ISANG AMA ang umano’y nawala sa pagiisip matapos na mamatay sa panganganak ang sariling asawa, ngunit ang matindi nito ay tumalon sa isang balon ang lalaki bitbit ang bagong silang na sanggol sa Cebu, ayon sa mga ulat.
Mabuti umano at natagpuan ang amang si Romoo Tambo-boy, 35, at ang kanyang anak matapos ng halos 16 oras na paghahanap. Naganap umano ang incident nuong nakaraang Sabado sa Poblacion ng bayan ng San Remigio, ayon sa pulisya at sa ibang ulat kahapon.
Nabatid lamang na nawawala na ang ama at ang sanggol ng magtungo sa himpilan ng pulisya ang ina ni Romeo at humingi ng tulong na mahanap ang dalawa.
Laking gulat naman ng lahat ng makita ang mag-ama sa balon at hinang-hina na. Mabuti umano at walang tubig ang balon at hindi namatay ang sanggol. Agad naman isinugod sa pagamutan ang dalawa.
Posible umano nasiraan ng bait ang lalaki dahil sa naganap sa asawang mahal na mahal umano.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Ama tangay ang anak, tumalon sa balon sa Cebu!
New ARMM Education chief introduces reforms, vows to bring more changes to benefit teachers
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 9, 2010) – The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has kicked off a series of campaign against unauthorized deductions or contributions from the paychecks of teachers in the region, starting with Lanao del Sur where the unscrupulous scheme was reportedly rampant.
On his 6th day in office and upon the order of ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong, newly installed Education Secretary Hamid Barra, distributed on February 6 the salaries for January of more than 10,000 teachers from five divisions of Lanao del Sur province.
Barra said he was ordered by Adiong to “make sure that no teacher will go home without his paycheck.”
Teachers had complained that as much as P 1,700 was illegally deducted from their salaries in the past for alleged unauthorized deductions. Others said teachers who were applying for jobs were allegedly being told to pay as much as P150,000 each to ensure their hiring.
Barra said the leadership of Adiong is seriously committed to give what is due to teachers. “We mean business this time,” he said.
He said the January paychecks of teachers in Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces were distributed on time through at the division levels.
DepEd-ARMM has more than 22,000 personnel, 90 percent of this are teachers.
Barra said he accepted his appointment as Education Secretary on the condition that he will introduce drastic reforms on which Adiong agreed. He said he is determined to implement reforms based on his four core values – knowledge, faith, virtue and practice.
“He (Adiong) also wants reforms in DepEd-ARMM. We have the same concern,” Barra said.
Barra said his agency will soon establish a hot line so teachers and other stakeholders can call and air their concerns or grievances and he pledged to act on all reports.
The Education department, according to Barra, is also conducting Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment before reforms will take place and this comes in three phases.
Barra said he would regularly visit schools in the five provinces under the ARMM and would conduct meetings with school heads to listen to their reports and issues and concerns.
Barra assured that the issues and concerns submitted to his office will be looked into. “We will gradually deal with all these issues and concerns. We will look for strategies to solve these concerns of our teachers in the region,” he said.
A compliance and management audit will be conducted to assess the extent if teachers are in conformity with the standing rules and regulation of the department and the finance and personnel of the school or office will also be verified, he said.
Barra also warned “fixers” in the Education department that they will be sanctioned if proven that they are involved in the “selling of appointments (papers).”
“Jobs are not for sale. Those who passed the teachers examination will be given what they deserved,” Barra said.
He called on the more than 20,000 teachers all over the Muslim autonomous region to do their job and be committed to their profession. “We are here to work as a team, to work for the future of our children. This is for their education,” Barra said.
In Sulu, hundreds of teachers in the past have long complained of various anomalies and delay in salaries and had sought the help of Governor Sakur Tan to bring the issues to the attention of the ARMM.
Tan brought the issues and complaints of the teachers not only to the attention of the previous ARMM administration, but also to President Gloria Arroyo and the Department of Education in Manila.
The governor was also instrumental in bringing the teachers' licensure examination to Sulu that benefited thousands of teachers and applicants in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi. Previous licensure examinations were being held in Zamboanga City where teachers spend more money for hotel and their travel.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno installed Adiong as acting governor on December 11 following the detention of ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan in connection with the brutal killings of 57 people, including at least 31 journalists in Maguindanao province on November 23. (Jo Henry and Mark Navales contributed to this report)
500 ikakasal sa Bacolod City
TINATAYANG aabot sa mahigit 500 ang bilang ng mga magsing-irog na magpapakasal sa Velentine’s Day sa lungsod ng Bacolod, ayon sa ulat.
Handa na umano ang pamahalaang lokal para sa papalapit na mass wedding na tradisyonal na isinasagawa sa Bacolod ni Mayor Evelio Leonardia na siya rin inaasahanh tatayong ninong sa mga bagong kasal.
Posibleng ito ang magiging pinakamalaking mass wedding sa Bacolod dahil sa mga nakalipas na taon ay ilang daan lamang ang ikinasal. Bahagi rin ito ng programa ni Leonardia upang masiguro ang kinabukasan ng bawat pamilyang ikakasal.
Isang malaking reception rin umano ang inihanda ng alkalde sa mga bagong kasal at idaraos ito sa Bays Center. Inaasahang daragsain ito ng mga turista at kamag-anakan ng mga bagong kasal.
Soldiers say “We Care” on Valentine’s Day
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 9, 2010) – The Philippine Army has lined up various programs dubbed “We Care” in celebration of the Valentine’s Day.
First Lieutenant Lakschmi Talidano, of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the program is in partnership with different stakeholders aimed at bringing joy and hope to poor villages in Davao City.
He said as early as February 5, the 1003rd Infantry Brigade participated in a blood drive and launched a feeding and gift giving program to some 300 indigenous peoples in Davao del Norte province.
Two other brigades and nine battalions under the army division have also scheduled various humanitarian programs which included tree planting, medical and dental outreach missions, free concert, gift-giving and free legal assistance programs from Wednesday to Saturday in areas where they operate.
On Sunday, Talidano said the Valentine’s Day will be celebrated with a field mass at the local naval base. The Philippine National Red Cross will also hold a blood drive in cooperation with the military.
After lunch, soldiers and policemen and civilian couples who volunteered their services will serve as foster parents to about 30 orphaned children for half day tour in parks, historical places, commercial establishments and movie houses in Davao City.
Wheelchairs donated by the Operation Blessing Foundation, Incorporated will be distributed in the afternoon for 30 physically incapacitated persons.
Talidano said the Valentine’s Day program will end with a dinner and a closing program for the foster parents and their foster children, partner agencies and institutions and other stakeholders.
Major General Carlos Holganza, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, said the celebration is not just for lovers, but for everybody. “It is our opportunity to show our love to the people who need our protection, help and care. But, our people would have a better appreciation of the program if more government and private offices and agencies, civil and nongovernmental organizations would join us in this heartwarming activities,” he said. (Geo Solmerano contributed to this report)
Philippines Justice Department recommends filing of murder charges vs. Ampatuan patriarch, others
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 9, 2010) – The powerful patriarch of the Ampatuan clan in the southern Philippines is likely to face multiple murder charges along with his sons in connection to the brutal slaying of 57 people, including at least 31 journalists in Maguindanao province last year.
