ARMM DH for export, binatikos!

Isang babaeng Muslim ang abala sa pagkuha ng larawan bago ang simula ng kanilang pagdarasal sa Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 31, 2010) – Umani ng batikos mula sa mga konserbatibong Muslim ang anunsyo ng Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao na magpapadala ito ng mga kababaihan sa Malaysia bilang domestic helpers pagkatapos ng holy month of Ramadan.

Sa halip na trabaho ang ibigay sa mga Muslim ay iaangkat pa ang mga ito upang gawin katulong sa nasabing bansa. Ang ARMM ay kinabibilangan ng Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao at Lanao del Sur.

Ayon pa sa ARMM ay ang pagpapadala ng mga “household helpers” ay bahagi ng isang kasunduan sa mga Malaysian recruiters. Hindi pangkaraniwan sa mga Muslim ang magtrabaho bilang katulong dahil na rin sa values at kulturang kinasanayan ng mga ito.

Dapat umano ay job opportunities at livelihood training ang maibigay ng pamahalaan sa mga Muslim sa ARMM. Ngunit mismong ang ARMM pa ang nagtutulak na palabasin ng bansa ang mga Kababaihan nito upang manilbihan bilang katulong, sa halip na bigyan ng trabaho sa bansa.

"Trabaho ang dapat ibigay sa aming mga kababaihan at hindi ipadala sa ibang bansa bilang katulong, discriminated na nga kami sa Pilipinas eh ganito pa ang gagawin nila," ani ng isang Muslim na si Mukim Kalbi.

Ngunit iba naman sa lalawigan ng Sulu at edukasyon at kooperatiba naman ang panlaban ni Gobernor Sakur Tan upang mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan ang mga Muslim doon. Hindi naman ito pabor na ipadala sa abroad ang mga Muslim upang mag-trabaho bilang katulong.

Ilang mga paaralan at regular livelihood training naman ang isinasagawa ni Tan sa Sulu at kamakailan lamang ay ipinag-utos nito ang pagtatayo ng malaking unibersidad na magbibigay ng libreng edukasyon sa lahat sa kursong agriculture at fisheries, at maging si First Lady Nurunisah Tan ay nagpagawa rin ng isang paaralan na nagbibigay ng mga libreng kurso sa Arabic, bukod sa iba pang mga proyekto. (Mindanao Examiner)

Police orders probe of detained Malaysian trawlers in Tawi-Tawi

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 22, 2010) – Filipino authorities ordered an investigation into reports that police had detained 14 Malaysian trawlers and released the boats in exchange for money in the southern Philippines.

Police allegedly released a dozen Malaysian trawlers after its owners paid thousands of dollars in exchange for the boats. But two other trawlers are still being held in the southern island of Taganak near the Sabah border, Malaysian media reported on Monday.

It said the trawlers were seized by the police after allegedly straying into Philippine waters on February 14 and 15 and its crew of about 50 people had been detained.

Police released the 12 trawlers after its owners paid fines of up to RM40,000, it said.

“Philippines border officials based in Taganak Island under the Tawi-Tawi province released the trawlers after the owners paid “fines” ranging from RM13,000 to RM40,000 for allegedly encroaching into Phi¬lippines waters,” the Star Online reported.

But the Philippine Navy said it did not receive any reports about the apprehension of any Malaysian fishing boats in Taganak, an island town of Tawi-Tawi province. “We have no reports about it,” said Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, who heads the naval forces in the southern Philippines.

Reports said owners of the two remaining Malaysian trawlers were working for the release of the boats. It said Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sa¬hali assured that he would try to secure an early release for the remaining Malaysian trawlers. He said he would discuss with the Philippine Navy and the police to resolve the problem quickly.

“The owners are in the process of getting the trawlers released in the next few days,” the Star said.

But Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, chief of the regional police force, said he already relieved the police chief of Taganak Island after receiving reports about the trawlers.

“I have relieved the chief of police of Taganak Island after receiving this disturbing report that Malaysian trawlers were apprehended and released in exchange for money. He is being investigated. We will not tolerate this kind of malpractice and even the governor of Tawi-Tawi, Sadikul Sahali, was angry with this incident because it is so embarrassing,” Latag told the Mindanao Examiner.

“We are trying to reform the police forces into a professional organization and we will not allow this kind of incident to ruin the clean image of the Philippine National Police,” he said.

Latag, a decorated officer, assumed last year as the new police chief of the Muslim autonomous region who has jurisdiction over the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao.

Malaysian fishermen previously detained in southern Philippines for poaching had accused authorities of extortion. The southern Philippines is a favorite fishing grounds, but is also considered dangerous because pirates and Abu Sayyaf militants are actively operating in the area. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippines to export Muslim women to work as maids in Malaysia

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 29, 2009) – The Philippines is virtually selling its Muslim women to work as housemaids in Malaysia. This after Indonesia recently announced a temporary ban on sending domestic helpers to Malaysia after a recent case of maid abuse.

Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported on Monday reported that the Philippine government was ready to send up to 60,000 Muslim women from Mindanao who are willing to work as maids to fill a void left by Indonesians.

It quoted Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan as saying that Philippine embassy labor attaché Hassan Humdain had expressed sending Filipino housemaids at a recent meeting.

“Since we have reached an initial agreement, Papa will write to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the embassy to seek permission to bring in these maids. Papa plans to bring in maids from Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Batuan City on Mindanao Island,” Raja Zulkepley said.

He said about 10,000 non-Muslim maids, mainly from Luzon Island in the Philippines, are currently employed as maids in Malaysia. He said Papa was expanding its source of Muslim maids to the southern Philippines.

"Papa will start by bringing in about 500 to 600 Muslim maids from Mindanao every month. These maids are also fluent in English," he added.

He said the Philippine embassy had stipulated that non-member maid agencies must obtain a letter of approval from Papa. He said the Philippine government wanted to ensure that Filipinos were not brought in through illegal means.

Indonesia has been the main provider of domestic workers for Malaysia, but banned last week the sending of housemaids because of abuses by their employers.

The Philippine Embassy said it is confident that Filipino maids would be treated fairly in Malaysia. The Filipino maids are expected to receive some RM800 monthly wage.

Raja Zulkepley said maid agencies are free to take in Muslim maids from Mindanao following the rising cost of Indonesian maids.

He said there is a shortage of Indonesian maids as agents there charge between RM2, 000 and RM3, 000 as processing fees and are always complaining about the low the wages in Malaysia, the report said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Smuggled South RP turtle eggs seized in Sabah

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 3, 2008) – Malaysian authorities seized thousands of endangered turtles smuggled into Sabah from the southern Philippines, report said on Monday.

It said unidentified men were unloading the eggs along the shorelines of a village called Kampung Forest when a marine police patrol spotted them late Sunday.

“The eggs, believed to have been smuggled in from neighboring southern Philippines, were found inside 20 gunnysacks,” a report by the Star Online, quoting Sandakan marine police chief Muhammad Sallam Spawi.

Authorities said the men escaped on a speedboat as the police patrol approached. It was unknown whether the men were Filipinos or not.

Turtle eggs are considered a delicacy in the southern Philippines and in Malaysia where it sell RM2.80 a piece. But turtle eggs in the Sulu Archipelago, particularly in the islands of Tawi-Tawi have been harvested on a massive scale for decades despite a government campaign regulating the number of eggs that can be collected in a nesting season.

The islands of Taganak, Lihiman, Bakungan, Langaan and Boan, including Baguan are favorite nesting grounds of Green Sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Tawi-Tawi, several nautical miles from the Sabah border. The areas are also favorite hunting grounds of local and foreign poachers. (Mindanao Examiner)

Malaysia deports 200 illegal Filipinos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 27, 2008) – Malaysia has deported more than 200 illegal Filipinos arrested across the oil-rich state of Sabah, the Philippines foreign affairs said Monday.

It said a total of 221 Filipino deportees arrived by boat over the weekend in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces and Zamboanga City. Among those deported were children and women, said Conrado Cabaquit, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Zamboanga City.

He said 138 deportees have disembarked in Tawi-Tawi and 30 others in Sulu and 53 more in Zamboanga City. Cabaquit said those who are planning to return and work to Malaysia should secure their passport so they can legally enter Sabah.

Cabaquit said the DFA has established a so-called “One Stop Processing Center” where Filipinos who want to travel to Sabah can secure all necessary documents.

The Philippine News Agency also reported that more than 500 undocumented Filipinos had been deported from Sabah earlier this month. Last month, some 900 illegal Filipinos were deported from Malaysia.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Zamboanga City said more than 9,000 undocumented Filipinos have been deported from Sabah since January up to last month. Many of those sent back home were natives of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan provinces, all in the Muslim autonomous region and Zamboanga City and other parts of Mindanao.

And many also told tales of abuses by their Malaysian jail guards. Just early this month, a member of the Philippine Congress, Luzviminda Ilagan, accused Malaysian authorities of violating human rights of undocumented Filipinos held in various jails in Sabah, where authorities have been rounding up illegal immigrants and workers.

She said thousands of Filipinos, including women and children, are still languishing in Malaysian jails and suffering from inhumane conditions and had been deprived of their basic rights.

In July, the House of Representatives also passed a resolution calling the Committees on Overseas Workers' Affairs and the DFA to conduct an investigation into the condition of jailed Filipinos in Sabah.

Zamboanga City serves as the transit point for deportees since Malaysia began its crackdown in 2000. Hundreds of arrested Filipinos are being deported every week from Sabah and many of them had told tales of human rights abuses while in Malaysian jails.

Ilagan said the government should provide the deportees with proper housing and livelihood for them not to be tempted to leave the country again in search of a decent life.

