MAGHUSAY TA! By Uriel Cruz Vallecera

MARIJUANA

ANG lungsod sa Balamban, nga sakop sa probinsiya sa Cebu nabaniog pag-ayo sa plantasyon sa marijuana, ilabi na gayod ang mga dapit nga nahimutang sa kabukiran nga lisod na kaayong taakon sa mga awtoridad tungod kay layo na kini kaayo. Kanunay gayod kining malambigit sa isyu sa marijuana.

Makadaghan na makadiskubre ang mga tinugyanan sa balaod og plantasyon sa marijuana sa bukirang bahin sa maong lungsod apan ingon sa walay pagkapuo ang mga marijuana nga gipananom tungod kay hangtod karon padayon pa man gihapon nga nakadiskubre ang kapolisan og dugang mga plantasyon sa marijuana sa nahisgotang munisipalidad.

Karon lang bag-o, ang kapolisan sa lungsod sa Balamban nipahigayon na usab og pagpangronda sa bukirang barangay sa maong lungsod nga gikatahong may dakong plantasyon sa marijuana.

Ang plantasyon nakaplagan sa Sitio Gapo, Barangay Matun-og, sa nahisgotang lungsod. Sumala sa taho, mikabat sa 2,550 ka punoan sa marijuana ang naibot sa kapolisan nga gipangulohan sa hepe nga si Police Chief Insp. Anthony Bagarinao.

Sama sa gihapon, ako nagtuo nga ang maong plantasyon sa marijuana dili maoy kataposan nga madiskubrehan sa mga tinugyanan sa balaod sa bukirang barangay sa lungsod sa Balamban. Maayo unta kon dili gayod lung-an sa mga awtoridad ang pagsuhid sa kabukiran aron maibot ang dugang pang mga marijuana nga delikado kaayo kon ikapayuhot ngadto sa mga kunsomedor niini.

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Niadtong miaging bulan, miluwat og kamandoan si Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano nga tugotan ang mga militanteng grupo sa pagpasiugda og rally nga dili manginahanglan og permit.

Kining maong kamandoan gibase sa gibase sa giluwatan niyang Executive Order no. 16 pagtugot sa mga militante pag-rally sa Mandaue City Tennis Court nga maoy freedom park sa siyudad.

Husto kaayo kining maong kamandoan ni Ouano tungod kay niining demokratikanhong pangagamhanan sa atong nasod, gawasnon man kita sa pagpadayag sa atong mga sentimento ngadto sa katilingban.

Ang pag-rally nga nagkinahanglan pag permit, alang kanako, nakapug-ok og diyotay sa atong kagawasan. Hinuon, ang pag-rally nga may permit makatabang usab tingali aron mahapsay ang ipahigayon nga panagtigom.

Manghinaot lang ko nga dili usab unta abusohan sa mga militante kining pabor nga gihatag ni Mayor Ouano kanila. Kini ra bang uban natong kaigsuonan nga militante mag-abuso usab kon lugakan.

Dili sab maayo nga abusohan nato ang kaayo nga gipakita ni Mayor Ouano.(Columnist Uriel Vallecera is based in Cebu province)

Photo: California Judge Ronald Lew Speaks To Filipino Colleagues In Manila

Photo courtesy of the United States Embassy

MANILA -- U.S. District Judge Ronald Lew, Central District of California, recently spoke to colleagues in the Philippine judiciary during a “Judge-to-Judge Dialogue” series hosted by the American Bar Association – Asia Law Initiative (ABA-Asia) and the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

The ABA-Asia, with funding support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, works with the Supreme Court, Philippine Judicial Academy, lawyers' organizations and law schools to support legal reform in the Philippines, particularly in the areas of strengthening judicial capacity and integrity, promoting legal education and bar reform, and supporting anti-corruption reform.

The “Judge-to-Judge Dialogue” series allows Filipino judges to benefit from the experiences and perspectives of judges and legal scholars from abroad. Judge Lew spoke in late June on the subject of “Corporate Principles in Judicial Administration” and how this is applied in the United States. Also speaking during the “Judge-to-Judge Dialogue” were guests from Australia and the Philippines.

3 People Wounded In NPA Rocket Attack In Sultan Kudarat

COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 06 Jul) Three civilians, including a five-year old boy, were wounded in a rocket attack by suspected communist insurgents in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat, a security spokesman said Thursday.

Captain Jose Ritche Pabilonia, of the Southern Command, said New People's Army insurgents attacked a military post with automatic weapons and rocket grenades in the village of Telefas in Columbio town. "One of the houses in the area was hit and 3 people were wounded, including a five-year old boy," he said.

He said troops repelled the attack after a firefight that left a still undetermined number of insurgents dead or wounded. "There were no military casualties," he said.

Government soldiers early this week killed at least 7 NPA fighters in separate clashes in two towns if Compostela Valley province. The fighting broke out in the towns of Pantukan and Laak where troops tracking down NPA gunmen caught up with them.

Last week, security forces also seized a huge jungle encampment of the NPA after days of fighting in Busdi village in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon province, northeast of Compostela Valley.

Fighting in the countryside have escalated after peace talks between communist rebels and the government collapsed in 2004 after the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front pulled out from the negotiations because of its inclusion to the terror lists of the United States and the European Union on Manila's prodding.

Rebel leaders originally demanded that President Gloria Arroyo asks the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks.

But the CPP said it was ready to resume peace negotiations with Manila, however, Eduardo Ermita, Arroyo's executive secretary, on Thursday suggested rebels should first declare a truce before the resumption of the talks.

President Arroyo has ordered the military and the police to crush the NPA, the armed wing of the CPP-NDF, and set aside one billion pesos for the military to help fight insurgency and terrorism.

Gunman Kills Wife Of Maguindanao MILF Bombing Suspect

MAGUINDANAO (Juan Magtanggol / 06 Jul) A lone gunman killed in a broad daylight attack the wife of one of two senior Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader tagged as behind a failed assassination on the powerful governor of Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines, the military said Thursday.

The military said Nora Pakiladatu was gunned down shortly before noontime Wednesday in Cotabato City. "The case is under investigation by the Cotabato police," Captain Jose Ritche Pabilonia, spokesman of the Southern Command, said in a report.

The woman was the wife of Zaid (also known as Sajid) Pakiladato, deputy chief of the MILF's 105th Base Command in Camp Omar in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, where rebel and pro-government militias were fighting since last week.

"This is very sad. You don't kill Muslim women. We condemn the killing," Eid Kabalu, the MILF spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.

He said the woman, on her way to the mosque, was shot inside her van in the busy business district of Cotabato. "Her family blamed the killing to the ongoing clashes in Shariff Aguak," Kabalu said without further elaborating, but he claimed the attack came just hours after Zaid, in a radio interview in Cotabato City, denied any involvement in the June 23 bombing in Shariff Aguak town.

The bombing wounded 14 people and police and military blamed Pakiladato and Jamil Ombra, commander of the 105th Base Command, as behind the attack. The target of the bombing was allegedly the governor.

Prior to Pakiladato's killing, gunmen had also assassinated a woman Kaushar Daud near the area. Her unidentified sister survived the attack and the military said both were in the van when gunmen opened fire on Daud. It was unknown if the twin killings were connected or not.

Kabalu, quoting witnesses, said Pakiladato's attacker walked right on the side of her van and without any warning shot the woman several times at close range with a .45-caliber pistol. "He walked right up there and shot her just right there in the middle of the busy traffic and fled on a motorcycle," he said.

