NPAs attack Sorsogon cop station

            LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines  – Two policemen were wounded when New People’s Army (NPA) rebels raided the police station of Barcelona town in Sorsogon Friday evening.


            PO3 Joel Encinares and PO1 Jessie Doloiras were wounded when about 30 heavily armed NPA guerillas attacked the police station around 11:15 p.m., triggering a one-hour gunfight.


            Superintendent Wilson Azutea, spokeperson for the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Bicol, said Inspector Edgar Azotea led the duty personnel who repelled the attack by NPA rebels.


            He said scene of the crime investigators recovered a live ammunition for an M-203 grenade launcher after the rebels escaped.


            PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome meanwhile, lauded the policemen for their action.


            “I urge you to keep up the good work and perform with the same zeal and dedication in all your future undertakings,” Bartolome said in a statement.


            Last Thursday, an Army soldier was killed, while six others were wounded when members of the 93rd Division Reconnaissance Company under Lt. Clint Antipala clashed with some 20 NPA rebels during a 20-minute firefight in Barangay Bacalon in Magallanes town also in Sorsogon.


            The firefight came after the visit of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Oban in his hometown in Barangay Pandan in Castilla, Sorsogon Tuesday to inaugurate a two-room school building.


            Maj. Angelo Guzman, spokesperson for the 9th Infantry Division said members of the 903rd Infantry Brigade under Col. Felix Castro are conducting hot pursuit operations against the rebels.


            Guzman said all troops in Bicol are also on high alert, while coordination and intelligence sharing with the PNP is being enhanced to avoid similar incidents. (Celso Amo, Michelle Zoleta, Mike Frialde - September 25, 2011 Philstar)

War-torn Sorsogon village finds peace

           CASTILLA, Sorsogon—In the interior village of Pandan, largely cut off by bad road from the town proper of Castilla in Sorsogon, its residents of barely 2,000 live the lives of ordinary farmers.

The village has a public elementary school and high school with three teachers. Soon, it will have a new high school building.

More importantly, community spirit is strong.

This was not the case three years ago.

Pandan was largely a no man’s land, a haven for communist guerrillas, had no school because there was no teacher brave enough to educate the children, and residents constantly lived in fear as they were caught every day in the middle of an intense war between government troops and rebels.

The dramatic change, according to a military officer, came because the Armed Forces worked hard to “win the hearts and the minds of the masses,” at least in Pandan, a New People’s Army (NPA) stronghold until the military sustained its community organizing.

“We believe in community organizing to be an effective tool to lead back community folk to the government, in the same way the NPA rebels took away their faith from established authorities,” said Lieutenant Colonel Neneviegh Alcovindas, head of civil military operations of the 9th Infantry Division.

The deployment of “noncombat” soldiers, along with support from various government agencies, has generated trust and cooperation of the villagers, he said.

Pandan was once controlled by the NPA’s Front Committee Jaylo Command known to operate in the towns of Donsol, Pilar and Castilla in Sorsogon, according to Col. Felix J. Castro Jr., commander of the 903rd Infantry Brigade which covers Sorsogon and Masbate.

Pandan, 22 kilometers from the town center, has 405 households and a population of 1,975, the majority of whom subsist on coconut, rice and root crop farming.

The NPA took advantage of the isolation of the interior village due to the very poor road network, Castro said. Habal-habal (modified motorcycle for hire) was then the only means of getting in and out of the village, he added.

“This was their (NPA rebels’) hiding place,” Castro said.

In 2005 and 2006, the military decided to use noncombat personnel in community organizing, largely the same means that rebels were employing to win support.

The residents in the three sitios of Tipon-Tipon, Looc and Kutad were mobilized to defend themselves, Castro said.

Edenicia Celano, 43, a farmer and mother of five, said a third of the village folk in Pandan were supporters of the NPA from 2000 to 2005.

She said her father, Ernesto Marania, who died of diabetes in 2006, suffered physical abuse from soldiers vigorously tracking down her uncle, an NPA fighter.

However, Celano said she later learned to refuse the rebels when they asked to use their house for meetings as their lives would be imperiled if soldiers caught up with them.

“I was always in fear that we might be caught in a crossfire any time,” she said.

She remembered that the village officials requested to set up a detachment in 2005 when the military also started organizing the people into joining the Barangay Defense System (BDS) in the three sitios.