She also urged other legislators in the lower house to take up immediate measures to protect undocumented Filipinos, most especially women and children, who face the risk of being detained and abused in Malaysian jails before they are returned to the Philippines. (With reports from Rex Montebon and Erico Rosco)

Troops, Rebels Continue Fighting In Southern Philippines

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Groups Issue Joint Statement On Reports Of Rape, Sexual Abuse Of Penan Women

Joint Press Statement

NGOs' response to reports of rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of Penan girls and women by loggers.

With reference to the growing reports of rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of Penan girls and women in Sarawak, the latest of which was highlighted in the Star dated 6 October 2008, we the undersigned NGOs wish to state the following:

Despite the obvious serious nature of these allegations, the Sarawak police have not taken the issues seriously. Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohammed Salleh's insistence that a police report must be lodged first reflects poorly on the police as they can certainly take the initiative to investigate these reports without a formal police report.

The situation is worsened by Marudi district police chief Deputy Superintendent Jonathan Jalin who was reported to have said that the police have not found evidence to support the allegations but only a number of "marriages" between the workers and Penan women.

The "marriages", he claimed, were between willing parties, were accepted by the Penan elders, are of a temporary nature and will end once the workers leave for other logging areas. The police in these instances seemed to have summarily dismissed these serious allegations and have failed to take into account the vulnerability of the Penans, especially the women and girls, where the logging company and workers are concerned.

We also wish to add that in November 1994, the Penans lodged a police report listing 10 instances of abuses committed against their persons, property and lands, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl by Police Field Force personnel (PFF, now known as General Operation Force).

These were quickly dismissed by the police even before any investigation has begun, causing a serious loss of confidence in the ability of the Sarawak police to act professionally.

In 2000, a report was also made to Suhakam but similarly there was no action.

Due to the vulnerability of these girls, women and the communities as a whole, we strongly and urgently call upon the Government, in particular the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and also Suhakam, to follow through their concerns and take these allegations seriously to set up a fact finding mission comprising respected and qualified members who will be able to conduct the fact finding independently, fairly and competently.

We further urge that proper police investigation commences as soon as possible with the Bukit Aman Police heading the investigation, as the communities affected have expressed a serious loss of confidence against the Sarawak police due to their long-standing dealings with them including in disputes with logging companies and the inaction and perpetuation of impunity in the aforesaid abuse cases.

Endorsed by:
All Women's Action Society (AWAM)
Bar Council Borneo Child Aid Society Building Workers International (BWI)
Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC)
Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI)
Civil Rights Committee of The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-KLSCAH)
Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM)
Group of Concerned Citizens Health Equity Initiatives (HEI)
Jaringan Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia (JOAS)
Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Center Kumpulan ACTS Labor Resource Center (LRC)
Malaysia Social Research Institute (MSRI)
Malaysia Youth and Student Democratic Movement (DEMA)
National Human Rights Society (HAKAM)
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)
Penang Watch Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd Pusat Komas Research for Social Advancement (REFSA)
Rumah Nursalam Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
Save Ourselves (SOS!) Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Tenaganita Voice of the Children Workers Organization Malaysia Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
Youth for Change (Y4C)

Malaysia accused of violating rights of Filipino workers in Sabah

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 4, 2008) - The Fact-Finding Committee on Sabah Deportees expressed concern over the serious human rights violations allegedly committed by Malaysian authorities against illegal Filipino workers in the oil-rich state being claimed by the Philippines.

Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan said they uncovered the abuses after the fact-finding committee held an inquiry in August in Sabah, where authorities have been rounding up illegal immigrants and undocumented workers.

She said thousands of Filipinos, including women and children, are still languishing in Malaysian jails and suffering from inhumane conditions and had been deprived of their basic rights.

“Filipino detainees and those who were already deported to the Philippines have experienced severe beatings from Malaysian police while under detention,” she told reporters in a news conference here Saturday.

The Fact Finding Committee is composed of the Association for the Rights of Children in South East Asia, Migrante International, and Gabriela Women’s Party and formed to conduct investigation on the reported human rights abuses against undocumented Filipino workers and immigrants in Sabah.

Last July, the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling the Committees on Overseas Workers’ Affairs and Foreign Affairs to conduct an investigation into the human reports in Sabah.

Zamboanga City serves as the transit point for deportees since Malaysia began its crackdown in 2000. Hundreds of arrested Filipinos are being deported every week from Sabah and many of them had told tales of human rights abuses while in Malaysian jails.

Ilagan said the government should provide the deportees with proper housing and livelihood for them not to be tempted to leave the country again in search of a decent life.

She also urged other legislators in the lower house to take up immediate measures to protect undocumented Filipinos, most especially women and children, who face the risk of being detained and abused in Malaysian jails before they are returned to the Philippines. (Erico Rosco)

Resolve Philippine Moro Insurgency Without External Help, Senator Tells Gov't

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Malaysia Detains 9 Filipinos Accused Of Drug Trafficking

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 14, 2008) – Malaysian authorities are holding 9 Filipinos who were arrested in separate raids during an anti-narcotics operations in Kuala Lumpur.

