President Arroyo Blamed For Bungled Deal With MILF Rebels

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 30, 2008) - Philippine opposition on Saturday blamed President Gloria Arroyo for the bungled homeland deal with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must answer for the mess created by this 'memorandum of disagreement.' Her lack of transparency, her unwillingness to do broad consultation with all stakeholders and failure to deal with Moros in good faith are the root causes of the tension and war now plaguing Mindanao,” Adel Tamano, a spokesman for the United Opposition (UNO), said in Zamboanga City.

Tamano said he will speak with law students of the state-run Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) here later today.

“I have decided to come to Zamboanga City to attend a function at the Western Mindanao State University despite threats to my person due to my opposition to the MOA-AD,” Tamano said.

Tamano revealed that he has been receiving a number of death threats apparently for his opposition to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that the government peace panel was supposed to have forged with the MILF.

Tamano said the way forward for Mindanao is not separation of Muslim and Christians, but rather through inter-faith dialogue and integration with justice.

“It is an advocacy squarely at odds with the MOA. While the MOA sees to create a separate state for Moros, I cannot help but ask why is it that in other progressive countries, peoples of different creeds, religion and races can come together as one nation yet GMA's (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) administration answer to the peace problem is to separate Muslims and Christian Filipinos by creating a separate state called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE),” Tamano said.

Oppositions Hit Arroyo Anew Over Poverty, Human Rights Issues

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 11, 2008) – Politicians opposed to President Gloria Arroyo’s rule on Wednesday criticized her allegedly covering up for the true state of human rights situation in the Philippines.

They said Arroyo’s efforts to swath the capital in larger-than life posters to desperately convince the public that they are living in the lap of economy luxury ring hollow in the face of continued unresolved political killings and disappearances.

“GMA's posters proclaim ‘Ramdam ang Kaunlaran’. Certainly for the hundreds of victims of extrajudicial killings and their families, no amount of economic progress—which is a lie anyway—will assuage their loss,”" United Opposition spokesman lawyer Adel Tamano said.

Randam ang Kaularan is Arroyo’s anti-poverty campaign. Tamano said that nothing has changed since the Human Rights Watch, a respected international human-rights organization last year criticized the Philippine government, particularly the military, for what it called as a "dirty war" against left-leaning activists and journalists throughout the country.

A son of former Filipino leader Joseph Estrada and mayor of San Juan City, JV Ejercito said the issue of Arroyo’s controversial presidency is still a big issue in the country.

“People cannot expect political stability along with economic stability to return as long as the issue of the president's illegitimacy persists along with the scandals plaguing the Arroyo regime.”

“She is the problem. Unless she steps down earlier we can never see an improvement until at least 2010 since GMA's main concern is survival. Her priority is not to do well for the country but to push for her own self interest,” Ejercito said.

The Human Rights Watch report entitled "Scared Silent: Impunity for Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines,” detailed the killings of members of leftist political parties and nongovernmental organizations, journalists, outspoken clergy, anti-mining activists, and agricultural reform activists.

Since 2001, a local rights group Karapatan has recorded 882 extra-judicial killings and 185 enforced disappearances, but the military has disputed the figures. Last year political killings left 33, compared to at least 96 in 2006.

No military personnel have been convicted and families of the disappeared have been given no help in finding their kin. (With reports from Marlene Salgado)