2 dead in North Cotabato gun attack
Two villagers were killed in a gun attack in Pikit, North Cotabato on Friday......»»
2 killed, 5 wounded in North Cotabato gun attack
Gunmen shot dead two Moro villagers and wounded five others, three of them children, in an attack in Pikit, North Cotabato late Friday......»»
4 dead, 4 hurt in North Cotabato gun attack
Four villagers, one of them a three-year-old girl, were killed when gunmen fired at houses in an interior barangay in Pikit town Friday......»»
Cotabato City bombing try foiled
COTABATO CITY — Military and police bomb experts safely deactivated at dawn Thursday two improvised explosive devices left near the main gate of the Husky Bus passenger terminal here. Cotabato City Police director Col. Querubin Manalang Jr. disclosed that the plastic bag containing the powerful IED and a secondary bomb inserted in another plastic container were found at about 3:40 a.m. by one of the utility personnel at the terminal. Manalang said one IED was made of flash powder and cut concrete nails as shrapnel with a mobile phone as the blasting mechanism. The bomb disposal units also deactivated the secondary bomb, fashioned from a rocket-propelled grenade, with a mobile phone as the triggering device, found near the terminal’s concrete fence along the national highway in Barangay Rosary Heights 10. In an interview, Manalang said the planting of the IEDs could be part of the terrorist group’s extortion activities against Husky Bus. The bombing attempt came while Cotabato City was hosting the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Athletic Association Meet 2023. Manalang, however, assured the BARMMAA delegates from Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and the Geographic Area in North Cotabato that the security sector is doing its best to prevent a similar incident. To recall, a brand-new double-decker Husky Bus unit of the General Santos City-based Biocrest Multi-Purpose Cooperative on 17 April was bombed at the Isulan bus terminal in Sultan Kudarat province, leaving six persons injured. A secondary bomb was found on the second deck of the bus. No one has claimed responsibility for the Isulan bus bombing incident, but police have blamed the Dawlah Islamiya terrorist group and its ally, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, as those behind the attack, with extortion as the primary motive. The post Cotabato City bombing try foiled appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
North Cotabato school class attendance drops after shooting
The Pikit National High School in North Cotabato has reported a “dramatic decline” in class attendance following a shooting incident that left a student dead and two others wounded......»»
Marine officer shot dead in Cotabato
An officer of the Philippine Marines was killed in an attack by two unidentified assailants in this city yesterday morning......»»
MNLF leader slain in Cotabato attack
An official of the Moro National Liberation Front was shot dead by unidentified assailants, who barged into his property in Midsayap, Cotabato on Sunday......»»
Doctor shot dead in North Cotabato
Motorcycle-riding men gunned down a doctor in Pikit town in this province yesterday......»»
Flashfloods hit North Cotabato town; 1 dead
A security guard drowned while around 300 hectares of rice fields were damaged due to flashfloods spawned by heavy rains in Alamada, North Cotabato on Tuesday......»»
Al-Khobar terror group believed behind North Cotabato bus burning
The group was tagged in the bombing of a unit of the Yellow Bus Line in Tulunan, North Cotabato last January that left a passenger dead and injured five others......»»
Bus torched in North Cotabato town; 3 dead
Tension remained high yesterday in Mlang town, where a bus was set on fire on Thursday, leaving three passengers dead and four others injured......»»
3 dead, 4 hurt as bus catches fire in North Cotabato
Initial reports from the local government unit of Mlang and the municipal police said one of the passengers of a unit of the Yellow Bus Company poured gasoline on the floor of the vehicle, lit the fuel with a disposable lighter and jumped out through its half-open hydraulic door......»»
1 dead, 5 wounded in North Cotabato roadside bombing
An ambulant fruit vendor was killed and five others were wounded in an explosion that hit a bus in Tulunan town yesterday......»»
North Cotabato mayor who survived slay attempt in 2019, driver shot dead
Mayor Christopher Cuan and his driver, Taweng Ihao, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds......»»
4 dead in Zamboanga del Norte, North Cotabato floods
Two persons drowned in flash floods in Zamboanga del Norte on Tuesday......»»
Teacher shot dead during anti-drug op in North Cotabato
Anti-narcotics agents shot dead a public school teacher in a bungled entrapment operation Friday in Midsayap, North Cotabato......»»
North Cotabato town police chief shot dead by robbers
The robbers who traded shots with Resurrecion and his men remain at large......»»
2 slain in North Cotabato shooting
Two persons were killed and another was wounded in a gun attack in Midsayap on Wednesday......»»
Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93
Pat Robertson, the soft-spoken televangelist who helped make America's Christians a powerful political force while demonizing liberals, feminists, and gays as sinners, died Thursday at the age of 93, his organization announced. The longtime host of "The 700 Club" on his huge Christian Broadcasting Network and one-time presidential candidate died at his home in Virginia Beach, according to a network statement. Robertson promoted "a worldview that believes in the inerrancy of the Bible," CBN said. "Today, his influence and legacy crisscross interests and industries that have broken barriers for countless Christian leaders and laypeople." Broadcasting "The 700 Club" daily since 1966, the avuncular Robertson promoted a literal belief in "end of times" prophecies of the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel that forecast the destruction of the world to become a Christian paradise. In practice, he advocated for an extremely conservative Christianity focused on "traditional" families and a country founded on the Bible, rejecting the longstanding US principle of separation of church and state. He defined the world as riven by an epochal fight between Islam and Christianity, and meanwhile spearheaded US Christian support for Israel as the land of the "chosen" Jewish people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once called Robertson "a tremendous friend of Israel and a tremendous friend of mine." But he also drew loathing from progressives with his condemnations of feminism and LQBTQ culture as destroying America. His powerful support in 2016 for Donald Trump -- arguably helping seal Trump's presidential victory -- further widened the cultural chasm dividing the country. Marine, lawyer, minister Robertson was born on 22 March 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, the son of a conservative Democratic member of the US House of Representatives and then the Senate for 34 years. After graduating from Virginia's Washington and Lee University, in 1948 he joined the US Marines, serving in Korea. He then graduated from Yale Law School, was ordained a Baptist minister, and in short order launched in 1961 what became the massive CBN empire from a small television station in Tidewater Virginia. After CBN's early financial struggles, he named "The 700 Club" for an early core of 70 supporters who pledged $10 each month. The program mixed news, spiritual and lifestyle stories along with interviews of public figures, and became a hit, especially in rural communities across the country. That made it a mainstream stop for political candidates courting Christian voters: guests included Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Jimmy Carter. Robertson expanded into other media businesses, launching what became the popular, conservative "Family Channel" on cable television, and the influential Christian-based Regent University in Virginia Beach. Push into politics In 1987, he launched the Christian Coalition, seeking to bring together different Christian denominations as a force for the conservative values he espoused. Ever since, the organization has been at the forefront of the US culture wars, pressuring Congress and the White House on moral and religious issues such as abortion and the separation of church and state. In 1990, he launched the American Center for Law and Justice, a legal lobby to advance Christian religious rights against secularism in the courts. Robertson himself sought political office, running unsuccessfully in the Republican presidential primary in 1988. But what he built had a lasting impact: a conservative Christian voter bloc instrumental in bringing Trump to power and still exercising enormous influence over the Republican Party. "He shattered the stained glass window," TD Jakes, a Dallas pastor said in CBN's statement. "People of faith were taken seriously beyond the church house and into the White House." Controversies But there were controversies along the way. He courted Democratic Republic of the Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, hoping to convert their countries to Christian states where gay people were banned -- while investing in diamond mining in a deal with Mobutu. In 2001, as America reeled from the September 11 attacks, Robertson endorsed the view that tolerance for lesbians, gays, and doctors carrying out abortions had drawn God's wrath on the country. In 2005, he called for the United States to assassinate then-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war," he quipped on "The 700 Club." And last year, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "compelled by God" to attack Ukraine because it was predicted in the Book of Ezekiel as a step toward the end of times. Washington's political establishment was remarkably quiet Thursday in response to Robertson's death. Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, said Robertson "touched so many lives and changed so many hearts." "He stood for America -- and more importantly, for truth and faith," she said. But on the left, there was little sympathy. "Robertson's death doesn't mean we must overlook his long record of extremist rhetoric," wrote Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Robertson spent most of his time spreading hate, conspiracy theories, and lies," he said. The post Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NBI seeks parallel probe on broadcaster’s slay
The National Bureau of Investigation has been ordered by Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to conduct a “parallel investigation” on the case of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro radio blocktimer Cresenciano Bunduquin who was killed last 31 May. Emerging from more than two hours of closed-door meeting with Remulla on Thursday, Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director Paul Gutierrez said the decision to let the NBI conduct a parallel probe was made to further hasten the resolution of the case. It also aims to clarify the involvement of other personalities in Mindoro potentially linked to the killing of Bunduquin and prevent a potential “whitewash” of the case. Although under the Office of the President, Gutierrez reports directly to Remulla and Presidential Communications Office Secretary Atty. Cheloy Garafil as both are co-chairs of the PTFoMS. The PTFoMS had earlier announced that aside from the gunman — identified as Isabelo Lopez Bautista — information gathered indicated that at least three personalities in Mindoro, one of them a police major assigned at the PRO4-B (Mimaropa) Police Office, may be involved in the attack on Bunduquin. Another is a provincial official belonging to a prominent political clan in Mindoro while the other is a long time, big time operator of a perya with close links to many local officials and has a close association with the police major. “From the stream of information, the PTFoMS is now getting from other reliable sources in the government that other persons may also be involved. Thus, Secretary Remulla deemed it best to order the NBI to conduct a parallel probe for us get a clear picture of what happened and who are the other persons or ‘mastermind’ behind the attack on Bunduquin,” Gutierrez said. “Let me emphasize that the government is determined to solve this incident and to render full justice to the victim’s family by unmasking and prosecuting all those involved. No one should take this determination lightly,” he added. He also reiterated his earlier statement that the filing of murder and attempted murder charges against Bautista by the SITG Bunduquin would not mean a closure to the case. “As Secretary Remulla directed, the motive for the killing of Bunduquin must not be limited to the ‘personal grudge’ of the suspects against him. All angles must be explored to the full. The emerging motive is the proliferation of illegal gambling in the province using perya as a cover and politics as both were severely criticized by Bunduquin in his radio program,” said Gutierrez. A radio blocktimer at the local Kalahi News FM, Bunduquin was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding armed men around 4:20 a.m. in front of his rented store in Barangay Sta. Isabel, Calapan City. The gunman was later identified as Bautista while his cohort, identified as Narciso Ignacio Guntan from Roxas town, died after their motorcycle crashed when it hit a metal road barrier during their escape. According to information, both suspects are workers in the local peryahan scene in Mindoro and Bautista had also worked as a driver and doing other odd jobs to some influential individuals in the province. The post NBI seeks parallel probe on broadcaster’s slay appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Jail officer shot dead
A jail officer was killed in an attack by a motocycle-riding man in Sto. Tomas, Batangas on Saturday night......»»