Kabunsuan’s displaced workers get benefits

Asmad Enok, serving the government for over 20 years (left), receives a check worth more than P600,000 representing the "monetized terminal leave" following his displacement from the abolition by the Supreme Court of the Shariff Kabunsuan provincial government at simple rites Monday, March 22, 2010 at the ARMM complex in Cotabato City. Shown handing the check is Maguindanao OIC-Governor Gani Biruar as former SK acting Governor Ibrahim Ibay Jr. (right), Maguindanao OIC-Vice Governor Nariman Ambolodto (second from left) and ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimb (center) look on. Enok is one of 167 personnel belonging to the first batch of check recipients from P40-million fund released earlier by the national government. (Photo by Ali Macabalang)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – After more than a year of waiting in anxiety, displaced workers of the defunct Shariff Kabunsuan province finally received their "monetized terminal leaves" under the fresh leadership of the Maguindanao provincial government.

OIC-Maguindanao Governor Gani Biruar personally distributed checks to 167 initial beneficiaries in formal ceremonies last Monday at the cultural center of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here.

ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, representing acting Regional Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong, in a brief speech, said the displaced personnel of the Supreme Court-abolished Shariff Kabunsuan provincial government “deserved prompt attention and every penny of their benefits.”

Sinarimbo’s remark drew resounding applauds from the beneficiaries, who admitted having suspected “something fishy” in the delayed release of their monetized terminal leaves accruing from their separation from service as a result of a Supreme Court order dissolving Shariff Kabunsuan in 2008.

Biruar said that upon his installation to office by Adiong as OIG-governor last February 24, he started receiving formation about the availability in bank of P40-million earmarked for the terminal leaves of the first batch of displaced Shariff Kabunsuan personnel.

“We got confirmation in our verifications from the Department of Budget and Management that the fund was indeed for the terminal leaves of the 167 displaced workers. So, on order of the acting ARMM governor, we promptly prepared the checks and distributed them today,” Biruar said.

Biruar expressed what he described as “immeasurable joy” over the release of the displaced personnel’s terminal pays, stressing that “justice is defined simply as giving Cesar what is due to Cesar.”

Monday’s recipients of checks belonged to the first batch of personnel of the defunct province whose application for terminal leaves were received and processed as early as early last year, it was learned.

The amounts in the checks ranged from the smallest one-year terminal leave of P7,000 to the biggest sum of P600,000 allotted to at least three displaced ranking personnel who have served the government for over 20 years, official records showed.

Biruar said there are more than 200 other displaced personnel of the defunct province who were still deciding either to apply for monetized terminal leaves or seek reemployment in the provincial government of Maguindanao.

Shariff Kabunsuan was created in 2006 out of Maguindanao province via legislation by the ARMM Regional Assembly. In 2008, however, the Supreme Court issued a ruling nullifying the process because of the assembly’s lack of power to create a Congressional district. The power belongs to Congress.

Over 400 of the personnel of the Maguindanao province, who joined the provincial government of Shariff Kabunsuan, have been displaced following the Supreme Court order. (Ali Macabalang)

7 killed in rebel attacks in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 25, 2008) – At least seven civilians were killed and nine others wounded in a series of rebel attacks in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said soldiers also disarmed Thursday an improvised bomb planted on a bridge in the town of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao province, a day after Moro Islamic Liberation Front gunmen attacked military and police posts in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan and North Cotabato.

Three civilians were also seized by rebels on a farming village in Pickawayan town in North Cotabato province.

“There have been an increase in MILF attacks the past 24 hours and already seven civilians were killed and nine others wounded,” said Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

He said the rebels launched attacks on government detachments in the provinces, sparking sporadic clashes, but there were no reports of military or police casualties.

“Seven people were killed, all of them civilians, and nine others wounded in the attacks plus three more abducted by rebels,” Ando said.

He said rebel forces fired small rockets and automatic weapons in attacking army and police posts. “There were no provocations on our part and the rebels attacked our positions,” he said.

The MILF said one of its fighters was killed in the fighting in North Cotabato’s Aleosan town after rebels clashed with pro-government militias who grabbed their lands.

“The fighting was triggered by old conflict between rebels and militias. This is land conflict and the militias grabbed the lands of owned by rebels and their families,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.

