ARMM, A Failure; Ex-Philippines Defense Chief Calls For Referendum

MANILA, Philippines - Former Defense chief Gilbert Teodoro described the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as a “systemic failure” and called for a referendum among its five provinces to determine whether the autonomous region should continue to exist as is.

“The results speak for themselves,” said Teodoro, presidential candidate of the administration’s Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats. In a press statement, he also cited the autonomous region’s inability to control violence, a spate of kidnappings and rampant lawlessness.

Last month’s massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, the worst election-related killing in the country, was linked to the powerful Ampatuan clan, a scion of which was the recently replaced governor of ARMM.

Teodoro said that a vote in the ARMM provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur might have to be called to allow stakeholders to review the region’s performance and to decide if the residents there wish the region to continue under the current setup.

“This is very controversial, but I have to say it,” he added in the statement. “We cannot allow the taxpayers to subsidize the operation of an institution that is clearly not working.”

His comments Thursday follow his visit to Buluan town in Maguindanao on Wednesday, his third trip there in as many weeks.

Let people decide

“We must ask the ARMM’s constituents whether they prefer local autonomy or to revert to national government supervision,” said Teodoro.

Established in the 1990s, the ARMM brought self-rule to the Muslim minority instead of secession, the statement said. But autonomy failed dismally to uplift lives in the country’s most depressed region, it added.

More than P12 billion in government funds have been poured into the ARMM coffers for peace and order and economic development, the statement said.

Also in the statement, Teodoro called on the government to conduct a full audit of the funds that were provided to the ARMM in order to determine whether they reached their intended users.

He said that the various sectors and groups in the ARMM must meet to decide whether the autonomous region has proven responsive to their needs.

“It is up to them [stakeholders] whether the ARMM should continue to exist or not,” Teodoro said.

He said that the ARMM should serve a lesson to the government in future decisions that would grant autonomy to any region or province in the country.

“Before granting autonomy, the government must also determine whether the territory or province petitioning for it is really capable of handling responsibilities appurtenant to being an independent entity,” Teodoro added.

Abolishing ARMM

Concerned groups in the ARMM have started calling for the abolition of the ARMM for its failure to address basic social and economic issues, widespread corruption in the local bureaucracy, and coddling by some of its officials of private armed groups.

Republic Act 9054 that created the ARMM in 1990 provides that the autonomous region “shall remain an integral and inseparable part of the national territory of the Republic.” The president of the Philippines exercises general supervision over the regional governor.

The regional government has the power to create its own sources of revenues and to levy taxes, fees, and charges, subject to Constitutional provisions and the provisions of Republic Act 9054.

Reports showed that ARMM remains one of the most impoverished regions in the Philippines. It had a per capita regional gross domestic product of only P3,433 in 2005, more than 75 percent lower than the national average of P14,186.

GDP is the total cost of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.

The ARMM has a population of 4.1 million based on the 2007 census. It is the country’s poorest region, where average annual income was P89,000 in 2006, less than one-third of the Manila level. Poverty incidence in the region was a high 45.4 percent in 2003, almost twice the national average of 24.4 percent.

Philippines Defense chief criticized over statement

MANILA, Philippines - Philippines Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro was on Wednesday criticized for the proposed pre-emptive evacuation of residents during a calamity.

“Secretary Gilberto Teodoro seems more concerned with his publicity points than preventing another disaster where children are most vulnerable,” this is the strong reaction of child rights advocates led by SALINLAHI Alliance for Children’s Concerns, in his recent directive regarding the forced evacuation of minors in the face of another typhoon (international name “Parma”).

“The destruction wrought by typhoon (Ketsana) Ondoy is not a new phenomenon in the Philippines. We witnessed the thousands of lives affected by Milenyo, Rosing and Reming, many of whom come from very poor families with little or no resources at all to cope effectively and quickly in the face of such calamities. The government and its disaster arm, the National Disaster Coordinating Council, know that the Philippines is in the typhoon belt, yet it is always caught flat-footed every time,” said Sophia Garduce, spokesperson of SALINLAHI.

She added that the policy of pre-emptive evacuation and stand-by rescue operation should be implemented long before a typhoon hits land.

Garduce also criticized the idea of forcibly evacuating minors who cannot legally decide for themselves. “This directive by Teodoro is downright stupid and contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which affirms that a child’s place is with his or her parents. Taking children away from their parents in times of crisis is as Neanderthal as the response to unaccompanied and separated children during World War II. In fact, if Teodoro might want to take a few minutes of his time to do research, this situation of children being separated from their parents was the impetus for the Declaration on the Rights of the Child."

According to Garduce, children feel most secure when they are within the comforting arms of their parents, particularly their mothers. “To separate them from their parents in the face of disaster is equally traumatic as the disaster experience itself. It is also impractical as young children need to be cared for by an adequate number of trained personnel,” she said.