The latest killing had worsened the already tense situation in Maguindanao where pro-government militias allegedly executed at least 3 captured MILF rebels in Shariff Aguak town, where clashes between the two groups continue.

"Three of our members were executed, probably tortured first and then killed by musketry by militias. The fighting is going and there is no sign of it ever stopping today or tomorrow. The situation now is chaotic and there are fighting in several fronts," Kabalu said.

Kabalu accused armed civilians and militias loyal to Ampatuan as behind simultaneous attacks on a major MILF headquarters Camp Omar in the town in retaliation to the bombing.

Ampatuan, a former rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), escaped unhurt, but the bombing killed nephew. Police ordered the arrest of Ombra and Pakiladato, but the MILF denied the accusations and refused to surrender the duo.

Kabalu said fighting on Wednesday was fierce in Shariff Aguak, but continued sporadically the next day. Previous fighting was also reported in Datu Piang, Datu Unsay and Mamasapano towns, all in Maguindanao. "These clashes have already displaced more than 2,000 families," he said.

The MILF accused militias of torching houses of civilians who were supporters of the rebel group in Shariff Aguak. "The militias torched dozens of thatched houses; those owned by MILF supporters or relatives of rebels and these atrocities add up to the problems in Maguindanao," Kabalu said.

Rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the clashes since last week, Kabalu said, adding, at least eight MILF fighters were also killed.

More militias from other towns in Maguindanao have arrived in Shariff Aguak and were reportedly preparing to assault Camp Omar to flush out the two wanted rebel leaders.

The MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, is currently negotiating peace with Manila and protected by a five-year old truce agreement, Kabalu said. "The continued fighting could have a serious implication in the peace talks and clashes must stop immediately," he said.

Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to coordinate with the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) to maintain peace and order in Maguindanao.

Arroyo also instructed the military to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of thousands of Muslim evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes. Government spokespersons said the fighting between the rebels and militias was an isolated case and have not affected the current peace talks.

"The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations," said Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

"We are resolved to forge peace, defeat terror and fight poverty through the full implementation of our development programs in the region with the active support and participation of all our strategic allies in the international community," he said.

Murad Ebharim, chieftain of the MILF, ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks.

Kabalu said Camp Omar, which straddles in the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province, is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters.

"There is no assurance at this time that the fighting would ever stop as long as the militias continue attacking us," he said.

Fighting in February between rebels and militias in Shariff Aguak also left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.

Photo: Muslim Villagers Appeal For Halt In Maguindanao Fighting

Top photo: Muslim villagers gather Wednesday 05 July 2006 in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao to appeal for a halt in weeklong fighting between Moro Islamic Liberation Front and pro-government paramilitary forces that already displaced more than 5,000 civilians. And second photo shows former Moro National Liberation Front fighters display their weapons inside the MNLF's Camp Ibrahim Sema also in Datu Odin Sinsuat. (Mark Navales)

US Ambassador Kenney and RP Foreign Affairs' Romulo Lead Independence Day Celebration

Photo courtesy of the United States Embassy

MANILA -- U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo make a toast to Philippine-American friendship during the U.S. Embassy’s Independence Day celebration, held July 4 at the U.S. Embassy on Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

Nearly 1,000 friends, colleagues and well-wishers joined in the annual celebration, which featured fireworks and music from internationally recognized Filipino jazz artist Mon David and his band.

July 4, 2006, was also the 60th anniversary of Philippine-American Friendship Day.

Earlier that day, Kenney and Romulo kicked off a year of celebration with the unveiling of a photo exhibit at the Department of Foreign Affairs that revisits 60 years of friendship using photographs amassed from several private and public collections.

“I am personally honored to recognize the deep partnership between the United States and the Philippines on July 4, the most cherished of days in American history,” said Kenney.

On July 3, she inaugurated a Philippine-American Friendship Garden with Romulo on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy that “reflects the living and growing relationship that we have,” she said.

Militias Execute 3 MILF Prisoners In Maguindanao As Fighting Rages On

COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 05 Jul) Paramilitary forces executed at least 3 Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels captured in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao where clashes between the two groups continue since last week, an MILF spokesman said Wednesday.

"Three of our members were executed, probably tortured first and then killed by musketry by militias. The fighting is going and there is no sign of it ever stopping today or tomorrow. The situation now is chaotic and there are fighting in several fronts," Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.

Kabalu accused armed civilians and militias working for Andal Ampatuan, the governor of Maguindanao, as behind simultaneous attacks on a major MILF headquarters Camp Omar in the town of Shariff Aguak in retaliation to a bomb attack June 23 on a convoy carrying the politician.

Ampatuan, a former rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), escaped unhurt, but the bombing killed 5 people, including his nephew, and wounded 14 others.

Police and military accused the MILF of masterminding the attack and ordered the arrest of two senior rebel leaders Jamil Ombra, commander of the 105th Base Command in Camp Omar and his deputy Sajid Pakiladato, tagged as behind the roadside bombing in Shariff Aguak. The MILF denied the accusations and refused to surrender the duo.

Kabalu said fighting on Wednesday was fierce in Shariff Aguak, although sporadic clashes were also reported in Datu Piang, Datu Unsay and Mamasapano towns, all in Maguindanao. "These clashes have already displaced more than 2,000 families," he said.

The MILF accused militias of torching houses of civilians who were supporters of the rebel group in Shariff Aguak. Rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the clashes since last week, Kabalu said, adding, eight MILF fighters were also killed.

More militias from other towns in Maguindanao have arrived in Shariff Aguak and were reportedly preparing to assault Camp Omar to flush out the two wanted rebel leaders.

The MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, is currently negotiating peace with Manila and protected by a five-year old truce agreement, Kabalu said. "The continued fighting could have a serious implication in the peace talks and clashes must stop immediately," he said.

Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to coordinate with the Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) to maintain peace and order in Maguindanao.

Arroyo also instructed the military to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of thousands of Muslim evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes. Government spokespersons said the fighting between the rebels and militias was an isolated case and have not affected the current peace talks.

"The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations," said Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

"We are resolved to forge peace, defeat terror and fight poverty through the full implementation of our development programs in the region with the active support and participation of all our strategic allies in the international community," he said.

Murad Ebharim, the secluded chieftain of the MILF, on Monday has ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks. "The order of Brother Murad is for the rebels to stay put and defend their positions," Kabalu said.

Kabalu said Camp Omar, which straddles in the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province, is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters.

In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.

President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of bloody fighting in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao.

Army Soldier Killed In New Jolo Ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 05 Jul) Unidentified gunmen shot dead an army soldier in an attack on Jolo island in the southern Philippines, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf group tied to Jemaah Islamiya terror network, security officials said.

Officials said the soldier was heading home on a motorcycle when two gunmen ambushed him early Tuesday evening in the village of Kasalamatan in Jolo town.

"Subject enlisted man sustained multiple gunshot wounds that caused his instantaneous death," Captain Jose Ritche Pabilonia, a spokesman for the military's Southern Command, told the Zamboanga Journal.

No groups or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, but the killing came just three days after suspected Abu Sayyaf militant ambushed two army soldiers near the village of Anuling in Jolo's Patikul town. The soldiers were riding on a motorcycle when gunmen opened fire on them.

Last week, soldiers also disarmed powerful homemade bomb planted near a government school in Jolo's Kalingalang Kaluang town. The bomb was planted just 50 meters outside the Pitogo Elementary School, the military said.

Authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf group for the spate of killings, bombings and kidnappings on the island, about 950 km south of Manila.

The United States has offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf commanders, including its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, and Manila also put up P100 million bounties for the capture of the group's leaders and their members dead or alive.

The US included the group on its list of foreign terrorist organizations alongside with the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.

Zamboanga's E-World Career Center Now Offers Contact Center Training Program

Call E-World Career Center Corporation now at +6362 9925369 and 9927296

Calderon Is New Philippine Police Chief

MANILA (Zamboanga Journal / 04 Jul) President Gloria Arroyo has named Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon as new chief of the Philippine National Police.

Calderon replaced Director General Arturo Lomibao who retires Wednesday at the age of 56. Prior to his new position, Calderon was the PNP deputy chief for administration.

BJMP Proposal To Build Metro Manila Integrated Jail Lauded

Above, Chief Supt. Antonio Cruz, head of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, briefs senior government officials on the proposed Metro Manila Integrated Jail in San Mateo , Rizal province. (Belcie Agustin)

MANILA (Belcie Agustin / 04 Jul) Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno, of the Interior and Local Government, lauded Tuesday the proposed construction of the Metro Manila Integrated Jail (MMIJ) as envisioned by senior officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology headed by its former chief, Arturo W. Alit, now DILG Consultant on Jail Matters.

Chief Supt. Antonio Cruz, BJMP officer-in-charge, said Secy. Puno was regularly updated with the progress of the proposed jail project.

He said the jail construction will begin once President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issue a Presidential Proclamation awarding the 96 hectares in the village of Pintong Bukawe in San Mateo town in Rizal province.

The President needs to approve also the release of an initial P300 million to start the “horizontal development program” of the project.

The MMIJ project will hold the 21 National Capitol Region jail facilities, the BJMP offices and housing units for personnel and their families. The project envisions creating a community with social amenities for sports and recreations, hospital, school, courts, inns for visitors, livelihood facilities and a secured farm to raise crops and livestock, Cruz said.

“The project will have moral and spiritual impact as this would make inmates’ treatment more humane, uplift their living condition, and mainly to resolve the perennial problem of jail congestion,” he said.

But Cruz lamented the congestion in NCR jails. At present, he said, NCR jails can only accommodate around 5,300 inmates, but the current population now is more than 20,000.

The provision of courtrooms within the MMIJ compound will expedite disposition of inmates’ cases, reduce security risks and the expenses incurred in transporting inmates for hearing, he said.

“With secured vast land, jails could be transformed from cost centers to production units providing inmates opportunities for livelihood and to earn,” Cruz said.

Since its conception in 1994, the BJMP already set up the groundwork of the project which include, among others, blueprint and physical layout, resource requirements, sectoral representation, and the passing of House Bill No. 3079 and Senate Bill No. 1984.

The Bill is also known as “An Act Amending Section 63 of RA No. 6975, by inserting thereto a paragraph providing for the establishment of an integrated jail facility in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized cities in the country."

The Senate and House Technical Working Group have completed their deliberations on the proposed bills and are now in the process of drafting the Final Committee Reports.

Cruz said NCR mayors have expressed support to the project. Their commitment was in compliance with Section 33 of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 which provides that “Local government units may, through ordinances, group themselves, consolidate or coordinate their efforts, services and resources for purposes beneficial to them.”

The mayors of Malabon and Parañaque cities have also expressed their support to the project through a Memorandum of Understanding forged with BJMP. Other mayors are also expected to sign their MOU.

Both Cruz and Alit expressed confidence that the MMIJ will be realized soon, stressing that they have already coordinated with the San Mateo Municipal Council which signified willingness to host the project.

Cruz said they have also coordinated with the National Housing Authority to tackle the housing component of the project and that they were also working to comply with other NHA requirements.

GMA Orders Military To Coordinate With Cease-Fire Groups In Maguindanao

A police investigator examines debris believed from an 81mm mortar allegedly used in the Shariff Aguak bombing 23 June 2006 that killed 5 people. (Mark Navales)

MAGUINDANAO (Mark Navales / 04 Jul) Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the military to coordinate with the joint Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) to maintain peace and order in Maguindanao province in central Mindanao where Muslim rebels and paramilitary forces were fighting.

Arroyo instructed the military to work closely with government relief agencies and the local governments to address the plight of thousands of mostly Muslim evacuees and ensure their safe return to their homes.

Sporadic clashes continue in the town of Shariff Aguak on Tuesday. But government spokespersons said the fighting between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and militias was an isolated case and have not affected the current peace talks in Mindanao.

"The government is determined to pursue peace and development while taking all effective means to stop terrorism and bringing to justice those who have engaged in bombings and depredations," said Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

"We are resolved to forge peace, defeat terror and fight poverty through the full implementation of our development programs in the region with the active support and participation of all our strategic allies in the international community," he said.

Fighting erupted last week after rebels and militias clashed in Shariff Aguak town, scene of a deadly bomb attack on June 23 that killed 5 people and wounded 14 others. Local police and military claimed the bombing was the handiwork of the MILF, but the rebel group denied the accusation.

Dateline Manila: By Belcie Agustin

BAPTISM OF FIRE

When President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law more than a month ago the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, the landmark measure has yet to undergo a baptism of fire. Usually, as in the lifeblood of a law just published to hit the road so to speak, the brainstorming and formulation of the corresponding implementing rules and regulations (IRR) serve as its inherent birth pains.

Primarily, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act or Republic Act 9344 seeks to reform the system of justice and keep minors or Children In Conflict With the Law (CICL) from jail.

It provides that children 15 years and below will be "criminally exempt" while youth offenders ages 15 to 18 can be criminally charged only if they acted out "with discernment". Moreover, the recent law directs law enforcers to immediately turn over children caught for breaking the law to social workers upon their apprehension.

It wanted to do away with retributive justice or "an eye for an eye" vindictive system of correction and considers the restorative approaches of accountability, community safety and competency development in all levels and states of the proposed juvenile justice system, specifically aiming for the rehabilitation of the deviant child, cure the victim of the harm or offense and contribute magnanimously to peace in the community.

Concededly, RA 9344 calls for the establishment of a Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) under the administrative auspices of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and headed by the an undersecretary of the Department of Social and Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The proposed JJWC shall effectively coordinate and implement the different programs on juvenile justice being implemented by various agencies concerned, including the turf where this space invader belongs, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Just recently, in a staff conference presided by Chief Supt. Antonio Cabil Cruz, BJMP Officer-In-Charge, a technical working group was created and directed to formulate the implementing rules and regulations on the part of the BJMP.

Generally, the RA 9344 prescribes the creation of local councils for the protection of children. The council shall likewise serve as the primary agency to coordinate and assist the local government units for the adoption of a comprehensive plan on delinquency prevention and its implementation.

So there you are, folks. Let us just wait for more revealing developments and dwell next time with international laws face to face with our local laws on CICL.

A child under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), is recognized as a person under eighteen years of age unless national laws recognize the age of majority earlier.

The Child and Youth Welfare Code (PD 603) defines children as persons below twenty-one years of age except those emancipated in accordance with law. This law rose the minimum age of children as those twenty years old and below.

It must note, however, that this law was promulgated almost 15 years earlier than the UNCRC. Then President Ferdinand Marcos signed this code into law in December 1974.