Kabalu also denied that rebels targeted civilians in the provinces. “They may have been shot by soldiers and militias on suspicion they were MILF members,” he said.

The MILF is fighting for the establishment of a separate homeland for more than four million Muslims in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippines' Shariff Kabunsuan Festival Successful

Triumphant with flying colors – this boat wins during the Guinakit Fluvial Parade in the Rio Grande de Mindanao in Cotabato City during the 11th Shariff Kabunsuan Festival celebration to commemorate the arrival of the Arab missionary during the 15th century. (Mindanao Examiner Photos / Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 22, 2008) - Cotabato City was all abuzz as people from neighboring municipalities and visitors from cities near and far came out to the streets to witness this year's colorful and exciting celebration of the 11th Shariff Kabunsuan Festival.

The event, held recently, was highlighted with the Guinakit Fluvial Parade at the mouth of the Rio Grande de Mindanao. Guinakit which means “bancas” tied together adorned with colorful Muslim traditional decors, and on board are dancers who danced to the traditional musical renditions of native musicians.

The Guinakit is a reenactment of the arrival of Shariff Muhammad Kabunsuan in the Rio Grande de Mindanao. He is an Arab missionary from Johore who came here to introduce Islamic faith and is instrumental in the propagation of Islam in the region.

Shariff Kabunsuan is also acknowledged as the foundation of the rich cultural and historical heritage of the Muslims in the South and Central Mindanao because leaders such as Sultan Kudarat and other Sultans who were renowned not only in our country but also abroad were his descendants.

He is responsible for the establishment of the sultanate form of government, the introduction of the madrasa education, vigorous trade and commerce in the area and a lot of other things that directly affected the lives of the people.

Other events marking the grand celebration is the "Kanduli" or "Pagana Maguindanao" –a royal banquet in the Maguindanao tradition which was done at the People's Palace-- the new city government hall wherein guest were served in traditional Muslim hospitality with mouthwatering traditional native delicacies.

The event was made possible through the skillful and creative direction of the very active First Lady of Cotabato City Bai Sandra A. Sema, chairperson of the City Tourism Council. (With a report from Mark Navales)

9 people wounded in Philippines bombings

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 5, 2008) – Nine people were injured in separate bomb explosions in the restive region of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, officials said on Friday.

The attacks occurred after security forces arrested a Bangladeshi terror suspect in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

The first explosion wounded six civilians late Thursday in downtown Isulan in Sultan Kudarat province. It was followed by another attack Friday morning wounding an army soldier and two other civilians near Bagong village in Shariff Aguak, the hometown of the region’s Muslim governor Zaldy Ampatuan.

“We suspect the MILF as behind all these bombings, who else would do that, but the MILF rebels,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ando was referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, which is fighting for self-determination in the troubled South.

The army also linked the MILF to last week’s bomb attack on a church of the Jehova’s Witness in Kabacan town in North Cotabato province, a rebel stronghold in Mindanao.

Five other bombs were planted on the same church and the Iglesia Ni Cristo in recent days had been disarmed by soldiers.

The MILF strongly denied all accusations. “The MILF has nothing to do with all these bombings. Authorities should investigate these attacks to determine who is behind it. We have repeatedly and publicly denounced terrorism, we are for peace,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said in a separate interview.

Authorities on Tuesday arrested Muhammad Alpariz, an alleged Bangladeshi al-Qaeda bomb expert, after soldiers and police commandos raided his hideout in the village of Tapayan in Sultan Mastura town in the Muslim autonomous province of Shariff Kabunsuan.

Soldiers and policemen recovered from Alpariz's hideout several improvised explosives assembled from mortar bombs and blasting caps, including cellular phones and an alarm clock.

It was not immediately known if Alpariz was working alone or whether he had links with the MILF. But his Filipino wife, Sulaika Rafiquellah, said her husband was not Muhammad Alpariz, but Mohammad Rafiquellah.

She said her 48-year old husband is not a terrorist and not a member of either the al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiya. In a television interview, Rafiquellah said her husband had been framed up by authorities. "He is a farmer, a mechanic and has a cell phone repair shop in Sultan Mastura town," she said.