She also pointed out that this directive implicitly puts the blame for the death toll among children on the parents. “The Arroyo government cannot escape accountability by implying that the parents of the children were to blame for the deaths."

"The fact is that the government has no disaster preparedness program and that the government rescue operations were slow and inadequate to say the least. These children could have been alive and probably helping their parents clean up their mud-soaked houses today had the government been prepared for this eventuality,” Garduce said.

No law was violated in Lakas-Kampi's announcement of preferred bets in 2010 polls

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Prospero Nograles said the Wednesday meeting of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD Executive Committee where Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno emerged as the preferred presidential and vice-presidential bets of the party in 2010 national polls contravened no law.

The Speaker made the statement following concerns posed by some quarters of the possibility or violations of the election law and a Supreme Court ruling against premature announcement of official candidates.

"Why pick on us?" the House leader asked following the executive committee meeting which conducted an "intelligent and secret consensus taking" vote among the party's leaders nationwide.

Nograles even pointed out possible "hairline" transgressions that could be a concern for other parties who have declared presidential candidates. The administration party, he added, have no officially declared bets yet as the party is still in the selection process.

"We violated nothing. Compare this now with other political parties with declared candidates like the Club Filipino gig of the Liberal Party," Nograles noted.

He also is asking about the nationwide caravan of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino or PMP of former President Joseph Estrada and the barrage of infor-commercials costing hundreds of millions of certain declared presidential candidates.

"Even the so-called live television debates of declared presidential candidates aired by ABS-CBN's ANC channel. Talk shows like Wowowee...the Strictly Politics radio interviews of declared presidential candidates and their countrywide mini-rallies including the launch of campaign contributions dubbed as 'piso-piso' are held even in Davao City and elsewhere," Nograles said.

The SWS Pulse Asia surveys publishing the status of the race of candidates for president and related activities "could be defeating the essence" of our election law relative to the prohibited early campaign activities, he said.

"These acts are designed to promote or defeat a candidate or candidates. Under this legal observation, everyone could be disqualified from running especially those leading in surveys. And that is precisely the heart of dissenting opinions of the now celebrated early campaign doctrine of the Supreme Court," Nograles surmised. (Gil Bugaoisan)

Fractured opposition makes Defense chief a viable administration presidential bet, says House Speaker

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro, left, shakes hands with Governor Sakur Tan during his visit in Sulu province in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

MANILA, Philippines - House Speaker Prospero Nograles said the obviously discordant tunes emanating from the various opposition camps could spell good omen to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro or whoever the administration party, Lakas-Kampi-CMD would finally choose as its standard bearer in 2010.

"Faced with a fractured opposition, Gibo is now emerging as a viable candidate. While the opposition is singing discordant tunes as to their presidential candidate, the administration remains very solid and its machinery remains very intact. This is a welcome and a most likely scenario," Nograles said, but he added that a square-off between Teodoro and Senator Benigno Aquino III in what is dubbed as the "Battle of Tarlac" or a four-cornered fight among Teodoro, Aquino, Senator Chiz Escudero and Senator Manuel Villar will be a very exciting political match.

Teodoro and Aquino are first cousins and are natives of Tarlac province where they both started and nurtured their political careers. Teodoro, Aquino and Escudero on the other hand belongs to the same generation of political leaders.

"These are three young men of the same generation making a political statement for the future. It will be a very exciting match," Nograles said.

This position of Nograles is in sync with the declared preference of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno for Teodoro as his running mate in the 2010 elections as he noted the groundswell of support for the defense chief by key provincial political stalwarts.

Puno said that out of 81 governors nationwide, an overwhelming 49 governors have already committed their support for Teodoro.

"Sec. Teodoro is certainly one of the most viable and able nominees ready to assume leadership," said Nograles, who is also party Vice-Chairman as he pointed out last week's announcement of the administration's standard bearer would now signal Lakas-Kampi's nationwide mobilization to ensure the party's victory in 2010 polls.

In terms of experience, capability, dependability, maturity and leadership, Nograles thinks that "Teodoro is steps ahead among our options," the House leader said. (Gil Bugaoisan)

Arroyo visits wounded troops; condoles with families of slain soldiers in Mindanao

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo condoles Saturday, August 15, 2009 with the family of one of 23 soldiers slain in fierce clashes with the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro rebels in Basilan province. Arroyo also held a closed door command conference with senior military and defense officials at the tightly guarded Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who was with Arroyo, said the President has ordered the military to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 15, 2009) –President Gloria Arroyo arrived in Zamboanga City on Saturday and condoled with the families of soldiers killed in fierce clashes with Abu Sayyaf militants and Moro rebels in the southern province of Basilan.

