AUTHORITIES arrested two men posing as communist guerrillas and collecting so-called revolutionary taxes last Sunday, police said on Tuesday.
PO1 Randy Requinto, of the Guinayangan town police, identified the suspects as Amado Patriarca and Catalino Masaga, both residents of Barangay Sabang I, Guinayangan.
A military report said soldiers arrested the two in the act of demanding money from Mario Ronquillo, village chair, and Marcelo Ortega, village watchman.
Police found that Patriarca and Masaga were not New People’s Army members but con men. Patriarca was an escaped convict from the Davao penal colony.

Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon

Two injured dolphins were rescued and returned to the sea by fishers along the coast of Quezon province on Wednesday and Monday, a lawyer from an environmentalist group and a provincial official said.
Lawyer Sheila de Leon, head of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog, said, a 1½-meter female dolphin got entangled in the fishing net of a local fisherman in Bantigue village in Pagbilao town facing Tayabas Bay early Wednesday.
“The dolphin had no serious injuries, only minor bruises,” De Leon said.
She said fisherman Daniel Ruicol brought the dolphin to the shoreline of Sunshine Beach Resort and immediately reported the incident to the TK-ST office and the provincial government.
The resort owner administered care to the dolphin and then helped it back to the deep portion of the bay shortly before noon, she added.
“The beach owner named the dolphin Sunshine,” De Leon said.
On Monday, an injured dolphin was also found by fishermen lying ashore near the coast of Guinayangan town facing Ragay Gulf.
The dolphin—2 ½ meters long—bore minor wounds at the back, said Allan Castillo, aquaculturist II-fisheries division of Quezon provincial government, in a phone interview Wednesday morning.
He said the villagers had wanted to butcher the animal as it seemed to be dying but he cautioned the local fish technician to tell the villagers it is against the law.
Castillo said the correct practice is to bury the dead dolphin with full documentation.
He added the villagers were preparing for the burial of the dying dolphin when the fish technician noticed that a piece of stone was stuck in the sea creature's nostril.
“When the stone was removed, the dolphin suddenly regained consciousness and begun to breathe again,” Castillo said, quoting a report from a fellow fishery officer in Guinyangan.
He said the local government, concerned citizens and policemen took care of the wounded dolphin while it was resting near the shore.
The gentle sea creature was eventually released back to the gulf Tuesday afternoon.
De Leon called on fishermen and coastal villagers not to hurt and kill dolphins when they get washed ashore. “They are friendly creatures. Just guide them back to the sea and set them free,” she said.
Dolphins are generally classified as endangered species and their sale, ownership and transport are prohibited by Philippine laws (Republic Act No. 8550, Sec. 91, 92 and 97; Fisheries Administrative Order 202 and 208) and the international treaty, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
This marine mammal is facing increasing threats from climate change because of factors such as rising sea temperatures.
Global warming has threatened to disrupt the marine ecosystem by destroying plankton that served as food for most marine animals.

by: Delfin Mallari Jr.   
Inquirer Southern Luzon

By Delfin Mallari Jr.

Families of victims and survivors on Saturday commemorated the 30th year of the infamous "Guinayangan Massacre" during the dark years of Marcos dictatorship and vowed to continue working to protect human rights and oppose the continuing militarization of the countryside.
The families of the massacre victims also hoped that they would be included in the list of Marcos human-rights victims who were now receiving cash compensations from the seized properties of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos, as decided by the US court.
Remedios Icipin, mother of Juliana Hara, one of two massacre victims, said they would receive whatever cash compensation for the heroism of her daughter in fighting the Marcos dictatorship.
Former Sen. Wigberto Tañada was the guest speaker of the commemoration program held at the covered court in the town proper of Guinayangan attended by around 200 participants.
Around noon time on Feb. 1, 1981, more than 6,000 farmers, women and children from different towns of Quezon marched in Guinayangan town, 255 kilometers southeast of Manila along the Quezon-Bicol boundary, demanding land reform, fair price for copra, livelihood and end to military abuses.

Dispersed
The rally was dispersed by troops from Philippine Constabulary, the predecessor of Philippine National Police, resulting in the death of Hara and farmer Eutiquio Inciso, both of Guinayangan, according to a Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) report furnished by Karapatan-Quezon.
?The troops, upon seeing the protesters armed only with placards bearing their grievances, indiscriminately fired their rifles, initially upwards and on the ground near the demonstrators,? the TFDP report said.
?It was intended to sow fear among the marchers, disperse and stop them from continuing the mass action. But the people still continued just clapping their hands and appealing they be allowed their mass action and express their grievances?.
Unable to intimidate the protesters, the government forces aimed their rifles on the protesters, fatally hitting two marchers and injuring 17 others, according to the TFDP.
The TFDP reported that the soldiers also fired their rifles at coconut trees causing the nuts to fall on the marchers that sought covers in nearby farmland.

