CATBALOGAN CITY- Major General Raul Farnacio denied reports that members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have been sighted in several parts in the region.
Farnacio, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, said that the reports being circulated by certain groups are not true at all.
Earlier, there were reports that alleged ASG members were seen in Dolores, Eastern Samar and Santa Fe, Leyte.
But Farnacio said that Muslims who are members of the Balik Islam group were the ones seen in these places and certainly, they are not members of the terror group.
“A lot of information are coming out but none of them are airtight though it really means that there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of monitoring activities of the group,” the Army official said.
Farnacio said Muslim communities are assisting the government in hunting down members of the terror groups like the Abu Sayyaf.
The Army general assured the public that they are closely monitoring the developments in Bohol to preempt any possible moves from the ASG to come to the region and spread their terroristic activities.
A joint effort and deployments were conducted both by the Army and police to ensure the security and safety of the public, including tourists who come to the region, Farnacio said.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview with Eastern Visayas Police Director Elmer Beltejar, he warned the public to be vigilant and to be extra careful in going to possible target areas like shopping malls, car parks, and tourist attraction areas.
He urged the public to remain calm despite the warning though he insisted that the region remains to be peaceful.

Beltejar advises also those who are spreading false reports so as not to instill fear to the public but rather consult the police first.
(JAZMIN BONIFACIO)

In the wake of Bohol terror due to Abu Sayyaf Group

TACLOBAN CITY- Police personnel in Eastern Visayas are in full alert in the wake of the incident in Bohol province that saw members of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group, sowing threat in the said area.
Chief Inspector Ma. Bella Rentuaya, regional information officer of the Philippine National Police, said that the full red alert mode is just a precautionary measure to ensure safety across the region.
On December 28, 2016, bombs exploded at a public plaza in Hilongos, Leyte that injured 32 people.
Police authorities later claimed that those responsible for the bombing incident were members of the Maute terror group.
“We are in full alert. (We are conducting) close intelligence monitoring and intensified our security in all provinces, particularly along shorelines to seal off (for any possible intrusion) from the (terror) groups,” Rentuaya said.
She added that they have not received any intelligence report of any terror group in the region.
About 11 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group went to the town of Inabanga, Bohol reportedly to conduct kidnapping activity among tourists.
However, their act was thwarted due mainly to the help of the local residents. About five Abu Sayyaf members were killed by government forces in a firefight.
Rentuaya said that with a full alert status as directed by Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, police regional director, all police personnel in the region would not be allowed to take any vacation leave unless for extreme cases like being sick.
Rentuaya could not say how long the full red alert status would be enforced in the region that is experiencing a booming tourist industry.
Last year, more than 1.18 million tourists visited the region contributing around P10 billion to the economy of Eastern Visayas.
Rentuaya said that tourist police were also assigned to all major tourist destinations in the region like the Kalanggaman Island off the town of Palompon Leyte.
Kalanggaman, with its pristine water and long sand bar, is now considered to be the region’s top tourist destination.

By: JOEY A. GABIETA

TACLOBAN CITY- Tropical depression “Crising” spawned flooding incidents in Leyte as it dumped heavy rains on Black Saturday(April 15).
However, reports from disaster risk reduction management offices in Eastern and Northern Samar provinces disclosed of no flooding or landslide incidents brought by Crising.
In Hernani, Eastern Samar where Crising made its landfall Saturday night, its municipal disaster risk reduction management officer Lito Ogania said that no flooding incident occurred in the town.
“There was no incident of a flooding incident in our town. What we experienced was slight to moderate rain,” Ogania said in a phone interview.
Josefina Titong, provincial disaster risk reduction management officer of Eastern Samar, in a separate interview, said that her office has not received any report of either flooding or landslide incident in any part of the province.
“But we are on alert for any incident relative to the tropical depression,” Titong said.
In Tacloban City, flooding incidents were reported in several areas, to include its downtown area due to heavy rains brought by Crising.
But Lutgarda Raagas, head of the Tacloban City Rescue Unit, said that the flooding incident subsided after the heavy rains stopped.
Several villages of Palo and Tanauan, both in Leyte, were flooded, said Roel Montesa of the provincial disaster risk reduction management office.
About six villages of Palo experienced flooding while 15 low-lying villages of Tanauan were flooded, he added.
In Allen, Northern Samar, the Coast Guard allowed the more than 3,400 passengers stranded at the ports to depart on Good Friday at past 9 pm after the storm signal was lifted by PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration). (JOEY A. GABIETA)

CATARMAN, Northern Samar- The dead body of an engineering student who was drowned while swimming at the Pinipisakan Falls was recovered three days after the incident.
The lifeless body of Jude Christopher Pinca, 21 and a 4th year civil engineering student at the University of Eastern Philippines, this town, was recovered floating in the river which runs within the Pinipisakan Falls.
Pinipisakan Falls is located in Las Navas and is one of the major tourist attractions of the province.
The cadaver of the victim was already bloated when it was recovered by the rescue groups at around 8 am on Wednesday (April 12), Engr. Romualdo Saises, Las Navas’ disaster risk reduction management officer, said.
Pinca was said to have been drowned last April 9, Palm Sunday.
It was learned that Pinca was with his friends to swim at the Pinipisakan Falls and rented a kayak.
However, unlike his companions, Pinca did not wear a life vest as instructed by the owner of the kayak.
While they were near the falls, their kayak capsized due to strong currents. Pinca’s friends were able to survive due to their life vests that they used.
Saises said that while the body of Pinca was discovered to have been buried at the coral stones of the riverbed, they could not retrieve it as it was located at 100 meters deep of the Pinipisakan Falls.
On Wednesday (April 12), the body of Pinca was seen floating. (RACHEL V. ARNAIZ)