Photo: US Military Plane Flies Over Southern Philippines

A US military cargo plane flies Thursday, January 23, 2008 over Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, where American and Filipino troops are to begin a new joint military training next month. Thousands of Muslims and militant groups are opposing the presence of US troops in Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago. Last month, US troops forcibly ordered the nightly closure of a government hospital in Sulu's Panamao town for fear that rebels would target their camp near the hospital. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Jun Delgado)

Photo: Fr Jesus Reynaldo Roda, OMI

Members of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate carry Wednesday, January 23, 2008 the casket containing the remains of their slain companion, Fr Jesus Reynaldo Roda, to their congregation's private burial ground in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Shariff Kabunsuan province in southern Philippines. Roda, killed on January 15 in a botched kidnapping in Tawi-Tawi province is laid to rest in an emotional ceremony attended by some 20,000 Muslim and Christian mourners. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Jerick Wee)

The Mindanao Examiner Photo: Zamboanga City Government Vehicle At Night!

A vehicle of the Zamboanga City's General Services Office with license plate SGT-868 is parked Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 at Alfaro street in Tetuan village. Local government cars are often used either to bring children to schools or as personal vehicles by city employees. The use of government vehicles is prohibited unless for official business. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: Philippine Bomb Experts Defuse IED In Cotabato City

Bomb experts inspect a motorcycle rigged with explosives in Cotabato City in southern Philippines. Former Muslim rebel-turned-politician Mayor Muslimin Sema looks at the defused explosive planted in Cotabato City last week. The city has been previously bombed by Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya terrorists (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Mark Navales)

Photo: Philippine Soldiers Clean Zamboanga Beach

Dozens of government soldiers join a recent clean-up drive along a beach in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines as part of the celebration of the National Clean-Up month. The campaign, headed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is joined by the Western Mindanao Command, the Philippine Air Force, the Army and the Navy.(David Las Marias)

Hunt For Moro Rebels Continue In Southern Philippines

Policemen hunt Moro rebels tagged as behind the beheading of ten of 14 Marines in the southern Filipino island of Basilan. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 01 Aug) – Police searched on Wednesday for Moro rebels suspected of beheading ten of 14 marines in the southern Filipino island of Basilan.

The island’s police chief, Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, said they are monitoring possible hideouts of the rebels after failing to arrest them Tuesday.

Police filed murder charges against 130 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf militants tagged in the beheading of the soldiers.

Some 300 heavily armed policemen, backed by armored troop transport with mounted machine guns, searched in remote villages in Al-Barka town Tuesday to serve the arrest warrants against the rebels, but the suspects were gone along with all the residents.

"We are conducting intelligence operations. We will look for them in all corners of Basilan," Macapantar said told the Mindanao Examiner.

He added that some of the suspects might have left Basilan while others were given sanctuary by their relatives.

The MILF, which is negotiating peace with the Arroyo government, denied beheading the soldiers and called for an international human rights group to investigate the incident.

The fighting erupted after some 100 soldiers entered an MILF territory in search for a kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi after military intelligence reports said the clergy was being held by rogue MILF rebels.

The reports turned out to be false because Bossi was freed by rebels July 19 in Lanao del Norte province in Mindanao island. The priest said he was never brought to Basilan, but stayed most of his captivity in the town called Karomatan.

Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has demanded the MILF to surrender those involved in the killing and return the weapons it seized, but the MILF was defiant and said it would not yield any of its fighters.

Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, said the fighting was a legitimate encounter and warned any attack on the rebel group could escalate and may hurt the seven year old peace talks.

Filipino acting Defense chief Norberto Gonzales has threatened to launch punitive actions against the MILF in Basilan if they do not surrender the rebels behind the murder.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting the past three decades for a separate homeland in the restive southern region of Mindanao. (Mark Navales)

Photo: Clouds Over South RP

Clouds over southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: A Man Peddles Exotic Durian In Zamboanga City

An unidentified man peddles his durian along R.T. Lim Blvd. in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. This larger-than-life fruit of the Malaysian tree can weigh up to 10 pounds, has a brownish-green, semi-hard shell covered with thick spikes, and is slightly larger than a football. To all but its Southeast Asian fans, the durian has a nauseating smell, a truth attested to by the fact that it's been outlawed by many airlines ans hotels. The creamy, slightly sweet flesh, however, has an exquisitely rich, custard-like texture. Fresh durian can also be frozen, canned and preserved. It is considered as an aphrodisiac in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: US Ambassador Kristie Kenney Visits Restive Southern Philippine Province

Malaysian Maj. Gen. Dato Mohammad Ismael Bin Ahmad Khan, left, head of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) looks as US Ambassador Kristie Kenney shakes hands with IMT truce observers in Cotabato City during a visit in Maguindanao province from July 9-10, 2007. Kenney, together with security and Muslim autonomous government officials and Mindanao Examiner Bureau Chief Mark Navales also visited US sailors aboard the USS Peleliu in Maguindanao province in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service/Mark Navales)

Photo: When Protagonists Work Together For Peace...