The UNCRC, on the other hand was adopted in November 1989 but it was only a year later that the Philippine government ratified the convention. However, with the subsequent passage of RA 7610 in 1992, the age limit for the definition of "children" was lowered to below 18 years old. This definition was adopted by RA 9344.

Photo: A Man's Best Friend

A Man's Best Friend: A pedicab driver and his canine passenger in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. Local veterinarians urge dog owners to have their canines vaccinated for anti-rabies. Dog bites have killed many in the southern region the past years, health officials say.(Zamboanga Journal)

Konrad, Ateneo Offer Journalists Distance Learning Program

MANILA -- The Ateneo de Manila University on Tuesday announced that it is now accepting applications for second term admission to the Master of Arts in Journalism, a distance learning program for working journalists run by the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo (ACFJ).

Deadline is on August 31; classes begin in November. The master's program stands out among similar programs in Asia with itsuse of online learning methods which makes it convenient for working journalists and other media professionals to follow the courses from their own homes and workplaces.

Ten of the 13 courses comprising theprogram are taught using online learning methods. Moreover, the online learning platform has given the program an international character.

Since its inception in 2003 the program has attracted journalists - from reporters to senior editors - from 11Asian countries as well as those from countries outside the region.

The program's faculty likewise comes from various parts of Asia, North America, Australia and Europe.The master's program is the flagship program of ACFJ, a joint project ofthe Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the Ateneo.

ACFJ also offersnon-degree courses including the Diploma in Radio Journalism and a numberof certificate courses. Jointly with the world-renowned World Press Photo Foundation, ACFJ will launch another new program late this year, the Diploma in Photojournalism designed for working photojournalists.

Application forms to the graduate program may be requested by e-mail at grad@admu.edu.ph and are also available from the Ateneo's Office of Graduate Studies (OGS).

For its non-degree programs, ACFJ may be reached at newsroom@ateneo.edu.ph

For more information, please contact Violet B. Valdez, Executive Director, Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism At the Ateneo de Manila University, Tel Nos. (632) 9263253 / (632) 4266001 local 5215 Fax No. (632) 9263254 Website: http://acfj.ateneo.edu

2 MILF Rebels Killed In Military Assault In Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 04 Jul) Two Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) soldiers were killed in a military assault near a major rebel base in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, as sporadic, but fierce clashes are now threatening to derail the 5-year old government peace talks with Muslim rebels in the restive region.

Sporadic fighting continued in Shariff Aguak town and three other areas in Maguindanao province, where rebels are actively operating. "Two of our fighters are killed in the military attack near the MILF's Camp Omar. We have a total of four soldiers martyred," Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman, told the Zamboanga Journal.

He said the Monday assault violated a fragile cease-fire agreement. The fighting, Kabalu said, is threatening the peace talks. "The situation right now is very volatile and tense and the continued attacks on MILF areas would harm the peace process and we are holding our line and rebel forces are fighting back only in self-defense," Kabalu said.

The military's Southern Command did not give any statement about the attack on Camp Omar.

The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, said paramilitary forces working for the powerful Andal Ampatuan, the governor of Maguindanao, attacked the rebel base Camp Omar in retaliation to the killing of the politician's nephew in a roadside bombing last month.

The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group fighting for a separate Islamic state in the south.

The rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan's relative.

The military said the clashes began when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. It said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy in Shariff Aguak, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.

The governor, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, could not be reached for comment, but Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said the bombing targeted the governor who was unhurt in the blast. The bomb, he said, was left near a parked vehicle on the market where the politician's convoy had passed. "The governor was obviously the target of the attack," he said.

The military earlier demanded the MILF to pull out its soldiers in Shariff Aguak town, but Kabalu said authorities should first disarm the militias and seize their weapons because many of them were acting as private armies of politicians.

Murad Ebharim, the secluded chieftain of the MILF, on Monday has ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks. "The order of Brother Murad is for the rebels to stay put and defend their positions," Kabalu said.

Kabalu said the MILF's Camp Omar is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters and straddles the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province.

But the military said the MILF controls no area. "There are no so-called MILF territories or camps. There is only one democratic government," said an army commander involved in the operation against the MILF in Maguindanao.

The MILF said rebel forces have killed and wounded dozens of militias in the fighting since last week. He said MILF fighters also captured an army command base used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.

In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.

President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of bloody fighting in the strife-torn, but mineral-rich Mindanao.

Reporters Without Borders Calls For Swift Investigation Into Burning Of Radio Station In RP

Reporters Without Borders condemned the attack on Radyo Cagayano, in Cagayan province, northern Manila, which it said threatened press freedom yet again in this far-flung corner of the country.

"We call for the investigation ordered by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to shed light on this case, that those responsible be brought to trial and that the Philippines government takes the necessary steps to bring these types of attack to a halt," said the press freedom organisation.

The overnight raiders threatened the six employees who were on the premises at the time, including the radio station's director, Susan Mapa, before binding them and setting fire to the building. The shocked members of staff were able to leave the radio and were only slightly injured.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has accused the army of carrying out the raid on the basis of indications provided by the staff. It also condemned inaction by the police.

Although based only 300 metres from the radio, they only arrived on the scene three hours after the attack."The army is the only group with a motive to launch such an attack, said leftist lawmaker Teodoro Casino.

They have been very much the targets of programmes on this radio station," he said.

Lieut. Col. Leopoldo Galon Jr however denied any involvement on the part of the military. This attack is the latest in a long series generally carried out against leftist figures and activists.

Photo: Children Play In Man-Made Pond In Cotabato

Children enjoy playing in man-made pond in front of the new Cotabato City Hall. Mayor Muslimin Sema vows more infrastructure and development projects in Cotabato City. (Mark Navales)

NUJP Expresses Outrage Over Attack On Radio Station dwRC

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on expresses its outrage over the burning July 2 of the radio station dwRC Radyo Cagayano in Baggao town in Cagayan province by eight armed men wearing ski masks who also blindfolded, muzzled and tied station manager Susan Mapa and volunteers Erik Ayudan, Arnold Agaraan, Armalyn Badua, Arlyn Areta and Joy Marcos.

While thankful that no lives were lost in this latest atrocity, the burning of the station was as brazen an attack on Press Freedom and the People's Right to Know as any of the scores of murders that have claimed 81 colleagues' lives since 1986, when democracy was supposed to have been restored to our benighted land, and 44 since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001, the highest toll of any administration.

For while the arsonists deigned to spare the lives of our dwRC colleagues, they struck at the very heart of why the media exist – the inalienable right of the people to free access to information by which they can chart their individual lives and our future as a nation and as a people.

The brazenness of the arson is underscored by the fact that reports reaching the NUJP indicate the station was a joint project of the mayor of Baggao and a local farmers' organization with government funding from the party-list Bayan Muna.Again we demand that the Arroyo government order its law enforcement agencies to act with dispatch to find, arrest and prosecute the brains and perpetrators of this condemnable atrocity.

For, as we have said again and again in the still unsolved cases of so many of our murdered colleagues, and as various human rights and sectoral groups have pointed out in the case of the hundreds of activists killed or involuntarily disappeared since this administration came into power, inaction can only mean culpability or, at the very least, a tolerance of such a wide-scale and wanton violation not just of the media's but of the people's civil, social, political and human rights.

Media Groups Condemn Burning Of Community Radio In Northern RP

MANILA -- Media groups on Monday expressed outrage over the burning of a community radio station in Cagayan province. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) condemned the burning as an attack to press freedom and the people's right to communicate.

