The Bangsamoro Reporter

MANILA, April 29, 2026 — The Supreme Court (SC) En Banc unanimously dismissed a petition seeking to compel the Senate to immediately convene as an impeachment court to try Vice President Sara Duterte, ruling that the petition had become moot and that the Senate had not acted unlawfully.   In a 14-0-1 decision penned by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, the SC threw out the petition for mandamus filed by private citizen Catalino Aldea Generillo, Jr. (G.R. No. 278311), which sought to force the Senate to hold an impeachment trial against the Vice President.   Wrong Legal Remedy   The High Court ruled that mandamus — a legal remedy used to compel a government body to perform a clear legal duty — was not the proper tool to use against the Senate. As a co-equal constitutional body, the Senate's exercise of its duties is beyond the SC's power of review through mandamus, except in cases of grave abuse of discretion.   "The Senate's actions within its sphere canno...

COTABATO CITY – Three members of a terrorist group have been killed in a military operation in the mountains of Maguindanao del Sur, weeks after a deadly ambush claimed the lives of five police officers. The targeted operation took place Sunday in Barangay Tuayan Mother, where operatives from the Dawlah Islamiya (DI) terrorist group had been sheltering while evading a joint police and military manhunt. Army 6th Infantry Division spokesperson Lt. Col. Ronald Suscano confirmed that the three slain suspects were among those responsible for the March 28 ambush that killed members of the 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company. The officers had been on their way back to their camp in Shariff Aguak town after peace and security operations when a group of 15 armed men struck without warning. Troops sweeping the area after the encounter recovered the gunmen's bodies along with three long firearms and ammunition. Suscano added that ground forces were continuing clearing operations while o...

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A legal advocacy group representing Muslim lawyers in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi is calling for an independent investigation into the deaths of three Alfad family members during a joint Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) operation in Barangay Sinunuc on Thursday, April 23, 2026.   The fatalities were identified as Jerry Indan Alfad, 52 – a long-serving Barangay Lupon member; his nephew Rayyan Hassan Alfad, 22; and his 12-year-old son Salam Aradais Alfad. Two other family members – 18-year-old daughter Mislie Aradais Alfad and another sister – were wounded in the incident.   The operation took place between 1:00 and 1:30 a.m. in Sitio Alas-as, involving around 52 personnel from the Joint Task Force, Regional Intelligence Division 9, Seaborne Unit, Sinunuc Police Station, and Mindanao Area Police Intelligence Office. The mission aimed to serve an arrest warrant on Saddam Siddik, an alleged Dawlah Islamiya-...

COTABATO CITY — Newly appointed Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento has expressed his commitment to advancing the full implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), responding warmly to the welcome extended by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Peace Implementing Panel Chairman Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal. In his response statement, Sarmiento thanked Iqbal and the MILF leadership for their warm reception, acknowledging the weight of the work that lies ahead. "I deeply appreciate your kind words and the recognition of the work ahead as we move toward the full implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro," he said. Sarmiento outlined his priorities, pledging to work closely with the Chairs of both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and MILF Peace Implementing Panels to advance the normalization process, fast-track reconciliation efforts, and complete what he descr...