Turtles for sale, anyone?

An illegally caught South Asian Box Turtles (Cuora amboinensis)from marshy villages of Midsayap town in Mindanao's North Cotabato province sell for 50 pesos each in Davao City. The turtles are commonly found in Ligusan Marsh. The Protected Areas and Wildlife Division says trading of this specie is strictly regulated. (AKP Images - Keith Bacongco)

Davao City's Forgotten Flood Victims

For three months now, some 100 people are still in evacuation center at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish in Talomo District in Davao City in Mindanao after their houses were washed away by the flash flood late this June. The City Government of Davao have already handed P10,000 in aid but is not enough to help the refugees rebuild their house and buy food and daily needs. Just like mothers Jennelyn Surigao, Editha Abarquez and Analiza Castigador, many are still hoping to return to their areas soon and live a normal life again. (AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Enviromentalists rally vs. aerial pesticide spray in Davao

Members of Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spray and National Task force Against Aerial Spraying protested Monday, August 24, 2009 at the Department of Health and urged DOH Secretary Francisco Duque to urgently "end poison rain" by banning aerial spraying in banana plantations in Davao. The DOH recommended earlier that aerial spraying of pesticides be stopped based on a study they commissioned showing traces of pesticides and carcinogenic substances in the blood of residents affected by the spray. (AKP Images / Gigie Cruz)

University of the Philippines mulls new course on poverty reduction

The Philippines can’t wait for a proposal of a group of scientists and educators to take off - that is to establish a course on poverty reduction. The Department of Science and Technology’ National Academy of Science and Technology and University of the Philippines raised the possibility to open such course under UP Open University program hoping that poverty and hunger in the country will be addressed. (Photo by AKP Images / Gigie Cruz)

Mindanao Examiner TV Week In Review June 1-6, 2009

Activists hold rally in Davao City, protest proposed Charter change

Political activists hold a rally in front of the field office of House Speaker Prospero Nograles in Davao City on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. They say Nograles, 1st District Representative of Davao City, is one of the promoters of charter change. The House of Representatives has approved the HR 1109 which empowers them to convene itself into a Constitutional Assembly to amend the 1987 Constitution without the participation of the Senate. (Photo by AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Journey's Arnel Pineda On A Peace Mission In Mindanao

JOURNEY FOR PEACE. Journey’s vocalist Arnel Pineda speaks to a huge crowd in the village of San Jose in General Santos City in the southern Philippines during his visit Tuesday, April 28, 2009. Pineda also led a feeding program and sang with the children. The visit is an initiative of the Act for Peace to bring celebrities in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao to help promote peace in the region. The village of San Jose is a declared peace and development community organized by Act for Peace. It was once a battleground of government forces and Moro National Liberation Front rebels in the 1970s. (AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Mercury: Don't Burn, Don't Dump!

Members of the Community Theatre group called Mascomthea join "BAN Toxics" in calling the public's attention not to dump and burn mercury-containing devices like Compact Fluorescent Lamps and thermometers which is toxic to both health and the environment. The groups also call for the implementation of a proper disposal system for hazardous wastes like mercury. (AKP Images / Photo by Gigie Cruz)

Filipinos protest landfill projects in 3 areas

Wearing black veil, community groups affected by proposed and existing landfill projects from San Mateo, Cavite and Navotas in the Philippines hold a protest in front of the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to mourn the continuous contamination of watersheds and foreshore areas brought by the unabated dumping of mixed waste and construction of waste disposal facilities in their communities. The group calls for the genuine and environment-friendly solution to the country’s garbage problem. (AKP Images / Gigie Cruz)

Summer fun in Davao City

Residents in the southern Philippine city of Davao flock to the beach on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. (AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Marcopper mining disaster remembered in the Philippines

Thousands of people from different villages and municipalities of Marinduque province in Luzon Island joined the sandbagging of Mogpog river bank in Bocboc village in Mogpog town on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 to prevent further flooding in the area due to heavily silted riverbed from the toxic mine tailings from the tailings dam of Marcopper Mining Corporation. The event also commemorates the 13th year anniversary of the 1996 Marcopper mining disaster that inundated the Boac River by toxic mine tailing, causing hazards to the environment and health of the residents. (AKP IMAGES / Buck Pago)

Marinduque, Philippines – Filipinos on Tuesday commemorated the 13th anniversary of the Marcopper mining disaster that inundated the Boac River with tons of toxic mine tailings, inflicting health, economic and environmental hazards to the locals.

The toxic mine tailings killed the river and the tragedy was considered the most dreadful legacy of large scale mining disaster in the country’s history.
This year’s activity drew attention to the heavily silted Mogpog River that flooded the village of Bocboc only last month. The river bed sits at same level of elevation as the community due to siltation.

In solidarity with the communities of Mogpog, villagers from the municipalities of Boac, Gasan, Buenavista, and Santa Cruz have banded together to help put sandbags along the river banks to prevent future flooding.

The Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC) spearheaded the sandbagging participated by more than 1,000 residents, including mayors Senen Livelo of Mogpog and Meynardo Solomon, of Boac municipalities.

The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Phils. (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils.) attended the event in solidarity with the people of Marinduque.

Those who joined in the sandbagging were surprised to see soldiers and policemen also participating in building a temporary dike.

Provincial environmentalist Danilo Quirejero lauded the efforts of the community and acknowledged the need to solve the main problem which is the real and continuing threat of the Maguila-guila tailings dam that until today contains millions of cubic meters of toxic tailings.

He said the unity of the people to protect their environment was overwhelming that some 2,000 sandbags were filled and served as a temporary dike.

In Quezon City, indigenous peoples, peasants and non-government organizations under the pro-environment group called Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), staged a symbolic sandbagging of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) main office on Tuesday as their way of commemorating the mining disaster.