The Department of Justice on Tuesday recommended the filing of charges against Andal Ampatuan Sr., the governor of Maguindanao; and 196 others for the November 23 massacre.
A report by the ABS-CBN television said an eight-man team from the Department of Justice led by Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera recommended the filing of the criminal charges against the patriarch and others who were implicated in the killings.
“The confluence of events before and immediately after the massacre took place led them to conclude that Ampatuan Sr., his son Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Datu Zaldy “Puti” U. Ampatuan, Datu Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan, Sr., Datu Norodin Ampatuan, and Datu Jimmy Ampatuan connived with the actual perpetrators,” the Department of Justice team said.
Police said the patriarch’s son and namesake, Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town, allegedly led some 100 gunmen in the gruesome killings in the province. Among those murdered were the wife and two sisters and supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, the vice mayor of Buluan town who is running for governor of Maguindanao – a position being held by Ampatuan Sr. - in the May elections.
The journalists were traveling with Mangudadatu’s wife on a political caravan when the gunmen seized them in Shariff Aguak town and herded them to the next town called Ampatuan where they were brutally killed.
The Ampatuan and the Mangudadatu clans are bitter political foe in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, whose governor, Zaldy Ampatuan, is a brother of Andal Ampatuan Jr. All three politicians, including other clan members and supporters, had been arrested in connection with the killings, but they denied involvement in the murders.
The DOJ panel said evidence showed the accused instigated the plan to ambush members of the Mangudadatu clan.
Witnesses identified have Ampatuan as among those who allegedly participated in the killings along with Kanor Ampatuan, Bahnarin Ampatuan, Mama Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Ampatuan, Anwar Ampatuan, Saudi Ampatuan, Jr., Ulo Ampatuan, Ipi Ampatuan, Harris Ampatuan, Moning Ampatuan, Mogira Hadji Anggulat, Parido Zangkala Gogo, Jun Pendatun, Kagi Faizal and Sukarno Badal.
“These respondents were plainly pinpointed as among those who fired their high-powered firearms which consequently ended the lives of their intended victims. Positive identification of a person being implicated in a crime, when categorical, resounding, consistent, and without any ill motive on the part of the eyewitnesses testifying on the matter, is given credence. Considering such positive identification of these respondents as direct participants in the commission of the crime of murder, they should be indicted,” the Department of Justice said.
The ABS-CBN which quoted the Department of Justice said there is viable evidence to prove that some members of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines “dipped their fingers in the preparation and subsequent consummation of the despicable killing of the victims.”
“There is direct evidence that these respondents agreed to commit the crime. Their acts and the attendant circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime unveil a common aim that would make all of them co-principals in the crime committed. We can deduce from their communal conduct a common design, concerted action and concurrence of sentiments… All the conspirators are answerable as co-principals regardless of the extent or degree of their participation,” the Justice Department resolution said.
Aside from the murder charges, those who are accused are also facing rebellion charges for allegedly mobilizing supporters to resist, defy and undermine security forces investigating the murders.
Every 23rd of each month, journalists and human rights advocates, including families and relatives of those murdered, troop to a grave site in Maguindanao’s Ampatuan town to light candles and offer prayers for the victims of the massacre.
In January, widows and family members of at least 13 journalists who accused Major General Alfredo Cayton and Colonel Medardo Geslani of negligence and dereliction of duty in connection with the murders filed formal charges against them with the Ombudsman in Davao City.
They said that prior to the killings, journalists who were in the caravan requested Cayton for security escorts for fear that armed supporters of the Ampatuan clan would attack the convoy, but the general did not provide them and instead told them that it was safe to travel to Shariff Aguak.
They added that the massacre could have been prevented had Cayton provided security to the convoy.
The Mindanao Times reported that Myrna Reblando, whose husband, Alejandro Reblando, was among the journalists killed in the massacre, said: “We have only begun. It does not mean that just because Gen. Cayton and Col. Geslani were not accused by the DOJ (Department of Justice) prosecutors of murder that they should no longer be held responsible for the death of our loved ones. We still hold them criminally and administratively liable for their gross negligence and dereliction of duty. Had it not been for their inaction, our loved ones could still be alive today.”
The Philippine Army investigated the accusations, but cleared Cayton, then the commander of the 6th Infantry Division, and Geslani, former commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade in Maguindanao province, for any culpability.
Both Cayton and Geslani were relieved from their positions shortly after the massacre. Cayton was later promoted as Army deputy chief.
The Ampatuan clan is one of the most feared in Mindanao, but also the wealthiest in the impoverished province of Maguindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
CAFGU militia, sabit sa pamamaril sa Mindanao
ILIGAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 9, 2010) – Isang malawak na manhunt ang isinasagawa ng mga awtoridad matapos na mamaril ang isang government militia na ikinasugat ng apat na katao sa Agusan del Norte province.
Sinabi ng pulisya na pinaghahanap nito ang dalawang suspek – isa sa kanila ay miyembro diumano ng CAFGU - matapos na paulanan ng bala ang mga biktima sa Poblacion ng bayan ng Santiago nuong nakaraang linggo.
Hindi malinaw ang motibo ng krimen at inaalam ng pulisya kung may kinalaman ba sa hanap-buhay o away-pamilya ang pinagmulan ng pamamaril.
Inaalam naman ng pulisya kung tunay na CAFGU ang isang suspek, ngunit hindi naman makunan ng pahayag ang Philippine Army sa naturang lalawigan ukol sa pagkakasangkot ng isang militiaman sa krimen.
Naganap ang atake sa kabila ng gun ban na pinaiiral ng Commission on Elections dahil sa nalalapit na halalan. Ngunit exempted naman ang mga CAFGU sa gun ban, ngunit tiyak na sabit ang army battalion na siyang may control sa suspek dahil sa naganap. (May karagdagan ulat si Merlyn Manos)
100 Moro women finish livelihood seminar in Maguindanao
Ali Macabalang, the ARMM spokesman, said the seminar was aimed at making the participants, who belong to the Badak Women Association, aware of various methods that would make them more progressive in trade and commerce.
Those who attended were mostly from Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, he said.
According to Macabalang, DSWD-ARMM acting Secretary Pombaen Kader said the assembly enabled the women to craft plans and programs and strengthen their association with the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority in the ARMM.
He quoted Kader as saying that with the support of DSWD-ARMM, the Badak Women Association has been recipient of the Learning Livelihood and Food Sufficiency program of the ARMM Social Fund Projects through its Community Development Assistance which promotes local women empowerment.
The LLFS program trains participants on livelihood and income-generating activities, and also undertakes functional literacy training that requires 150-hour classroom sessions under the non-formal education by the Department of Education.
The training provides women and mothers especially from the far-flung areas basic ability to read and write as well as mathematics. It also affords them technical, financial and material support for the household food sufficiency which is designed to address the nutritional needs of their families.
