ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 07 Oct) – A five-man team of health and sanitation experts from the European Union are expected to arrive in the Philippines to monitor compliance of processors of fisheries products being exported to European market.
“A five-man technical team from the Food and Veterinary Office (VFO) of EU will be conducting inspection of premises of manufacturers of fisheries products from October 16 to 27,” said Consuelo C. Baltazar, head of Administrative Support and Product Certification Unit of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Baltazar said the inspectors will also evaluate BFAR’s food control program and system to implement EU Council Directive pertaining to the production and marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products from the Philippines for export to the EU countries.
The VFO, which is part of EU’s Directorate General Health and Consumer Protection, ensures that European Council legislation on food safety and quality are properly enforced by Third World Countries, like the Philippines.
The technical mission is task to ensure that Third World Countries exporting fisheries’ products to the European market have public health legislation and controls for the fisheries sector which are equivalent to those existing in EU legislation.
She explained that fishing establishments – manufacturers, preprocessing plants, cold storage facilities and other firms involved in fish supply chain will have to undergo a thorough inspection and monitoring to determine compliance to the EU requirements, specifically to the new Food and Feed Hygiene Rule.
She said: “The EU has the highest standards in hygiene and sanitation that is why if local stakeholders are able to pass the stringent requirements they will have easy access to other export markets like US, Canada and Japan.”
At present, she said, there are 23 fish establishments in the country that are EU approved manufacturers of fisheries products.
In Mindanao, there are 11 fish processors (four for Region 9 and eleven for Region 12) which passed the EU requirements.
She said the country previously had 97 fish processors which were authorized to export to EU, but 74 firms had been de-listed. Some processing plants have opted to cater to non-EU countries.
The EU, however, is obliged to extend assistance to exporting countries to help them meet the EU requirements. EU is also providing financial and technical assistance to Filipino manufacturers.
Under the Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA), the EU has allocated 3.9 million Euros for technical and financial assistance, which include upgrading of facilities and technical training.
The EU countries have recognized the need to provide assistance to Third World countries to enhance capabilities of manufacturers to comply with the requirements, she said.
In 2004, the country had recorded 2 import alerts in the Rapid Alert System for food and feed of the VFO due to the presence of residue of chloro-amphenicol, nicol and histamine in sardines, she disclosed.
Then in 2005, four alerts were recorded involving one processing company due to the presence of carbon monoxide in tuna; while for this year, one alert was again recorded involving histamine in canned tuna. These alerts, however, have been rectified.
The country is exporting canned tuna, frozen octopus and shrimps and pasteurized shrimp paste to the European Community, she said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, October 07, 2006
1,200 Affected By Typhoon Bebinca (Neneng) In South RP
MISAMIS ORIENTAL (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Oct) – More than 1,200 people were affected by rampaging flashfloods caused by Typhoon Bebinca, locally called “Neneng,” as it battered the southern Philippines.
The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) in Northern Mindanao reported that more than 100 houses were destroyed and damaged by the floods in the towns of Balingasag, Lagonglong, Salay and Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental.
In Lanao del Sur, a man was killed after he was hit by a tree, uprooted by strong wind, in the village of Daguan in Kapatagan town.
Just last week, the Philippines was also devastated by Typhoon Xangsane also locally tagged as “Milenyo.” The typhoon had killed at least 98 people dead.
Washington has donated $100,000 to the Philippine National Red Cross to help thousands of victims of the previous typhoon.
The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) in Northern Mindanao reported that more than 100 houses were destroyed and damaged by the floods in the towns of Balingasag, Lagonglong, Salay and Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental.
In Lanao del Sur, a man was killed after he was hit by a tree, uprooted by strong wind, in the village of Daguan in Kapatagan town.
Just last week, the Philippines was also devastated by Typhoon Xangsane also locally tagged as “Milenyo.” The typhoon had killed at least 98 people dead.
Washington has donated $100,000 to the Philippine National Red Cross to help thousands of victims of the previous typhoon.
