Plaza widows reunite to regain political power in 2013 polls

By Alden Pantaleon on September 13 2012 6:15 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/12 Sept) – Here’s a new twist in this city’s political scene: two formerly estranged widows of the Plaza political clan are ironing out a united force to… »

Police officer, wife killed in highway accident in Agusan

By Alden Pantaleon on June 16 2012 1:30 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/15 June) – A police officer and his wife were killed on Tuesday evening when the motorbike they were riding rammed the rear portion of a ten-wheel truck… »

Tandag mayor to LCP: Let new cities be

By Alden Pantaleon on June 15 2012 10:25 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/14 June) – The mayor of one of the 16 new cities in the country appealed to the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) not to pursue… »

School president in Butuan refuses to leave post

By Alden Pantaleon on May 29 2012 9:42 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/29 May) — Tension gripped a foreign-funded college run by a Christian foundation here after the school president whose term expired on May 12 refused to vacate his… »

Agusan women tapped in road network project

By Alden Pantaleon on February 15 2012 11:07 am

m14road SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews/14 February) – An Australian assisted program on developing local road network infrastructure tapped village-based women’s groups here to participate in maintaining and rehabilitating… »

Agusan del Sur tops country’s rice self-sufficiency program

By Alden Pantaleon on February 9 2012 6:58 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/08 February) – Efforts by the provincial government of Agusan del Sur to sustain its rice self-sufficiency program since 2008 have gained recognition from the agriculture department’s Agri-Pinoy… »

Butuanons to Congress: junk “defective” bills seeking to protect Mt. Hilong Hilong

By Alden Pantaleon on February 5 2012 9:13 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/04 February) — An organization of Butuanons including US-based groups urged Congress to scrap what it called a “deceptive” proposed law to protect Hilong Hilong from destruction but… »

Army soldier killed, 6 others injured in ambush after mayor’s abduction

By Alden Pantaleon on August 7 2011 6:26 am

SURIGAO DEL SUR (MindaNews/06 August) – An Army soldier was killed while six others were injured in an ambush Saturday afternoon by suspected New People’s Army guerrillas who abducted the… »

Lingig mayor abducted

By Alden Pantaleon on August 7 2011 6:25 am

SURIGAO DEL SUR (MindaNews/06 August) – The mayor of Lingig town in Surigao del Sur and his two Army escorts were abducted in his house Saturday morning by suspected New… »

Agusan Sur Gov confident hostage crisis to end soon

By Alden Pantaleon on April 3 2011 8:12 pm

PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews) – Agusan del Sur Governor Adolf Edward Plaza is optimistic the hostage crisis would soon be over. This, as two of the 15 hostages — teachers Hipolito Lastimado and Diosdideth Canbantac — were sent down to the poblacion of Barangay La Purisima mid-afternoon Saturday to get food, on instructions they were to return or the remaining hostages would be killed.

14 teachers, students held hostage in Agusan Sur

By Alden Pantaleon on April 3 2011 8:50 am

PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews/02 April) – Armed men, including two brothers of Datu Ondo Perez who is in jail for holding hostage 125 students and teachers here in December 2009, have been holding hostage 14 persons since 4 p.m. Friday, demanding the release of Perez. Among the hostages were the Agusan del Sur school division supervisor, a school supervisor for district II, six teachers and two elementary students.

95% of public transport paralyzed in Butuan

By Alden Pantaleon on April 2 2011 7:26 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/01 April) – Public vehicles here ground to a halt Thursday as various local transport groups joined the one-day long nationwide strike demanding for a rollback of oil… »

Flood update: of 25 dead nationwide, 17 in Mindanao

By Alden Pantaleon on January 6 2011 10:25 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/06 January) – Seventeen of the 25 persons nationwide who died from drowning or landslides brought about by flash floods spawned by heavy rains since Sunday were from… »

9 killed, 2 missing in flashfloods in Caraga

By Alden Pantaleon on January 6 2011 12:33 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/05 January) — Nine persons were killed while two others were missing following massive flashfloods spawned by heavy rains since Sunday that hit 364 villages in 36 towns… »

Barangays asked to include 'conflict transformation' in planning

By Alden Pantaleon on December 11 2010 12:01 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/10 Dec) – Local governments, especially those in the margins of conflicts, must incorporate conflict transformation in budget planning, according to the Department of Interior and Local Government… »

Agusan bishop says Church will stand up for and defend environment if DENR can't

By Alden Pantaleon on November 15 2010 4:12 pm

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews/15 November) – “The Church will stand up for and defend the environment if the Department of Environment and Natural Resoruces (DENR) cannot,” Butuan Bishop… »

Money rules elections in Caraga; polls in 9 barangays reset

By Alden Pantaleon on October 26 2010 11:25 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/26 October) – Vote-buying dominated the conduct of Monday’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in parts of the Caraga Region. Killings, massive vote-buying, intimidation and “hoarding” of… »

Catholic university teacher arrested for sexual harassment

By Alden Pantaleon on October 22 2010 7:37 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/21 Oct) — A part-time computer instructor at a Catholic-run university here was charged Monday at a local court for sexual harassment and child abuse after he allegedly… »