The Filipinos, eight of them women, were arrested together with 9 African nationals and a Sri Lankan woman. Federal police recovered 1.6 kilos of heroin and 540 grams of cocaine worth over RM 1.3 million from the raids on September 12, according to the official Malaysian news agency Bernama.

Police did not release the names of arrested Filipinos, but said they were being investigated for drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Datuk Zulhasnan Najib Baharudin, Federal Anti-Narcotics Department director, said those arrested were members of international drug syndicates operating in Malaysia.

He said drug syndicates previously used local women as drug couriers, but many of them had been arrested in the past.

”African nationals, who once used local women as drug couriers, are now targeting Filipinas who stay in Malaysia to carry out the task,” he said.

It was not immediately known whether the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was informed of the arrest of the Filipinos. Drug trafficking is a capital offense in Malaysia and is punishable by death.

In May this year, a Malaysian court sentenced two Thai citizens - Masoh Daloh, 35, and Romuelee Yakoh, 46, - who were arrested in 2002 to death by hanging for trafficking 34 kilos of marijuana. The two men appealed their convictions.

Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, has hanged more than 200 people for drug trafficking offenses since it imposed the death penalty in 1975.

The death penalty is widely used across Asia for drug offences, including in China, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, where it is a mandatory sentence for a large number of drug crimes. (Mindanao Examiner)

MILF Blames Arroyo For Failed Peace Talks, Territorial Deal In South RP

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 4, 2008) – Philippine Muslim rebels on Thursday blamed Manila for the failed peace negotiations and accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on the territorial deal.

Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said Arroyo is to blame if fighting resumes in Mindanao. “We have nothing to blame but the Philippine government if war breaks out in Mindanao,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Arroyo on Wednesday dissolved the government panel negotiating peace with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group. She earlier scrapped the ancestral domain deal that peace negotiators initially signed in July 27 in Malaysia, which was brokering the talks.

The Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the accord on August 5 after government spokesmen said Arroyo was not informed and unaware about the territorial deal.

The ancestral domain deal would have granted some four million Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao, whose 21 million populations are mostly Christians and indigenous tribes.

But Iqbal said the President knew about the ancestral domain deal long before it was initially signed in Kuala Lumpur because the issue had been tackled many times since last year by the Cluster E.

“The President knew everything about the ancestral domain agreement and other important developments as far as the peace talks were concerned. President Arroyo had been informed about anything that has something to do with the peace process,” Iqbal said.

“They also wanted us to sign the peace agreement, but we declined because there are more important things to talk about as far as the Mindanao problems are concerned.”

“The memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain had been tackled many times since last year with the Cluster E and as a matter of fact they rushed the signing of the ancestral domain deal because President Arroyo wanted it included in her state of the nation address in July 28,” Iqbal said.

Cluster E refers to the cabinet Cluster for Political and Security Affairs that routinely advised Arroyo on national security matters. Its members included the National Security Council, National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance secretaries.

Arroyo, in her state of the nation address, said: “A comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night, differences on the tough issue of ancestral domain were resolved. Yes, there are political dynamics among the people of Mindanao. Let us sort them out with the utmost sobriety, patience and restraint. I ask Congress to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.”

Iqbal said the ancestral domain deal is considered final. “It has been initialed already and the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain deal, as what we have repeatedly said in the past, is a done deal. We will not negotiate anymore what has been already agreed by the peace panels,” he said.

Iqbal said the peace talks are now in "purgatory".

The Malaysian news agency Bernama also quoted Michael Mastura, a member of the MILF peace panel, as saying that the scrapping of the government peace panel has little bearing on the Muslim homeland lead.

“Our position on this is very clear that it's a done deal. Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, there's a provision which states that status of initialing is as good as signature. But whether they comply with it or not is a different story,” he said.

Mastura said they were still awaiting official notice from the peace talks secretariat in Kuala Lumpur about the scrapping of the government peace panel. “We have expected this and we have our contingency plan. We will deliberate on it,” he said.

The MILF on Wednesday said it would continue with its armed struggle in Mindanao should the peace talks totally collapse.

The government's announcement came two weeks after MILF commanders Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led hundreds of rebels in separate attacks on the provinces in Mindanao. Dozens of people were brutally killed in the raid.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001, but since then nothing significant had been signed except for the ancestral domain agreement. But the homeland deal sparked a series of protests from politicians and residents who were opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the agreement that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Arroyo has shifted in the basic premise of the government's peace effort after hundreds of rebels under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of attacks in the provinces in Mindanao that killed dozens of civilians.

Manila also demanded the rebels to lay down their weapons before peace talks can resume. This was rejected by the MILF.

Last year, peace talks were also stalled after Manila reneged on the ancestral domain deal. Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks, has pulled out its truce observers deployed in Mindanao after blaming the Arroyo government of stalling the seven-year old negotiations.

Manila said previously that it would pursue a proposal by Senator Aquilino Pimentel to put up a federal government and divide the Philippines into eleven states.

Pimentel proposed four federal states in Luzon, three in the Visayas and three more in Mindanao.

