TABUK CITY, KALINGA – A grade three pupil in one of the public schools in the city was sexually molested during class hours morning of February 11 by a grown up man who pretended he was looking for the house of a relative.
Maria (not her real name) informed the police later that while playing on the school campus at around 9:30 AM during recess, a man approached him asking her to help him find the house of a relative among the houses near the school.
After they stepped out of the campus, the man then forced her to go with him to a hut in the rice fields behind the school where she molested her.
According to the girl, the man forced her to lie down, pulled down her underwear and inserted his middle finger into her private part and also forced his penis into her mouth.
She said that she could not shout for help because the man had threatened to strangle her to death if she does not keep silent.
After molesting her, the man let the girl go back to school warning her “Dimo ibagbaga ti sabali. No ibagam, patayenka no makita ka.” (Don’t tell anyone. If you do, I will kill you when I see you.)
The girl told her ordeal to her teacher who brought her to the barangay captain. The barangay captain brought the girl to the city clinic for medico legal examination and later to the police.
Police said that upon investigation, they found out that the people who saw the girl and the man pass by thought they were father and daughter and had no inkling a crime was being committed. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
TABUK CITY, KALINGA – The alleged triggerman in the murder of Roman Catholic priest Fr. Franciscus Madhu on April 3, 2007 in Mabungtot, Lubuagan, this province, was shot to death in sitio Malusong, Canao, Lubuagan by Philippine National Police (PNP) troops around 12:30 AM of February 9.
Kalinga PNP Director Arni Dean Emock said that the incident took place when elements from the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) stationed in Lubuagan and from the Kalinga Provincial Police Office (KPPO) who were on a mission to serve the warrant for the arrest of suspect Nestor Wailan, married, farmer and resident of Dugnac,were fired at by Wailan.
Emock related that the troops who were acting on an intelligence report that Wailan was seen in the house of a certain Begas in Malusong armed with an M16 cordoned the subject house and two of them knocked on the door identifying themselves as policemen and ordering the occupants to open up.
Emock continued that instead of opening the door, the occupant of the house jumped out of the window firing at the lawmen while escaping prompting the latter to fire back.
The man who would later be identified as Wailan was hit causing his instant death, Emock said.
Emock said that an autopsy and paraffin cast could not be conducted on the body of Wailan as his relatives retrieved and buried the body immediately after the incident.
Emock further said that a 17-year old male person was apprehended during the operation and investigated for harboring a criminal but was released to the custody of the Municipal Social Welfare Office of Lubuagan later.
Emock informed the media that the case filed against Acmor Bonggawon, single and resident of Mabungtot, Lubuagan, one of the two identified cohorts of Wailan who was arrested in sitio Mansanita, Ipil, this city, on July 4, 2007, was dismissed by the court as there were no witnesses to corroborate the result of the investigation of the police.
The third suspect – Joel Awingan - is still at large, Emock said.
Emock said that this is the second operation to effect the arrest of the suspects and that during the first one on July 17, 2007, Wailan was able to elude arrest but was allegedly wounded.
Emock said that Wailan has a history of not giving up peacefully but the police still followed police operational procedures by knocking on the door and announcing their purpose.
According to the police, Madhu was preparing to say mass at the Mabungtot Primary School at around 5:30 PM on April 3, 2007 when Wailan entered the school house and for unknown reasons shot the priest six times with an M16 armalite rifle with five bullets finding their mark.
Emock said that it is possible the M16 recovered from Wailan during the operation which they have submitted for examination was the same one used in the shooting of Fr. Madhu. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
TABUK CITY, KALINGA – The people of this city will be consulted regarding the plan to reopen the Batongbuhay Gold Mines, Inc. (BBGMI) in Balatoc, Pasil, this province, OIC-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Ricardo Dang-iw said recently.
Dangi-iw said that before a company can operate the idle mines, it must have to apply for an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) and the process includes consultations starting from the barangay to the provincial level.
“All environmental issues and concerns on the direct impact and secondary impact areas will be taken up during the consultations. In the case of the BBGMI, the direct impact area is Balatoc and the secondary impact areas are communities living downstream of the Pasil and Chico rivers,” Dang-iw said.
Dang-iw said that the ECC covers all aspects of the operations of the mines which has something to do with the environment including the company’s environment management plan.
Regarding the specific case of Tabuk City, the issues and concerns will be raised with the proponent proposing the solutions “to make them non-issues,” Dang-iw, a mining engineer, said.
Dang-iw informed that although there is talk going around that Benguet Corporation has won the bid for the mines, there is yet no official information reaching his office on the matter.
Tabuk people are expected to oppose the reopening of the mines due to their past experience when this first operated in the 80s.
They mounted protests actions against the BBGMI when they noticed that the mine tailings silted their ricelands resulting in significant reduction of their harvest.
The mines closed in 1985. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW
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