Jennylyn Yap, of the DSWD-ARMM, also said that they are now planning to make Badak Women Association as a model women group in the region for them to continuously avail of the services of the women’s welfare program, according to Macabalang.
About 270 communities are being targeted for the Learning Livelihood and Food Sufficiency as part of its sustainability program under the CDA component of the ARMM Social Fund Project.
School burning prelude to militarization, says environmental rights’ group
KORONADAL CITY, Philippines - A group campaigning against XTRATA-SMI’s Tampakan Copper and Gold Project said it suspects the burning of a government school within its contract area is meant to harass indigenous communities who have openly expressed their discontent against the mining firm.
The SOCSKSARGEN CAN or Climate Action Now said that on February 1, the Datal Biao Elementary School in the village of Danlag in South Cotabato's Tampakan town was burned by still unidetified men. The military blamed the New People’s Army rebels for the attack. It said the Datal Biao lies within the Mine Development Area of Xtrata-SMI.
“We believe that the incident could be used to give reason for the deployment of more military personnel in the area especially that there have been series of spontaneous protest actions of the B’laans directed against the company since last year” said SOCSKSARGEN CAN or Climate Action Now spokesperson Sister Susan O. Bolanio.
Earlier reports quoted Dagil Capion, a B’laan leader who led a barricade against XTRATA-SMI days before the burning, said the incident could be used to justify the permanent deployment of soldiers to stifle opposition to the project.
“For who else would benefit of the military presence, and who else could be interested to have military presence in the area?” asked Bolanio, adding that the military as a state apparatus is tasked to protect investors especially in areas prone to conflict.
The church on the other hand, questions the seemingly lack of effort from the local government to conduct an impartial investigation regarding the burning of the school building.
“We, and even the the affected indigenous peoples' communities are confused by the ease some local authorities point fingers to some groups as suspects without formal investigation,” said Father Romeo Catedral, Director of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Marbel.
Catedral suggested that XTATA-SMI, the military and the local government should not participate in the investigation, since “they are never perceived by the local populace as objective”.
“This will not be the last unfortunate incident in the area as long as the mining company insists their presence. This company is simply creating more trouble in the guise of development,” Catedral said.
Catedral also questioned the sincerity of the mining company in respecting the rights and concerns of the stakeholders including the right to say no to the project as well as in providing the people the necessary information including the results of their feasibility studies.
“They promised to provide us a copy of the feasibility study report but until now they failed,” Catedral said.
“The fact that the B’laans protested against XTRATA-SMI’s project makes us believe more that the company lies in projecting itself as responsible and ethical in their conduct of operation. SOCSKSARGEN CAN will continue its campaign against the project,” Bolanio said.
SOCSKSARGEN CAN is a multisectoral coalition of various groups working for climate justice and is campaigning for the pull out of XTRATA-SMI in the region. (Erwin Quinones)
Monday, February 08, 2010
Kidnapped Yemeni man freed in the Southern Philippines
ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 8, 2010) – Kidnappers freed A Yemeni national after a week in captivity in the southern Philippines, police said Monday.
Police said Najid Al Udaini, a member of World Assembly of Muslim Youth, was released in the town of Talakag in Bukidnon province after a series of government negotiations. Udaini was kidnapped in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province on January 29.
“There was a negotiation and the Yemeni national was released unharmed,” said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, of the regional police force.
Lanao is one of five provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Macapantar said the foreigner is undergoing police debriefing. “He is okay, but it was really too bad that the Yemeni being a Muslim was kidnapped in Mindanao. He’s a good man and active in humanitarian projects,” he said.
Udaini’s group has built mosques and schools in Muslim communities in Mindanao.
Macapantar did not say whether ransom was paid or not. He said police is still investigating the motive and the group behind the kidnapping.
He said the Yemeni man was released at around 11:30 p.m. to the group of Lanao del Sur Representative Faisah Dumarpa and her husband, Salic Dumarpa and Amerodin Sarangani, who are both running for a congressional seat and vice gubernatorial position in the province in the May elections.
No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. (Merlyn Manos and Mark Navales contributed to this report)
Sulu Guv Hit By Black Propaganda
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 8, 2010) – The Philippine National Police denied Monday a published report linking Sulu governor Sakur Tan to a grenade explosion last year at a carnival in the province’s Luuk town.
The September grenade attack killed three 3 people and wounded several others.
Chief Inspector Amil Baanan, of the Sulu Provincial Police Office, said the attack was triggered by a business rivalry between two amusement game operators at the carnival.
“Doon sa peryahan ay mayroon mga magka-kumpetensya sa amusement games, siyempre malaki ang kita nuong nasa kabila, yun sa kabila mahina so pumunta yun sa kabila doon at hinulog nila, hinagis ang granada sa mga tao doon na nanunuod.”
“Yun pangyayari eh talagang sinadya, business rivalry ito. Mayroon na tayong isang suspek pero at-large, pero na-file na natin yun case. Pinaghahanap na rin natin ang suspek,” Baanan said.
A local newspaper, the Daily Zamboanga Times, on Monday published the report. It said at least 6 people filed the case against Tan, a known philanthropist and a religious man. The newspaper did not get either the side of Tan or the Philippine National Police about the incident.
Tan’s supporters branded the report as black propaganda and politically motivated. “Who else would do that but those people with evil motives, those who cannot speak about their accomplishments because they have done nothing to improve the lives of the Tausugs or bring peace and development to Sulu just as what Governor Sakur Tan brought us since winning by a landslide the 2007 elections,” one supporter, Hajji Usman, said.
He said Tan’s political foes have been pestering the governor with incredible accusations and various lies. (Mindanao Examiner)
Now Accepting Poll Campaign Materials Printing
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Zamboanga del Sur Guv denies NSCB reports
Zamboanga del Sur provincial Governor Aurora Cerilles, left, and Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co.
PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 7, 2010) - Zamboanga del Sur Governor Aurora Cerilles dismissed as politically motivated the publication of a survey conducted by the National Statistical Coordination Board which listed her province as among the 10 worst-governed in the country.
Cerilles, a Lakas party stalwart and key supporter of the administration presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the reports maybe influenced by the political opposition out to destroy control of the administration party over its bailiwicks.
“It could be possible that the publication of the survey is politically motivated,” Cerilles said at a recent press conference in Pagadian City.
But Cerilles declined to name the political party which supposedly is behind the negative campaign against administration officials.
Cerilles said the survey putting the governance index of Zamboanga del Sur as bad is a status of her early administration period while the province is still recovering.
“This is not true today, in fact our province is considered as rice granary of the country,” she said, adding, her economic agenda has benefited both urban and rural locals' lives in the province.
Cerilles said her achievements, awards received and the development she brought in the province all disproved the issue. She said infrastructure project such as roads, livelihood programs and economic enterprises, were proofs of her governance.
Cerilles said she has changed the shape of the province during her nine years as governor.
“Social services such as health, education, among others have been implemented reducing marginalized sectors,” she said. “We call you people from the media with the purpose to help us correct the issue and let them know they are wrong.”