Arroyo's allies in Congress have earlier proposed to amend the Constitution to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary or federalism.

But militant groups and political activists have repeatedly accused Arroyo of using the peace talks with the MILF to amend the Constitution and eventually prolong her to stay into power.

Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo is allowed only one six-year term. In the charter change proposal suggested by her political allies who dominate Congress, she can be elected as prime minister should Congress dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to parliamentary and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.

Arroyo deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, but corruption scandals in her government and allegations of poll fraud in 2004 has made her extremely unpopular. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops Capture MILF Base In Southern Philippines

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 28, 2008) –Philippine soldiers pursuing Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces captured Thursday one of the rebel’s biggest camp in Mindanao as government offensive continue in the troubled region.

Officials said troops occupied Camp Bilal that straddles several towns in the hinterlands of Lanao del Norte, scene of fierce clashes between security and rebel forces.

But soldiers failed to capture two notorious rebel leaders - Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar – blamed for the series of attacks in Mindanao that killed nearly 200 people since last week.

More than 160,000 have been displaced by the fighting despite a cease-fire agreement between the two sides and the exodus of civilians still continue in many areas in Mindanao.

The influential Organization of the Islamic Conference on Wednesday appealed to Manila to halt military offensives in Mindanao. Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC Secretary General, expressed deep concern over the recent outbreak of hostilities that is threatening the seven-year old peace talks between Manila and the MILF.

Hundreds of MILF rebels under Kato and Macapaar launched a series of attacks after the aborted signing August 5 of the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain between by peace negotiators.

The Supreme Court temporarily stopped the signing of the deal after some mostly Christian lawmakers and politicians opposed to the deal filed separate petitions.

The accord would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao. But the controversial agreement sparked a series of protests from residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the ancestral domain that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Ihsanoglu condemned the rebel attacks against innocent civilians, calling it illegitimate acts conducted by wayward elements affiliated with the MILF, which refused to abide to repeated appeals by the group's leadership to maintain calm, peace and restraint in Mindanao.

Manila has demanded the MILF to surrender Kato and Macapaar and also offered P10 million rewards for their capture. The government also said it will suspend the signing of the ancestral domain agreement until the two rogue leaders are captured.

But Ihsanoglu expressed concern over the reports that the Arroyo government intends to freeze the memorandum agreement on the ancestral domain, which he said came about as a result of strenuous, long and sincere efforts by peace negotiators.

He said it is unfortunate to let undisciplined elements from the MILF determine the course of negotiations or halt the peace process.

"The Secretary General urged the parties to the conflict to rapidly return to the negotiating table and continue working together in the same positive spirit that led to the conclusion of the agreement."

"The parties need to preserve and build upon the accomplishments so far achieved in a bid to reach the just and durable peace desired by all," the OIC said in a statement.

Ihsanoglu praised Malaysia for playing a key role in the peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF.

Malaysia has been brokering the peace negotiations, but had already pulled out most of its truce observers deployed in Mindanao after accusing Manila of delaying the talks, although Kuala Lumpur extended the stay of a small team for the next three months to bring together the peace process.

Ihsanoglu said the OIC and other countries are supporting efforts to preserve peace and restore calm and stability in southern Philippines.

He stressed that the Manila and the MILF would work out a swift settlement to the current crisis that threatens to thwart the peace process and for both sides to refrain from giving extremist elements the opportunity to dictate their own agenda or determine the course of events in Mindanao. (With reports from Mark Navales and Merlyn Manos)

Philippines Supreme Court Stops Signing Of Islamic Homeland Deal

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat speaks during a rally Monday, August 4, 2008. Lobregat says the Supreme Court issues temporary order to stop Tuesday signing of the final draft of the Muslim ancestral domain in Malaysia between Filipino government peace negotiators and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – The Philippines Supreme Court temporarily stopped on Monday the signing of final draft accord of a separate Muslim homeland in Mindanao between Filipino and rebel peace negotiators.

The court issued the temporary restraining order a day before government peace negotiators are to sign the agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is fighting the past four decades for a separate Islamic state in the troubled South.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat said he was told about the decision by Zamboanga City Rep. Erico Fabian, a political ally, who was one of several lawmakers that filed the petition. At least 8 Muslim villages here are included in the ancestral domain and Lobregat and his allies are fighting the attempts to dismember Zamboanga.

Lobregat said it was an en banc decision.

Fabian has confirmed the High Court’s order. “It is confirmed and I have informed the mayor about it,” he said. “We are very happy with the decision.”

North Cotabato Deputy Governor Emmanuel Pinol last week also petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the signing. Pinol is opposing the inclusion of several towns in the province in the ancestral domain which would make up a separate Muslim homeland under the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim Rebels Blame Arroyo Govt On Collapse Of Peace Talks

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 26, 2008) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) blamed Manila for the collapse of the peace talks after government negotiators reneged again on a deal that would grant Filipino Muslims a separate homeland in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich region of Mindanao.

