PNP to resume search for abducted Surigao banker
February 14, 2010SURIGAO CITY- What his predecessors had failed to do, new Surigao del Norte Provincial Police Director Senior Supt. Gilbert Dela Cruz Cruz has promised to achieve: finally locating kidnapped Fil-Chinese trader Johnson Custodio Cuiting, dead or alive.
“With more than a year since he disappeared, there is the possibility that Mr. Cuiting is already dead but we will try our best to locate him alive if possible and with God’s help”, said Police Colonel Cruz, who is the former Special Operations head of the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC).
Cruz, together with then-PACC Chief and now Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino, were among the first PNP officials to head the commission.
Massive search ordered
Cruz belied reports that Cuiting is alive and well in Hong Kong after his family supposedly paid ransom money in exchange for his freedom.
Cruz has already ordered his police intelligence office to conduct a massive search for Cuiting, particularly in the hinterland areas of Surigao del Norte and mountainous areas of San Francisco town (formerly Anao-awon).
P10 million ransom
On January 7, 2009, at around 9:45pm, Cuiting was abducted from his home Ceniza Heights Subdivision in this city by four fully-armed suspects who witnesses described as wearing black jackets, ski masks, and gloves. The suspects supposedly talked in Tagalog with what seemed to be a Visayan accent.
Cuiting was forced at gunpoint to board his own white Toyota Hi-Lux van, which was then used as an escape vehicle. The van was abandoned and recovered at a nearby barangay a day after the businessman was kidnapped.
The kidnappers contacted Cuiting’s sister in the United States, Lydia Cuiting-Carvajal, and demanded ten million pesos in exchange for the businessman’s safe release.
Communication suddenly stopped
Lydia and her sister, Nenita, arrived in the Philippines a week after the kidnapping but did not receive any further word from either their brother nor his abductors.
“We were ready to give the money but when (we) came to the Philippines, the kidnapers had stopped calling us. The kidnappers didn’t inform us where we will meet and make the deal. We didn’t reach that point because the communication stopped,” Lydia disclosed.
At the time of his abduction, Cuiting was the President of the Rural Bank of Placer, Inc. On September 15, 2009, -more than eight months after the crime- Cuiting’s sisters held a press conference to express disappointment over the “stalled” investigation, and denounced the mismanaged turn-over of their brother’s case to the Surigao City Police Office. - TJD, GMANews.TV (more…)
Police pursue armed men in Surigao del Sur arson
February 7, 2010Police are in hot pursuit of about 40 armed men who attacked the outpost of a farmers’ cooperative in Surigao del Sur province in southern Philippines last week, police said on Sunday.
Caraga police director Chief Superintendent Lino Calingasan ordered the arrest of the men, who also burned the entrance of the Bisig, Barobo, Hinatuan, Lingin, and Tagbina (Bibahilita) Farmers’ Association last Wednesday.
The outpost of the tree farmers’ cooperative was in the villageof Bigaan in Hinatuan town, Surigao del Sur.
The armed men, clad in fatigue uniforms, also took the firearms of the outpost’s security guards.
No one was reported hurt or killed in the incident.
The motives of the perpetrators were still unknown, although initial investigation showed that some members of the Bibahilita farmers had collected toll fees from motorists passing the outpost.
The incident occurred on the visit of the Zeñarosa Commission — the body tasked to dismantle private armies nationwide — to Surigao del Norte to look into the spate of political killings in the province.
The commission, chaired by Court of Appeals Associate Justice Monina Arevalo Zeñarosa, was formed last January as the government’s response to calls to disband private armed groups in the country.
The calls were triggered by the massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province last November 23 allegedly by members of the private army of the powerful Ampatuan clan.
The Philippine National Police earlier said at least 68 private armed groups exist in the country, and could reach 170. The Armed Forces, however, declined to name the groups until it validates their existence. — Ben Serrano/SMD/NPA, GMANews.TV (more…)
Surigao mayor wants town placed under Comelec control
February 4, 2010TAGANA-AN, Surigao del Norte – Alarmed by the killing of local officials in his town, Tagana-An Mayor Cezar Diaz has asked that his Surigao del Norte municipality be placed under the control of the Commission on Elections.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Diaz said he had requested the Comelec, the Philippine National Police, and the military’s Joint Security Coordinating Council (JSCC) to place Tagana-an under Comelec control.