“It has been thirteen years since the drainage tunnel plug of the San Antonio pit failed, discharging its toxic contents into the Boac and Makulapnit rivers, effectively killing all life therein. Prior to this disaster, Marcopper was also responsible for spilling mine tailings and other chemicals into the Mogpog River when the Maguila-guila Dam broke at the height of typhoon Monang in December 1993,” Ronald Gregorio, of the LRC, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

“The people of Marinduque continue to suffer the destructive effects of mining in their province even as justice continues to elude them. The Marinduque case demonstrates our government’s failure to protect its citizens from large scale mining companies who violate our laws and environmental and safety standards with impunity,” Gregorio said.

LRC said that prior to the 1993 Marcopper mining disaster; the Mogpog and Boac Rivers had watered crops like coconut, banana and cassava. The rivers also provided an invaluable source of food to residents.

“Today, the people of Marinduque are conducting sandbagging operations along the Mogpog due to fears of a possible overflow of the heavily silted river. Almost two decades after the tragedy, Marinduque is still dealing with the aftermath. This is illustrative of the long term negative impacts of large-scale mining operations which unfortunately our government is vigorously promoting,” said Jaybee Garganera, ATM National Coordinator.

“While the people of Marinduque conduct sandbagging operations in response to the threat of flooding from the same dam that caused the infamous disaster of 1993, ATM is sandbagging the DENR to symbolize the threat it poses to other communities due to its leadership’s ill-advised, all-out support for mining,” Garganera added.

ATM is currently holding a week-long Anti-Mining Solidarity protests to dramatize growing opposition to large-scale mining all over the country.

Murdered Philippine rebel leader's daughter laid to rest

At least 3,000 people joined the funeral march of the 20-year daughter of New People’s Army rebel leader Leoncio Pitao, also known as Commander Parago, in Davao City in the southern Philippines on Saturday, March 14, 2009. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and former Bayan Muna Representative Joel Virador were also spotted among the huge crowd that paid their last respect. The woman’s family blamed the military for the brutal murder. Her father linked 11 military intelligence agents in the murder. Rebelyn Pitao is cremated. (AKP Images / Keith Bacongco and Ruby Thursday More)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 14, 2009) – Some 3,000 people joined the funeral march Saturday of a murdered teacher, the daughter of one of the Philippines’ top communist rebel leader in Davao City in Mindanao.

Many were chanting anti-government slogan and blaming the military for the brutal murder of Rebelyn Pitao, whose father Leoncio Pitao, also known as Kumander Parago, is on top of the government’s most wanted man.

The woman’s father is chieftain of the NPA’s Pulang Bagani Command, one of the most feared by soldiers in Mindanao.

Pitao’s daughter was found dead March 5, a day after she was abducted in Davao City. Her naked body was found floating in a shallow creek in the village of San Isidro in Davao del Norte’s Carmen town. Her body bore torture marks and was believed raped before she was stabbed in the chest.Hr father tagged 11 military agents as behind the murder, an accusation strongly denied by the authorities.

Communist rebels vowed those involved in the killing, four of them have already been identified as Sergeants Adan Sulao and Ben Tipait of the Armed Forces’ Military Intelligence Group XI and Corporal Alvin Bitang of the Military Intelligence Battalion (MIB) of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division, and Orly Pedregosa, another intelligence agent.

“These fascist agents are believed to have carried out this dastardly crime in accordance with instructions from higher ups in their desperate campaign to shatter the determination of Commander Parago and his fellow NPA Red fighters in advancing the people’s revolution,” the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement.

“These suspects should be sought and arrested so they could undergo investigation by duly authorized revolutionary authorities and face criminal charges,” the CPP said.

The CPP also held the highest officials of the Arroyo government and the AFP responsible for the murder of Rebelyn.

“Ultimately, it is Gloria Arroyo and her top fascist henchmen who are to blame for the crimes against Rebelyn Pitao. Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya 2 has long regarded civilians as targets of military operations including killings, abductions, torture and other forms of fascism. This has now been most hideously extended to apply as well to loved ones and relatives of armed revolutionaries the fascists cannot get hold of.”

Oplan Bantay Laya is the government anti-insurgency campaign in the country.

The CPP also dismissed as “empty rhetoric” the pronouncements of President Arroyo and her defense officials that it is investigating the murder of Rebelyn.

“How can the Arroyo and her factotums be sincere in seeking justice for Rebelyn’s murder when they have, in fact, made this inevitable in the strategy, tactics and course of their counter-revolutionary war? By commending, promoting and rewarding her notorious fascist generals, Arroyo has in fact directly encouraged the Armed Forces of the Philippines to engage in such brutal and dastardly crimes,” it said.

”Rebelyn’s murder highlights the Arroyo regime’s innumerable crimes against unarmed civilians who are invariably regarded by the military and its counter-insurgency strategists as combatants in the raging civil war,” the CPP said.

The Army’s 10th Infantry Division said it has already restricted to Bitang and Pedrogosa so they can answer any investigations into the killing of Pitao’s daughter.

The two soldiers, who were former NPA rebels, denied accusations against them, said Capt. Rosa Manuel, a regional army spokeswoman. (Mindanao Examiner)

Filipino Women March In Davao City, Demand Jobs

Militant women march on major thoroughfares of Davao City in the southern Philippines on Monday, March 9, 2009 as a belated commemoration of the International Women’s Day.

(AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

MNLF Members Gather For Summit With Nur Misuari In Mindanao

Some 10,000 members of the Moro National Liberation Front from different parts of Mindanao gathered at the football field of Agro-Industrial Foundation College of the Philippines in Davao City on Saturday, March 7, 2009 for their 3rd Grand Summit with MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari. (AKP Images / Ruby Thursday More)