The foreigner also denied the charges against him. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bangladeshi al-Qaeda bomb expert arrested in the Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 2, 2008) – Philippine authorities arrested a Bangladeshi al-Qaeda bomb expert after soldiers and police commandos raided his hideout in Mindanao, where security forces are battling Moro rebels.

Security forces arrested Muhammad Alpariz in the village called Tapayan in Sultan Mastura in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces of the Muslim autonomous region, police sources told the Mindanao Examiner.

Sources said only Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio, Jr., head of one of two newly created Directorates for Integrated Police Operations in Mindanao, is authorized to speak about Alpariz’s arrest.

Regional police officials also declined to give details about the arrest of the foreigner, but said the operation that led to the capture of Alpariz involved “many soldiers and policemen.”

No other details were made available about the foreigner, but sources from the army said troops recovered from Alpariz’s hideout improvised explosives assembled from mortar bombs and blasting caps, including cellular phones and an alarm clock.

Television giant GMA 7, which quoted unnamed sources, reported that Alpariz is a bomb expert and a member of the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya.

It said Alpariz was arrested at about 3 p.m. at his rented shop in Tapayan village.

“Alpariz is described by authorities as an expert in making improvised explosive devices,” it reported.

It said security forces recovered four improvised 60mm and 81mm mortar shells, a 1.5-volt battery, an alarm clock, a cellular phone, a computer set, two boosters for mortar, two electric blasting caps and detonating cords.

Alpariz was immediately brought to Davao City where he is being interrogated.

It was not immediately known if Alpariz was working alone or whether he had links with either the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels or the smaller, but the most violent group called the Abu Sayyaf which authorities claimed had connections with the al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiya.

Alpariz’s capture coincided with sporadic fighting between the MILF and military forces in the southern Philippines. The MLF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

MILF rebels attack soldiers in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 26, 2008) – One army soldier was killed and three more wounded after suspected Moro rebels attacked a road security Wednesday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

The soldiers were guarding a highway in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Shariff Kabunsuan province in the restive Muslim autonomous region when they came under fire near the village called Makir.

The attack triggered a firefight that left four soldiers wounded, but one of them, died before reaching the hospital, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division. “One soldier died before reaching the hospital and three others were wounded in the fighting,” he said.

Ando said the rebels, who were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers retaliated and killing or wounding a still undetermined number of gunmen.

Sporadic fighting continues in central Mindanao between the US-backed Filipino military and rebel forces since August after the peace collapsed. Manila also reneged from a deal that would have granted more than four million Muslims their own separate homeland across over 700 villages in Mindanao.

The accord initially approved in Malaysia, which brokered the peace talks, also sparked massive protests from Christian residents and politicians who opposed the Muslim territorial agreement. The Supreme Court also ruled the deal as unconstitutional.

The hostilities in Mindanao have displaced over half a million people, many in temporary refugee shelters across the troubled region.

Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the influential Organization of the Islamic Conference, has expressed deep concern about the increasing deterioration of the situation in the southern Philippines. He said the continued military operation severely affected civilians in Mindanao.

Ihsanoglu also appealed to the Philippine government and the MILF to stop the fighting and resume peace talks.

President Gloria Arroyo suspended the talks after rebel forces attacked civilian targets in Mindanao over the failed signing of the Muslim homeland deal, which would have created the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Arroyo already disbanded the government peace panel negotiating with rebels and demanded the MILF to surrender three commanders – Ameril Kato, Abdullah Macapaar and Sulayman Pangalian – who led the deadly attacks in at least 3 provinces in central Mindanao.

Manila has put up a P10 million bounties each for the capture of Macapaar, Kato and Pangalian. Arroyo said the government would only return to the peace talks if the MILF surrenders the three rebel commanders. But the MILF rejected the demand and said it would resume talks if Arroyo honors the ancestral domain deal.

US troops are deployed in central Mindanao and were aiding local military forces in fighting the rebels. Just early this month, MILF rebels shot down and recovered a US spy drone inside their territory near Maguindanao province. US forces are also helping the Filipino military track down members of the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya who, according to local authorities are being coddled by the rogue MILF commanders. (Mindanao Examiner)

Supreme Court voids creation of Shariff Kabunsuan: ABS-CBN / Newsbreak

MANILA, Philippines (July 17, 2008) - The Supreme Court has declared the creation of the province of Shariff Kabunsuan in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao void and ruled that the power of ARMM’s legislature to create provinces and cities is unconstitutional.