But before Diaz’s request, Vice Mayor Sally Bulac (from Nacionalista Party) had already proposed the same measure after the killing of a party-mate last December.
“I was not furnished a copy of the proposed municipal resolution, but I have written JSCC requesting them to place Tagana-an under Comelec control area,” said Diaz, who belongs to the administration party Lakas-Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino)-CMD.
Diaz said the recent three killings in his town might have been politically-motivated.
Last July 1, 2009, Rene Espinosa, Tagana-an municipal project coordinator of Rep. Guillermo Romarate Jr., was shot dead in Barangay (village) Lower Libas.
On Dec. 29, 2009, the Nacionalista Party’s vice mayoralty bet Wilbert Suanco Origenes was also gunned down by two armed men.
Retired Army Sgt. Oscar Animo was the third to fall victim to purported political-related killings. Animo, a leader of the Padajon-Surigao party that supports Lakas-Kampi-CMD, was killed last Monday.
Tagana-an police head Senior Superintendent Ruben Daraman said they have already arrested three suspect in Animo’s killing.
Daraman identified the suspects as Elezaldi Remelitiza, Ruben Beltran, and Ricky Maraat. Recovered from them were a .45-caliber hand gun a .357-caliber pistol. - with Sophia Dedace/LBG, GMANews.TV
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Phivolcs: Magnitude-4.7 quake rocks Surigao area
A magnitude-4.7 quake rocked the Surigao area in Mindanao Tuesday night, but state seismologists said there was no initial report of casualty or damage.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake was recorded at 7:19 p.m., with the epicenter traced to 97 km northeast of Surigao City.
It said the quake was tectonic and was felt at Intensity III in Socorro, General Luna, Surigao del Norte; and Loreto, Dinagat Island Province.
Phivolcs said the quake was felt at Intensity II in Surigao City and Tandag, Surigao del Sur; and Intensity I in Placer, Surigao del Norte.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake measured at magnitude 4.6 and traced the epicenter to 45 km northeast of Surigao; 100 km south of Guiuan, Samar; 135 km north of Butuan, Mindanao; or 720 km southeast of Manila.
Earlier Tuesday, a predawn magnitude-3.8 quake rocked parts of Northern Luzon but Phivolcs also said there was no casualty or damage to property.
Phivolcs said the quake was felt at 5:20 a.m., and was tectonic in origin. It said the epicenter was 17 km northeast of Dagupan City in Pangasinan province.
The quake was felt at Intensity III in Baguio City; Dagupan City; and Urdaneta City. It added the quake was felt at Intensity II in Clark Field, Pampanga; and Intensity I in San Roque village in San Manuel town in Pangasinan.
Phivolcs said no damage was reported, and no aftershock is expected. - KBK, GMANews.TV
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Magnitude 4.9 quake rocks Caraga
January 30, 2010MANILA, Philippines - A Magnitude 4.9 earthquake rocked parts of Caraga region Thursday late afternoon after a tremor also rocked Catanduanes province before dawn on the same day.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the epicenter of the quake was located at 70 kilometers northeast of Surigao City and the depth of focus was 80 kilometers. It said the tremor was tectonic in origin.
Phivolcs also said that the quake was felt at Intensity IV in Surigao City; General Luna, Surigao del Norte; Intensity III in Socorro, Surigao del Norte; and Intensity II in Mainit, Surigao del Norte.
No one was reported injured due to the tremor. There were also no report of aftershocks.
Before dawn Thursday, a shallow 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Virac town in Catanduanes province.
The Phivolcs said the Catanduanes quake struck 156 kilometers northeast of Virac town at 2:49 a.m..
The quake was felt at Intensity 3 in Virac town and Naga City and Intensity 2 in Legaspi City in Albay province, Cabid-an in Sorsogon and Guinayangan in Quezon province.
Exactly a week ago, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck northeast off the coast of Virac at 10:02 a.m. There were no reported damages from the earthquake. With a report from Charmane Awitan, ABS-CBN News Caraga
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