Jose Torres, Jr., NUJP spokesperson, called on the Arroyo administration to find and punish the perpetrators, even as he said their group claims government culpability on the crime because of its inaction on other attacks on media.

The station of dwRC 90.1 FM Radyo Cagayano, located at the town proper of mountainous Baggao town was burned by eight armed men wearing ski masks at 2 a.m. on Sunday.

The suspects took the mobile phones of the station manager and five staff, whom they blindfolded and tied up and forced out before setting the station on fire, using two gallons of gasoline.

At a press conference this morning, dwRC station manager Susan Mapa, cried as she recalled how the armed men wrapped her malong (blanket) around her head.

She said some of the suspects were in camouflage and combat boots and carried M-16 rifles. Mapa said she heard one of the suspects referred to their leader as "sir."

Mapa said the five other radio station staff were injured as the suspects tied them up and forced them down on the floor. The five were identified as: Arnold Agraan, Joy Marcos, Richard Ayudan, Arlyn Arella, and Armalyn Baddua. She recounted that the six of them ran toward the nearby parish convent as the station was set ablaze while the suspects escaped.

An estimated P1.5 million worth of radio equipment were razed, and the personal belongings of the staff amounting to more than P39,000.

Mapa said that the police investigators led by SP03 Jose Durwin found a magazine of a .45 handgun and two spent bullets. "Gustong palabasin ng mga nanunog na nagtatago kami ng baril," she said. (The perpetrators wanted to make it appear that we were keeping guns at the station.)

Mapa questioned the delayed reaction of the Philippine National Police (PNP), whose headquarters were only 300 meters away from the station. The police arrived at the convent at 5 a.m., three hours after the incident, and merely interviewed them. The investigators went up to the site later at 9 a.m.

Brig. Gen. Jaime Buenaflor, Civil Relations chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), denied the allegations in a radio interview.

Bianca Miglioretto, vice president of the Women's International Network of Asia Pacific and an official of the international network AMARC, said they will relay the news about the station's burning to their 3,000 member stations. The community radio is a member of AMARC Asia Pacific.

"Community radio is one way of giving a voice to the voiceless if this voice is taken away by burning the people's community radio station, it is a grave violation of their right to communicate," said Miglioretto.

"We will start a campaign of protest to pressure the Philippine government to give justice to the people of Radyo Cagayano," she added. (Bulatlat.com)

Photo: 250 Prisoners Cramped Small Cotabato Jail

The Cotabato City Reformatory Center has a maximum capacity of 75 inmates, but at present, some 250 prisoners are reportedly cramped in cells. Relatives of prisoners say many are suffering from various infectious diseases because of poor health conditions in jail. (Mark Navales)

MILF Fighting Continue In Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 03 Jul) Sporadic fighting continued Monday between Muslim rebels and paramilitary forces in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines peace negotiators try, but failed to forge a cease-fire and end the clashes that left dozens of people dead and wounded.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila, blamed the militias working for Andal Ampatuan, the governor of Maguindanao, as behind the attacks on a major rebel base the Camp Omar in Shariff Aguak town.

"Sporadic clashes continue and militias were attacking us. We are only defending ourselves," said Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman.

Murad Ebharim, chieftain of the MILF, has ordered rebel forces on Monday to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks.” The order of Brother Murad is for the rebels to stay put and defend their positions," Kabalu said.

Kabalu said MILF and government peace negotiators were trying to forge a local truce, but the militias continue their attacks on the rebels. "Local police forces and soldiers failed to disarm the militias and authorities are virtually helpless in restoring peace and order in Maguindanao," he said.

He said military forces deployed in the province also attacked Camp Omar.

"Soldiers sympathetic to Ampatuan shelled the MILF camp many times since last week and we have a filed a protest with the joint cease-fire committees, but military attacks still continue," he said.

Kabalu said more than 40 militias and two rebels were killed in the weeklong clashes in Shariff Aguak, where 5 people had died and 14 others wounded in June 23 bomb attack blamed by the police and military to the MILF. The bomb, security officials said, was intended to assassinate Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, a charge strongly denied by the MILF.

"The attacks on the MILF are clearly in retaliation to the killings of the 5 people on which the MILF had really no connection," Kabalu said.

Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said Ampatuan's convoy was passing when the bomb went off near the town's market. Police tagged Jamil Ombra, commander of the MILF’s 105th Base Command in Camp Omar and his deputy Sajid Pakiladato, as behind the roadside bombing in Shariff Aguak.

Police said it was the fourth attempt on Ampatuan's life by the MILF.
Kabalu said thousands of civilians have fled their homes and that the fighting had spread to the towns of Datu Unsay, Mamasapano and Datu Piang, all in Maguindanao.

He said the fighting could affect the peace talks if the militias continue to attack MILF forces.

"The clashes would only stop if militias stop attacking us. We are only defending ourselves," Kabalu said.

President Gloria Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, the country's largest separatist rebel group fighting for an independent Muslim state in the southern region, in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of fighting in Mindanao.

In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak town and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.

2 Soldiers Die In Jolo Ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 03 Jul) Unidentified gunmen killed two government soldiers in an ambush in the strife-torn southern Filipino island of Jolo, where military forces were fighting members of the militant Abu Sayyaf group, officials said Monday.

Officials said gunmen attacked the two soldiers near the village of Anuling in Patikul town. The soldiers were riding on a motorcycle when gunmen opened fire on them.

Troops from a nearby detachment had to seal the area to be able to recover the bodies of the slain soldiers. No group claimed responsibility for the attack and officials would not say if the Abu Sayyaf was involved in the ambush or not.

"Police and military are still investigating the ambush. There is operation in the area," Captain Jose Ritche Pabilonia, a spokesman for the military's Southern Command, told reporters in Zamboanga City.

Last week, soldiers also disarmed powerful homemade bomb planted near a government school in Jolo's Kalingalang Kaluang town. The bomb was planted just 50 meters outside the Pitogo Elementary School, the military said.

The military have blamed the Abu Sayyaf group for the spate of killings, bombings and kidnappings on the island, about 950 km south of Manila.

The United States has offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf commanders, including its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, and Manila also put up P100 million bounties for the capture of the group's leaders and their members dead or alive.

The US included the group on its list of foreign terrorist organizations alongside with the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.

BIMP, Northern Territory To Address Trade Barriers

From left, Romeo Serra, chairman of the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC); Secy. Jesus Dureza, Philippine Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA; Clare Martin, Chief Minister of Northern Territory and other officials from Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. (Photo courtesy of MEDCo)

DAVAO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 03 Jul) The Northern Territory (North Central Australia) and the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (BIMP) have agreed to address non-tariff trade barriers to open up trade, tourism and investments in the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA), Filipino officials said.

Officials said the move was a breakthrough in attempts to ease up issues on non-tariff trade barriers. Recent dialogue between government officials and trade leaders in the BIMP-EAGA and the Northern Territory recognized their tremendous opportunities for trade, especially in agricultural products, food commodities and construction materials.

In a joint communiqué after the 2nd BIMP-EAGA-Darwin Dialogue held recently in Darwin, BIMP-EAGA member countries, the Northern Territory Government and the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC), have agreed to maximize trade opportunities between the sub-region and Australia by addressing concerns on non-tariff-trade barriers.

They also agreed to explore ways to simplify and share information on customs-immigration-quarantine and security (CIQS) related rules andregulations as well as provide capacity-building assistance for BIMP-EAGA quarantine officials.