Zamboanga del Sur Representative Antonio Cerilles, the governor’s husband, also questioned the release of the NSCB data, saying, it was wrong timing because elections are forthcoming. “It's wrong timing and there's malice in it,” he said.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer also quoted Cerilles as saying: “This Dr. Virola needs to expound on the issue … he needs to explain the 2005 survey in a 2009 or 2010 situation. I don't really understand why he used the 2005 survey when today is 2010. What happened from 2006 to 2009?”
On the other hand, Arturo Valero, regional director of National Economic and Development Authority 9, said NSCB is not a data generator, but statistical coordinator that measures performances as bases for making policies.
“The outcome of a study may explain the poverty incidence, security status and leadership capacity as indicators of governance which is tagged as “worst-governed or best-governed” depending on the data gathered, Valero told Mindanao Examiner. (Becky de Asis)
Life is Hard!
Philippine Defense chief sees peaceful elections in Sulu
Dr. Sakur Tan, the provincial governor of Sulu. It said Gonzales with Sulu Governor Sakur Tan and Representative Munir Arbison and that both have agreed to peaceful elections in May. Tan, a religious man, is seeking reelection under the government’s political coalition Lakas-Kampi-CMD, while Arbison, who is on his third and last term, is running against the incumbent governor.
“Cultivating his old personal ties with the Tausugs, Gonzales convinced Governor Sakur Tan and Congressman Munir Arbison, together with their respective supporters who were either incumbent holders or candidates for elected local positions in Sulu, to put aside their arms and instead engage in a fair and brotherly competition,” the Philippine News Agency reported.
Last month, Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, the regional police chief, ordered the investigation into the reports that some 300 firearms landed in the coastal town of Luuk.
Tan, citing intelligence reports, said the weapons were smuggled in Luuk by a still unidentified armed group after President Gloria Arroyo declared martial law in December in Maguindanao province where security forces recovered huge caches of light infantry and heavy artillery weapons allegedly owned by the powerful Ampatuan clan.
It was unknown whether the weapons came from Maguindanao or who owns arms cache.
The Ampatuan clan is one of the most feared in Mindanao and also among the wealthiest in the impoverished Maguindanao province, whose governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his sons, Zaldy Ampatuan, the regional governor, and Andal Ampatuan Jr., and several family members and relatives were linked by authorities to the gruesome killings of 57 people on November 23.
Among those killed were 31 journalists and wife and relatives of Buluan vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who is a candidate for governor of Maguindanao in next year’s polls. The victims were on a political caravan when they were abducted and killed by more then 100 gunmen allegedly led by Ampatuan Jr.
All of them were eventually arrested in connection with the brutal slayings. The Ampatuans denied all the accusations against them.
Tan last year also put Sulu under a state of emergency after Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped three Red Cross workers. He also ordered security forces to dismantle all private armies of political warlords in the province.
Police also recruited some 2,000 civilians to form part of the Police Auxiliary Unit to help authorities fight terrorism and guard villages against rebel attacks.
The Abu Sayyaf group was also linked to last year’s failed assassination attempt on Tan outside his office in Patikul town. Militants bombed Tan’s convoy on May 13 that wounded 10 people, including a local town mayor Hatta Berto.
Tan just came from his office and on his way home when a motorcycle bomb exploded near his vehicle. Police later captured two suspected bombers Juhan Alimuddin and Sulayman Muin who confessed to investigators that they were hired by Tan’s political foe to kill the governor.
Three years on, landmark UN Resolution lies on stony ground as Filipino journalists mourn a massacre
On December 23, 2006, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1738 expressing deep concern at the frequency of attacks on journalists around the world and calling for all parties to armed conflict to put an end to such practices.
In December 2009 the world's news community mourns the deaths of 31 journalists in the Philippines, slaughtered in the worst single atrocity perpetrated against the news media and a free press in recorded history.
According to data compiled by the International News Safety Institute (INSI), 347 journalists and support staff have died trying to bring us the news around the world since our highest international political body issued that landmark call for action to stem the bloodshed. That is an average of two a week, a grim statistic that has persisted unchanged for at least the past 13 years, before and after the resolution.
The slain Filipino journalists died simply for doing their job, covering a convoy of politicians and supporters heading across the southern province of Maguindanao on 23 November to nominate a candidate for the May election.They were ambushed by gunmen who systematically eliminated every soul in the contingent.
The massacre did not solely affect the news media, nor, apparently, were they the specific target. Twenty-seven other civilians were murdered too. But it was the bloodiest blot conceivable on the resolution passed with such impressive unanimity just three years ago by world leaders who stated they were gravely concerned by the journalist death toll.
Resolution 1738 provided for all elements of the Philippines slaughter precisely.
It demanded "all parties to armed conflict comply with their obligations under international law to protect civilians in armed conflict". 57 civilians died, most cruelly and deliberately murdered.
It urged all parties to "respect the professional independence and rights of journalists...as civilians." It reminded that media professionals engaged in dangerous professional missions in conflict zones "shall be considered civilians, to be respected and protected as such".
Not a jot did the gunmen and their leaders care for any of that. They never paused for thought as they cocked their guns, cut down their victims and then ploughed their bodies into a hillside with a handy backhoe.
Finally, the resolution emphasized States were obliged 'to end impunity and to prosecute those responsible" for such grave violations of international law.
The responsibility of meeting that demand of 1738 now lies lies squarely with the Philippines government. It was reminded of its duty by a statement from an international media mission to the scene of the massacre 6-10 December.
It might be said by some that we journalists indulge in special pleading, that the news media in this instance died by way of collateral damage in a political onslaught which also claimed 27 other civilian lives. But we might reasonably assume the slaughter was so dreadful and so complete because the killers wanted no witnesses to survive to testify to the political murder -- especially no professional reporters.
Without diminishing the loss of the other civilians in any way we would argue also that journalists are something of a special case. They go into danger voluntarily on behalf of all of us. Acting at their highest, they are the world's eyes and ears, the peoples' emissaries in deadly places.
And here we might address more fully the vexed question of impunity for the killers of journalists.
Killing The Messenger, INSI's investigation into the deaths of 1,000 news media staff between 1996 and 2006, reported in that in almost 9 out of 10 cases of murder no one had been brought to justice. That scandalous statistic persists, undermining many developing nations and ultimately threatening free societies everywhere.
The Philippines' record on impunity is worth noting. At least 75 journalists have met a violent death since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took power in 2001 and only four convictions have been obtained. In that time the Philippines, a vibrant democracy in so many other respects, has become the bloodiest country in the world for the news media outside Iraq.
Aidan White, the General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, said Arroyo had blood on her hands. "Her government has created the circumstances for this massacre by allowing a culture of impunity to flourish," he said.
Nestor Burgos, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, called on "all journalists to join us, to band together, to end this culture of impunity over journalist killings."
There can be little doubt that a widespread reluctance to properly investigate journalist murders and prosecute the killers has contributed to the rising death toll around the globe over the past decade. In an age of polarization and extremism, murder in many places has become a relatively risk-free and extremely effective means of censorship. The immediate irritant is removed and colleagues intimidated into silence - all for no comeback.