The SC, in an 8-6 vote, declared void Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act 201, which created the province of Shariff Kabunsuan, which was carved out of Maguindanao province.

“Only Congress can create provinces and cities because the creation of provinces and cities necessarily includes the creation of legislative districts,” the 33-page decision penned by Justice Antonio Carpio reads.

The SC ruling said that creation of province or a city “inherently involves the power to create a legislative district.” Creating a province or a city without creating a legislative district, the decision said, is unconstitutional because the Constitution mandates that a province or a city with at least 250,000 inhabitants is entitled to at least one representative.

The ruling said that only Congress can create or reapportion a legislative district. “Congress exercises these powers through a law that the Congress itself enacts and not through a law that a regional or local legislative bodies enact.”

The Regional Legislative Assembly, ARMM’s law-making body enacted on Aug. 28, 2006 MMAA 201, which created Shariff Kabunsuan by separating eight municipalities from the first district of Maguindanao-- Barira, Buldon, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura and Upi. It was ratified in a plebiscite on October 29, 2006.

The now-defunct province of Shariff Kabunsuan was composed of 11 towns after RLA created three new towns—Sultan Mastura, Northern Kabuntalan and Datu Blah Sinsuat—from the province’s three existing plan.

The SC decision also declared unconstitutional the RLA’s power to create provinces and cities in the region but it did not pass upon the constitutionality of the creation of new municipalities and barangays.

“The creation of such municipalities and barangays does not involve the creation of legislative district,” the ruling reads.

Under Republic Act No. 9140 or the Expanded ARMM Law, the RLA has the power to create new LGUs and to set its own criteria in creating, dividing, merging, or abolishing LGUs. LGUs created by the Expanded ARMM Law that do not meet the standards of the LGC are not entitled to the share in the national taxes collected by the national government and depend only on the general funds of the ARMM regional government.

This provision of the ARMM law has been criticized because it results in the creation of smaller and non-viable local government units. In recent years, the number of LGUs in the region has swelled. In December 2005, the region was composed only of 5 provinces, 101 municipalities, and 2,461 barangays. Since then, one province (Shariff Kabunsuan), 12 municipalities, and nine barangays have been created.

Local officials in the region said that this process has improved the peace situation because it helps avoid rido or clan wars by giving every political family a territory to govern. (Jesus F. Llanto)

Philippine Troops Intercept Bomb, Detain 2 Men

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 12, 2008) – Philippine soldiers intercepted a homemade bomb and detained two men transporting the explosive in the province of Shariff Kabunsuan in Mindanao, officials said.

Officials said the soldiers discovered the bomb after stopping a commuter van at a checkpoint in the villager of Maker in Datu Odin Sinsuat town before dawn Wednesday.

Soldiers also questioned several passengers on suspicion they were part terrorists and handed them over to the local police for further interrogation. “We still don’t know anything about the suspects or their backgrounds. Authorities are investigating the suspects,” Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Manila Times.

He said soldiers recovered two kilos of TNT explosive, a 60mm mortar rocket, electronic blasting caps and wires, galvanized iron nails and a cellular phone used as a detonator to trigger explosion.

Ando said civilian informants provided intelligence that led to the arrest of the suspects, including the van’s driver and one of the passengers. He did not say how many passengers were on board the van or whether other weapons had been recovered from the vehicle.

The military have repeatedly warned that terrorists may launch a series of attacks in retaliation to the killing of a purported Jemaah Islamiya bomber in the country's troubled south.

Southern Philippines military officials had said that soldiers recovered the body of man thought to be Dulmatin on a remote village in Tawi-Tawi province last month.

But DNA test by the Philippine National Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is yet to confirm whether the body was really that of Dulmatin, one of those who masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, 25 Britons and seven US citizens.

Filipino security officials had also said that Dulmatin was killed in previous government offensives in the southern Philippines.

Indonesian police said Dulmatin, half-Javanese and half-Arabic, was the man who mixed and assembled the 500kg bomb that destroyed the Sari Club during the Bali attack.

Dulmatin's assassination would be the biggest breakthrough in the hunt for the remaining Bali bombers the past years. Another Bali bomber, Umar Patek, is believed hiding in Sulu or Tawi-Tawi province under the protection of the local Abu Sayyaf group.

