Showing posts with label Growth with Equity in Mindanao. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Growth with Equity in Mindanao. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Philippine Speaker Turns To Mindanao Leaders Over Peace In Troubled Region
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
USAID Headquarters Attacked In Southern Philippines, 3 Wounded!
COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 25 Apr) – A grenade attack in the restive southern Philippine region of Mindanao injured three people working for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), officials said on Wednesday.
Major General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Infantry Division, said one of two grenades exploded in front of the USAID office in North Cotabato’s Pikit town.
“Three people – two engineers and a contractor, all Filipinos – were injured in the blast and we are still investigating the motive of the attack. We have strengthened security in the province and other areas where foreign aid workers are operating,” Ferrer told the regional Mindanao Examiner newspaper.
The attack, he said, occurred late Tuesday. "One of two grenades lobbed at the USAID office exploded," he said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The three victims – Mario Tabaosares, 26; Alfredo Cabardo, 53, both engineers, and Damrod Dalandangan, 28, -- were rushed to hospital.
The three men were working on a USAID program called Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM). It aims to accelerate economic growth in the region and help assure that as many people as possible benefit from the economic growth and that the benefits are equitably distributed.
GEM also help bring about and consolidate peace in Mindanao. It was unknown if the attack would affect US aid in the southern Philippines. The United States, Australia and Canada have warned of impending attacks in Mindanao and told their citizens not to travel to the southern Philippines because of heightened terror activities.
But the Philippine military on Tuesday said it has no reports about an impending terror attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mindanao.
“It is relatively peaceful in many parts of Mindanao. We have not received reports about any specific threats,” a military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro.
But a bomb explosion injured person last Sunday in Midsayap town in the troubled North Cotabato province.
Authorities said the bomb, assembled from a mortar rocket rigged to a timer, exploded on a roadside, wounding a woman. Police held two people in connection with the attack.
A man was also killed after a bomb he was transporting exploded in Cotabato City.
Last week, Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to Al-Qaeda, beheaded six construction workers and a fisherman they kidnapped in Parang town in Jolo island.
The beheading came just four days after Jolo governor Benjamin Loong rejected the Abu Sayyaf demand of five million pesos ransom in exchange for the lives of the hostages, six of them were workers of the politician in his construction firm. (With reports from Mark Navales and Juley Reyes)
Major General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Infantry Division, said one of two grenades exploded in front of the USAID office in North Cotabato’s Pikit town.
“Three people – two engineers and a contractor, all Filipinos – were injured in the blast and we are still investigating the motive of the attack. We have strengthened security in the province and other areas where foreign aid workers are operating,” Ferrer told the regional Mindanao Examiner newspaper.
The attack, he said, occurred late Tuesday. "One of two grenades lobbed at the USAID office exploded," he said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The three victims – Mario Tabaosares, 26; Alfredo Cabardo, 53, both engineers, and Damrod Dalandangan, 28, -- were rushed to hospital.
The three men were working on a USAID program called Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM). It aims to accelerate economic growth in the region and help assure that as many people as possible benefit from the economic growth and that the benefits are equitably distributed.
GEM also help bring about and consolidate peace in Mindanao. It was unknown if the attack would affect US aid in the southern Philippines. The United States, Australia and Canada have warned of impending attacks in Mindanao and told their citizens not to travel to the southern Philippines because of heightened terror activities.
But the Philippine military on Tuesday said it has no reports about an impending terror attacks by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Mindanao.
“It is relatively peaceful in many parts of Mindanao. We have not received reports about any specific threats,” a military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro.
But a bomb explosion injured person last Sunday in Midsayap town in the troubled North Cotabato province.
Authorities said the bomb, assembled from a mortar rocket rigged to a timer, exploded on a roadside, wounding a woman. Police held two people in connection with the attack.
A man was also killed after a bomb he was transporting exploded in Cotabato City.
Last week, Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to Al-Qaeda, beheaded six construction workers and a fisherman they kidnapped in Parang town in Jolo island.
The beheading came just four days after Jolo governor Benjamin Loong rejected the Abu Sayyaf demand of five million pesos ransom in exchange for the lives of the hostages, six of them were workers of the politician in his construction firm. (With reports from Mark Navales and Juley Reyes)
Monday, November 27, 2006
RP-US Officials Inspect Development Projects In Mindanao
Ethnic tribespeople dance in Mindanao to ward off bad spirits and invite forest spirits for bountiful harvest. (Mindanao Examiner/Mark Navales)
COTABATO CITY – Two senior Filipino and American officials have inspected various development projects jointly undertaken by the Philippine and US governments in Mindanao and both were impressed by the gains of peace and accelerated economic growth in the southern island.