Arroyo, accompanied by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Armed Forces chief General Victor Ibrado, also visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters where she handed cash assistance

She spoke with the families of the slain soldiers and awarded posthumous medals and money worth more than seven million pesos. Arroyo later presided over a command conference with senior military and police commanders.

Teodoro said the President ordered the military to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings-for-ransom in the southern Philippines.

“The President’s order is to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf,” the Defense Secretary told reporters.

Troops on Wednesday stormed an Abu Sayyaf camp in the village of Silangkum in Basilan’s Ungkaya Pukan town, but security forces also clashed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the neighboring village of Baguindan.

The MILF said soldiers attacked its forces without provocation, an accusation denied by the military. The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in the South. The fighting killed 23 soldiers and 20 militants and rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)

Fighting subsides in southern Philippines; military gives honors to 23 slain soldiers

Family members weep Friday, August 14, 2009 as they view the remains of a soldier inside a gym in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. The military says 23 soldiers and 20 Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in Wednesday fighting in Basilan province.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 14, 2009) – Fighting between troops and Moro rebels subsided in the southern Philippine province of Basilan as the military on Friday gave funeral honors to 23 soldiers killed in the clashes.

“There have been no reports of fighting in Basilan, but military operations against the Abu Sayyaf still continue,” said Marine Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, commander of military forces in Mindanao.

Troops stormed an Abu Sayyaf camp in the hinterland village of Silangkum in Ungkaya Pukan town on Wednesday and seized weapons and improvised explosives. But soldiers also clashed with a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the neighboring village of Baguindan that sparked daylong clashes that also killed 10 gunmen.

The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, accused government soldiers of attacking the rebels. It said troops also mutilated the bodies of three of rebels, including a senior MILF leader, killed in the clashes.

Dolorfino denied the MILF accusations. “That’s not true,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

On Friday, Dolorfino led funeral honors for the slain soldiers in Zamboanga City along with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Armed Forces chief General Victor Ibrado.

Relatives and families of killed soldiers weep as fellow soldiers pay their last respect to the fallen marines and infantrymen. Coffins of soldiers were paraded inside the Western Mindanao Command headquarters where hundreds of soldiers and civilian employees lined up a road leading to the gymnasium where the caskets are put on display for public viewing.

“What did they do to our boy? He’s such a young soldier. He doesn’t deserve this brutality,” cried one woman.

And just across the woman, family members also gathered and weeping around a coffin of a soldier, whose face was deformed because of what looked like a hack wound. Two other caskets were closed to hide the wounds in the faces of the slain soldiers, both marines.

Lieutenant Colonel Gamal Hayudini, commander of the military’s 4th Civil Relations Group, said MILF gunmen engaged government troops, who were pursuing the Abu Sayyaf, in a firefight despite an earlier coordination between the military and the rebel group.

“The government forces were confident with the on-going peace negotiation, thus, making the troops believe that nothing will really happen since the MILF was informed of the pursuit operations but unexpectedly, they engaged in firefight with our forces. The MILF should not mislead the people by always passing on the blame to the government forces,” he said.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is fighting the past three decades for self-determination.

President Gloria Arroyo opened up peace talks with the MILF in 2001 in an effort to put an end to the bloody fighting in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf amnesty proposal demoralizes troops, cops in Southern Philippine

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 15, 2009) – A proposal to grant amnesty or open peace negotiations with the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group is causing a demoralization in the police and military in the southern Philippines.

Senator Richard Gordon has proposed to grant amnesty to the terrorist group after the recent release of kidnapped Italian aid worker Eugenio Vagni after six months in captivity in the southern island of Sulu.

Sulu deputy governor Nur Ana Sahidulla also said that Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad told her that they are open for talks on amnesty. The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for the spate of kidnappings-for-ransom and bombings in the Mindanao.

“We cannot afford to hold a peace talk to the Abu Sayyaf or worst allow they be granted amnesty. The Abu Sayyaf is a terrorist group that had killed not only policemen and soldiers, but innocent people as well.”

“There is growing demoralization now in the ranks of the military in Sulu and perhaps even in areas where soldiers are fighting the Abu Sayyaf,” said one government soldier, who spoke on condition that he would not be named.

Policemen in Sulu province also claimed the proposals to start peace talks or grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf has demoralized many of them.

“How many policemen were killed by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu? Our good provincial commander Julasirim Kasim was killed by the terrorists. They murdered innocent civilians, innocent Muslims. There must be no amnesty, not even peace talks. The Abu Sayyaf and their allies must also be killed so we may have peace in Sulu,” a policeman said.

Kasim was ambushed in May and killed along with were his brother and three other policemen.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has also opposed any amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf, saying, the government does not negotiate with terrorists. He blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the series of bomb attacks and kidnappings in Sulu.

