AFP forms board of inquiry to probe Agusan NPA raid
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has formed a board of inquiry to investigate Wednesday’s raid by communist insurgents on an Army detachment in Sibagat town, Agusan del Sur, that resulted in the capture of two soldiers and 12 militia men.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) might have been planning to use its captives as leverage to compel the government to resume the peace process.
Col. Noel Detoyato, chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office, said that while pursuit operations were underway against the raiders, a board of inquiry had been formed to “ascertain the facts leading to the raid and abduction to determine who was remiss [in] his duty.”
Lorenzana said the absence of a firefight indicated that the Army detachment could have been infiltrated before it was overran. —Jeannette I. Andrade
Japan’s most wanted fugitive arrested in Pasay City
Agents of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the Tokyo office of Interpol have arrested in Pasay City Japan’s most wanted fugitive, who is accused of heading a major fraud syndicate.
Misao Koyama, also known as Misao Kaminsukaso, will be immediately deported, according to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente.
The 59-year-old fugitive is facing charges in Japan of forging private documents so the syndicate could sell other people’s lands.
Bobby Raquepo, chief of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit, said Koyama headed an eight-man group that swindled “billions of yen” from their victims.
“Japanese authorities sought our assistance in locating and deporting Koyama as he has a warrant of arrest for fraud,” Raquepo said. —Tina G. Santos
4 Chinese convicted in floating drug lab case may be deported
Malacañang on Thursday said no special treatment would be accorded to the four Chinese citizens who were recently convicted for operating a “shabu” (crystal meth) laboratory in a 50-meter fishing vessel in Subic Bay, Zambales.
But instead of sending the four men to prison in the country, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the government may deport them to China.
“We are coordinating with the Department of Justice on the possibility of deportation to finally rid this country of these foreign criminals,” Panelo said.
The Olongapo City Regional Trial Court last week sentenced Lo Win-fai, Leung Shu-fook, Kwok Kam-wah and Chan Kwok-tung to life imprisonment and ordered them to pay a fine of P5 million.
Authorities arrested the Chinese on July 11, 2016, aboard the vessel off Barangay Calapandayan, Subic town, and seized from them 468 grams of shabu and a hydrogenerator, which is used in making the drug. —Christine O. Avendaño
2 Navy frigates named after Jose Rizal, Antonio Luna
The Philippine Navy’s two new missile frigates have been named BRP Antonio Luna and BRP Jose Rizal even before their scheduled arrival in 2020 and 2021.
At a press conference on Thursday at Camp Aguinaldo, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said it was the first time the Navy used national heroes as ship names.
The frigates are now being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea at a total cost of P16 billion.
The Navy previously had a BRP General Antonio Luna, one of two patrol gunboats of the Emilio Aguinaldo class constructed at the Cavite naval shipyard, but it was decommissioned in April 2016. —Jeannette I. Andrade