The talks collapsed Friday in Malaysia after government peace negotiators attempted to make changes on an earlier deal on ancestral domain. “The talks collapsed because the government was undoing already-settled issues on ancestral domain,” Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, said.

Iqbal said the formal signing of the agreement on the ancestral domain set on August 5 was cancelled. The collapse of the talks came barely two weeks after government and rebel peace negotiators agreed on the ancestral domain, which Manila said was a breakthrough in the seven-year old peace talks aimed at putting an end to more than four decades bloody fighting in Mindanao.

President Gloria Arroyo even supported a proposal to postpone the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for the peace talks to succeed after the MILF urged Manila to suspend the polls until after a peace agreement is signed.

Manila also said it would propose to amend the Constitution to allow plebiscite on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and give Muslims their own homeland.

The MILF previously said it will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the same deal.

The ancestral domain covers the whole of Muslim autonomous region and other areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And even Palawan Island in central Philippines.

Eid Kabalu, an MILF leader, said the collapse of the talks would have a serious repercussion on the peace process. “We cannot do anything about it anymore. This is the choice of the Philippine government and it should take responsibility at the consequences of its actions that led to the collapse of the peace talks,” he said in a separate interview.

Kabalu said many rebels did not know that the talks in Kuala Lumpur had collapsed. “All they thought the talks went on smoothly. It was a false hope and now we do not know what will happen next,” he said.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord.

Last year, rebel forces killed dozens of soldiers in fierce battle in Basilan and Sulu islands after security forces encroached inside MILF strongholds while pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants tied to Al-Qaeda.

The MILF is fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao, whose more than 18 million populations include about 4 million Muslims. The Arroyo government previously offered the MILF the whole of the Muslim autonomous region, which is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989.

The MILF flatly rejected the offer and insisted on self-determination. But peace negotiators earlier this month signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society. (Mindanao Examiner)

Malaysia Deports More Filipino Workers

Filipino deportees queue for food at a government shelter Sunday, July 20, 2008 in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga. Malaysia has deported more than 7,000 illegal Filipinos since January this year and the crackdown still continues in the oil-rich state of Sabah, which is also being claimed by the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 20, 2008) – More than 300 illegal Filipinos arrested in Sabah arrived in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga as Malaysia continued its crackdown on undocumented workers in the oil-rich state.

The deportees arrived by boat late Saturday afternoon from Sandakan City. They were herded on trucks and brought to a government refugee shelter. The deportees, mostly from Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi provinces, all in the Muslim autonomous region, would be sent back to their home after social workers gather information about them.

Malaysia also deported thousands of illegal Filipino workers since early this year. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Hajji Aman has repeatedly appealed to Manila to speed up the repatriation of many illegal Filipino workers detained in jails, but so far nothing had been done to bring them back.

Tens of thousands of illegal Filipinos have been arrested in Sabah the past years and many of them had illegally crossed Sabah by boat from Tawi-Tawi to work in construction sites.

Philippine authorities were helpless in putting a stop to the illegal border crossing. Many boat operators in Tawi-Tawi continue to sneak into Sabah, bringing dozens of Filipinos to find work. Worse, some Malaysian policemen in Semporna and Tawau towns intercept Filipino outriggers to collect money to collect bribes from boat operators and passengers in exchange for a passage, said Abdullah.

He said operators of boats called “temper of kumpit” usually charge between P2,000 to P3,000 for each Filipino passenger illegally entering Sabah, many of them were without travel documents, but had relatives also illegally working on the island.

Many Filipinos also crossed Sabah, just 27 nautical miles from Tawi-Tawi’s Sitangkai town, as tourists but never return back only to be arrested later by immigration authorities. “Life is really difficult in Sabah, but it is harder in the Philippines because there is no job for me, for us Muslim. In Sabah, there is always an opportunity to find a job in palm plantations or in constructions sites,” the deportee said.

Malaysia began a crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers since 2005 and police and immigration authorities and volunteer squads have been conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah.

The Philippines’ Foreign Affairs said as many as 300 illegal Filipinos are being deported from Malaysia every week. Since January this year, more than 7,000 illegal Filipinos had been deported to the Philippines.

Kuala Lumpur had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.

The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills.Malaysia said the illegal workers do not pay tax and put a heavy burden on state services, such as education and health care, increasing pressure on an already high budget deficit.

Some Filipino deportees said they were herded into overcrowded detention camps before being expelled and others reported tales of abuses inside Malaysian jails.

Filipino lawmaker Luzviminda Ilagan said many of those deported to Zamboanga City had suffered inhumane treatment in Malaysian jails. She urged Manila to look into the poor condition of Filipinos languishing in jails in Malaysia and to take immediate steps to help them. "There were complaints from the deported Filipinos that they were held in poorly maintained jails, not given enough food, and not provided proper health care,” she said.

Filipino Muslims who were deported said they had been forced to work illegally in Sabah because the Philippine government and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao failed to provide them livelihood opportunities back home.