“There should be no negotiations with terrorists. Terrorists must pay their crimes,” said Tan, who survived a road bombing in May blamed by the police and military to the Abu Sayyaf group.

Tan, backed by the government, has declared a state of emergency in Sulu to allow authorities to run after Abu Sayyaf supporters who are providing them refuge.

Philippine authorities said the Abu Sayyaf has links with the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya, who was also involved in the kidnapping of Vagni and two other Red Cross workers Swiss national Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba in January in Sulu’s Patikul town.

Lawmakers also opposed the proposals, saying, it would go against the government’s policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has rejected any amnesty with the Abu Sayyaf and ordered the military to pursue the terrorist group and its supporters.

The military said it will strictly follow the chain of command and that operations against the Abu Sayyaf will not cease. “The Armed Forces will strictly follow the chain of command. The operation against the Abu Sayyaf is continuing. We are focus in our mission and that is to fight terrorism,” Cacho said.

But Cacho admitted the proposed amnesty and peace talks with the Abu Sayyaf have become a big issue in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “It is a political issue. It is for the government to settle, but that’s a big issue in the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” she said.

Cacho said they have not received reports that troops were demoralized, but she was quick to say that the military respect the opinions of the soldiers. “Soldiers are entitled to their opinion and this should be respected,” she said.

Secretary Avelino Razon, the presidential peace adviser, also rejected amnesty proposal to the Abu Sayyaf, saying, it goes against the government’s policy of no-negotiations with terrorists.

It was unknown whether the proposed amnesty or peace talks with the Abu Sayyaf would affect US military assistance to the Philippines. Hundreds of US troops are deployed in the southern Philippines, including Sulu, and were helping the local military defeat the Abu Sayyaf since 2001.

The Abu Sayyaf is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by Washington.

Philippine authorities said several Jemaah Islamiya terrorists, among them Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek, who are all wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombing in 2002, has joined the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.

The US has offered at least $16 million rewards for their capture. (Mindanao Examiner)

Seized rebel weapons put on display in southern RP

Major General Alfredo Cayton Jr., commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, presents to Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr., assorted weapons seized by troops from rebel forces in Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Teodoro visited military camps in the restive region. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)

Thousands still need aid in wake of typhoons in RP

MANILA, Philippines - Emergency relief efforts continue for people displaced by two back-to-back typhoons that wreaked havoc across large parts of the eastern and northern Philippines.

The storms displaced more than 400,000 people, the vast majority of whom have yet to return home, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported.

Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, also chairman of the NDCC, said medicine, food and aid workers had been airlifted to areas in northern Luzon, devastated by Storm Chan-hom, which made landfall on 7 May, dumping heavy rains and causing landslides that killed 43 people.

It also displaced more than 161,020 people in 51 towns, six cities and 11 provinces in Luzon, the country’s largest island.

Of this number, more than 4,000 remain in government-run evacuation centres, mostly schools, the NDCC said on 11 May, while the majority are still staying with family and friends.

"The damage was massive," Teodoro told IRIN, shortly after flying over Bolinao, a devastated coastal town in northern Pangasinan Province where many of the deaths occurred, with wooden houses blown away or partially damaged.

He saw at least 12 bodies being retrieved by rescuers in some flooded areas, he said, while fallen electrical posts still blocked many roads. The military's 7th Infantry Division, he said, had been bussed to Bolinao to help clear the debris and back up rescuers.

"There were many casualties because even if we warned them of the typhoon in advance, many in the coastal areas didn't have anywhere to go and just reinforced their wooden homes and battened down the hatches," he said.

"The soldiers and police have arrived; they are clearing roads of debris," he said. Previous disaster Chan-hom blew into the Philippines just days after tropical depression "Crising" and typhoon Kujira battered the eastern Bicol region and nearby provinces on 2 May, leaving 33 people dead and displacing 246,170, according to the NDCC.

Of that total, more than 3,000 remain in government-run shelters, while the rest are either staying with friends or relatives, the agency said. Teodoro said the agriculture sector was the worst hit by Chan-hom, with Pangasinan suffering the most. Quirino Province in Central Luzon was the worst hit in terms of damage to infrastructure.

The total cost of the damage wrought by Chan-hom has surpassed US$16 million, with more than 23,000 homes totally or partially damaged by floods or landslides. "The president has directed us to speed up emergency efforts. The people need food, water and tarpaulins for temporary shelters and medicines," Teodoro said.

"Although there are sufficient stocks, we are projecting that relief efforts will take a long time unfortunately," he said.

Gwendolyn Pang, Philippine National Red Cross secretary-general, said its emergency response unit (ERU) and more than 170 volunteers were helping with relief work.

Red Cross volunteers are also monitoring possible disease outbreak in camps, as scattered rains have persisted even as the storms have left the Philippines.