Hence the United Nations decision to act. But its declaration, welcome though it was, is not enough. It lacks force.
The world's broadcasters, meeting at the 4th World Electronic Media Forum in Mexico City, recognized this. They unanimously approved a declaration to be sent to the UN Secretary General, the President of the Security Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO demanding action under Resolution 1738.
"Journalists are killed as they try to shine the light of truth into the darkest recesses of their societies," they said. "States must apply their laws against murder equally to all of their citizens and end the culture of impunity that so often protects the murderers of journalists."
In Killing The Messenger, INSI called on States to live up to their responsibilities under 1738 and observe the resolution in "letter and in spirit".
We also suggested that international development institutions, such as the World Bank and IMF, might consider adding teeth to the resolution by including a country's record on murder of journalists when assessing aid and other assistance.
After all, there can be no true development, no end to corruption and poverty, where there is no freedom to speak, criticize, expose and enlighten. And there can be no freedom of expression where journalists are murdered for doing their job. So just enforce the law. No more, no less. (Rodney Pinder. The author is the Director of the INSI)
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Zamboanga's Sunset
The sun sets in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines Saturday, February 6, 2010. The local electric cooperative says there is a plan to put up a coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City. Coal-fired units produce electricity by burning coal in a boiler to heat water to produce steam. The steam, at tremendous pressure, flows into a turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. The steam is cooled, condensed back into water, and returned to the boiler to start the process over. But environmentalists say the coal-fueled plants will pollute the air and contribute to global warming. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)Campaign for peaceful polls launched in Sulu
SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 6, 2010) – A multi-sector task force launched a radio program in Jolo, Sulu to help educate the local electorate and other stakeholders on ways and means of fostering peaceful, orderly, and credible elections in the May 2010 elections in the province.
The regular advocacy program kicked off over state-run Radyo ng Bayan-Jolo on February 3, a day after various local sectors formed Task Force Kahanungan which literally means "peace", in a two-day orientation and organizational workshop sponsored by the Ulangig Mindanao in coordination with the Asia Foundation, organizers said.
The Ulangig Mindanao, a nongovernmental organization campaigning against election-related violence, is also assisted by the Bureau of Public Information of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Dr. Amildasa Annil, group president and BPI-Sulu coordinator, said.
The members of the task force include representatives of the local media, business, religious, and academic sectors and other stakeholders assisted by the Commission on Elections, the military and police, whose local top brasses staged a seminar-workshop on preventing election-related violence from January 16 to 17 in Jolo, Annil said.
“Our campaign is a concerted effort against election violence. We are very glad that ARMM acting Governor Ansaruddin Adiong, the provincial government under Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, and the Comelec, military and police hierarchies are rallying behind us,” Annil said.
The task force formed committees on security, grievance, and reconciliation; information, education, and monitoring; and ways and means with defined functions in an action plan aimed at helping prevent election- related problems and achieving peaceful, orderly, and credible elections in Sulu, he said.
Asia Foundation representative Hyro Nomado had graced the radio program launching ceremony, affirming their full concern and support for the Ulangig Mindanao and its local partners like the ARMM and Sulu governments.
Earlier, Marines Brig. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, Task Force Comet commander, and the local Comelec officials, said they would exert efforts for the forging of peace covenants among candidates for local posts in the province to gain their commitments for peaceful, orderly, and credible elections. (Ali Macabalang and Mark Navales contributed to this report)
Troops kill NPA rebel in clash in South RP
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 6, 2010) – Government soldiers killed a communist rebel in a firefight Saturday in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Captain Emanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said the fighting erupted in the village called New Visayas in Davao Oriental’s Lupon town.
He said troops rushed to the village after receiving reports that New People’s Army rebels were in the area.
“Operating troops of the Army’s 28th Infantry Battalion responded to information of residents regarding the presence of armed men in their place which resulted to an early morning gun battle,” the spokesman said, adding, troops also recovered two automatic rifles and a shotgun left behind by rebels.
Garcia said villages have reported the presence of rebels in the area. “Residents said they were alarmed by the consolidation of NPA since two days ago and recalled that this only happens during plenums or when high ranking NPA or a leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines comes in their place,” he said.
He said Major General Carlos Holganza, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, praised residents who tipped off the military about the presence of gunmen in the village.
“We are moved by the show of support and concern of our citizens in Davao Oriental in curbing criminality and terrorism in their place. While we are on a positive note, we grieve over the death of another Filipino who was lured, deceived and exploited by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front into joining an organization known for its notoriety in killing innocent people and sabotaging our economy with their big time extortion activity,” Holganza said.
The NPA is fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Geo Solmerano contributed to this report)
Friday, February 05, 2010
ARMM proposes road rehab in 2 Maguindanao towns
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / February 5, 2010) – The Department of Public Works and Highways in the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao has proposed to rehabilitate two major roads in the towns of Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao province.
Regional Public Works Secretary Titingalangit Sumagayan said the proposed rehabilitation of Pinaring-Simsiman Road in Sultan Kudarat and the Tamontaka-Tapian Road in Datu Odin Sinsuat needs over P1 billion in fresh funding.
Sumagayan said the project will provide all-weather roads that would spur trade and commerce in the area.
He said there were also proposals to rehabilitate the Iligan-Marawi Road, Davao-Cotabato Road, Kidapawan-Ala Road, Bito-Marawi Road, Sultan Kudarat Border-Butig-Lumbayanague Road, Cotabato-General Santos Road, Maganoy-Sultan sa Barongis Road, Limbo-Pinaring-Manuangan Road and Datu Saudi Ampatuan Road.
All these are part of the so-called Road Network Development Master Plan for ARMM and would contribute to peace building efforts in the Muslim autonomous region, Sumagayan said.
The Japan International Coordinating Agency is facilitating technical support to the DPWH-ARMM, but there has been no commitment of financial grant to the Road Network Development Master Plan, according to JICA Study Team Leader, Mitsuo Kuichi.
Since 2005, the Japanese government committed some 2.47 billion yen through ARMM Social Fund Project to support the peace and development program of the Arroyo government. (Mark Navales and Becky de Asis contributed to this report)
Philippine Defense Chief Visits Zamboanga City
Philippine Defense chief Norberto Gonzales during a visit Friday, February 5, 2010 to Zamboanga City where he presided a youth forum and attended a meeting by the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)Gonzales also visited eight wounded soldiers at a military base in Western Mindanao Command where he and regional marine commander Lieutenant Benjamin Dolorfino pinned them medals.
The soldiers were among a group of infantrymen injured in a recent roadside bombing by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan province that had killed an army man.
While in Zamboanga City, Gonzales also spoke at a youth forum and attended a meeting by the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council and another forum on climate change. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Philippine soldier linked to extrajudicial killings falls
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / February 3, 2010) – Human rights advocates hailed the arrest of a Philippine Army soldier tagged as behind the killing of political activists in central Luzon.
