of the Bacon district immediately called for an investigation.

He said it was possible that the fish were being poisoned. He did not elaborate.

The BFAR has warned residents in the affected areas not to eat shellfish as the toxicity level of red tide in the province remained high as of Thursday.

DOH orders closure of 2 funeral parlors in Sorsogon town

BULAN, Sorsogon – The Center for Health Development Bicol of the Department of Health (DOH) has issued a memorandum order directing the municipal government here to issue closure order to two funeral parlors for illegally operating and not complying with the prescribed standards set by the DOH, which they said, might expose the people into potential hazard on health and occupational safety. The memo also ordered two other funeral parlors here to improve their facilities.

In a memorandum signed by Nestor F. Santiago, Regional Director of the DOH and William G. Sabater, Regional Sanitary Engineer, it ordered the permanent closure of Funeraria Novela located at Zone 4 here as it has no embalming facilities required, and has failed to secure Mayor’s permit for its operation. Temporary closure order was also issued to the Labalan Funeral Homes located at Zone 8 here as its embalming facilities were poorly constructed and maintained and for failing to employ a licensed embalmer.

The memorandum also noted that the Labalan Funeral Homes here, with branches in almost all municipalities in Sorsogon province, have dubious signatory as to the person who actually conducted the embalming. This, according to the memo, contravened the policy of the DOH that funeral parlors offering embalming services shall employ an embalmer licensed by the agency.

It was also noted that the Labalan Funeral Homes have undertaken embalming procedures on a person who died of a dangerous communicable disease – the hepatitis-B.

According to the memo, this is clearly a violation of the Sanitation Code of the Philippines.

Funeraria Molave, also a funeral parlor here was ordered by the DOH to construct an embalming facility or a morgue and told its owner that the embalmer’s license should be updated.

It said that embalming procedures shall only be performed in a morgue or an embalming room duly permitted to operate. Embalming procedures inside the home of a deceased person will expose immediate family members, neighbors and the funeral establishment personnel themselves. Exposure to these hazards can result to a disease or injury that may be due to an infectious or chemical agent.

Funeraria Cervantes located also at Zone 8 here is required by the DOH to improve their facilities such as the installation of the viewing room and should use a required stainless steel as the embalming table.

The DOH team conducted an inspection at the funeral parlors here last July 29 and has released its report and order dated August 4. It was only received yesterday by the health officials here.

The town of Bulan has only four funeral parlors.

        Communist rebels attack 2 Globe cell sites in Sorsogon

SORSOGON CITY, Philippines – Police in Sorsogon were in full alert Saturday after two more cell sites of Globe Telecom in the province were attacked by suspected members of the New People’s Army Friday night, police said Saturday.

The cell site in the village of Aguada Norte, just a kilometer away from the Magallanes town center, was attacked at about 7:30 p.m. by still unidentified men with rapid gunfire and an explosion from a still undetermined explosive device, said Senior Inspector Perfecto Rabulan, Magallanes police chief.

The assault resulted in the temporary closure of the cell site, Rabulan added.

A cell site in the village of Sogoy, Castilla town, was also attacked by an undetermined number of men at around 8 p.m. Friday, said Rabulan.

According to him, Globe cell sites in Casiguran, Bulan and other towns also received threats of possible attacks by communist rebels.

The two incidents were the eighth and ninth in a series of attacks in the Bicol region since July 31.

Earlier, Greg Bañares, spokesperson of the National Democratic Front in Bicol, said the attacks were carried out by the NPA fighters because Globe Telecom had refused to pay “revolutionary taxes.”

3 rob suspects nabbed; mother complains son being maltreated by policemen

By Roy Gersalia

SORSOGON CITY – Three out of five suspects of a series of robbery/hold-up incidents here were nabbed Saturday by the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by newly-installed P/Supt. Paul Abay, this city’s chief, Officer-in-Charge, in a hot- pursuit operation following reports that the suspects have just fled after robbing some businessmen here.

Abay said the suspects armed with calibers .38, .45 and a shotgun were reported to have robbed certain owners of rice-milling business here when they were arrested at the town Of Prieto Diaz, some 45 kilometers from this city, on board a blue Suzuki multi-cab vehicle.

Police identified the suspects as Rodrigo Habagat Jr., of Naga city, Sakvador Paluyo Jr. of Pamplona , Camarines Sur and Renonhill Luares of Bon-ot, Bacon district here. The suspects are now spending time in jail.

Two other suspects identified only by their aliases, Rey and Bong have escaped the authorities.

Hilario Dellosa, one of the hold-up victims said he was divested of dome P 25, 000 in cash by the suspects. His companion was squeezed at the gutter by the suspects during the hold-up incident, he said.

Sonny Diaz and Conchita Borromeo, also hold-up victims, positively identified the suspects as the persons who robbed them. They were owners of rice-milling business here.

Eyewitnesses said the suspects also fired their guns when they were about to fled to a still unidentified couple riding in their motorcycle with their son with them but they were unharmed.

Meanwhile, the mother of one of the suspects, Renonhill Luares complained to a radio station here today that his son was being maltreated by some members of the police force investigating the incident but did not identify said policemen.

The police denied the allegation.

P/Supt. Abay has just assumed as OIC city police chief last Thursday.

LTO mobile service reaches “land of the moon”

By Roy Gersalia

BULAN, Sorsogon – The Land Transportation office (LTO) mobile service led by its team leader Johnny Bandola, Regional Director for mobile registration, has reached this town in extending its services from August 4 – 29 and could possibly extend as people from 63 villages here continue to avail of its services.

“We would possibly extend as more and more people in this ‘land of the moon’ continue to flock our mobile booth and avail of services we offer. We think, there are still a lot of people from 63 barangays (village) here that would need our service,” Bandola said.

The LTO mobile service includes issuance of professional driver’s licenses, student driver’s permit, and renewal of license, emission test for vehicles and drug test.

Ramon S. Roco, Region V Director of the LTO said that the program is what they call bringing government services closer to the people. There are now three towns already whom they have gone on to served, he said.

From May 16 – June 15 the LTO mobile group is in Labo, Camarines Norte and from June 16 – August 1 they are in Irosin, whom they said many people even not drivers have availed of their service such as the drug test.

The town of Bulan is located at the southwestern most tip of Luzon and about 63 kilometers from the capital city of Sorsogon . The name literally means moon.