Merly Cruz, Filipino regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry, and Philippine Senior Official for BIMP-EAGA, said the agreement augurs well for the sub-region as it offers great opportunity to link up and access the more developed Australian market.

"NT players are interested to tap the East Asia or Asia as a market because they feel they are now ready with Australasia railway in place. It is now positioning its products to Asia, particularly BIMP-EAGA and versa and that it can very well serve as the gateway," said Cruz, adding that the recent completion of Australasia trade route is viewed to further increase trade advantages between BIMP-EAGA, NT and the rest of Australia.

An initiative under the Northern Territory Government's Asian Engagement Plan, Australasia Trade Route is pushing for the creation of a new rail system linking Northern and Southern Australia via BIMP-EAGA and a nautical super highway linking Australia with the Philippines' Strong Republic Nautical Highway.

The plan supports a strategic objective of increased trade and investment through multilateral relationships in Asia particularly the BIMP-EAGAregion.

Under the AustralAsia Trade Route initiative, the sub-region can link up with Australia's import and exports, shipping, value-adding servicesand take advantage of its ongoing regional development projects on rail, road, energy and communication systems.Cruz said they are optimistic that the agreement would bring more BIMP-EAGA products to Australia as an ad-hoc technical committee shall be formed to discuss specific mechanisms in putting up fumigation facilities in the sub-region.

"This is a good indicator of a flourishing BIMP-EAGA NT trade relationships and it would be very important to Mindanao because we have been attempting to bring out products to Australia such as our fresh fruits. We have succeeded a bit but it’s far from significant," she said.

At present, efforts are still being pushed for Philippine mango, pineapple and banana to gain greater market access in Australia.Secretary Jesus Dureza, Philippine Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA, said the private sector's role in realizing the development of such trade link is crucial.

The NT government has extended support to expanding business linkages in the sub-region through BIMP-EAGA Business Portal project, which offers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the BIMP-EAGA region to link with the NT and through the NT to the rest of Australia.

"I am pleased that this development has been initiated by the private sector, which as pointed out before, plays a crucial role in the developmentof trade between the regions and Australia," he said.

The 2nd BIMP-EAGA-Darwin Dialogue was attended by representatives from key private sector organizations in EAGA, such as the BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC), BIMP-EAGA Facilitation Center (BIMP-FC), as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ASEAN Secretariat, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and officials from Northern Territory (NT) and AusAid.

The Northern Territory had since been adopted as BIMP-EAGA's strategic development partner, and initiated the First BIMP-EAGA-Darwin Dialogue in 2004.

Photo: Winning The Hearts And Minds Of Filipino Muslims

WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS : US Navy Lt. Sg. David Nava is overwhelmed by Muslim children as he distributes stuff toys during a recent joint RP-US medical mission in the southern Islamic city of Marawi. Security forces are battling Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya terror network in the restive southern Philippine region. (Zamboanga Journal)

Mindanao Laborers Unlikely To Get P25 Daily Wage Hike

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 02 Jul) Laborers in Zamboanga Peninsula and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are likely to receive new wage increase next month following the petition filed earlier by national labor groups.

However, government labor officials here said the wage increase will be lower than the P25 the National Capital Region's Wage Board has set earlier.

Regional labor officials said employers cannot afford the P25 wage increase. Instead, they pressed for a lower wage hike.

"Employers in Zamboanga Peninsula are looking into the possibility in giving an increase ranging from P 10 to P 15, but not P25 as this may hamper the growth of the business establishments in the region," Chita Cilindro, the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment in Western Mindanao, told the Zamboanga Journal.

Jose Batausa, president of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also noted that the current rate of wage increase is too high and may not be applicable in Zamboanga City as well as in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula.

"I doubt employers of this city can give a daily increase of P25. The cost of living in Manila is different from here. The effect is that majority of the employers here will reduce its existing numbers of employees just to comply with this year's wage hike," he said.

Jann Jakilan, the ARMM Labor Secretary, said businessmen of the Muslim autonomous region have not yet set any figures for wage increase.

He said employers are expecting a wage adjustment that is acceptable to both parties."Employers and the labor groups of the region are yet to discuss next month. However, I don't think businessmen will buy the idea of a P25 wage increase in our area," he said.

Datu Harun Bandila, president of the ARMM Business Council, said employers could only accommodate an increasefrom P5 to P10. However, he said, traders are also looking at implementing non-wage benefits, such as free meals and transportation to the laborers.

The current minimum wage in Zamboanga Peninsula is P200 for non-agricultural workers and P175 agricultural workers and these include the cost of living allowance or cola.

In ARMM, daily take-home pay ranges from P150 to P175, from agricultural workers to non-agricultural workers.

Both employers and laborers in the Bangsamoro region is scheduled to have a public hearing on wage hike on July 16, while Zamboanga City is scheduled to discuss this on July 6. Cilindro said the tripartite wage board has until July 14 to determine the wage increase rate in Western Mindanao.

Media Fellowships In The Netherlands

Invitation for media fellowship in the Netherlands is now open for Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, Pacific, Eurasia, Europe, South Asia, United States, Western and Hemisphere.

Grant Type: Study and Research Grants

Description: If you are in one of the countries listed (see below, you can apply for fully-funded media training courses in Hilversum, Holland at the Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC): Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, China (except citizens from Hong Kong and Macao), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

You need to let RNTC know you wish to participate in one of the training courses on offer. For this you can download the RNTC application form from this website. Send or fax the completed form to RNTC at the address/fax number given on the last page of the form.

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Radio Netherlands Training Centre Website: http://www.rnw.nl/cgi/?app=rntc&page=index&id=37

MAGHUSAY TA! By Uriel Cruz Vallecera

UPAT KA DAGKONG REHIYON

USA sa nag-unang isyu nga gihisgotan pa hangtod karon mao ang plano sa pagbahin sa Pilipinas ngadto sa upat ka dagkong rehiyon kun supra region. Adunay miuyon ug aduna usay misupak sa maong laraw sa katarongan nga managlahi depende sa ilang tagsatagsa ka interpretasyon niini nga lakang.

Sa iyang bahin, si Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena misuporta sa planong pagpatuman sa mega region nga maghiusa sa tanang mga rehiyon sa Pilipinas ngadto na lang sa upat ka dagkong rehiyon.

Sa ato pa nga kon matigayon kini, wala na unyay Region 7 diin nahisakop ang dakbayan ug lalawigan sa Sugbo. Matod pa nga si Presidente Gloria Macapagal Arroyo mismo ang miduso niini sa tinguha nga mapalambo pag-ayo ang ekonomiya ug turismo sa atong nasod.

Si Osmena miingon nga wala pa hinuon siya makaseguro kon makabenepisyo ba aniini ang nasod nga Pilipinhon apan hugot siyang nagtuo nga maghatag gayod kinig positibong resulta sa mga Sugboanon.

Hinuon sa akong bahin, wala pa koy baroganan mahitungod niining lakang nga upaton na lang ang RP tungod kay wala pa ko makatugkad sa hingpit sa maong lakang. Wala pa ko makombinser nga segurado gayod nga kining maong plano makahatag og kabulahanan sa atong nasod.

-o0o-

Sa pagbuto sa maong isyu, si Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia mipadayag nga angayan gayod tukion ang paghimog upat na lang ka dagkong rehiyon sa Pilipinas ug tun-an kon makahatag ba gayod kini og kabulahanan sa nasod. Sa resulta sa gihimong pagtuki atol sa gihimong panagtigom sa mga gobernador niadtong miaging bulan, nasuta nga daghang mga gobernador ang pabor kaayo sa maong lakang.

