Photo: Children In Dangerous Jobs In The Philippines

A boy dangerously hangs from a rail of this commuter jeep driven by his father in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines on Friday, November 14, 2008 as he collects fare from passengers, while his brother sits atop the vehicle. Child labor is recognized as a serious problem in the Philippines and based on the 2007 sub-regional multiple indicator cluster survey conducted by the National Statistic Office and the United Nation Children's Emergency Fund, some 830,000 children in the Philippines, or 16% of all children, are classified as child laborers. Of these, about 670,000 children both attend school and work as child laborers. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Photo: In Grave Danger

An unidentified motorcycle driver puts the life of this child in grave danger as she barely holds the man's shirt to prevent her from falling as they pass through a traffic Thursday, September 25, 2008 in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Grand Ma, 4 Kids Perish In Fire In Southern RP

BUKIDNON (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jun) – A grandmother and four of her nieces died in a fire after being trapped inside their house in the southern Philippine province of Bukidnon, police said Monday.

Police said the five were not able to get of their burning room in the village of Agusan, in Manolo Fortich town at the weekend.

Arson investigators blamed faulty electrical wiring connection as the cause of the fire.

Police said neighbors tried, but failed to rescue the victims because of the fire had engulfed the whole house.

The children were aged between 5 and 10 and their parents were out of the house when the fire broke out before midnight. (Romy Bwaga)

Breaking News: Four Children Of Jemaah Islamiya Bomber Now In Philippine Custody

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 11 May) – The Philippine military on Friday said it has in custody four children of Jemaah Islamiya bomber Dulmatin, tagged as behind the deadly Bali bombing in 2002.

Filipino soldiers tracked down the children in the southern island of Tawi-Tawi near the Sabah border. “We have in custody the four children of Dulmatin,” a regional army spokesman Maj. Eugene Batara told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

He did not say whether more people had been arrested or if the children or their guardians were planning to escape to Sabah.

The children were previously thought to be hiding with the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo island, where Dulmatin’s wife, Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, and her two children had been arrested in October last year.

It was unknown how the soldiers tracked down the children.

Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman, is one of several Indonesian terrorists, including Umar Patek, hiding in Jolo island with the Abu Sayyaf. Dulmatin and Patek are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed.

The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs.

The group was largely blamed by Philippine authorities in a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 and wounded more than 100 people. One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.

The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qa'eda camps in Afghanistan. He is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization.

Dulmatin fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon after the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. There, he is one of four top JI leaders—including Umar Patek, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub — who trained members of JI and the Abu Sayyaf group in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in the Philippines, according to an Asian terror expert, Zachary Abusa.

In 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek ordered Abdullah Sonata, a JI operative in Central Java who was arrested in connection with the September 4, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, to dispatch additional JI members to Mindanao for training.

He has also called for JI suicide bombers to be sent to the Philippines for operations.

In January, Filipino soldiers killed an Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya militant, Gufran, and five other Filipino Abu Sayyaf members in a clash at sea off Tawi-Tawi while trying to escape to Sabah. (Mindanao Examiner)

U.S Embassy Plays Santa To Charity Children

U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney helps children decorate holiday trees at the American Embassy in Manila.

MANILA – American officials welcomed Filipino children from four local charity centers for an afternoon of holiday tree decorating, snacks, and fun at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippine capital.

The Consular Section, whose staff processes nonimmigrant and immigrant visas to the United States and assists American citizens in need, sponsored last week the holiday tree decorating contest to benefit the charities, an Embassy statement said.

It said each charity received a tree decorated with traditional ornaments and garlands, as well as school supplies, toiletries, and toys for the children.

The event was the first of its kind at the American Embassy, and U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney helped the children decorate the holiday trees. The Embassy’s nearly 200 Consular staff members split into four groups, each taking charge of decorating a tree for and with children from the four local charities.

The charities also benefit from regular visits and donations by U.S. Embassy staff through the Embassy Club, a volunteer group composed of U.S. Embassy employees and family members that work with area charities and volunteer organizations, it said.

During the event, the U.S. Embassy Consular Section staff was treated to a performance of gymnastics, holiday songs, and dancing by the attending children.

Consular officers and staff then delivered the trees and supplies to each charity for their enjoyment during the holiday season. Members of the Embassy’s Consular section donated money and supplies to help in decorating the trees.

he St. Luke’s Hospital in Manila also donated several boxes of vitamins to the four charities. The Pan Pacific, Hyatt, and Traders hotels donated food for the event.

The four children’s charities attending the special event were: The Friendship Home, a center for underprivileged children in Malate district that offers wholesome meals; a safe environment to study and play; academic encouragement; and learning programs for more than 80 children; The Little Children’s Home in Rizal province for newborns and babies waiting to be adopted. The home’s Birthing Center trains midwives and cares for indigent, expectant mothers, providing classes on prenatal care, parenting, and family planning.

The Little Sisters of the Assumption run three projects in Pasay City focusing on livelihood, healthcare, and education for preschoolers and the Trichet Learning Center offers schooling and mainstreaming skills to children with autism and Down’s syndrome from the poorer families of Metro Manila. More than 200 students attend classes daily.