Logging firm's IFMA in Surigao Sur 'defective and erroneous'

By Alden Pantaleon on October 16 2010 9:58 am

CORTES, Surigao del Sur (MindaNews/15 October) — A large-scale logging firm whose Timber License Agreement (TLA) expired two years ago continues to operate inside ancestral lands in Cortes and Lanuza… »

Butuan mayor starts filling contractual jobs

By Alden Pantaleon on August 23 2010 9:39 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/23 August) — Nearly a thousand “job order” workers of the city will no longer return to their offices following the expiration of their contracts on July 31.… »

State U tapped to promote catfish production in Caraga

By Alden Pantaleon on August 17 2010 12:01 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/16 August) – Growing local demand for pangasius has encouraged a newly created state university here to set up a breeding-trial and grow-out pond for the tropical warm… »

Caraga workers get P10 wage hike

By Alden Pantaleon on August 13 2010 12:01 am

m12payhike Caraga workers get P10 wage hike By Alden Pantaleon / MindaNews BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/12 Aug) — Caraga’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) recently approved a new wage… »

Buffer zone to protect Butuan watershed from logging, mining eyed

By Alden Pantaleon on August 8 2010 9:35 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/08 August) – Threats posed by logging and mining activities to the city’s water supply have led to a proposal from a government-initiated body to create a permanent… »

‘Extortion’ bugs tree farmers, sawmill owners in Butuan City

By Alden Pantaleon on July 23 2010 12:08 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/22 July) – Small-scale wood processors here said they might be forced to shut down for lack of raw materials as tree farmers have stopped supplying them logs… »

Caraga pols realign, join P-Noy’s Liberal Party

By Alden Pantaleon on July 22 2010 12:03 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews) – A new political realignment in the Caraga region is shaping up as four of the six congressmen in four provinces have joined President Benigno Aquino III’s… »

Asian NGOs to hold biodiversity conservation meet in Butuan

By Alden Pantaleon on June 26 2010 12:12 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/25 June)– Delegates of non-government organizations from Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Spain’s Instituto de Promocion y Apoyo Al Desarollo (IPADE) will meet here starting Monday for the… »

Agusan Norte boasts earning P.5B in 2009

By Alden Pantaleon on June 19 2010 8:33 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/18 June) – The province of Agusan del Norte last year collected P587, 505,371 in revenues aside from generating hundreds of millions of pesos in investments and thousands… »

Solid waste management program pushed in Caraga

By Alden Pantaleon on May 27 2010 11:11 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/26 May) — The regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources here has started pushing for the adoption of solid waste management program in the… »

DTI Caraga monitors prices of school supplies

By Alden Pantaleon on May 24 2010 6:31 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/23 May) — Offices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in provinces and cities including key towns in Caraga region have mobilized its personnel to closely monitor… »

Talacogon vice mayor-elect survives slay attempt

By Alden Pantaleon on May 23 2010 7:47 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/22 May) — A former police chair in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur who won the vice mayoralty race was shot by still unidentified armed men on a motorcycle… »

NFA-Caraga starts selling imported rice

By Alden Pantaleon on May 20 2010 7:22 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/19 May) – Warehouses of the National Food Authority in Caraga Region have started selling imported rice to accredited grain dealers in the region. Gil Pepito B. Paqueo,… »

NPA frees Surigao mayor, escorts

By Alden Pantaleon on May 18 2010 10:50 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/18 May) – After 17 days in captivity, a kidnapped town mayor in Surigao del Sur was finally released by suspected New People’s Army rebels without “condition” Monday… »

Power outages loom as electric plants need reconditioning

By Alden Pantaleon on May 15 2010 1:05 pm

BUTUAN CITY (Mindanews / 14 May) – Electric consumers in Mindanao would be expected to experience anew rotating and long blackouts probably starting next month as power producers signified scheduling… »

Plaza loses in Butuan; in Caraga, Barbers out, Matugas in

By Alden Pantaleon on May 13 2010 11:17 am

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/13 May) — A doctor who is also a neophyte barangay captain has just won the mayoralty race in this city, effectively ending the 18-year reign of the… »

70% voter turnout in Caraga

By Alden Pantaleon on May 11 2010 9:45 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/11 May) – The regional office of the Commission on Elections in Caraga (Region 13) reported a 70-percent voter turnout in the country’s first automated general elections. Regional… »

PPCRV-Butuan hits delays in voting

By Alden Pantaleon on May 10 2010 10:42 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/10 May) – “Unsystematic” procedures and faulty precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines are to blame for the delays in the voting in several parts of the city,… »

Agusan Sur’s Aquino faces perjury charges

By Alden Pantaleon on May 9 2010 10:36 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/09 May) – Congressional bet Roberto “Bob” Aquino of the lone district of Agusan del Sur is facing arrest for allegedly falsifying a document. The warrant of arrest… »

Militiaman, wife die in Surigao Sur ambush; daughter hurt

By Alden Pantaleon on May 4 2010 11:56 pm

BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/04 May) – A militiaman and his wife were killed and their daughter wounded when suspected members of the New People’s Army ambushed them in a remote village… »