Mao nga karon pa lang gani, ingon sa ako nang napaghilantawan nga posible gayod nga matigayon ang pagpatuman sa maong plano tungod kay nakaani na man kini og suporta gikan sa dagkong mga politiko sa kaprobinsiyahan.

Hinuon, sa akong pagtan-aw, mas makaayo kini sa nasod kay sa plano sa pipila ka magbabalaod nga pagdugang og laing distrito sa ilang mga probinsiya. Ang pagdugang og laing distrito klarong pag-usik-usik sa kuwarta sa kagamhanan kay nagkahulogan man kini nga mosuweldo na usab kitag laing representante.

Mao nga kon papilion ko tali sa pagdugang og laing distrito sa kaprobinsiyahan ug sa paghimong upat ka dagkong rehiyon sa RP, maoy akong paboran ang naulahi. Apan wala kini magpasabot nga hingpit na kong misuporta niining maong laraw.

Dugang niini, ang paghimong upat sa RP, alang kanako, mas maayo pa kay sa gilaraw nga pagbuakbuak sa Sugbo ngadto sa tulo o upat ka probinsiya. Ang pagbuakbuak sa Sugbo, alang kanako, dili gayod makadulot og kaayohan ngadto sa mga Sugboanon.

ANDAM NA BA ANG CEBU?

HANGTOD karon daghan pa gihapon ang nagduhaduha kon andam na ba ang Cebu alang sa mass transport system nga giplanohan nga sagopon aron pagsulbad sa suliran sa trapiko nga nagkagrabe na gayod ang kahuot tungod sa volume sa mga sakyanan.

Padayon nga gisupak kining maong plano. Apan daghan ang mga pasahero nga nahinangop niini tungod kay nasayod sila nga silay makabenepisyo kon mahinayon gayod kining maong transport scheme. Pero mao lagi, daghan ang nangutana kon andam na ba gayod ang Cebu niining maong sistema.

Dili nato malalis ang kalehitimo sa maong pangutana mao nga kinahanglan nga sutaon gayod kon segurado ba nga andam na ang dakbayan sa Sugbo sa pagbiyahe sa mga bus ug ang mga PUJ adto na lang pabiyaheon sa mga dapit nga lisod sudlon sa mas dagko nga mga bus nga maoy mohakot sa mga pasahero.

Usa ka dako ug mapangahason kining maong lakang. Pero sa dili pa mopahinayak, angayan nga sutaon kon maayo ba kaha gayod ang epekto niini. Daghan pang mga aspeto ang angay tun-an aron maseguro nga ang pagpatuman ug pagsagop sa mass transport system mahimong epektibo kaayo.

Daghan kaayo ang miuyon sa mass transit system tungod kay gawas nga mas maayong pagkalingkod sa mga pasahero, makapakunhod usab kini sa kahuot sa trapiko sanglit ang mga pasahero nga masulod sa tulo ngadto sa upat ka jeepneys masulod man kini sa usa lang ka bus.

Pero mikisikisi ang mga PUJ driver ilabi na kadtong direktang maapektohan sa biyahe o rota unya sa mga bus nga magdagan. Makulban kuno sila sa kaldero. Kini ang unod sa ilang kabalaka.

Sa pagsulat niini, giduso nag balik ni Mayor Tomas Osmena ang plano nga mass transit system sa mga sakyanang pasaheroan nga maggikan sa gawas sa nahisgotang siyudad nga molahos sa pagpamasahero sa nahisgotang dakbayan.

Haom kaaro ang mass transport system sa Sugbo tungod kay aduna may dagkong kadalanan nga mahimong maoy subayan sa biyahe sa maong mga public utility vehicles. Ako mismo nagtuo usab nga makapakunhod gayod kini sa kahuot sa trapiko.

Dili hinuon makataronganon nga kulban sa kaldero ang mga PUJ driver. Apan wala man sab sila did-i sa pagpamasahero sa laing rota. Gani, gipasabot man nga mas gikinahanglan ang serbisyo sa mga PUJ kon may mga bus na unya nga magdagan sa kadalanan sa Sugbo.

Ang mga PUJ maoy maghatod sa mga pasahero ngadto sa dapit nga naghulat kanila ang bus nga ilang sakyan. Mao nga dili angay mabalaka ang mga PUJ drivers nga makulban sila sa kaldero.

-o0o-

Nunot niining laraw sa pagpatuman sa mass transport system sa Sugbo, gihunghusgan ni Mayor Osmena ang pagpanakop sa mga PUJ nga nagrota og Mandaue-Jones nga molahos sa pagpamasahero sa uptown area ug ingon man sa Colon subay sa ordinansa nga gipatuman sa CITOM.

Daghan ang nagbagulbol niini tungod kay daghang mga commuters ang naapektohan. Napuwerhisyo sila kay imbes usa lang ka sakay paingon sa ilang gitrabahoan, kaduha na man hinuon sila mosakay tungod kay dili na man makasulod sa kinapusoran sa Cebu City ang mga PUJ nga naggikan sa Mandaue.

Maayo tingali nga hinuktokan kining bahina. Puwerhisyo tinuod. Didto sa Manila, ang mga PUJ nga maggikan sa Caloocan City wala did-i sa pagsulod sa Pasay City hinungdan nga dili hasol sa mga pasahero.

Hinuon, lahi ang sitwasyon sa Manila kay sa Sugbo. Pero kinahanglan gyod unta nga hatagan og convenience ang mga pasahero, dili kay puwerhisyo ang atong idulot ngadto kanila.(Columnist Uriel Vallecera is based in Cebu province)

Media Groups Hold Press Conference In Manila, Condemn Burning Of Radio Station

INVITATION FOR COVERAGE

PRESS CONFERENCE

National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters) and Radyo Cagayano.

Re: Cagayan radio station razed down by masked men

11 am, July 3, 2006

Newsdesk Cafè

Sct. Madrinan cor. Sct. Tobias, Quezon City

Gunmen Torch Radio Station In Northern Philippines

MANILA (Zamboanga Journal / 01 Jul) Eight gunmen believed to be government soldiers allegedly torched a community radio station before dawn Sunday in the town of Baggao in Cagayan province, about 320 km north of Manila, the media watch dog National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), said.

It said the attack on Radyo Cagayano occured around 2 a.m. Six people working for the radio station, including the manager, were held at gunpoint, blindfolded and hogtied.

The six were identified as Susan Mapa, the station manager, and staff members Erik Ayudan, Arnold Agaraan, Armalyn Badua, Arlyn Areta, and Joy Marcos. They all suffered bruises.

Local organizations condemned the incident as an attack against press freedom and blamed soldiers assigned with the Army's 17th Infantry Battalion, under the 5th Infantry Division, as the alleged perpetrators.

Security officials were not immediately available to make a statement.

"Reports reaching the NUJP said the arsonists entered the compound at around 2 a.m., poured gasoline into the radio transmitter and booth facilities, and set them on fire.

"The arsonists reportedly held at gunpoint, blindfolded and hogtied six radio staff who were at the station compound," the media group said.

The radio station was built in 2002, but peasants who attended the inauguration of a new building were also attacked by suspected soldiers armed with machetes for an unknown reason.

Reports said the radio facility is a joint project of the local mayor and peasant organization called KAGIMUNGAN. The progressive political group Bayan Muna helped facilitate the government funding of the project.