The state weather bureau said the three storms, as well as a tropical depression that proceeded them, ushered in the early arrival of the annual typhoon season, which kills tens of thousands and causes widespread damage. About 20 typhoons strike the Philippines every year. (IRIN)Link:http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84340

NPA rebel yields in Mindanao

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 30, 2009) – A member of the communist rebel group New People’s Army has surrendered Thursday to the Philippine military in Mindanao, officials said.

Officials said the Delbert Batuga, 26, surrendered to the Army’s 72nd Infantry Battalion in Saranggani province. He yielded an automatic rifle, according to Army Capt. Rosa Cristina Manuel.

Manuel said the rebel would be given aid and livelihood training for his to start a new life. “He’s tired of life in the mountain and wanted to start a new life and we are helping him realize that,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.

She said the surrender came a day after rebel forces clashed with troops in the village of Lambingi in Banga town in South Cotabato province. She said troops repulsed an NPA attack late Wednesday on a patrol base and killed a rebel deputy commander, Ronan Cardeno, and wounded and captured another, George Lamigo.

Manuel said the wounded rebel was rushed to hospital by soldiers in Koronadal City where he being treated for gunshot wounds.

On Thursday, Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro visited North Cotabato province and led the inauguration of several government infrastructure projects worth some P6.5 million.

Provincial governor Jesus Sacdalan and his deputy Emmanuel Pinol joined the inauguration. Among the projects were farm-to-market roads, school buildings, health centers and a village hall. (Geo Solmerano)

Sayyaf terrorists free Filipino Red Cross hostage

Freed Red Cross hostage Mary Jean Lacaba with Sulu Vice Governor Nur Anna Sahidulla in Sulu province after her release from the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya terrorists. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Nickee Butlangan).

Italian Eugenio Vagni, Swiss national Andreas Notter and Filpino Mary Jean Lacaba.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 02, 2009) – Abu Sayyaf terrorists have freed Thursday one of three Red Cross hostages in the southern province of Sulu, Philippine Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro said.

He said Filipino engineer Mary Jean Lacaba was released and taken to a marine base in Jolo town. There were no reports about the fate of two others captives – Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian doctor Eugenio Vagni – who were kidnapped in Sulu’s Patikul town on January 15.

“I have received a text message from (Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff) General (Alexander) Yano that Mary Jean Lacaba was released and that she’s been brought by (Sulu) Vice Governor Lady Ann Sahidullah and Colonel Gene Clement to the headquarters of Joint Task Force Comet,” Teodoro said in a television interview late Thursday.

No other details were made available about Lacaba’s freedom or her health condition, but her release was the result of government negotiations led by Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini earlier on Thursday said all the hostages are alive after they made contact with Vagni.

“Based on elements we have gathered we can say that they are still alive. These elements include contacts with our conational,” Frattini said.He added that the foreign ministry was in constant contact with the International Red Cross and that ''there must be no interference with their mediation efforts.” (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Defense Chief Receives Rebel Weapons, Tells Stories To School Children In Mindanao

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro receives an M-16 rifle from a suspected New People’s Army rebel who surrendered to the Philippine Army in Davao City in the southern Mindanao Island on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Teodoro also told stories and distributed books to school children inside the Eastern Mindanao Command headquarters. (AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Defense chief Teodoro seeks Arroyo nod for 2010 polls

MANILA, Philippines - The head of the Philippines' defense establishment, who belongs to one of the country's most powerful clans, said on Tuesday he wants to become the next president, following in the footsteps of two of his predecessors.

But before throwing his hat in the ring Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro wants to secure the endorsement of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her dominant Lakas-Kampi coalition.

"The president's endorsement is very important, being my direct boss," said Teodoro, a nephew of former President Corazon Aquino and of Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, chairman of San Miguel Corp.

"That's the best way to go," Teodoro told Reuters at his office at the main army base in Manila.
"I have to really wait for the political process that will decide who will be the ruling party's standard-bearer in the next presidential election."

Elections will be held in May 2010 and several senators have already said they will contest. But it was the first time Teodoro has indicated he could also be a candidate.

He is also the first candidate to openly court Arroyo's support. Almost all others are keeping a safe distance from the president because of allegations of corruption in her regime and her dismal showings in popularity polls.

"If I run independently without the machinery and without the commitments, that's a 'La Mancha' type of scenario," Teodoro told Reuters, referring to the play about Don Quixote, whose dreams were out of touch with reality.

He said he was confident he would be endorsed by Arroyo and her party.

"They would not have not given me the job of secretary of national defense in the first place if they had not trusted me," he said.

His wife, who used to be a commercial model, took over his Congress seat when Arroyo appointed him as defense secretary in 2007.

The former lawyer and three-term congressman aims to duplicate the political careers of two former presidents -- Ramon Magsaysay and Fidel Ramos -- who rose to the top after successes in the defense department.

