Posted: December 23rd, 2011 | Filed under: News Events, Photojournalism | Tags: 10th CMO, 10th ID, jacob obligado, Philippine Army, relief aid, sendong, washi |
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/23 December) – Playing too much computer games makes some sense, sometimes.
When I got a message from Maj. Jacob Obligado, chief of the 10th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion, saying that as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, they had so far filled up 18 M35 trucks with relief aid for flashflood victims in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, the PC game Company of Heroes flashed in my mind, particularly the “Red Ball Express Mission,” which is based on history.
The renowned Red Ball Express was the codename for a massive logistics operation of the Allied Forces during World War II in Europe involving about 6,000 trucks and at least 400,000 tons of ammunition, food and fuel.
The huge convoy had become an easy target by German forces but with Germany’s reduced air power after the breakout of D-Day in June 1944, attacks on the convoy became rare.
But unlike the wartime Red Ball Express, which ran for four months, this version of massive transport of supplies was much smaller and carried not war materiel but precious relief aid for the flashflood victims.
The last time I saw a massive military convoy – with trucks towing several howitzers - was in February 2003 in Pikit, North Cotabato, when a battalion of Philippine Marines was deployed during the Buliok war. Read More »
Posted: December 22nd, 2011 | Filed under: News Events | Tags: 10th ID, Climate Change, jake obligado, Philippine Army, relief aid, sendong, washi |
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/22 Dec) – The Army’s 10th Infantry Division will transport on Friday, December 23, at least 21 truckloads of relief aid to the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan for the victims of typhoon Sendong.
Maj. Jacob Obligado, chief the 10th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion, said the relief goods were donated by several individuals and organizations in their effort to extend relief assistance to the calamity victims.
In a text message, Obligado said the effort is dubbed as “Pagtinabangay Caravan Alang sa CDO ug Iligan,” which is a public-private partnership facilitated by the 10ID. Read More »
Posted: April 5th, 2011 | Filed under: News Events | Tags: 10th ID, afp, alan davis, davao city, davao del norte, duterte, extra-judicial killings, iwpr, kaloy zarate, new peoples army, paquibato, parago, rebelyn pitao, uplm |
DAVAO CITY — Two years after the killing of Rebelyn Pitao, the case seemed to have gathered dust since no witnesses have surfaced and her killers are still at large.
Pitao, daughter of New People’s Army (NPA) leader Leoncio Pitao a.k.a. Commander Parago, was abducted on her way home in Barangay (village) Bago in Davao City. The following day, her partially naked body was found in an irrigation ditch in Barangay San Isidro in Carmen, Davao Del Norte, about 50 kilometers north from this city.
While the government authorities are claiming that the case has not really progressed and the killers remained at large, her father admitted to have already killed three of the dozen suspects, all of them are military personnel according to the rebel leader.
But rights lawyer Carlos Zarate believes that the case of Pitao is not just a plain crime saying that it is more of a political issue given that the victim is a daughter of a revolutionary.
Zarate, along with his colleagues at the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers for Mindanao (UPLM), said that they are raising this issue before the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) peace panels. Read More »