Philippine authorities last month also claimed to have uncovered a plot by the Jemaah Islamiya, the Abu Sayyaf, the New People's Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to assassinate President Gloria Arroyo and other high government officials. (With a report from Mark Navales)

Muslims Celebrate Shariff Kabunsuan Festival In Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 14, 2007) – Thousands of people are expected to flock in the southern Philippines Saturday to witness one of the grandest Muslim festival in Mindanao, the annual Shariff Kabunsuan Festival.

The festival would be held in Cotabato City where organizers have prepared an array of programs that included cultural presentations and the first-ever Search for Mutya ng Shariff Kabunsuan.

With more government agencies collaborating, this year’s festivities promise to be grander. The City Tourism Council and the City Government of Cotabato, traditionally the main organizers of the event, are joined by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Region 12 Department of Tourism, as well as the newly created Provincial Government of Shariff Kabunsuan.

The wife of Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, Bai Sandra Sema, who is the chairperson of the local Tourism Council, said the Search for Mutya ng Shariff Kabunsuan is expected to be contested by lovely young women from the 10 municipalities of the province as well as those sponsored by private organizations.

“Each year, we tried to introduce innovations to make the festival not only stylish and enjoyable but more so in the hope of making it truly meaningful to all residents here,” the mayor said.

The province is named after Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan, an Arab-Malay Islamic preacher who introduced Islam to central Mindanao in the 16th century. In the past 9 years, the Sema couple has pioneered events that have become the city’s pride, particularly the Inaul Fashion Showcase which is now in its 5th run.

The prominence of this native fabric has been greatly elevated by this fashion show. There were also “cultural experimentations”, such as last year’s Grand Kanduli and the Festival of Lights which, unfortunately, will be missed this year but whose loss will be well compensated by the Kuyog Street Dancing Competition that promises P100,000 to its champion.

Never to be excluded though is the fluvial parade of richly-decorated boats (ginakit) along the historic Rio Grande de Mindanao on December 19.

Sema said they will re-enact the coming of Shariff Kabunsuan.

“The civil-military parade on that day will be choreographed as to make it a realistic salubungan at the city wharf,” the city’s first lady said. The Shariff Kabunsuan Festival was said to have started in the late ‘70s. In an article written for the Cotabato City Guidebook, the noted Maguindanaon scholar lawyer Michael Mastura hinted about the origin of the festival.

In page 26 thereof, Mastura wrote that a “colorful pageantry, though celebrated only once, was the festivity to complement the inaugural day of the region with the coming of Sharif Kabungsuwan (sic) re-enacted on the Pulangi River.”

The region mentioned referred to the original administrative Region 12 created by PD No. 742 on July 7, 1975. Though the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival is held in honor of the man credited with establishing Islamic faith and culture in Mindanao, it has evolved through the years as the common heritage of the tri-people in Cotabato City and nearby areas.

The mostly Christian Tedurays of Upi town trace their origin to Mamalu, one of the two reigning rulers in Mindanao upon the arrival of Shariff Kabunsuan in the early 1500s.

Tabunaway, brother of Mamalu, embraced Islam while the latter gracefully declined the faith. Wise persons say it was an epic event of religious tolerance lasting till today, and one truly deserving of great remembrance.

Shariff Kabunsuan is created by Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 201 comprising the municipalities of Barira, Buldon, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura and Uri, all of the first legislative district of the mother province of Maguindanao.

Cotabato City and the remaining municipalities of the second legislative district of the Maguindanao remain with the said province. However, the last paragraph of Section 5 of Muslim Mindanao Autonomy (MMA) Act No. 201 provides that “except as may be provided by national law, the existing legislative district , which includes Cotabato City as a part thereof, shall remain.”

Shariff Kabunsuan is the country’s 80th province and the sixth in the ARMM. It is the first province not made by Congress, as it was made through invoking the powers of Republic Act No. 9054 or the Expanded ARMM law. (Dong Cusain and Mark Navales)

Barangay Chairman, Itinumba Sa Kabunsuan

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 30, 2007) – Patay ang isang Barangay captain matapos itong pagbabarilin ng di-kilalang salarin ilang oras ng siya'y tanghaling panalo sa Barangay elections sa lalawigan ng Shariff Kabunsuan sa Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Sinabi ng pulisya na hindi na umabot ng ospital si Samsudin Lumbos dahil sa tinamong balas a katawan matapos itong barilin sa Barangay Balut.

