Tuburan Police Chief and 5 Officers killed

COTABATO CITY — At least ten armed men killed a town police chief and five of his men in an ambush in Mabel village in Malabang, Lanao del Sur at 3 p.m. Monday.

Chief Superintendent Akmad Mamalinta, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police chief, identified the slain town police chief as SP04 Corias Tambugao of Tuburan town police command.

Mamalinta said Tambugao and his men were onboard a police car from Camp SK Pendatun to Tuburan when attacked.

The ARMM police chief added the ambush could be a result of “rido” or family feud as Tambugao was involved in a killing of a relative of one of the suspects months ago.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Mindanao Photo Blog

I am happy to announce that I have just launched a new Blog, “The Mindanao PhotoBlog”. If you are from Mindanao, or have an interest in Mindanao, I am sure you will find some photos there that will be of interest to you. Please visit the new Photo Blog, and leave some comments about the pictures!

Philippine Terrorist Group had a role in 9/11

As we reported last week, the founder of the Rajah Soliman Movement (RSM), an extremist Muslim converts terrorist group was captured in Zamboanga recently. He has earlier confessed that he had been hiding out with Indonesian JI terrorists hiding out after the bombing in Bali. Now, he has dropped a real bombshell. Authorities say that he is now claiming that the 9/11 terrorists actually came to the Philippines for their initial training.

Mohammed Atta, the 9/11 Terrorist Ring-leader

Hilarion del Rosario Santos III, alias Ahmad Santos told authorities that he had established a training camp in Pangasinan (on the island of Luzon) , which is Santos’ home. The four Al Qaeda pilots, according to Santos, got initial training in Angeles City, Pampanga before proceeding to the United States.

Santos reportedly broke down during the interrogation that his group were in contact with Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda suicide squad that hijacked four US commercial planes and crashed them into two of the American famous landmarks – the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon’s military intelligence headquarters. The other hijacked commercial airliner crashed into a vacant lot in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overpower the armed hijackers and take control of the plane hijackers who tried to hit the aircraft straight to their target – the White House in Washington DC.

Santos confessed that his group aided in training and giving shelter to the terrorists responsible in the September 11 US attack, according to an investigating officer, who was one of Santos’ interrogators.

He said their established training camp in Luzon is situated in a secluded place in Pangasinan, Santos’ home-place.

The Al-Qaeda pilots, according to him, got their first training in Angeles, Pampanga, before they proceeded to the United States to harness further their flight training in manning big commercial planes.

Itong mga Arabo, pagkaatpos ng flight training nila sa Angeles, Pampanga, umuwi sa tirahan ng RSM ni Santos sa Pangasinan (These Arabs, after their flight training in Angeles Pampanga, went back to their shelter in the home-base of Santos’ RSM in Pangasinan),” the officer revealed.

Angeles City is where Clark Airbase field is located.

The officer-investigator said Santos admitted they were behind the wave of terrorist attacks in Luzon, including the December 2004 bombing in Makati City, Metro Manila, which killed and injured scores of bus passengers.

More of this story can be found at SunStar Zamboanga.

Is this reallly true? Can it be? It seems to me that the US Government has done massive research on the activities of the 9/11 terrorists, and knows their comings and goings fairly extensively before the 9/11 attacks. But, this report is coming from the horse’s mouth. The big question, though… is he being honest on this one?

Safety? What safety?

Linemen without safety equipment work Saturday on an electrical pole in Zamboanga City. Hundreds of electric cooperatives in the region ignore or cannot afford to buy safety equipment, such as helmets, gloves and boots, making it extremely dangerous for them to work. (Sunnex photo/Al Jacinto)

Captured Terrorist Confesses – He’s been with Bali Bombers!

Accused terrorist Hilarion Santos, AKA Ahmad Santos was captured in Mindanao earlier this week. He is the head of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, a terrorist group that was an offshoot of the Abu Sayyaf Group. The Rajah Solaiman Movement is known to be more radical than the feared Abu Sayyaf, and is responsible for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines in the past several years.

Santos has confessed to investigators that he had been hanging out with suspected Bali Bombers and JI members Omar Patek and Dulmatin. The two JI members have been the subject of massive manhunts in the past weeks, especially since the US Government is offering a $10 Million reward for the two terrorists.

Apparently, Santos and the two Indonesians were being hidden by the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Santos and the rest of his companions that were arrested together were featured on a Mindanao Blog post earlier this week.

Santos had earlier been arrested after his terrorist activities. The arrest occurred in 2003, however he was allowed bail, posted the bail but never returned. This is a common occurrence in the Philippines.