All male and female adults, from 18 to 65 years old, were BDS members and given identification cards, she said.

Every family must provide one member to guard four posts   in the village center and in each of the three sitios to monitor people coming in and out.

The guards came in three shifts—morning, afternoon and night, Celano said.

Now a member of the barangay council, she said the monitoring setup eventually prevented the rebels from entering Pandan.

Castro said the NPA presence once discouraged teachers from coming to the village so that only elementary education was possible via one school building and two other schoolhouses made of light materials.

After ridding the village of rebels in 2008, the Army helped put up a public high school near Pandan Elementary School.

Lucia Villa became the first teacher assigned to handle one class of first year high school students. After three years, the number of students grew to 243 from first year to third year.

Now, three teachers are in high school, excluding Villa who acts as supervisor.

Villa said the public high school also caters to the neighboring barangays of Tomalaytay, Cogon and Saclayan, and even the coastal barangays in adjacent Magallanes town across the Sorsogon Bay.

She said it had been a great relief for children studying in high school who once walked for hours to reach Cumadcad High School, the nearest high school from Pandan.

With the peaceful environment in Pandan, the military was able to encourage Asociacion Valenciana de Asistencia Sanitaria Y Social (AVASSV), a Spanish nongovernment organization, to conduct a medical mission in the village last summer, Castro said.

“At present, the ABS-CBN Foundation, Rep. (Sonny) Escudero, the Department of Education, the local government of Castilla and the Army have mounted efforts to construct a two-classroom building for high school classes, which will be inaugurated on Sept. 20,” he said.

Castro said the military would continue its presence in the community through “noncombat” missions until livelihood groups were organized and defense groups consolidated.

This will allow them to expand to other villages once controlled by the rebels, he said. (Report by Juan Escandor Jr. of Inquirer Southern Luzon)

903rd Brigade proposes Bayanihan Eco Park in Donsol, Sorsogon

The 903^rd Infantry Brigade has proposed the development of an eco park in Sitio Magaragad, Barangay Sibago, Donsol, Sorsogon. This is expected to complement the tourist attraction offered in Barangay Dancalan of the same municipality where the butanding has gained international attention.

In pursuit of IPSP Bayanihan, the Brigade plans to initiate the conduct of development projects in the cleared municipalities of Donsol, Pilar and Castilla, all of Sorsogon. In collaboration with other stakeholders, it is the intent of the unit to select a barangay that will be the focus of its development efforts. This is in contrast to the previous method of distributing projects among several barangays. By focusing in one area, real development could be immediately seen and felt by the residents. And the benefits could spread to the adjoining areas.

The first focus area of the Brigade is Brgy Pandan, Castilla, Sorsogon where the unit initiated “Bayanihan sa Brgy Pandan”.  Through the soldiers’ initiative, a two classroom building is now being constructed in Pandan High School. ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya Foundation, Inc. will pay for the materials while LGU Castilla will shoulder the cost of labor. Also, the Brigade solicited scholarships for its six “Bayanihan Iskolars” who are now enrolled in Bicol University and The Lewis College in Sorsogon City. The residents are also being organized for possible livelihood programs.

The unit has chosen Brgy Sibago as its focus barangay in that area.

The municipality of Donsol attracts local and foreign tourists during the months from December until May every year when whale sharks, known locally as butanding, visit the waters in the area. During this period, the people earn extra income from the tourists who usually stay in Brgy Dancalan.

The Brigade sees Brgy Sibago as an addition to Brgy Dancalan as a tourist attraction. The beach is beautiful and more suited for swimming even for children. There is a mangrove plantation, although there is still a large area that needs to be planted. Fireflies abound in the evening which could interest tourists. And according to the residents, the butanding is seen in the sea fronting the barangay. They even claim that the butanding first gained attention when their fishermen caught one in their area. The presence of the magroves also offers food for the butanding.

While there is still much to be done to attract tourists to the area, the Brigade sees the potential of the barangay and its effects to the livelihood of the people. So the unit formulated a proposal to establish a “Bayanihan Eco Park” in Brgy Sibago. The unit plans to encourage the participation of all possible stakeholders for the project.

