NEWS BRIEFS | 17 July 2025

Classes suspended in Surigao del Norte, Dinagat due to ‘Crising’

Several schools in Surigao del Norte, including some in Siargao Island, have suspended their classes from kindergarten to high school ahead of tropical depression “Crising,” which is expected to develop into a tropical storm by Friday.

Education officials in the towns of General Luna, Dapa, Santa Monica, and Del Carmen in Siargao Island and in Claver, Placer, Sison, Mainit, Alegria, and Tubod in the Surigao del Norte mainland have suspended their classes following an order from Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers declaring the class suspension.

In the neighboring province of Dinagat Island, school officials also suspended classes in San Jose, Tubajon, Libjo, Basilisa and Dinagat.

Engineer killed in Maguindanao ambush 

A municipal engineer was killed while one of his companions was wounded when they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen in Barangay Timbangan, Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao del Sur last Wednesday night.

Col. Sultan Salman Sapal, Maguindanao del Sur police director, said Engr. Shed Ariff Malang of neighboring Shariff Saydona Mustapha died on the way to the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Hospital.

Sapal said the victim was with three companions, one of them wounded, on a pickup truck when they were ambushed by the gunmen.

18 rescued off Basilan as motorboat capsizes

Philippine Coast Guard and local disaster response teams in Basilan rescued 18 people after their motorboat sank due to bad weather conditions over the weekend, a belated report said.

Maj. Geobani Calle, Basilan Maritime Police Station chief, said the ill-fated motorboat was travelling from Banguingui in Sulu to Maluso, Basilan when it encountered strong winds and capsized.

Calle said their station, including personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard and the Maluso Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, immediately launched a rescue operation to save the passengers and crew members.