The soldier has at least six warrants for his arrest in connection with the reported murders of other activists. “This is good news, but he should pay for his sins. We want justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings,” said Nolan Santiago.
Human rights groups and leftist organizations have accused the military of murdering hundreds of political activists who had been accused either as communist rebels or supporters of the New People’s Army which have been waging a secessionist war for the past six decades.
Television giant ABS-CBN on Thursday reported that the Philippine Army handed the soldier to agents of the National Bureau of Investigation after he was implicated in extrajudicial killings in central Luzon.
It said the Presidential Task Force against Political Violence led by Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor tracked down the soldier and was eventually arrested by members of the military's Provost Marshall Office at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province.
Human rights groups and leftists organizations said the army base was where abducted political activists were allegedly being tortured and eventually murdered. (Mindanao Examiner)
Kidapawan City Carnival
Popular radio man signs off
OZAMIZ CITY, Philippines - He became the favorite of late night tuners of Y96-FM with his SMS (short message system) dedication portion and love songs segue requested by lovelorn listeners.
People know him as Shy Guy. But for the media community, he is Alex Velayo Sy, the mentor and boss of dxSY. He died, Feb. 3, of heart attack.
Jed Boniao, one of the station’s announcers, told this paper in a telephone conversation that Sy was entertaining visitors in his office and signing several contract papers when he suddenly slumped on his desk and was brought to the hospital at 11:28 a.m.
“Kalit ra kayo, wala ko kabalo unsay buhaton. Kinsa gud ang magdahom ana nga maayo pa namong istorya anang buntaga,” Boniao narrates.
Sy, who turned 59 last Jan. 25, played a key role in enhancing the concept of local radio programming in Ozamiz City keeping pace with modern technology. Since the 1980’s, his station, which goes with the "Radyo Bantay" moniker, is largely credited as a training ground for aspiring broadcasters.
As the executive manager of the family-owned Times Broadcasting Network, the company founded by his late father, Emilio, Sy operated and supervised two other stations in Northwestern Mindanao—dxWO-FM in Pagadian City and dxEQ-FM in Dipolog City.
He was a man with good business sense, strict and outspoken, said Rocky Reyes, a reporter from dxSY. “Morag amahan na akong turing sa iyaha,” he said.
A dxWO reporter John Mark Cocos likewise recalled how humble his manager was and how he treats everyone as a friend, not only as a mere employee.
“Dili siya hakog, kung unsa ang iyang gikaon mao sad ang imong gikaon. Kung problemado ka ug moduol ka niya, dali ra siya kayo maluoy. Ug mangayo ka og tabang, tabangan dayon ka niya basta gamiton lang nimo sa maayo. Daghan siya’g gipakaon nga dili niya kadugo ug gitabangan nga naa sa iyang poder,” Cocos said.
For Jovencio Godoy Jr., former program director of dxOC-AM and presently National Union of Journalists of the Philippines national director, Sy inherited his father’s traits and fondness.
“He continued to live up to his late father’s dream and love for radio, not just as popular disc jock in Manila but in having and managing his own radio network,” he said.
“Gikaguol usab namo ang wala damhang kamatayon niya sanglit ako ug duha nako ka mga kauban karon nagsugod sa among panarbaho sa dxSY,” also said Wendell Talibong, reporter of dxDD-AM and CBCP News.
Though silent on issues affecting media, like the threats and killings, Sy once confided that he values press freedom and would always come to the aid of his reporters who end up getting the ire of politicians and other people who became subject of their news commentaries.
One time, he revealed that he wants to push the point that broadcasting is not just business but pleasure and public service and the fair practice of the freedom of expression.
For all his achievements, he said he likes to maintain a low “shy guy” profile and would even deny interviews from reporters, reminding them that as a manager, he has a separate public image and private life too.
His estate lies today at Rivera Funeral Homes and will be flown tomorrow, Feb. 5, to Manila. (Michael Medina / Philippine Preview)
ARMM opens 1st regional solidarity games
More than a dozen of the region’s higher educational institutions participated in the four-day events which began on Wednesday, said Ali Macabalang, the ARMM’s public information chief.
He said acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong led the opening of the competitions which also coincided with the awarding of scholarship grants to each of the 117 towns in the five-province Muslim autonomous region.
The grant is part of the so-called “One Scholar, One Town” program of the CHED-ARMM.
“Governor Adiong has urged participating students to harness their sports and academic prowess to be able to achieve brighter prospects. He cited the current emergence of Filipino sportsmen like Manny Pacquiao in the global scene and that this should stimulate the students to strive hard. Your successes in sports and academic endeavors would mean the success of our region at least,” Macabalang quoted the ARMM chief executive as saying.
Macabalang said the categories of the games cover badminton, chess, table tennis, karate, lawn tennis, swimming, tae kwon do for individual player; and basketball, baseball, football, softball, sepak tekraw and volleyball for team players.
While the cultural category includes awit-saya, tipa at tugtugan (solo instrument), likh-awit (song-writing), ginoo at binibining pamantasan (school pageant) for individual player; awit-saya for duet, sayawitan (sing and dance choir) sayaw-Pinoy (Filipino creative folk-ethnic dance) for group players.
He said the winners in the competitions will represent the ARMM to the national competition which will be held in Manila from February 23-29. The academic category covers impromptu speech, oration, poetry interpretation, story-telling, science quiz, math quiz and computer quiz for individuals, and public debate for groups. (Merlyn Manos, Mark Navales and Becky de Asis contributed to this report)
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
My Kidapawan City!
+copy.jpg)
+copy.jpg)
+copy.jpg)
Typical scenes from Kidapawan City in the southern Philippines which is celebrating its 12th Foundation Anniversary on February 12. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geo Solmerno and Giovani Solmerano)Mindanao Examiner TV Week in Review January 24-30, 2010
Mindanao Examiner TV Week in Review January 24-30, 2010 part 3
Top NPA rebels arrested in Mindanao
PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 3, 2010) – Philippine authorities have captured two senior communist rebel leaders who are long wanted for a string of criminal charges at a military checkpoint in Mindanao, officials said Wednesday.
Officials said security forces detained Maria Luisa Purcray and Allen Solis after they were held Tuesday afternoon at a government checkpoint on a highway near the village of Dicayo in Zamboanga del Norte’s Katipunan town.
“Their capture is a big blow to the rebel group. They are being investigated by authorities,” First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman, told the Mindanao Examiner.
She said a hand grenade and subversive documents were seized from Purcray and Solis, who are both senior leaders of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.
The military said Purcray is the current leader of the CPP’s North Central Mindanao Regional Party Committee, while Solis is a senior staff of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee.
Purcray is included in the military’s most wanted list and has a P2.6-million bounty for her capture, according to Cacho.
It was unknown whether the two was traveling on a private vehicle or not and where they were heading to, but NPA rebels are actively operating in the Zamboanga Peninsula which covers the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga City.
There was no immediate statement either from the CPP or the NPA.
Last week, troops also captured a senior NPA leader, Elizalde Canete, after a running gun battle in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao. Three rebels were also killed in the fighting which broke out Sunday in the village of Sarmiento in Laak town, said Major General Carlos Holganza, a regional army commander.