Members of the Philippines and Moro Islamic Liberation Front Coordinationg Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities and the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team donate school bags and supplies to students of the Rangeban Elementary School in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province on Saturday, July 7, 2007. Shown in the photo are MILF Secretariat Rashid Ladiasan, GRP-CCCH chief Brigadier General Edgardo Gurrea and the coordinator of Mindanao Peace Program of Malaysia, Isheia Abubakar and Maj. Gen. Dato Md Ismael Bin Ahmad Khan, head of the IMT. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service/Mark Navales)

Abu Sayyaf Assassins Killed In Clash In Southern Philippines

Photos of the two Sailani brothers, Anni and Iting, who were killed in a clash in Basilan island in the southern Philippines. The two men were implicated in the spate of terrorism and killings of soldiers and policemam, including a news photographer, in the restive Jolo island. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 21 Jun) – Philippine soldiers gunned down two notorious Abu Sayyaf assassins long wanted by authorities for the spate of killings and terrorism in the troubled southern region, officials said on Thursday.

Officials said soldiers, aided by civilian informants, stormed an Abu Sayyaf hideout and killed brothers Anni and Iting Sailani in a clash Wednesday afternoon in Basilan island. A son of Iting Sailani was also wounded in the fighting.

“The two brothers were ruthless killers. They were behind the spate of killings of soldiers and policemen and even a journalist,” a regional army spokesman, Major Eugene Batara, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

The brothers were implicated in dozens of killings, including the murder of news photographer Gene Boyd Lumawag, who was shot in the head by a lone sniper on November 12, 2004 while on assignment for the local news agency Mindanews on Jolo island.

The Filipino government offered six million pesos rewards for their capture dead or alive.

Aged 26, Lumawag was preparing a report on Aid al-Fitr, the Muslim festivity that marks the end of Ramadan. He was hit by a 45mm bullet in the forehead as he was heading towards the pier in the town of Jolo to photograph the sunset, according to the media watch group, Reporters Without Borders.

Lumawag was one of dozens of reporters murdered and wounded in line of duty in the Philippines, tagged as the most dangerous place for journalist after Iraq. (Mindanao Examiner)

Photo: Mangrove Used As Firewood

A village store in Jolo island sells mangrove. Illegal cutting of mangrove in the southern Philippine island of Jolo (top photo) in Sulu Archipelago and Zamboanga City in Mindanao continues unabatedly and authorities do nothing to stop the locals from destroying the marine habitat of many animals and fishers. The wood is used as firewood and sells five pesos ($0.10) a bundle. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: MILF Rebels In Southern Philippines

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Photo: Philippine Navy Officer Antonio Trillanes IV

A picture of a detained coup leader, navy officer, Antonio Trillanes IVis displayed inside a tightly guarded Philippine Air Force base in Zamboanga City. Trillanes is running for senator in May 14 elections with politicians opposed to President Gloria Arroyo's rule. Trillanes is one of many military officers accused of trying to oust Arroyo during the so-called Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: RP Police Released Sketches Of Suspected Bombers

Police Supt. Joel B. Limson, Tacurong City police chief, shows Wednesday, 09 May 2007, cartographic sketches of four suspected bombers in Tacurong City in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat. The military says as many as ten people are killed in the blast at a billiard hall on Tuesday.(Mindanao Examiner Photo Service/Mark Navales)

Photo: Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighter

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Photo: Scorching Heat

An unidentified man covers himself with umbrella and a cardboard from the scorching heat Thursday 19 Apr 2007 in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga. Filipino weather experts warn of hotter condition ahead and a possible heatwave because of climate change. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: Malaysian Peace Maker

Lieutenant Colonel Razun Bin Abubakar, team leader of Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team deployed in the Zamboanga Peninsula and other truce observers, pose for photo with Superintendent Manuel Barcena, chief of the Zamboanga City police force, during a visit Wednesday, 18 Apr 2007. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Ely Dumaboc)

Photo: Scavengers Feast On Aftermath Of Zambo Fire

Dozens of scavengers dig for scraps Saturday, 14 Apr 2007, on what is left of a commercial building burned in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Photo: Pagadian City News Stands

In Pagadian City in southern Philippines, two of major newspaper stands sell the Mindanao Examiner. With general circulation in the Muslim autonomous region, Cebu, Davao, Manila and Zamboanga Peninsula, the independent Mindanao Examiner is one of the fastest growing weekly newspaper in the southern Philippines.