Many also decried the discrimination in Zamboanga City where Christian employers flatly reject Muslim job seekers for fear they are criminals or had relatives in the Abu Sayyaf and other rebel groups. The discrimination, they said, was heightened after the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the United States. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine, MILF Peace Negotiators Approve Deal On Ancestral Domain

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2008) – Philippine peace negotiators and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels have reached an agreement late Wednesday on the issue of ancestral domain, a breakthrough in the seven-year old peace talks aimed at putting an end to more than four decades bloody fighting in Mindanao.

Philippine peace adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon said both panels have agreed on the deal at the end of meeting late Wednesday in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations.

“The issue on the ancestral domain is finally settled and we now go to the final peace talks where all previous agreements will be formally signed. We have informed President Gloria Arroyo about the progress of the talks and she is very elated,” Esperon told the Mindanao Examiner.

The MILF earlier in the day said the issue on the ancestral domain must be resolved immediately. It said will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted.

Peace talks was stalled since September last year after both sides failed to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue — ancestral domain – which refers to the rebel demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.

Ancestral domain is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement with the Philippine government.

The ancestral domain covers the whole of Muslim autonomous region and other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And even Palawan Island in central Philippines.

Eid Kabalu, an MILF leader, said they are optimistic that the talks would lead to a peaceful solution to the Muslim secessionist problems in Mindanao.

“We have repeatedly said that we are for a peaceful solution of the problems in Mindanao. We have opened the door in order for the talks to push through and for both sides to arrive at a viable formula that will benefit us all, all for peace in Mindanao,” he said in a separate interview.

“We have been longing for the realizations and conclusion on the talks on ancestral domain and peace can now take off in our homeland,” Kabalu said.

Esperon has largely credited the success of the talks to the efforts of the President to bring about peace in the southern Philippines and the government and MILF peace panels, including the Cabinet and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for its support to the peace process.

“The President really worked hard for the peace talks to succeed and so are our soldiers who supported the primacy of the peace process,” Esperon said, adding, the peace panels would set a date for the formal signing of the agreement of the ancestral domain.

The agreement was reached more than a month after Arroyo appointed Esperon as peace adviser replacing Jesus Dureza, who is now the Press Secretary. Esperon, a former military chief, last month vowed to pursue the peace talks with the MILF and sign a peace deal before Arroyo’s term ends on 2010.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, in 2001, but there have been no major agreement to end the insurgency in the troubled region, except for a cease-fire accord.

But despite the truce, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating the accord. In July last year, rebel forces killed 14 soldiers in a fierce battle in Basilan island after security forces encroached inside an MILF stronghold while pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants tied to Al-Qaeda.

The MILF is fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao Island, whose 16 million populations include about 4 million Muslims.

Manila previously offered the MILF the Muslim autonomous region, which is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989.

The MILF flatly rejected the offer and insisted on self-determination. (Mindanao Examiner)

Manila Resumes Peace Talks With Muslim Rebels

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2008) – Philippine peace negotiators resume stalled talks with Muslim rebels in an effort to settle more than four decades of hostilities in the troubled island of Mindanao.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders said the issue on the ancestral domain must be resolved immediately as peace talks began Wednesday in Malaysia, which is brokering the seven-year negotiations between the Philippines’ largest Muslim secessionist rebel group and the Arroyo government.

The MILF previously said it will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted.

The talks were stalled since last year after Manila rejected rebel demands for a separate state in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich southern Philippine region, where fighting between MILF mujahideen and government troops had escalated the past months despite a cease-fire deal.

Manila accused the MILF of coddling the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants and as behind the spate of bombings and kidnappings-for-ransom in Mindanao, which the rebels denied.

Eid Kabalu, an MILF leader, said they are optimistic that the talks would lead to a peaceful solution to the Muslim secessionist problems in Mindanao.

“We have repeatedly said that we are for a peaceful solution of the problems in Mindanao. We have opened the door in order for the talks to push through and for both sides to arrive at a viable formula that will benefit us all, all for peace in Mindanao,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

A group of Malaysian truce observers deployed with the International Monitoring Team in Mindanao had already returned home and a small team is also expected to follow next month when the terms of reference of the cease-fire group ends. Malaysia blamed Manila for stalling the talks.

The MILF has warned the government that the pull of the Malaysian truce observers would put the peace talks in jeopardy because of the military's continued violations of the cease-fire agreement. Security officials denied the MILF allegations and said rebels were attacking troops without provocation.

The MILF also called on its members to prepare for a long struggle for freedom as rebel forces and government troops sporadically clash in the provinces.

“The central leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has called on its members throughout Mindanao and Sulu to prepare for a long struggle for freedom and right of self determination of the Bangsamoro people,” it said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Malaysia Deports Filipino Workers

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 14, 2008) – Malaysia has deported at least 250 illegal Filipino workers arrested in the oil-rich state of Sabah, Philippine authorities said on Monday.

It said the Filipino deportees, mostly Muslims, arrived by boat in Zamboanga City at the weekend and were staying in refugee shelters under the care of social workers.