The aid, released this week through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), would be used to purchase essential relief supplies, such as blankets, mosquito nets, plastic mats and water containers to help about 11,000 people affected by floods and landslides. (Mindanao Examiner)
Cooperation Needed For Success Of RP's Juvenile Justice Law
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 07 Oct) - The success of the Juvenile Justice Welfare Law hinges on the creation and composition of the Juvenile Justice Welfare Council to be composed of representatives from the government, non-government organizations and other sectors.
Local Council woman Milabel Velasquez, who heads the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Women and Family, said she sees a brighter future for the children once the Juvenile Justice Welfare Law is fully enforced throughout the country.
“Another requirement is for all social welfare officers to be familiar with the salient provisions of the law so that they may effectively manage cases and bring about more positive results,” Velasquez said.
She said no less than the author of Republic Act 9344 Senator Francis Pangilinan has assured that victims of crimes committed by youth offenders could seek justice under the new law.
Velasquez was among the 400 participants who attended the 10th National Forum of Social Welfare Officers and legislators at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel this week. She spoke to Pangilinan during the forum.
Velasquez said under the Juvenile Justice System, youth offenders who are 15 years old and below are exempted from facing criminal charges in court. However, the policy of involuntary confinement will have to be applied where the youth offenders shall be subjected to extensive rehabilitation through various intervention schemes.
These intervention schemes include psycho-social counseling, education, skills and livelihood and other disciplinary trainings.
Velasquez explained that youth offenders who are 15 years old but not more than 18 years of age maybe exempted from criminal liability unless they acted with discernment.
She said a new rehabilitation center equipped with facilities for children in conflict with the law will have to be set up in Zamboanga City, and this may require a huge sum of money.
Under the Juvenile Justice System, the volume of work and the responsibility of child management lies heavily on the social welfare officers, and that "any inefficiencies in case management could unnecessarily result to a defeat in the basic intent and purpose of the statute," Velasquez cautioned.
Photo: Where Does Ye Leadeth Me Father?
A boy and his blind father beg for money outside a Catholic church in downtown Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines. Lack of job opportunities and livelihood program for the poor have forced many to beg for alms on the dangerous streets of Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner)U.S. Releases Aid To Assist Typhoon Victims In Philippines
MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Oct) – Washington has donated $100,000 to the Philippine National Red Cross to help thousands of victims of Typhoon Xangsane.
The aid, released through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), would be used to purchase essential relief supplies, such as blankets, mosquito nets, plastic mats and water containers to help about 11,000 people affected by floods and landslides.
The typhoon, locally known as “Milenyo,” devastated many parts of the Philippines and had killed at least 98 people dead. U.S. Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney issued last week a disaster declaration due to the magnitude of the damage caused by the typhoon.
Another typhoon, which local weather experts, called “Neneng,” also flooded many areas in the southern Philippines this week. (Mindanao Examiner)
The aid, released through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), would be used to purchase essential relief supplies, such as blankets, mosquito nets, plastic mats and water containers to help about 11,000 people affected by floods and landslides.
The typhoon, locally known as “Milenyo,” devastated many parts of the Philippines and had killed at least 98 people dead. U.S. Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney issued last week a disaster declaration due to the magnitude of the damage caused by the typhoon.
Another typhoon, which local weather experts, called “Neneng,” also flooded many areas in the southern Philippines this week. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, October 06, 2006
RP Court Finds 3 Men Guilty Of Killing Journalist
COTABATO CITY (Juan Magtanggol / 06 Oct) – A Filipino court on Friday has sentenced three men for murdering a woman journalist in the southern Philippines.
The men were found guilty in the March 2005 killing of Marlene Esperat, who was shot in front of her children inside their house in Tacurong town in Sultan Kudarat province in the dangerous island of Mindanao.
The three were believed to be hired killers, but the masterminds in the killing were still unknown, although the victim’s family had linked two agriculture officials to the murder.