Patuloy naman ang imbestigasyon sa pagkakapaslang kay Lumbos, ayon sa pulisya. Umabot na umano sa 9 ang nasawi sa Barangay at SK polls sa naturang rehiyon.

Ngunit sa kabila nito ay sinabi ng pulisya at militar na mapayapa ang Barangay at Sanguniang Kabataan elections nuong Lunes.

Mahigit sa isang milyong kandidato ang tumakbo para sa 600,000 puwesto sa buong bansa. Huling ginanaop ang elections nuong 2002 matapos na mabalam ng ilang ulit dahil sa kakulangan ng pondo. (Mindanao Examiner)

Diarrhea Kills 2 In South RP

A man holds his child Sunday September 16, 2007 as a medical technologist gets a rectal swab sample and a mountain spring where villagers get their water for food in North Upi town in Shariff Kabunsuan province in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Mark Navales)

SHARIFF KABUNSUAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 16 Sept) – Two people had died and five dozens more were infected with a still unknown disease in two remote villages in the southern Philippines, health officials said Sunday.

Health workers and doctors rushed to North Upi town in the province of Shariff Kabunsuan where at least 47 villagers fell sick.

Doctors on Sunday put up temporary emergency stations in the village of Tubuan and Lahangkup to treat the sick.

“Those who are sick were suffering from diarrhea, bloody diarrhea and two people have already died, a girl and an adult and at least 57 others are also infected,” Julie Villadolid, of the Department of Health in the Muslims autonomous region, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Health workers suspect contaminated water was the culprit in the outbreak of diseases in the two villages. Villagers get their water from springs, Villadolid said.

“We have taken rectal swab from the sick and water samples from mountain springs to determine the cause of the outbreak of diseases and diarrhea,” she said.

Escherichia coli bacteria are a leading cause of bloody diarrhea. The symptoms are worse in children and older people, and especially in people who have another illness. Most E. coli infections come from drinking contaminated water and milk from animals such as goats and buffaloes.

Just this year, at least 18 people had died from viral gastroenteritis in Zamboanga City and Basilan island. Gastroenteritis is an acute infectious syndrome of the stomach lining and intestines and health experts said the symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps.

Villadolid said they are still awaiting the results of laboratory tests to determine whether E. coli or other bacteria is the cause of the outbreak of diseases in the town. (Mark Navales)

Police, Military Tighten Security In Shariff Kabunsuan Province

COMELEC officers headed by lawyer Jocelyn De Mesa (2nd from left) reads the COC results during the Provincial Canvassing in ARMM Sanggunian Panlalawigan office, at the back are the representatives of the candidates with their Legal Council and watchers. The Provincial Canvassing held inside the Mindanao State University Maguindanao in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan Province.

The military tighten their security during the Provincial Canvassing because before the canvassing there is a grenade launcher explosion and strafing incident happened near the area. Another Gubernatorial candidate Tocao Mastura's and supporters denounce the canvassing because MSU Maguindanao is Datu Bimbo Sinsuat his political opponent territory.

A family walks in the isle were one of the tanks park near the Sanggunian Panlalawigan Office were the Provincial canvassing is on going. The military tighten their security during the Provincial Canvassing because before the canvassing there is a grenade launcher explosion and strafing incident happened near the area at 2am in the early morning. (Mindanao Examiner Photos/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 31 May) – Philippine authorities tightened security in the southern province of Shariff Kabunsuan due to rising tension between supporters of opposing politicians.

Canvassing of votes in the May 14 national and local polls in the province has been disrupted many times by violence.

An explosion on Wednesday in the province sent policemen and soldiers scampering to secure vital government installations.

Army Col. Mario Mendoza, commander of the 603rd Infantry Brigade, said he deployed troops to help local policemen secure the province, one of five under the Muslim autonomous region, from further violence and to allow the canvassing of the Commission on Elections.

Politicians accused each other of fraud and cheating to win the elections, especially in the gubernatorial race.

Regional police commander, Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, said they have put up road blocks and checkpoints to prevent the entry of illegal weapons that can be used to stir more violence in the province.