Romulo Neri, Director General of the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority and Jon Lindborg, Philippines’ Director of the US Agency for International Development, visited different parts of Mindanao, including Muslim autonomous region and other conflict-affected areas during the two-day trip that ended Nov. 25.
Among the programs visited by the NEDA-USAID team was the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM Program), which has been USAID’s flagship activity in Mindanao since 1996.
GEM is an umbrella program under which USAID is able to support a wide range of activities, including small infrastructure projects, livelihood assistance to former MNLF combatants, strengthening of business organizations, and opening international markets for Mindanao products -- all intended to contribute to peace and development in Mindanao.
GEM is implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council. The visitors participated in ceremonies which turned over several computers and internet connections from the GEM-CLIC project to Manongol High School in Kidapawan City in South Cotabato province and a community center under the GEM-BIP project to a village called Poblacion 5 in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province.
Neri and Lindborg also visited projects of the Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy project (AMORE) which provides solar and micro-hydro electrification to remote areas such as the village of Linandangan in Pagalungan town in Maguindanao.
They also visited education programs in the village of Poblacion Dos in Midsayap under USAID’s Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Project.
Regional government officials and USAID implementing partners briefed Neri and Lindborg on programs for health services, internally displaced persons, and environmental governance.
From 2001-2006, Washington provided more than 60% of USAID assistance to the country or approximately $260 million to reinforce Philippine government efforts to secure a lasting peace and build a better life for the people of Mindanao.
Other US programs to Manila include military assistance to enhance the professionalism of Armed Forces of the Philippines and to strengthen its ability to respond to a range of modern threats, including domestic and international terrorists; assistance for law enforcement; and food aid for the modernization of Philippine agriculture. (With a report from Mark Navales/Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, October 20, 2006
Kidnapped US Aid Worker, 3 Others Freed In Jolo
A government soldier helps carry the bags Friday 20 Oct 2006 of four kidnapped Filipinos freed by gunmen in Jolo island in the southern Philippines. The four -- engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were kidnapped Tuesday after inspecting a road construction project in Parang town. (Mindanao Examiner/Darwin Wee)JOLO ISLAND(Juan Magtanggol / 20 Oct) – Gunmen on Friday freed all four Filipinos, including a US aid worker, kidnapped on the troubled island of Jolo , officials said.
The victims engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were brought to a military hospital in Zamboanga City where doctors examined them.
The four were kidnapped on Tuesday by their own bodyguards for a still unknown reason.Troops tracking down the kidnappers spotted the four victims walking on a village near the boundaries of Parang and Indanan towns, said Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island.
"The kidnappers freed the hostages without ransom because of mounting military pressure," Sealana told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the kidnappers freed the hostages before a 24-hour military ultimatum for their release was to end on Friday. He said villagers angered by the incident also threatened to seize the families and relatives of the kidnappers if they don't free the four men.
But the regional police chief Joel Goltiao told reporters that the four had escaped from their captors late Wednesday. "They were able to escape from their captor; that is what they told the police," Goltiao said.
Secy. Jesus Dureza, a Presidential peace adviser, said the four would soon be reunited with their families. "They are free again," he said.
The four men were seized Tuesday by their own bodyguards in Parang town after inspecting a Washington-funded road project near Biid village.
Sealana said soldiers were hunting down the kidnappers on the island. "There is an operation going on. Soldiers are tracking down the kidnappers," he said.
One of the freed victim said the kidnappers demanded at least P30 million ransoms in exchange for their freedom. "The kidnappers asked P20 million from me and my companion and another P10 million from Rivera," Rubio said.
Rivera's group was working on a road construction in Parang town, while Rubio and Bautista, who arrived on Tuesday from Manila, were only inspecting the project. The US Embassy in Manila has condemned the kidnappings.
A contingent of US troops is in Jolo and training local soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare.It was not immediately known whether the bodyguards had links with the Abu Sayyaf or not. The Abu Sayyaf group is active on the island and has kidnapped many Filipino and foreigners in the past in exchange for money. Some of their victims who failed to pay ransom were beheaded. (With reports from Darwin Wee and Uly Israel in Zamboanga City)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Tokyo Sends Expert To Join International Truce Observers In Strife-Torn Mindanao
MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Oct) – A senior Japanese official arrived Thursday in Manila to join a group of international truce observers deployed in the mineral-rich, but dangerous region of Mindanao.