Blame
In the ensuing confusion, the marchers dispersed in all directions and some were forced to fall on a nearby cliff and injured themselves, said the report.
The leaders of the government forces were identified but evaded responsibility for the bloody incident and blamed New People?s Army (NPA) saboteurs as behind the massacre. The NPA strongly denied the allegation.
?We joined the march in 1981 along with my son Fidel because Juliana?s husband, Carlito, was abducted by the military several weeks before the rally. My son and I were lucky, we evaded the bullets,? Icipin recalled.
She said her daughter was hit by a bullet in her head. Inciso was hit in the chest and also died on the spot.
?Carlito was never found until today,? Icipin said.
Joey Barrameda, media liaison of Karapatan-Quezon, said the families of massacre victims vowed to continue to oppose the ongoing militarization in their area.

from: Inquirer Southern Luzon

Police arrested the mayor of Guinayangan, Quezon, and five others in violation of the election gun ban when the authorities discovered high-powered firearms inside the suspects? vehicle Wednesday, police said in a report Thursday.
Senior Insp. Javier Baasis, Quezon police media relations officer, identified the suspects as Guinayangan Mayor Angel Ardiente Jr.; municipal employees Pablito C. Rodriguez, Jones O. Cambronero Jr. and Jason A. Nosquial; Vicente I. Aman, Ardiente?s security, and Rufo C. Proceso Jr.
The report said agents from the Quezon Provincial Police Office's Intelligence Branch and the Quezon Provincial Public Safety Company in Barangay Sumulong arrested the suspects who were in a Nissan Urvan van with government plate no. SGX-888.
Baasis said "suspicious looking persons" onboard the vehicle had alarmed the authorities, who immediately conducted a visual search inside the van.
The search yielded one Elisco Baby Armalite with serial number RP254994, nine magazines loaded with 154 live ammunitions, one Federal MK9 machine pistol (9-mm) with serial number P0482, four magazines with 65 bullets, one .45 cal. Norinco pistol with two magazines and 18 bullets, and one .45 cal. Charles Daly pistol with one magazine and 8 bullets.
Senior Supt. Ericson Velasquez, Quezon police chief, said all confiscated guns have corresponding licenses, except for the baby Armalite.
The suspects will be charged for violation of Commission on Elections Resolution 9028 or the election gun ban.
The poll body has imposed a nationwide gun ban effective Sept. 25 until Nov. 10 for the Oct. 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
All permits to carry firearms outside residences given to civilians have been revoked for the duration of the election period.

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A suspected member of the communist New People?s Army was captured by government forces in a guerilla camp near the boundary of Quezon and Bicol early Tuesday, a military official said.
Army Colonel Narciso Alamag, chief of the Army?s 201st Infantry Brigade-Public Affairs Office, said that soldiers from the Army?s 74th and 76th Infantry Battalion engaged some 15 communist guerillas at the boundary of Guinayangan, Quezon and Sta. Elena, Camarines Sur late Monday afternoon.
The battle lasted for about 10 minutes after which the rebels escaped to different directions, according to an initial report, a copy of which was received by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In a follow-up operation early Tuesday, government forces captured one Jimmy ?Ka Jimmy? Secretario in the village of San Jose in Guinayangan town, 255 kilometers south of Metro Manila. He surrendered two high-powered rifles, an M14, and M16, Alamag said.
Alamag said the captured rebel confessed that one of his comrades, Ka Carlo, was wounded in the encounter Monday afternoon.
Army Colonel Generoso Bolina, assistant chief of the unified command staff for civil military operations of the Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command (Solcom), said the place where Secretario was captured was an ?NPA camp."
The Solcom official said the military has been conducting anti-insurgency operations in southern Quezon after a combined team of police officers and Army soldiers intercepted the transport of heavy firearms in Buenavista, Quezon, believed to be owned by the NPA and intended to be used in extorting money from businessmen and election candidates.
?Our men are ready to foil the terrorists? extortion activities disguised as collection of the so-called revolutionary taxation, permit to campaign, and permit to win fees,? Bolina said over the phone
Last February 26, two suspected NPA rebels, Victor Ib-ib and Eduardo Olvinar, were arrested at a mobile checkpoint in Buenavista town while trying to transport an M60 machine-gun with 400 rounds of ammunitions; one M14 rifle; one bandoleer with 10 magazines loaded with M14 ammunitions; and four detonating cords with blasting caps.
The firearms loaded in an Isuzu mini dump truck and covered with sand were noticed by the lawmen when they spotted the muzzle of a gun jutting out.
The military said the seized weapons were intended to be turned over to an NPA unit in the province, tasked to intensify its extortion activities.

By Delfin Mallari Jr.
Inquirer Southern Luzon