Troops Kill 7 NPA Rebels In Compostela Valley

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 02 Jul) Government soldiers killed at least 7 communist insurgents in two days fierce fighting in Compostela Valley province in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Sunday.

The fighting at the weekend broke out in the towns of Pantukan and Laak where troops caught up separately with New People's Army (NPA) rebels, triggering a running gun battle that left at least 7 gunmen dead, said Lt. Col. Francisco Simbajon, of the 4th Infantry Division.

"At least seven rebels are dead. There is an ongoing operation in the province and soldiers are pursuing the rebels," he told the Zamboanga Journal.

Simbajon said there were no reports of military casualties and that soldiers recovered assorted personal belongings of rebels and a list of suspected loggers who were paying so-called "revolutionary" taxes to the NPA, the military wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines.

The military did not give more details about the operation, but said more soldiers were sent to the area to help flush out the NPA rebels in the province.

Last week, security forces occupied a huge jungle encampment of the NPA after days of fighting the village of Busdi in Malaybalay City in Bukdinon province, northeast of Compostela Valley.

Fighting in the countryside have escalated after peace talks between communist rebels and the government collapsed in 2004 after the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front pulled out from the negotiations because of its inclusion to the terror lists of the United States and the European Union on Manila's prodding.

Rebels demanded that President Gloria Arroyo asks the United States and the European Union to strike them off from the terror lists before they resume peace talks. Manila rejected the demand and suspended safety and immunity guarantee for rebel peace negotiators following the collapse of the talks.

President Arroyo has ordered the military to crush the NPA, the armed wing of the CPP-NDF, and set aside one billion pesos for the military to help fight insurgency and terrorism.

Filipino Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao Knocks Down Mexican Fighter Oscar Larios!

FLASH!

Filipino boxing champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao knocked down Mexican fighter Oscar Larios on the 12th and last round at 12.17 p.m. Sunday (Philippine time) at the Araneta Center in Manila.

The 29-year old Pacquiao wins by a unanimous decision.

PHOTO: Framed Photographs For Sale!

Framed Photographs For Sale

Murdered Cotabato Journalists Buried, Hundreds Attend Funeral

Murdered journalists George and Macel Vigo are buried Saturday, 01 July 2006 in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines. (Mark Navales)

KIDAPAWAN, North Cotabato (Mark Navales / 01 Jul) Hundreds of mourners, many friends and relatives of slain journalists George and Macel Vigo, attended the couple's burial Saturday in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province in southern Philippines.

Journalists mourning the death of the duo carried banners, one saying: "HUSTISYA ALANG SA TANANG BIKTIMA PAGPAMATAY SA PASISTANG ESTADO,” (Justice for all murdered victims of this fascist government). Macel, 36, was also known as Mazel, a broadcast journalist, while her 36-year old husband was a writer for the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN).

The two were on a motorcycle on their way home when one of two gunmen shot them on June 19 in Sandawa district in Kidapawan City.

Police have tagged Dionisio Madanggit, an alleged hitman of the communist rebel group New People's Army (NPA), as the couple's killer. A P100,000 bounty has been offered for the arrest of Madanggit, according to Chief Supt. German Doria, the regional police chief.

But the NPA strongly denied police charges that one of its fighter was behind the killing and blamed the military for the attack.

"The cold-blooded murder of George and Mazel Vigo in Kidapawan City is without any doubt the handiwork of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) death squads. This exactly confirms that the two-year-P1 billion all-out-war ordered by the fascist illegal occupant in Malacañang has civilians as targets," said Ricardo Fermiza, spokesman of the NPA's Magtanggol Roque Command in Southern Mindanao.

Police said two men were involved in the attack, but it did not identify the second suspect. Both escaped on a motorcycle after the attack, whose motive is still unknown. Other reports said Mandanggit is also contract killer.

The NPA also denied that Madanggit is a member of the rebel group.

"There is no Dionisio Madanguit listed in the roster of membership in the NPA. The enemy is adept at such deceptive machinations that intend to manipulate public opinion. As expected, the AFP-Philippine National Police are quick to point at us, hinting that the couple was supposedly their intelligence “assets” providing information against the New Peoples Army (NPA). They even dropped the name of a certain Dionisio Madanguit who is allegedly a member of the NPA “sparrow unit” who executed the couple."

"Nothing can be farther from the truth than such barefaced lie and deception. The Vigo couple was known for their involvement in the progressive legal democratic mass movement in North Cotabato. They have contributed to the struggle for human rights, environment protection, agrarian reform, and the rights and welfare of media, women and children, and national minority," Fermiza said.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said George Vigo also was the executive director of the non-governmental organization Peoples' Kauyahan Foundation, Inc. (PKFI), which was behind many peace forums and dialogues in North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces.

The couple, who had 5 children, also founded the Federation of Reporters for Empowerment and Equality in the province.

Last month, gunmen also killed Fernando Batul, a broadcaster based in Palawan province in the central Philippines. He was the 5th journalist killed this year, the 42nd to die under the Arroyo administration.

Batul was the 79th journalist murdered since 1986 when press freedom was supposed to have been restored. (With a report from Juan Magtanggol)

Tension Is High In Maguindanao, MILF Braces For More Attacks

COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 01 Jul) Tension remains high Saturday in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, scene of bloody fighting between Moro Islamic Liberation Front and local paramilitary forces, as the exodus of civilians continue, a rebel spokesman said.

Eid Kabalu said MILF fighters were bracing for new attacks by armed followers of Andal Ampatuan, the governnor of Maguindanao. "Tension is very high and MILF forces are bracing for possible attacks by militias working for Ampatuan," he told the Zamboanga Journal.

The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack last week in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.

The fighting has been raging for days, Kabalu said, adding, government soldiers have fired at least 20 rounds of howitzer canons near a major rebel base late Friday afternoon. "It's good that no one was killed in the shelling and it was also the first time that government soldiers fired at us and it is a violation of the cease-fire agreement," he said.

Kabalu said the MILF on Saturday filed a protest with the joint cease-fire committees and that the Malaysian-led international truce observers were investigating the attack.

The clashes began Wednesday when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. The military said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.

But the rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan's relative.

Kabalu said dozens of militias were killed and wounded in the fighting since Wednesday and that one rebel was also slain and ten others injured. He said that rebels overran a military command used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.

The military said only six militias were reported wounded. "Military reports said only six militias were wounded and we don't have reports about what the MILF is claiming," said Brig. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado, the spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Hundreds of civilians fled their homes in four villages -- Tapikan, Koloy, Nabundas and Pulang Lupa -- in Shariff Aguak for fear of being caught in the cross-fire.

Kabalu warned the fighting would escalate in other areas and could affect the peace talks if the militias continue to attack MILF forces. "We are only defending ourselves, but we are ready to fight," he said.

The governor, a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, could not be reached for comment, but Nori Unas, the provincial administrator, said one of those killed in the bombing was the nephew of Ampatuan and that the bomb attack targeted the governor who was unhurt in the blast. The bomb, he said, was left near a parked vehicle on the market where the politician's convoy had passed. "The governor was obviously the target of the attack," Unas said.

In February, security and rebel forces clashed for weeks in Shariff Aguak and left more than a dozen people dead from both sides. The fighting erupted after the MILF opposed a provincial government road construction that rebels claimed would encroach into their territories in the village of Datu Unsay.

President Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, which is fighting for an independent Muslim state in the southern region, in an effort to put an end to more than three decades of fighting in Mindanao.