Esperat, who worked with The Midland Review, had accused the two government officials of corruption.
The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) praised the court’s decision, but said the battle for press freedom is still far from over. "We welcome the decision. It's another victory for press freedom," NUJP chairman Jose Torres Jr. said in a statement.
A total of 86 journalists have been killed the past three decades and almost half of these under the administration of President Gloria Arroyo, who took power in 2001.
International media organizations have described the Philippines as among the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, second only to Iraq.(With a report from Mark Navales)
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BJMP Holds Seminar On Use Of Force Standards
QUEZON CITY (Belsie Agustin / 06 Oct) - Selected jail regional directors and wardens from the National Capital Region took part in a two-day seminar-workshop of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on the use of force standards.
BJMP officer-in-charge Chief Supt. Antonio C. Cruz said the consultative workshop, held recently at the BJMP’s national headquarters in Quezon City, was aimed at establishing fundamental policies and procedures that will govern the actions taken by jail officers in cases of emergencies and disturbances that present imminent danger to personnel and inmates.
Cruz said the seminar sets the standards in employing force to any situations within the jurisdiction of the bureau to prevent or control any disturbance or incident.
“It also provides legal and moral principles in the use of force and significantly aims to set specific standards on the subject on a rule by rule approach in accordance with the law to the maximum extent applicable without losing one’s inherent right of self defense,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said other salient objectives of the workshop included ways to balance the two contending goals in any engagement, which are important to effectively achieve the objectives, and the need to avoid using unnecessary force.
“Furthermore, mistakes or miscalculations engendered by extremely stiff or excessively loose Rules of Engagement will be prevented,” he said.
Cruz stressed that all BJMP units and personnel adhere to the general rule that the use of force is justified only by virtue of the doctrine of self-defense and defense of a stranger or relatives.
He stressed that jail officers, and even the police and military, are subject to the law of the law, and thus, in their relations with inmates, they should not use force unless necessary to maintain security and order in the facility, or when personal safety is threatened.
Cruz urged jail officers to apply only if possible, non-violent means and they should use only force or firearms if all possible means has been exhausted.
“The general rule on the use of force standards also suggests that the development and use of non-lethal incapacitating weapons should be carefully evaluated to minimize risks of endangering uninvolved persons; and the use of such weapons should be properly controlled,” he stressed.
“While the seminar-workshop on the use of force standards offers us an insight into its importance, I encourage you to continue training and achieve proficiency in the use of firearms.” (Mindanao Examiner)
Malaysia-led Truce Observers Satisfied With Mindanao Cease-fire
Northern Mindanao police director Chief Supt. Florante Baguio, left, Malaysian Maj. Gen. Dato Mohd Ismail Bin Ahmad Khan, 2nd from left, head of the internatioanl truce observers, Philippines Brig. Gen Edgardo Gurrea, 3rd from left, and Von Al Haq, right, of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front during a press conference Thursday 05 Oct 2006 at Camp Alagar in Cagayan de Oro City. (Dante Sudaria)CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 06 Oct) – The International Monitoring Team 3 (IMT-3) overseeing the peace process between the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) expressed satisfaction over the progress of the negotiations, despite a deadlock in the talks aimed at ending more than three decades of Muslim rebellion in Mindanao.
Maj. Gen. Dato Mohd Ismail bin Ahmad Khan of Malaysia, IMT-3 head, said in a meeting here Thursday that his country remains committed to overseeing the peace process for the Philippines in general, and Mindanao in particular, to help Filipinos attain "everlasting peace."
Malaysia is brokering the peace talks, but the negotiations stalled after both sides failed to sign an agreement on the so-called Muslim ancestral domain.
Ismail was accompanied by Brig. Gen. Edgardo M. Gurrea, chairman of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and his counterpart in the MILF, Von Al Haq.
Gurrea and Al Haq’s groups have briefed Ismail about the truce agreement.
