Local News

JOLO, Sulu - Four men in their early 20s with backpacks were captured by a close circuit TV cameras entering the Jolo cathedral and then left before the mass started at 8 a.m. on Sunday.Colonel Gerry Besana, spokesperson of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), the suspects were captured by CCTV entering the Cathedral compound and left minutes later.The blast inside and outside the place of worship claimed the lives of 20 churchgoers and soldiers.

COTABATO CITY – Police in Maguindanao today announced they arrested over the
weekend a man hired who executed separately two engineers in Datu Montawal
town.

Chief
Inspector Erwin Tabora, Datu Montawal town police chief, said Ehsan Ali, a
resident of Barangay Pagagawan Datu Montawal town, admitted he murdered the two
engineers in exchange for money.

He admitted
to the crimes after being paid to do the job, Tabora told today.

JOLO, Sulu -- The military's Task Force Jolo has imposed lockdown here, preventing anyone to come and go out of the town except for government forces.The lockdown is in preparation for Pres. Duterte's visit later today.Lt. Colonel Gerry Besana, speaking for Western Mindanao Command, said the official body count for dead was at 20 while 78 others were injured.Fr. Jefferson Nadua, OMI, parish priest of Our Lady of Mt.

COTABATO CITY – Two former religious leaders of Jolo today condemned the bombing of
Jolo cathedral, describing it as a satanic act.

In a joint statement released today, His Eminence Orlando Cardinal Quevedo and former Jolo Bishop Angelito
Lampon, both of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation, said the
bombing was the most heinous desecration of a sacred place, on a sacred day
and at a sacred moment of worship.

Catholic bishops condemned the twin explosions that rocked a cathedral on a southern Philippine city on Sunday which claimed several lives.At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured in what the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines described as an act of terrorism .At one part of the session, the bishops prayed for the victims and their relatives and asked God to bring an end to violence.

POWER ADVISORYand scheduled power interruption on January 27, 2019 (Sunday), 9AM-6PM affecting MATULAS SUBSTATION including FEEDERS 11 and 13 only.FEEDER 11Portion of Koronadal covering the followingandPurok Pag-asa, Purok San Miguel, Sitio Salkan of Brgy. Paraiso, Brgys. Sta. Cruz, Sitio Acub, San Isidro, Mambucal, Assumption, Arellano St., Agreville Ph. 3, San Antonio Ph. 1,2,3, Carmelas Homes, Agan Homes, Agan East, Amurao Subd., St. Gabriel Subd. Yellow Bell Subd., RAMA/SOCOMEDICS Hospital.Artieda Subd. DXKR, Bombo Radio.

MIDSAYAP, North
Cotabato – Anti-narcotic operatives arrested Thursday two high value target
drug peddlers, including a government employee, during separate drug buy bust
operations in North Cotabato that also led to the seizure of P3.4 million worth
of shabu.

Naravy
Duquiatan, regional director of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in
Region 12, identified the arrested suspects as Dwight Togonon, 43, a resident
of Barangay Poblacion, Kabacan, North Cotabato, and Boy Maguid, 40, a resident
of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

Whatand Notice of Electric Scheduled Power Interruption Whenand January 26, 2019 (Saturday) 8and00 AM - 12:00 NN Durationand 4 hours Details and To facilitate the primary pole removal which we cannot work on live (energized) line for the safety of our linemen. Areas Affectedand Corner Don E. Sero Street andamp 6 Street and some portions of Rosary Heights 4 and 5, Cotabato City.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Two Marine troopers were slightly hurt when communist rebels staged
an ambush against government forces in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat Wednesday morning, the military today said.

Citing report from PHilippine Marines stationed in the coastal towns of Sultan Kudarat, Major. Gen.
Cirilitio Sobejana, the commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said
the ambush showed the New Peoples’ Army (NPA’s) insincerity in talking peace
with the Duterte administration.

LANAO DEL SUR -- Three members of the Maute terror group perished in an encounter with soldiers in this province Thursday.Reports reaching the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao indicated that the hostilities at the border of Sultan Dumalundong and Marogong towns in Lanao del Sur erupted when Maute gunmen opened fire on soldiers while trying to cordon their lair there.Combined personnel of the Army’s 49thand 55thInfantry Battalions were dispatched to the boundary of the two towns to check on the reported presence there of the new leader of the Maute terror group, Ow