A government soldier and two rebels were also wounded in the firefight, he said.
Canete is facing a string or criminal charges from multiple murders to robbery and homicide, the general said.
The fighting erupted after members of the Army Special Forces spotted the rebels and a firefight ensued.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war the past five decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Becky de Asis contributed to this report)
Philippines detains Abu Sayyaf co-founder
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines announced on Wednesday that one of the co-founders of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremist group had been arrested after being detained at Jakarta airport for using a false passport.
Indonesian authorities picked up Abdul Basir Latip on November 21, but he was only brought back to Manila on Wednesday, said Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) spokesman Ricardo Diaz.
The NBI said Latip was a founding member of the Abu Sayyaf and had worked with its spiritual leader, Khadaffy Janjalani, who the Philippine military killed in 2006.
Daiz said Latip served as a conduit of funds between Al-Qaeda leaders in Saudi Arabia and the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim militant group blamed for the Philippines' worst terror attacks.
"His involvement was not as a fighter but as a finance officer and the conduit for Al-Qaeda to facilitate transfer of funds to the ASG (Abu Sayyaf group)," said Diaz.
The United States is also seeking Latip's extradition for the Abu Sayyaf's kidnapping of American missionary Charles Walton in the southern Philippines in 1993, according to Diaz.
Diaz alleged Latip had acted as a masked spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf during the Walton kidnapping, but he had been recognised through a birthmark on his left temple.
A Philippine court will decide whether Latip will be extradited to the United States to be tried for the kidnapping of Walton, who was released by the Abu Sayyaf after the Libyan government stepped in to mediate.
"There is still an extradition process ahead. It will be the court that will decide if he is to be extradited or not," Diaz said.
The bewhiskered Latip, wearing a T-shirt and a bandana, looked weary as he was processed by the National Bureau of Investigation in front of reporters, during which he insisted on his innocence.
"I was not a member of the ASG but I am a close friend of Janjalani," he said in clear English.
However he admitted to using a fake passport when detained in Jakarta. He said he had stopped there while returning to the Philippines from Jordan. It was not clear how long he had been overseas for.
The Abu Sayyaf was founded allegedly with Al-Qaeda seed money to fight for an independent Muslim state in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines.
Its militants, who have never numbered more than 1,000, operate in remote and often lawless islands of the southern Philippines, resorting to kidnappings for ransom and other crimes to raise funds.
They usually target Christians and foreigners and frequently behead their hostages if ransoms are not paid.
It is also blamed for the bombing of a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that left more than 100 people dead, the nation's worst terrorist attack of recent times.
A small number of US troops have been based in the southern Philippines to help train Filipino soldiers in fighting the Abu Sayyaf since late 2001.
Philippine authorities say the Abu Sayyaf's numbers have fallen from about 1,000 eight years ago to about 300-400 now, thanks to the military campaign.
However they remain a danger in the southern Philippines.
One of three hostages kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf on the south's Basilan island on November 10 was murdered last week, with his severed head dumped in a local park.
The following day a college professor was abducted, and police again blamed the Abu Sayyaf.
In September, two US soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb on the southern Philippines' Jolo island in the deadliest attack on American forces so far by the militant group.(AFP)
Twin roadside bombings trigger alert in Basilan
Philippine soldiers who were wounded in a roadside bombing in troubled Basilan province are recuperating Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at a military hospital in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Jung Francisco)“We are taking steps to ensure the safety of everybody in Basilan. There is an ongoing operation against lawless elements,” Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Police said four of those wounded in Monday’s twin attacks were followers of a mayoralty candidate Ben Hataman who is running in Sumisip town. The explosion occurred at around 11:00 a.m. in the town’s Giong village wounding the four who were traveling in a jeep.
Another explosion 20 minutes later in the village of Libog also in Sumisip town targeted a military armor personnel carrier killing the soldier and wounding eight more.
Police blamed the Abu Sayyaf for both attacks. The wounded soldiers were brought to a military hospital in Zamboanga City where they are being treated for bullet and shrapnel wounds.
Mendoza said they also deployed additional police forces in Bubuan Island off Basilan province after sporadic fighting erupted between two warring clans headed by Masud Agtah and Jamang Mohamad that left one person dead over the weekend.
Two people were also wounded in the clashes, he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Twin bombings kill 1 soldier, 12 others injured in southern Philippines
BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 2, 2010) – One government soldier was killed and 12 others wounded in separate roadside bombings Tuesday in the troubled province of Basilan in the southern Philippines, police told the Mindanao Examiner.
Police said the first explosion wounded 4 civilians, mostly relatives of Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman, in the village of Giong in Sumisip town. The attack occurred at around 11 a.m. while the victims were traveling on a jeep.
Hataman, who is running for governor in Basilan province against the incumbent Jum Akbar, a widow of assassinated solon Wahab Akbar, was not with the group of civilians. It was not immediately known if the bombing was connected to the murder of Akbar, who was killed in a blast that ripped through a section of the House of Representatives in Manila in 2007.
Police said another roadside bombing in the village of Libog also in Sumisip town killed one government soldier and wounded eight more. The soldiers were in a military armor vehicle when the explosion occurred.
“We have reports that the Abu Sayyaf was behind the twin attacks,” said Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief. “We are still investigating both attacks.”
He said police and military forces were sent to the town to track down the militants headed by Puruji Indama.
It was unknown whether the two attacks were coordinated or not, but the Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for the spate of attacks and kidnappings-for-ransom in Basilan, a known stronghold of the militant group tied to Jemaah Islamiya and Al-Qaeda. (Mindanao Examiner)
Australia to extend education program in ARMM
Officials said the Australian Agency for International Development pledged to extend up to ten years its Basic Education Assistance for Mindanao which would focus only to the depressed communities in the impoverished region which comprises the province of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.
The Australian project is expected to reach some US$33-million, according to ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, who said that lawyer Hamid Barra, who was earlier appointed by acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong as regional secretary of the Department of Education, will be playing a main role in the extended BEAM projects.
Sinarimbo said the extended BEAM program seeks to intensify the AusAID intervention in addressing the high dropouts, elementary undergraduates, classrooms shortage, and inappropriate teachers’ instructional skills in the Muslim autonomous region.
He said the proposed education program extension covers only the elementary level. For the high school education which also needs improvements, Sinarimbo said they will have to conduct a study and present proposals to other aid donors.
The BEAM Project ended in Muslim autonomous region ended last year after completing an eight-year mission of helping public schools in reach and maintains higher standards of basic education.
“It is pleasing to note that much have been achieved in the ARMM areas covered by the BEAM project with a 24 percent improvement in elementary education and 15 percent in the secondary level,” said Ian D’Arcy Walsh, BEAM project director, during a farewell dinner in November hosted by the Department of Education in Cotabato City.
The Philippine News Agency said Australia’s basic education program covers 18 provinces in central and southern Philippines and is focused on improving access to quality education, providing better teaching and learning in Mindanao and the Visayas, and supporting national basic education reforms.
