DAVAO: Communist insurgents who seized 39 gold prospectors in the southern Philippines have released all but three of them, authorities said yesterday.
Guerrillas of the New People’s Army (NPA) released 36 of the small-scale miners they had abducted on Saturday as government troops closed in on them, said Arturo Uy, the area’s governor.
“They were used as human shields,” Uy said, following negotiations that secured the release of most of the captives in the gold-rich Compostela Valley in the Davao region of Mindanao island.
The insurgents had seized the miners as the military was conducting a major operation against them in a mountainous area that has over the years attracted thousands of prospectors who operate illegal gold mines.
Law heralds liberal change
MANILA: The Philippines has long been known as the Catholic Church’s Asian stronghold, but a new birth control law highlights an increasingly liberal shift that could next see divorce legalised, activists and religious leaders say.
A 15-year battle by the Church to thwart state-sanctioned family planning ended last month when the Supreme Court approved the law, allowing the government to begin distributing free contraceptives to millions of poor Filipinos.
It was a rare loss for the Church, which has for centuries been one of the nation’s most powerful institutions.
Blast injures Lebak mayor
COTABATO: The mayor of Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat was wounded when a powerful explosion ripped through the municipal hall yesterday morning, police said.
Authorities said Mayor Dionisio Besana was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Initial investigation showed an improvised explosive device was used in the bombing that occurred at around 10 a.m.
Intelligence operatives of the 1st Marine Brigade based in Lebak were helping the local police investigate the incident. Agencies