"Our purpose is to orient Gen. Ismail and introduce him to the various heads of the LGUs, AFP and PNP commands covered by the GRP-MILF conflict areas.”
“Despite the impasse in the peace panel talks, we are happy to note the ceasefire mechanism at all levels is still in place and discharging its intended purpose to keep the peace,” Gurrea told the Mindanao Examiner.
The IMT-3 was on the second leg of its orientation tour which included the two Lanao provinces, Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon province where Ismail met Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr. before proceeding to Cotabato City.
During the first leg of its visit, the team toured the cities of Cotabato and Davao and the Socsksargen (Sarangani, South Cotabato, General Santos) region. The final leg of the tour will cover Western Mindanao, including Zamboanga City and Sulu Archipelago.
Gurrea clarified that while the ongoing peace talks were focusing on three main talking points -- security, rehabilitation and development of conflict areas and ancestral domain, or the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity -- the ongoing orientation tour was more focused on security and the monitoring of the peace and order situation in the identified conflict areas, to ensure that any violations of the truce accord would be properly addressed by the authorities not deteriorate into a wider conflict involving security and rebel forces.
Prior to the start of the peace process and the organization of the IMT, the GRP-MILF conflict areas had over 700 violence-related incidents. After the tour of the IMT-1, this was reduced to approximately 500, and went down further to only 10 last year under the tour of IMT-1.
"We are happy to note that there has been no incidents reported under IMT-3, and our fighting target is to maintain this zero level for the duration of the one year tour of Gen. Ismail," Gurrea said.
Ismail also noted that the present areas of disagreement between the GRP and MILF peace panels were focused on "political and diplomatic" issues and not conflict related, which demonstrates that the CCCH mechanism is working to prevent violent conflict from breaking out between the AFP and MILF armed forces.
For his part, Al Haq expressed satisfaction that all parties involved in the peace forces were facing and working towards one direction, which is the attainment of a just and lasting peace in Mindanao.
"The essence of Ramadan is sacrifice, and all of us should offer a measure of sacrifice for the greater good of a just and lasting peace," Al Haq said.
Gurrea cautioned that despite the zero incidences of GRP-MILF violence-related incidents under IMT-3's stewardship, "We must continue to be vigilant against those who seek to disrupt the ongoing peace talks."
"What's important is the mechanism of the CCCH is holding and keeping the peace, to allow the GRP-MILF peace talks to continue under an atmosphere conducive to negotiation and settlement," he added.
Other members of the IMT-3 team accompanying Ismail were Lt. Col. Nazeri bin Ismail, Maj. Mustaffa bin Ibrahim, Lt. Cmdr. Muhd Shakir bin Salleh, Capt. Azuan bin Salehuddin, Capt (DR) Amran bin Amir Hamzah, Cpl. Zainal bin Othman, and Encik Hisham bin Rosle, all of Malaysia. (Mindanao Examiner)
Maj. Gen. Dato Mohd Ismail bin Ahmad Khan of Malaysia, IMT-3 head, said in a meeting here Thursday that his country remains committed to overseeing the peace process for the Philippines in general, and Mindanao in particular, to help Filipinos attain "everlasting peace."
Malaysia is brokering the peace talks, but the negotiations stalled after both sides failed to sign an agreement on the so-called Muslim ancestral domain.
Ismail was accompanied by Brig. Gen. Edgardo M. Gurrea, chairman of the government’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and his counterpart in the MILF, Von Al Haq.
Gurrea and Al Haq’s groups have briefed Ismail about the truce agreement.
"Our purpose is to orient Gen. Ismail and introduce him to the various heads of the LGUs, AFP and PNP commands covered by the GRP-MILF conflict areas.”
“Despite the impasse in the peace panel talks, we are happy to note the ceasefire mechanism at all levels is still in place and discharging its intended purpose to keep the peace,” Gurrea told the Mindanao Examiner.
The IMT-3 was on the second leg of its orientation tour which included the two Lanao provinces, Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon province where Ismail met Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri Jr. before proceeding to Cotabato City.