Magsaysay, the first defense chief to be elected Philippine president, succeeded in breaking the back of the agrarian-based Huk rebellion in the early 1950s.

Ramos, a bemedalled retired general, was hailed as a hero of a popular revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in 1986. Six years later, he became the second defense chief to win the country's highest political post.

An air force colonel in the reserve force who flies light planes and keeps himself fit with daily shadow boxing, Teodoro is hoping his crackdown on Muslim and communist rebels will boost his image. He has been a vocal champion of more investment in defense.

For the election, he is also counting on the backing of his uncle Eduardo Cojuangco, who heads cash-rich San Miguel and is one of the wealthiest men in the country.

But Teodoro said he is "on leave" from his uncle's Nationalist People's Coalition. The group is allied with Arroyo, but some party members are among the president's staunch critics, including popular Senators Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero, both of whom have also said they will run for president.

Teodoro shrugged off criticism about his low popularity.

"As far as I know, I am the only person who has spoken concretely about what we need in the future," he said.

"I have proven the capacity to stop corruption within the organization. I have the leadership to make things work and I have the vision forward. (Manny Mogato, Reuters)

Red Cross sends medicines to hostages in the southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 27, 2009) – The International Committee of the Red Cross has sent fresh supplies of medicines to three aid workers kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.

The Abu Sayyaf is holding Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba in the jungle of Indanan town. The trio was kidnapped in Patikul town after they inspected a humanitarian project at a local prison.

“We know from reliable sources that they received fresh supplies of medicines that we sent them,” said Alain Aeschlimann, the ICRC's head of operations for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific.

The terrorists reportedly demanded $10-million ransoms for the safe release of the hostages and the pull out of security forces from around an area where they are holed out.

The kidnappers are also considering swapping the hostages with jailed Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Philippines, according to a report by the Philippine News Service.

It said the Abu Sayyaf could end up swapping Notter, Vagni and Lacaba to any of at least 135 terrorists jailed in Manila. Among those in prisons are Hector Janjalani, elder brother of slain Abu Sayyaf chieftain Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, and other Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya bombers.

The ICRC said it has no contact with the hostages since last week, although, the Abu Sayyaf allowed a television interview recently.

“The three of them made contact with the ICRC and their families a week ago. Since then, we have not had any direct contact with them. In two media interviews, Mary Jean and Andreas said they were feeling weaker and having some health problems. It's hard to confirm what is being reported by the media, but we are concerned about their health and about the fatigue and stress they are suffering,” Aeschlimann said.

“It is very difficult to know precisely where they are. There is a lot of speculation about that. All we can say at this stage is that we know they have been on the move over recent days and that they have had to walk in very difficult conditions, through the jungle and often in the rain. All of this has apparently weakened them.”

Aeschlimann appealed anew to the Abu Sayyaf to free the hostages, one of them Vagni, is reportedly sick.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the fate of the hostages. “They should release the hostages without conditions. The Abu Sayyaf cannot blame the government for what is happening to the hostages. It is them who should be blamed for the kidnapping of the Red Cross workers,” he said.

Gov. Sakur Tan of Sulu province, who heads the task force working for the safe release of the hostages, rejected the kidnappers' demand and called on the Abu Sayyaf to free their captives unharmed. Tan said the government will not pay ransom to the kidnappers.

Senior Supt. Julasirim Kasim, the Sulu police chief, said security forces are only awaiting orders to rescue the hostages. “We are awaiting orders to rescue the hostages. Security forces have cordoned off the Abu Sayyaf in the hinterlands,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

People Power Revolution: Arroyo leads wreath-laying ceremony in Manila

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo with Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff Alexander Yano, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr during the wreath-laying ceremony of the 23rd Anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolution on Sunday, February 22, 2009. (Photo by Charlie Olila)

Photo: Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo arrives from the U.S.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo together with newly Appointed (left) Presidential Management Staff Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, (center) Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Secretary Eduardo Ermita and DTI Secretary Peter Favila (right) having a conversation shortly after her arrival Sunday, February 08, 2009 from United States. (Charlie Olila)

Defense Chief, Umaani Ng Suporta Sa Mindanao

Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 17, 2009) – Lumalakas ang ugong sa hanay ng mga sundalo at kilalang mga pulitiko sa Mindanao na humihikayat at susuporta diumano kay Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr upang sumabak sa pagka-Pangulo ng bansa sa susunod na halalan.

Kinumpirma rin ng ilang matataas na opisyal ng militar ang malaking suporta ng mga tropa sa Mindanao kay Teodoro dahil sa malinis na record nito sa Department of National Defense at sa mataas na respeto sa kanya ng publiko.

Ayaw naman magpabanggit ng pangalan ang mga opisyal ng militar na susuporta kay Teodoro kung tatakbo ito sa pagka-Pangulo at baka masabihan umanong namumulitika.