So in order to gain their commitment, a Pledge of Commitment Ceremony was conducted in Sitio Magaragad on August 23, 2011. A total of 125 participants coming from several local and national government agencies, non-government organizations and civil society organizations were hauled to the site. This number excludes some children and parents coming from the barangay who participated in the activity. There were seventeen (17) organizations with respective heads and representatives from LGU, LGAs, NGOs, CSOs, POs and the military/police that sent their delegations.

During the program, Barangay Chairman Noel G Castro welcomed all the participants to the occasion. Col Felix Castro Jr, the Brigade Commander, explained the concept of an eco park in Brgy Sibago which will benefit not only the residents in the area and the whole municipality but also the province of Sorsogon. He introduced a new meaning for the letter L formed by a fist with the extended thumb and little finger – “Love ko ang Kalikasan”- which gained everyone’s agreement. He also cited the need for everyone to help in their own way so that the project will be achieved. Thus, the messages from the different heads of participating organizations included their commitment to the project.

It was the consensus that a Memorandum of Agreement will be crafted that will bind all stakeholders to their commitments to the establishment of Bayanihan Eco Park. A formal signing will be scheduled at a later date.

After the ceremony was the planting of mangrove propagules and the clean-up of the coastal area. Before everyone dispersed for the planting, the propagules were blessed by Bro. Florencio Gorordo.

A total of 1,500 mangrove propagules were planted by the participants as accounted by PADABAKA and WWF personnel within an estimated area of about a quarter of a hectare. Likewise, an estimated area of two hectares was cleaned of non-biodegradable materials during the clean-up along the coastline.

A boodlefight was held for lunch which offered the civilians a taste of military life. It was a new and exciting experience for them. For posterity, each group took time for picture taking before everybody left at 1430H, despite the weather brought by Typhoon Mina. The rains did not dampen the mood of the participants who got wet and dirty.

The travel back was also very memorable as parts of the road had become flooded. The group had to stop twice and wait until the water receded before they could proceed. The situation actually strengthened the resolve of everyone to pursue the eco park project, seeing before them the floods caused by the people’s neglect of the environment.

During an interview by UNTV, Col Castro said that the Brigade will initiate the crafting and signing of the MOA for the implementation of the Bayanihan Eco Park Project. He explained that the mangrove plantation is also part of their task under the National Greening Program of President Aquino. He reiterated his unit’s commitment to pursue worthy endeavors such as these.

Philippine Army to establish a Bayanihan Eco Park in Donsol by Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, AUGUST 23 (PIA) -- Twelve entities have pledged support and commitment to the 903rd Infantry Brigade Philippine Army's initiative to establish a Bayahihan Eco Park at Sitio Magaragad, Barangay Sibago in Donsol. town

In a phone conversation this afternoon, Col. Felix J. Castro Jr. Inf (GSC) Commanding Officer of the 903rd IB PA, said that the tree planting activities to be conducted today is in keeping with President Aquino's National Greening Program (NGP) and an integrated approach to implement the ridge to reef complementary greening activity here in the province for a sustainable coastal resource management.

"This eco park will also serve as a buffer zone in case of typhoons and sea level rise as the PA will also provide soft engineering measures to mitigate negative effects brought about by climate change" he said.

'"It is named Bayanihan Eco Park since the establishment of this park is done through the spirit of "bayanihan", a Filipino culture that the PA would like to bring back to the communities", he explained.

A total of one thousand mangrove propagules will be planted by participants comprising of the Philippine Army, PADABAKA, the local government of Donsol, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office , Provincial Tourism Council Office , Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Philippine Information Agency, World Wildlife Fund,World Vision, media community and other environmental organizations.

"Donsol as a prime ecotourism destination should be provided sound environmental initiatives especially in the development and conservation of its coastal areas as the famous whale shark is found here" according to Castro.

"With the presence of the PA here , we are initiating peace and developmental initiatives especially in assisting the municipalities of Pilar, Donsol and Castilla in programs that will promote tourism, disaster risk reduction management, engineering assistance through the building of schools and now in spearheading the national government's call to plant trees as part of the NGP" Castro explained.

The activity will start with a short program, with messages of support from heads of agencies and a pledge of commitment through a streamer signing followed by the blessings of seedlings for planting.

After the tree planting, the participants will be welcomed to the usual military treat of boodle fight. (MAL/IAG, PIA Sorsogon)