During the first leg of its visit, the team toured the cities of Cotabato and Davao and the Socsksargen (Sarangani, South Cotabato, General Santos) region. The final leg of the tour will cover Western Mindanao, including Zamboanga City and Sulu Archipelago.
Gurrea clarified that while the ongoing peace talks were focusing on three main talking points -- security, rehabilitation and development of conflict areas and ancestral domain, or the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity -- the ongoing orientation tour was more focused on security and the monitoring of the peace and order situation in the identified conflict areas, to ensure that any violations of the truce accord would be properly addressed by the authorities not deteriorate into a wider conflict involving security and rebel forces.
Prior to the start of the peace process and the organization of the IMT, the GRP-MILF conflict areas had over 700 violence-related incidents. After the tour of the IMT-1, this was reduced to approximately 500, and went down further to only 10 last year under the tour of IMT-1.
"We are happy to note that there has been no incidents reported under IMT-3, and our fighting target is to maintain this zero level for the duration of the one year tour of Gen. Ismail," Gurrea said.
Ismail also noted that the present areas of disagreement between the GRP and MILF peace panels were focused on "political and diplomatic" issues and not conflict related, which demonstrates that the CCCH mechanism is working to prevent violent conflict from breaking out between the AFP and MILF armed forces.
For his part, Al Haq expressed satisfaction that all parties involved in the peace forces were facing and working towards one direction, which is the attainment of a just and lasting peace in Mindanao.
"The essence of Ramadan is sacrifice, and all of us should offer a measure of sacrifice for the greater good of a just and lasting peace," Al Haq said.
Gurrea cautioned that despite the zero incidences of GRP-MILF violence-related incidents under IMT-3's stewardship, "We must continue to be vigilant against those who seek to disrupt the ongoing peace talks."
"What's important is the mechanism of the CCCH is holding and keeping the peace, to allow the GRP-MILF peace talks to continue under an atmosphere conducive to negotiation and settlement," he added.
Other members of the IMT-3 team accompanying Ismail were Lt. Col. Nazeri bin Ismail, Maj. Mustaffa bin Ibrahim, Lt. Cmdr. Muhd Shakir bin Salleh, Capt. Azuan bin Salehuddin, Capt (DR) Amran bin Amir Hamzah, Cpl. Zainal bin Othman, and Encik Hisham bin Rosle, all of Malaysia. (Mindanao Examiner)
RP Military Confirms Arrest Of Dulmatin's Wife
Scanned photographs of captured Indonesian woman, Istiada BT. H. Oemar Sovie alias Amenah Toha and her two children. Istiada, arrested by Filipino troops in the southern island of Jolo, is the wife of Jemaah Islamiya militant Dulmatin, who is one of Asia's most wanted terror leader whose group is tied to al-Qaeda network. Indonesian authorities has tagged Dulmatin as one of the masterminds behind the 2002 Bali nightclubs and the 2003 JW Marriot Hotel bombings in Jakarta. (Mindanao Examnier)ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Oct) – The Philippine military on Friday has confirmed the arrest of an Indonesian wife of wanted Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin, in a raid at a terrorist hideout in the southern island of Jolo.
"We are confirming the arrest of the woman, Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, who is Dulmatin's wife. She admitted to be the wife of the terrorist leader Dulmatin and she is being interrogated in Zamboanga City.
"We are confirming the arrest of the woman, Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, who is Dulmatin's wife. She admitted to be the wife of the terrorist leader Dulmatin and she is being interrogated in Zamboanga City.
Troops are still tracking down Dulmatin on the island (of Jolo)," Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Manila.
He said the woman was arrested in Jolo’s Patikul town in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday. The raid also led the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf militant Nadzmir Abduraji Amad in the neighboring town of Talipao.
He said Filipino soldiers captured the woman who was with her two children in a raid that originally targeted Dulmatin. "Our operation against Dulmatin and the other terrorists will continue until they are captured," Bacarro said.