"Talagang mataas ang aming respeto kay SND at talagang susuportahan namin siya if ever na mag-desisyon itong tumakbo bilang Presidente ng ating bansa sa susunod na eleksyon. Maganda ang pagdadala niya sa Department of National Defense at malaki ang respeto sa kaniya ng buong hukbo ng Sandatahang Lakas," ani ng isang opisyal ng army sa Mindanao.

Ito rin ang pahayag ng mga sundalong nakapanayam ng Abante at kung sakaling sumabak umano si Teodoro sa eleksyon ay sasabihan rin umano nila ang kanilang mga pamilya at kamag-anakang suportahan ito.

"Mabait si Secretary Teodoro at talagang makamasa at mararamdamanam mo talagang concerned siya sa welfare ng mga sundalo," wika pa ng isang sarhento.

Maging ang mga pulitiko ay pulos papuri rin ang maririnig ukol kay Teodoro, na madalas Makita sa mga lugar sa Mindanao na may mga kalamidad o preblema sa peace and order.

Aktibo rin ito sa mga ibat-ibang proyekto at programa ng Department of National Defense at mga ibang mahahalagang bagay na ipinaguutos ni Pangulong Gloria Arroyo.

Naunang na rin sinabi noon ni Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan na si Teodoro ay isa sa talagang mabaiit at masipag na miyembro ng Gabinete ni Arroyo.

"Mabait talaga iyan si Secretary Teodoro at nakikita naman ng lahat sa Sulu kung paano niya pinahahalagahan ang ating lalawigan. Kung ako ang tatanungin at talagang magiging magaling na Pangulo si Secretary Gilberto Teodoro kung ito ay tatakbo sa susunod na elekyon," wika pa ni Tan sa isang maiksing panayam.

Madalas rin nagtungo sa Sulu si Teodoro upang tumulong sa peace and development efforts ng pamahalaan sa nasabing lalawigan.

Inamin rin ni Tan na malaki ang tagasunod ni Teodoro sa Sulu dahil sa pagiging maka-masa nito at katalinuhan. "Wala tayong ibang masasabi kay Secretary Teodoro dahil nasa kanya ng lahat ang magagandang katangian ng isang tunay na lider," dagdag pa ni Tan.

Sa Basilan ay malaki rin kay Teodoro, ayon kay Vice Gov. Al-Rashid Sakalahul.

"Talagang mabaiit iyan si Secretary Gilbert at malaki rin ang naitulong niya sa Basilan at kung tatakbo siyang Presidente ay tiyak na mananalo iyan," wika pa ni Sakalahul, na dating sundalo bago naging Vice Governor ng Basilan. Target ni Sakalahul ngayon ang maging congressman sa nasabing lalawigan.

Kamakalawa lamang ay bumisita si Teodoro sa Misamis Oriental, Sulu at Zamboanga City upang personal na alamin ang sinapit ng mga sibilyan na apektado ng baha at iba pang mga kalamidad.

"Talagang cowboy si Secretary Teodoro," sambit naman ni Chief Supt. Angelo Sunglao, ang Western Mindanao Police chief, matapos na makipagkita kay Teodoro nuong Biyernes sa Zamboanga City.

Ito rin ang narinig kay Marine Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, hepe ng Western Mindanao Command sa Zamboanga City.

Nagtapos ng Bachelor of Science (Commerce - Management of Financial Institutions) si Teodoro sa De la Salle University sa Maynila nuong 1984 at Bachelor of Laws sa University of the Philippines nuong 1989 at kumuha ito ng Master of Laws sa tanyag ng Harvard Law School at nagtapos sa taong 1997.

Bar top notcher rin si Teodoro nuong 1989 at pumasa rin sa New York State Bar exams nuong 1997.

Ilang beses rin nahalal si Teodro bilang Congressman sa Unang distrito sa Tarlac. Si Teodoro ay nagiisang anak nina Gilberto C. Teodoro, Sr, ang dating Social Security System administrator at Mercedes Cojuangco, dating miyembro ng Batasang Pambansa. Bata pa lamang si Teodoro ay napasabak na ito sa pulitika ng mahalal bilang president ng Kabataang Barangay at nanungkulan mula 1980 hanggang 1985, at KB Federation of Central Luzon. Nahalal rin ito sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Si Teodoro ay may ranggong colonel sa Reserve Force ng Philippine Air Force at adopted son ng Philippine Military Academy "Magilas" Class of 1976 at honorary member ng Philippine Air Force Class of 1980 at Association of Chiefs of Police, Inc. Siya rin ang chairman ng board of trustees ng Philippine National Police Foundation.

