MANILA: More than 18,000 people have been affected by the incessant rains resulting in massive flooding and landslides in four regions in Mindanao, the state emergency response agency said yesterday. The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said a total of 18, 393 persons were affected by the heavy rains and thunderstorms since Friday in Regions 6, 7, 9 and 12. The NDRRMC reported that it has monitored flashfloods in Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental; Bayawan City, Siaton, Basay and Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental; and Zamboanga City, Siocon, Sirawai in Zamboanga del Norte. NDRRMC also reported a storm surge hit Sultan Kuradat, where four houses were totally destroyed. The agency also said that a five year old girl drowned in Valderrama, Antique.
Three killed in Basilan clash
MANILA: Two members of the rebel group Abu Sayyaf and a government soldier were killed, while three others got injured in a fierce fighting in Basilan yesterday morning, military disclosed later that day. According to Captain Jefferson Somera, spokesman for the Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry Division, troops of the Army’s 1st Scout Ranger Battalion and 64th Infantry Battalion were on security operation around 8am local time when they caught up with undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf men at barangay Mebak, Sumisip, a town in Basilan province. Somera said the skirmishes has resulted in the death of a soldier and wounding of another; besides that, the troops have recovered two Abu Sayyaf bodies and captured two others who are wounded, he said.
Bomb-making parts seized
DAVAO CITY: Police have seized over 100 sticks of dynamite and other bomb-making components in southern Philippines over the weekend, authorities said yesterday. Some 145 sticks of the industrial explosive and three bags of ammonium nitrate were seized during raids on two homes in Magugpo East village, Tagum City, in Mindanao’s Davao del Norte, some 55km north of Davao City. Agencies