The Filipinos were mostly natives of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces who illegally crossed the border to Sabah to find work.

Malaysia has repeatedly told the Philippines to speed up the repatriation of many illegal Filipino workers detained in jails.Sabah’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Hajji Aman told Filipino lawmakers led by Rep. Nur Jaafar, of Tawi-Tawi, who visited Sabah in January to expedite the return of the arrested Filipinos.

“This has been a longstanding issue that we in Sabah have been dealing with. I once again request the Philippine authorities to expedite the documentation of their nationals so that they can be repatriated to their country of origin,” he said.

“We don’t want the social problems that usually come along with the presence of illegal immigrants," the Minister said.

Jaafar was accompanied by Reps. Yusop Jikiri, of Sulu province and Filipino Ambassador to Malaysia Victoriano Lecaros.

Tens of thousands of illegal Filipinos have been arrested in Sabah the past years and many of them had illegally crossed the island by boat from Tawi-Tawi to work in construction sites despite a strict government campaign.

Many of them crossed Sabah without passports. Others were duped by illegal recruiters who promised them work in hotels and resorts in Malaysia, but ended up without jobs and money and had been forced to work in palm oil plantations under constant fear of being arrested.

Malaysia began a crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers since 2005 and police and immigration authorities and volunteer squads have been conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah.

Kuala Lumpur had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.

The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills.

Malaysia said the illegal workers do not pay tax and put a heavy burden on state services, such as education and health care, increasing pressure on an already high budget deficit. Some Filipino deportees said they were herded into overcrowded detention camps before being expelled and others reported tales of abuses inside Malaysian jails.

Philippine lawmaker Luzviminda Ilagan on Monday said many of those deported to Zamboanga City on Saturday had suffered inhumane treatment in Malaysian.
“The imprisonment of 250 undocumented Filipinos in Sabah was illegal. Their detention without proper trial and means is in violation of universal rights and laws,” Ilagan said.

She urged Manila to look into the poor condition of Filipinos languishing in jails in Malaysia and to take immediate steps to help them. “There were complaints from the deported Filipinos that they were held in poorly maintained jails, not given enough food, and not provided proper health care. A woman deportee even gave birth inside a Malaysian jail. Even if she were an undocumented migrant, she should have received medical attention,” she said.

In 2002, an alliance of Filipino migrant groups called Migrante boycotted Malaysian Airlines to dramatize their protests on the inhuman treatment of jailed illegal Filipino workers. It also urged Filipinos to stop patronizing other Malaysian services and to stop buying Malaysian products.

Filipino Muslims who were deported said they had been forced to work illegally in Sabah because the Philippine government failed to provide them livelihood opportunities back home.

Many also decried the discrimination in Zamboanga City where Christian employers flatly reject Muslim job seekers for fear they are criminals or had relatives in the Abu Sayyaf and other rebel groups. The discrimination, they said, was heightened after the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the United States. (Mindanao Examiner)

Rebels Restless Over Stalled Mindanao Peace Talks

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Malaysian Truce Observers Pulling Out Of Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 16, 2008) – Malaysian truce observers deployed in the southern Philippines are pulling out unless peace talks between the Philippines and Muslim rebels resume.

Maj. Gen. Datuk Mat Yassin bin Mat Daud, head of the Malaysian contingent, said they would return home by August if no agreement is forged between the Filipino government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels, which are fighting for a separate state in the war-torn, but mineral-rich region of Mindanao.

Peace talks were stalled last after government and rebel negotiators failed to agree on the scope of the Muslim ancestral domain, which is the single most important issue in the negotiations before the MILF can reach a political settlement.

The ancestral domain covers the whole of Muslim autonomous region, which comprises five provinces, and other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes and Palawan Island in central Philippines and the Sulu Archipelago.

President Arroyo has opened up peace talks with the MILF in 2001, but since then no substantial agreements have been signed between the two sides, expect for the cease-fire accord.

“I doubt very much that IMT will stay in Mindanao (if no agreement is signed by then),” the Malaysian general said over a fellowship dinner hosted by Mayor Muslimin Sema, of Cotabato City, on Tuesday.

Yassin was referring to the International Monitoring Team, which is composed of 41 officers from the Malaysian Defense Forces, the Royal Malaysia Police, and the Prime Minister’s Department and is also supported by 10 military officers from Brunei Darussalam and 5 from Libya. Japan also has a member in the IMT.

Malaysia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference, is brokering the peace talks between Manila and the MILF, but it had previously threatened to pull out its contingent from the IMT if the negotiations remain stalled.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said they wanted progress in the peace talks. The Malaysian truce observers have been in Mindanao the past three years.

Since the IMT arrived, fighting between security and rebel forces drastically decreased from 698 armed clashes in 2004 to just 7 incidents last year.

The MILF earlier warned that hostilities may erupt in Mindanao if the peace talks fail or if Malaysia pulls out its truce observers from the IMT in Mindanao, whose 16 million populations included four million Muslims. (With a report from Abdullah Cusain)