Makulay ang nakaraan ni Teodoro na minsan ay nanilbihang bilang lecturer sa National Defense College at regular assistant professor naman sa General Command and Staff Course ng Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Ang hindi alam ng karamihan ay isang lisensyadong piloto rin si Teodoro na kumuha ng kanyang Command and Staff Course class sa Philippine Air Force sa ilalim ng Air Education and Training Command of the Air Command and Staff College ng ito ay nasa Kongreso pa. (Mindanao Examiner)

ICRC kidnappings hamper military operations vs. Sayyaf in the southern Philippines

Philippine Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro is welcomed Friday, January 16, 2009 at the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City. Teodoro flew to Sulu province and met with Governor Sakur Tan and senior military and police commanders and was briefed on the progress of the rescue operation for three kidnapped Red Cross members - Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugene Vagni and Filipino Marie Jean Lacaba - seized Thursday by gunmen after visiting a prison facility in Patikul town. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 16, 2000) – Government operations against the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group has been hampered by the kidnappings of three Red Cross members in Sulu province in the southern Philippine, Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro said Friday.

Gunmen kidnapped Thursday Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugene Vagni and Marie Jean Lacaba, all members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who inspected a prison facility in the town of Patikul.

Police linked the Abu Sayyaf group to the kidnappings, but the military said a former prison guard was among those who snatched the trio.

“There is an eye witness who pointed to the former jail guard as involved in the kidnapping. And base on the pattern of activity there (in Sulu), money could be the motive behind the kidnapping,” Teodoro said in Zamboanga City after visiting Sulu province.

Teodoro said the trio, who arrived January 13 in Sulu province, refused military escorts, saying, they would go to rebel camps, including the Abu Sayyaf, and brief them about the International Humanitarian Law.

“The ICRC people intimated to me that the reason also they do not want an armed escorts because they will go the MILF, the MNLF and the ASG to teach them the IHL,” he said.

Teodoro was referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf groups.

He said he met with Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and senior military and police commanders and discussed the ongoing rescue operation in Sulu, where hundreds of troops are searching for the victims.

Teodoro said there has been no demand for ransom. “We will not negotiate with the kidnappers. We have a strict no-ransom policy,” he said.

He likened the kidnappers to international pirates who do not recognize neutral organizations such as the Red Cross. “They do not respect anybody, much more the Red Cross, and they (kidnappers) are like international pirates that prey on hapless people,” he said.

Police said the victims were believed taken to the hinterlands of Maimbung, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf. “We have reports that then kidnappers have taken their captives to the hinterlands of Maimbung. We have put up blocking forces in the area while troops are pursuing the Abu Sayyaf and their hostages,” said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, the Sulu police said.

ICRC spokesman Roland Bigler said the victims were visiting the provincial jail, carrying out a water and sanitation project to improve the conditions of detainees. He said that despite the abductions, the ICRC will still continue its various humanitarian works in the southern Philippines.

Authorities tagged the Abu Sayyaf as behind many kidnappings-for-ransom and deadly attacks in the southern Philippines. The group was also behind the abduction of 21 European tourists and Asian workers from a Malaysian resort island of Sipadan in 2000 and three Americans in 2001 in central Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Photo: Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro visits Sarangani province in the southern Philippines on Monday, December 1, 2008 where he is welcomed by Governor Miguel Dominguez. Teodoro and Dominguez led the ceremonial repair of school buildings in Maasim town as part of President Gloria Arroyo’s "Laban sa Kahirapan Project." (Photo by Cocoy Sexcion)

Army Foils Clan War, 8 People Arrested In Mindanao

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 18, 2008) - An army patrol in search of Moro rebels responsible for the havoc in Lanao del Norte province in Mindanao encountered Tuesday an armed group believed to be preparing to launch a reprisal attack in Salvador town.

Colonel Benito de Leon, commander of 104th Infantry Brigade, said troops from the 35th Infantry Battalion were dispatched to check the presence of armed men in the village of Bayabao who clashed with another armed group of about 20 people.

While no casualties were accounted in the firefight, De Leon said troops captured eight people suspected to be associated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Soldiers also recovered a shotgun, .30-caliber ammunition, handheld transceiver radios, military packs and uniforms.

De Leon said initial investigations showed the group to be linked with a prominent MILF leader who intended to do a “rido” (armed settlement of family feuds) in exacting revenge with another prominent political personality in the area.

Lanao had been known for the practice of ridos. Just last week, a series of such incidents occurred in the nearby municipality of Magsaysay. This prompted the Army to deploy forces in the area to deter the recurrence of violence.

Dialogues with the populace where also undertaken by the military and the local government executives in an attempt to stop rido.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro during his visit over the weekend also issued instructions to the military to similarly treat as criminals those who undertake the practice of rido.

Teodoro reminded the public that the courts are the only acceptable and lawful institutions for the settlement of disputes to ensure peace and order in a civilized society.