Security forces are also pursuing Dulmatin's companion, Umar Patek, a Malaysian JI member, and leaders of the local terror group, the Abu Sayyaf, headed by Khadaffy Janjalani.
Bacarro said the woman is being investigated whether she had a role in Dulmatin's terror activities. Both Dulmatin and Patek were tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombings. Dulmatin is one of Asia’s most wanted Jemaah Islamiya leaders.
He said the woman admitted to military interrogators that she is the wife of the 37-year old Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman.
Dulmatin’s wife also said that she sneaked by boat to the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi from Malaysia in August 2003 and was fetched by Azhar, a Jemaah Islamiya militant, and brought to Jolo island to join the group of the wanted terror leader and the Abu Sayyaf.
The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs.
The group was largely blamed by Philippine authorities in a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 and wounded more than 100 people. One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qa'eda camps in Afghanistan. He is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization and is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the bombings of two night clubs in Bali, which killed 202 people, mostly Australians, including seven U.S. citizens.
Dulmatin fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon after the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. There, he is one of four top JI leaders—including Umar Patek, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub—who trained members of JI and the Abu Sayyaf group in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in the Philippines, said Zachary Abusa, an Asian terror expert.
In 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek ordered Abdullah Sonata, a JI operative in Central Java who was arrested in conjunction with the September 4, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, to dispatch additional JI members to Mindanao for training. He has also called for JI suicide bombers to be sent to the Philippines for operations.
Abusa said Dulmatin, along with Zulkarnaen and Abu Rusdan, was designated for involvement in terrorism by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April, and placed on the UN's 1267 Committee for terrorist financing in early 2005. (Mindanao Examiner)
He said the woman was arrested in Jolo’s Patikul town in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday. The raid also led the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf militant Nadzmir Abduraji Amad in the neighboring town of Talipao.
He said Filipino soldiers captured the woman who was with her two children in a raid that originally targeted Dulmatin. "Our operation against Dulmatin and the other terrorists will continue until they are captured," Bacarro said.
Security forces are also pursuing Dulmatin's companion, Umar Patek, a Malaysian JI member, and leaders of the local terror group, the Abu Sayyaf, headed by Khadaffy Janjalani.
Bacarro said the woman is being investigated whether she had a role in Dulmatin's terror activities. Both Dulmatin and Patek were tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombings. Dulmatin is one of Asia’s most wanted Jemaah Islamiya leaders.
He said the woman admitted to military interrogators that she is the wife of the 37-year old Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman.
Dulmatin’s wife also said that she sneaked by boat to the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi from Malaysia in August 2003 and was fetched by Azhar, a Jemaah Islamiya militant, and brought to Jolo island to join the group of the wanted terror leader and the Abu Sayyaf.
The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs.
The group was largely blamed by Philippine authorities in a series of bombings in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 and wounded more than 100 people. One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qa'eda camps in Afghanistan. He is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization and is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the bombings of two night clubs in Bali, which killed 202 people, mostly Australians, including seven U.S. citizens.
Dulmatin fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon after the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. There, he is one of four top JI leaders—including Umar Patek, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub—who trained members of JI and the Abu Sayyaf group in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in the Philippines, said Zachary Abusa, an Asian terror expert.
In 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek ordered Abdullah Sonata, a JI operative in Central Java who was arrested in conjunction with the September 4, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, to dispatch additional JI members to Mindanao for training. He has also called for JI suicide bombers to be sent to the Philippines for operations.
Abusa said Dulmatin, along with Zulkarnaen and Abu Rusdan, was designated for involvement in terrorism by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April, and placed on the UN's 1267 Committee for terrorist financing in early 2005. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Wife Of One Of Asia's Most Wanted Terror Man Captured In Jolo Island
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Oct) – Filipino soldiers in the southern Philippine island of Jolo have captured the Indonesian wife and two children of one of Asia’s most wanted Jemaah Islamiya leader, Dulmatin, blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali and Jakarta bombings.