Masafumi Nagaishi, an economic development expert, is heading for Cotabato City in Maguindanao province next week to begin his year-long tour of duty as Japan plays an important role in the peace process in the troubled southern region.
Nagaishi was head of the Disaster Management Team of the Global Environment Division of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Tokyo prior to his new assignment.
Manila is currently negotiating peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state in Mindanao.
Nagaishi will also assess reconstruction needs and development projects in conflict-affected areas in the south as part of the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team (IMT).
His work will focus on monitoring the socio-economic aspect of the peace process and work closely with the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), the rehabilitation and development arm of the MILF.
Japan Foreign Minister Taro Aso who visited the Philippines in July said the commitment is part of Tokyo’s peace effort in Mindanao. Japan is a major aid donor to the Philippines.
Aside from the MILF, the communist New People's Army rebels and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the Southeast Asia terror network, Jemaah Islamiya, are also actively operating in Mindanao.(Mindanao Examiner)
No Ransom, No Negotiations For Kidnapped US Aid Worker, 3 Others In Jolo Island
JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Oct) - The Philippine military on Thursday said it would not negotiate or pay ransom in exchange for the safe release of four people, one of them a US aid worker, kidnapped in the southern island of Jolo, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf militants, blamed by authorities for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the restive region.
"We are firm in the government's no ransom policy and we don't negotiate with kidnappers," Army Captain Noel Abello, the acting spokesman of the military's Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island, said the four were seized Tuesday by their own bodyguards in Parang town after inspecting a Washington-funded road project near Biid village.
Sealana said engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were being held on the island, about 950 km south of Manila.
He said the victims were returning to their base in Jolo town when six of their native bodyguards seized them for a still unknown reason.
But the island's governor Benjamin Loong has formed a negotiating team to seek the freedom of the four men.
"They are trying to open up negotiations with the kidnappers. We don't know of any breakthrough as this time as far as the negotiation is concerned," Sealana said in a separate interview.
He said the kidnappers were moving from one hideout to another in the towns of Parang, Indanan and Maimbung to avoid detection by the military.
Leaders of the former rebel group, Moro National Liberation Front, also contacted the military on Thursday to say that they will not provide sanctuary to the kidnappers and have ordered its forces to rescue the four men should they stray in areas where the MNLF is operating, Sealana said.
He said troops are tracking down the kidnappers. "There is no way out of this mess, but for the kidnappers to free all the four hostages without ransom or demands," he said.
Rivera's group was working on a road construction in Parang town, while Rubio and Bautista, who arrived on Tuesday from Manila, were only inspecting the project.
The US Embassy in Manila has condemned the kidnappings. A contingent of US troops is in Jolo and training local soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare.
It was not immediately known whether the bodyguards had links with the Abu Sayyaf or not.
The Abu Sayyaf group is active on the island and has kidnapped many Filipino and foreigners in the past in exchange for money.
Some of their victims who failed to pay ransom were beheaded. (Mindanao Examiner)
"We are firm in the government's no ransom policy and we don't negotiate with kidnappers," Army Captain Noel Abello, the acting spokesman of the military's Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island, said the four were seized Tuesday by their own bodyguards in Parang town after inspecting a Washington-funded road project near Biid village.
Sealana said engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were being held on the island, about 950 km south of Manila.
He said the victims were returning to their base in Jolo town when six of their native bodyguards seized them for a still unknown reason.
But the island's governor Benjamin Loong has formed a negotiating team to seek the freedom of the four men.
"They are trying to open up negotiations with the kidnappers. We don't know of any breakthrough as this time as far as the negotiation is concerned," Sealana said in a separate interview.
He said the kidnappers were moving from one hideout to another in the towns of Parang, Indanan and Maimbung to avoid detection by the military.
Leaders of the former rebel group, Moro National Liberation Front, also contacted the military on Thursday to say that they will not provide sanctuary to the kidnappers and have ordered its forces to rescue the four men should they stray in areas where the MNLF is operating, Sealana said.
He said troops are tracking down the kidnappers. "There is no way out of this mess, but for the kidnappers to free all the four hostages without ransom or demands," he said.
Rivera's group was working on a road construction in Parang town, while Rubio and Bautista, who arrived on Tuesday from Manila, were only inspecting the project.
The US Embassy in Manila has condemned the kidnappings. A contingent of US troops is in Jolo and training local soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare.
It was not immediately known whether the bodyguards had links with the Abu Sayyaf or not.
The Abu Sayyaf group is active on the island and has kidnapped many Filipino and foreigners in the past in exchange for money.
Some of their victims who failed to pay ransom were beheaded. (Mindanao Examiner)
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