“I am really dismayed about the election here in Shariff Kabunsuan because of very obvious and rampant vote-buying during the election.”

“I personally saw ballot boxes brought to the Maguindanao provincial capitol before they bring them to the Mindanao State University where the canvassing is done” one village elder, Datu Kali, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Thousands of people held a rally on Tuesday to protest allegations by the opposition of massive cheating and fraud in the province.

Provincial elections chief, lawyer Jocelyn de Mesa, said they would continue the canvassing despite the tension in Shariff Aguak. (Becky de Asis, Special to the Mindanao Examiner)

Cotabato Folks Protest Inclusion To Shariff Kabunsuan Province

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 25 May) – Angry residents here protested the inclusion of Cotabato City as part of the congressional district of the fledgling Shariff Kabunsuan province.

The protesters on Thursday also denounced the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) over its confusing resolutions on what congressional district should Cotabato City properly belong to.

“Led by employees of the city government, prominent residents from cross-section of the city took turn in appealing to COMELEC–Manila to review its last-minute Resolution No. 7902 promulgated May 10, 2007 that placed Cotabato City as part of the congressional district of Shariff Kabunsuan,” Bensar Usman, an employee, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Eduardo dela Fuente, Jr., secretary to the City Mayor Muslimin Sema, argued that said Resolution is unconstitutional since only Congress has the sole power over congressional districting.

He said that Resolution 7902 is tantamount to usurpation by COMELEC of the prerogative and powers of Congress. “It is ultra vires (beyond one’s authority),” stressed dela Fuente.

Lawyer Diosdado Guillermo, past president of the Cotabato City chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, told thousands of protesters that under the Constitution, a province is automatically entitled to a representative and that each city with a population of at least 250,000 shall have at least 1 congressman.

He believes that Cotabato City has this number of people. Another lawyer, Anwar Malang, re-elected councilor, said Cotabato should have voted already for its own representative for Congress during national and local poll as on May 14 because it is the only remaining city in the 1st District of Maguindanao province.

Ten other local government units are now part of in the newly-created Shariff Kabunsuan. He said that even COMELEC recognized this fact when it issued Resolution 7845 on March 29.

Malang said he was also surprised when barely 3 days before the polls, COMELEC issued an “obviously hastily-done” resolution that lumps Cotabato City with the lone congressional district of Shariff Kabunsuan province.

The protesters issued a manifesto urging the COMELEC to “immediately rectify the grave error and injustice it committed against the people of Cotabato City”. They called on the COMELEC to amend its Resolution No. 7902 as they said the latter put them in “abysmal confusion”. (Dong Cusain)

Sayyaf Bomber Captured In South RP

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Mar) – Security forces arrested a suspected Abu Sayyaf bomber in a raid before dawn Tuesday in southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said Ahmad Saludin was captured at around 3 a.m. in his hideout in the remote village of Tambo in Sultan Mastura town in Shariff Kabunsuan province.

Soldiers and policemen recovered from Saludin an anti-rocket rigged to a cellular phone to trigger detonation.

It was unknown whether Saludin has ties with the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, previously linked by Philippine authorities to the spate of attacks in the troubled region.

Little was known about Saludin except the military’s claim that he is a member of the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda terror network. (Juan Magtanggol and Juley Reyes)

Journalist Killed In South RP

Photo of murdered journalist Hernani Pastolero hangs on the wall as his family grieved. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Feb) – An unidentified gunman killed a Filipino journalist in an attack in the southern Philippine province of Shariff Kabunsuan, officials said.

Officials said Hernani Pastolero, who was in his 60s, was shot in his home in Bulalo village in Sultan Kudarat town. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, police said.

“He was a former broadcaster in Cotabato City and also wrote for the weekly tabloid Lightning Courier,” Abdullah Cusain, a spokesman for the local government, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Last year, at least a dozen journalists were killed by hired assassins. Pastolero was the first media man killed this year, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

“The killing of Pastolero is again proof of how official inaction has bred a culture of impunity and emboldened those who seek to stifle freedom of the press and of expression in this country,” Jose Torres Jr., NUJP head, said in a statement. “This should be a challenge to our law enforcers to once and for all, show the world these killings are being addressed by the government." (Mindanao Examiner)