It said as a lead grant donor in basic education, Canberra has been assisting the Philippines in meeting a lagging Millennium Development Goal indicator which is to achieve universal primary education by 2015.
BEAM has been instrumental in providing tested innovations to the Department of Education which largely influenced the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda in standards setting, educational planning, learning outcomes management, financial management, educational administration and management, and monitoring and evaluation.
The government media said with BEAM's support, over 5,000 schools are now implementing school-based management, and about 53,000 teachers have received training to strengthen their teaching skills and improve learning outcomes for children.
To improve the quality of Islamic instruction, including mainstream public schools, Australia also helped train about 2,000 Muslim teachers and supported 30 Islamic schools to enable them to become accredited operator of private schools implementing the Standard Madrasah curriculum. (Mark Navales and Ali Macabalang and the Philippine News Agency contributed to this report)
Monday, February 01, 2010
ARMM law may be amended to ensure success of peace talks, says House Speaker
MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Prospero Nograles said there could be a need to amend the existing Organic Act of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao or create an entirely new law on Muslim Mindanao to ensure the success of the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Nograles said there could also be a need to sync the existing ARMM Organic Act with the conditions provided under an era of permanent peace between the government and the MILF.
“In view of the ongoing peace-talk between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and of the various proposals on Muslim Mindanao, such as the bill filed by Congressman Jaafar, I will get the House of Representatives to start working on a possible amendment of the Organic Act for Autonomous Muslim Mindanao or for the crafting of an entirely new law on Muslim Mindanao,” Nograles said.
“We might need to tune-up the existing ARMM Organic Act or craft a new law for Muslim Mindanao so that it can also deal with the distinct problems pertaining to the MILF. This enhanced or new law will take into consideration the framework and the eventual agreements of the ongoing peace-talk between the government and the MILF. It will also take as inputs the results of consultations on the matter that the House shall undertake,” he added.
At present, Nograles said there is a pending measure - House Bill 1769 - which seeks to amend the ARMM Organic Act and this can be expanded further to address all other concerns that may arise out of the peace talks.
House Bill 1769 which was authored by Tawi-tawi Representaive Nur Jaafar seeks to amend the ARMM Organic Act to decentralize the system of appointments for teachers and other officers and employees of the ARMM bureaucracy.
Jaafar said that the present system which solely delegates the appointing power to the ARMM Governor has been causing too much bottleneck in the issuance of appointments and delayed salaries for teachers and lower ranking officers and employees of the ARMM.
Under HB 1769, appointment of low-ranking officers shall be vested upon the heads of the departments, agencies and commissions or boards concerned. The appointments of teachers shall be delegate to their respective school division superintendents.
According to Nograles, the Jaafar's proposed amendment to the ARMM Organic Act can be expanded to accommodate reasonable terms that can be the result of the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the MILF.(Gil Bugaoisan)
10 soldiers, two militias awarded medals for defending Maguindanao town from attacks
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 1, 2010) – Ten government soldiers were awarded medals Monday for their roles in helping improve the peace and order in the restive province of Maguindanao, where 57 people had been brutally killed last year.
Two pro-government militias were also awarded medals for their contribution in maintaining peace in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
Acting governor of Maguindanao Bai Nariman Ambolodto gave the awards during the flag ceremony attended by senior military commanders headed by Major General Anthony Alcantara and government officials at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak town. She said the awards were given as a show of gratitude in maintaining peace and security in the province.
Maguindanao is still under a state of emergency following the gruesome murders of 57 people, including at least 31 journalists on November 23 by the scion of a powerful political clan, Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town.
Among those murdered were the wife and two sisters and supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, the vice mayor of Buluan town who is running for governor of Maguindanao – a position being held by the mayor’s father and namesake, Andal Ampatuan Sr. - in the May elections.
The Ampatuan and the Mangudadatu clans are bitter political foe in Maguindanao, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, whose governor, Zaldy Ampatuan, is a brother of Andal Ampatuan Jr. All three politicians, including other clan members and supporters, had been arrested in connection with the killings. They denied involvement in the murders.
Army Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Hao, of the 6th Infantry Division, said those who were awarded also fought some 180 gunmen in three separate attacks in Maguindanao.
“The acting governor personally thanked the men and women in uniform based in her province and bowed to support the peace and security measures that are being undertaken to ensure normalcy and economic activity in Maguindanao,” he said.
Those who received awards were Army First Lieutenant Alvin Cardenas, Second Lieutenant Rene Gatugan Jr., Sergeants Eduardo Bautista and Pinion Lim; Corporals Mamerto Abarcar and Joseph Soriano – all from the 9th Scout Ranger Company - who fought against some 30 gunmen in Shariff Aguak town of January 24.
And Army Corporal Adonis Lagmay, militia members Ronel Dagadas and Bobby Tagiled, of the 25th Maguindanao Civilian Armed Auxiliary Company under the 38th Infantry Battalion who fought and defended their post in Datu Hofer town against 100 gunmen on January 10.
And also Army Captain Abdila Mangoramas, Staff Sergeants Alex Brosas and Ranilo Aguilar, of the 46th Infantry Battalion based in Shariff Aguak. They also fought and defended their patrol base in Shariff Aguak town from attacks by 50 gunmen on December 14.
Meanwhile, the military also said Monday that security preparations in Maguindanao are on track in connection with the May 10 national elections.
Colonel Ernesto Aradanas, commander of the 603rd Infantry Brigade, said the operations against illegal weapons are going on in the province and have so far recovered at least 271firearms issued to the government militias after authorities enforced a total gun ban in the country.
Most of the weapons came from militias based in the towns of Parang, North Upi, South Upi, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Guindulungan, Talitay, and Talayan.
“The main goal of all these security measures is to achieve an atmosphere of peace conducive to development in the province of Maguindanao,” Aradanas said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Philippine Army troops capture senior NPA rebel leader
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 1, 2010) – Filipino soldiers killed two communist rebels and captured a senior guerrilla leader after a running gun battle in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao, officials announced Monday.
Major General Carlos Holganza, a regional army commander, said the New People's Army rebel leader, Elizalde Canete, was also wounded in the weekend clash which broke out in the village of Sarmiento in Laak town.
A government soldier and two rebels were also wounded in the firefight, he said.
“One of the wounded rebels expired while being treated by government troops in the area, while the other rebel, identified as Elizalde Canete was brought out of the area by helicopter to the government hospital in Davao City,” Holganza said.
He said troops recovered three automatic weapons, including a hand grenade and a transceiver radio and anti-government propaganda.
Canete is facing a string or criminal charges from multiple murders to robbery and homicide, the general said.
The fighting erupted after members of the Army Special Forces spotted the rebels and a firefight ensued.
The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging a secessionist war the past five decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Ateneo de Zamboanga Fireworks
Fireworks resembling a nebula lit up the night sky in Zamboanga City on Sunday, January 31, 2010 during the Ateneo de Zamboanga High School Family Day. Ateneo de Zamboanga University President, Father Antonio Moreno, led the family day attended by hundreds of students and parents. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)