AFP calls for vigilance after attacks in Basilan province

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The military urged citizens to stay vigilant following the series of bombings and attacks in the restive province of Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City in southern Philippines.

Just over the weekend, two improvised bomb explosions injured a government soldier and a driver of Tuburan town Mayor Dorie Kallahal, according to the Western Mindanao Command.

It said the explosions occurred just as the military was conducting a humanitarian outreach mission. It was unclear whether Abu Sayyaf rebels or other armed groups were involved in the attack.

Government soldiers also recovered a third improvised explosive in the area, said Captain Jo-ann Petinglay, an army spokeswoman. She said despite the bombings the medical mission pushed through

She said the local mayor was also present during the event and was unhurt from the bombings. Petinglay said the injured were rushed to hospital. She said the two bombs went off minutes apart and also hit the mayor’s pickup truck.

Major General Carlito Galvez, the regional military commander, also praised Kallahal who is actively involved in peace and development efforts in the town. He also appealed to villagers to stay vigilant following the twin bombings.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the bombings

Last week, a grenade explosion also tore a hole on the roof of an abandoned hospital building in Lamitan City also in Basilan, one autonomous region.

There were no reports of casualties and police said the attack could be the handiwork of Abu Sayyaf rebels. Lamitan had been attacked many times in the past by the Abu Sayyaf. The motive of the attack is still unknown, but rebels had previously targeted civilians in Basilan.

Basilan is a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Abu Sayyaf has state in the country. Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Foundation Inc. (OML Center) led by Dr. Rodel Lasco, coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

MINING FIRM TO BUILD AGRI HIGH SCHOOL IN ITOGON

AN agricultural secondary school that would help the mining municipality of Itogon support the national government’s program on basic education will soon rise in this municipality. Philex Mining Corporation is providing its host town of Itogon a P16million classroom building in Sitio Ayosip, Brgy. Poblacion as its way of supporting the Department of Education’s K to 12 program. Last week, local officials led by Gov. Crescencio Pacalso and Itogon Mayor Vic Palangdan with Philex Mining CEO and President Eulalio Austin Jr., and Department of Education – CAR Regional Director Beatriz Torno, Mines and Geosciences Bureau – CAR Regional Director Fay Apil and other stakeholders signed a memorandum of agreement for the project, then a ground-breaking followed.