Troops, backed by U.S. military intelligence, are still pursuing Dulmatin and his companion Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the bombings. The Philippine military said Dulmatin and Patek are being protected by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group headed by Khadaffy Janjalani.
The woman, Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, is currently being interrogated in Zamboanga City, one senior Filipino security official, who asked not to be named, told the Mindanao Examiner on Thursday.
He said the woman and two of Dulmatin’s children were arrested in Jolo’s Patikul town in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday. The raid also led the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf militant Nadzmir Abduraji Amad in the neighboring town of Talipao.
"What I know was that we have arrested Dulmatin's wife and two of their children in a raid in Patikul. She is being interrogated in Zamboanga," he said.
He said the woman admitted to military interrogators that she is the wife of the 37-year old Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman.
Dulmatin’s wife also said that she sneaked by boat to the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi from Malaysia in August 2003 and was fetched by Azhar, a Jemaah Islamiya militant, and brought to Jolo island to join the group of the wanted terror leader and the Abu Sayyaf.
The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs. And the December 2000 Rizal Day bombings in Manila.T
The Rizal Day bombings were a series of bombings that occurred in various places in Metro Manila on December 30 within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and wounding more than 100 people. December 30 is Rizal Day in the Philippines and a national holiday, commemorating the execution of the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal.
One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.
Troops, backed by U.S. military intelligence, are still pursuing Dulmatin and his companion Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the bombings. The Philippine military said Dulmatin and Patek are being protected by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group headed by Khadaffy Janjalani.
The woman, Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, is currently being interrogated in Zamboanga City, one senior Filipino security official, who asked not to be named, told the Mindanao Examiner on Thursday.
He said the woman and two of Dulmatin’s children were arrested in Jolo’s Patikul town in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday. The raid also led the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf militant Nadzmir Abduraji Amad in the neighboring town of Talipao.
"What I know was that we have arrested Dulmatin's wife and two of their children in a raid in Patikul. She is being interrogated in Zamboanga," he said.
He said the woman admitted to military interrogators that she is the wife of the 37-year old Dulmatin, also known as Amar Bin Usman.
Dulmatin’s wife also said that she sneaked by boat to the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi from Malaysia in August 2003 and was fetched by Azhar, a Jemaah Islamiya militant, and brought to Jolo island to join the group of the wanted terror leader and the Abu Sayyaf.
The Jemaah Islamiya is also believed as behind the 2004 bombing of a Filipino ferry off Manila Bay that killed 116 people-the second-worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia after the 2002 Bali bombs. And the December 2000 Rizal Day bombings in Manila.T
The Rizal Day bombings were a series of bombings that occurred in various places in Metro Manila on December 30 within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and wounding more than 100 people. December 30 is Rizal Day in the Philippines and a national holiday, commemorating the execution of the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal.
One of the bombs exploded at an open square less than a hundred meters from the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qa'eda camps in Afghanistan. He is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization and is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the bombings of two night clubs in Bali, which killed 202 people, mostly Australians, including seven U.S. citizens.
Of the known leadership of Jemaah Islamiya at large, there is no one with a higher price on his head than Dulmatin. He is one of the most important al-Qaeda-trained operatives at large, and, of equal importance, he is one of the four top JI leaders known to have sought safe haven in the southern Philippines where JI is regrouping and training a new generation of fighters, according to an Asian terror expert, Zachary Abusa.
Dulmatin was a student activist on his Central Javanese university campus. Coming from a well-to-do family, he dropped out of the university after being drawn into extremist teachings at al-Mukmin, the religious boarding school established by JI founders Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.
He fled to Mindanao in the southern Philippines soon after the August 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. There, he is one of four top JI leaders—including Umar Patek, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub—who have continued to train members of JI and the Abu Sayyaf group in Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps in the Philippines, Abusa said.
In 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek ordered Abdullah Sonata, a JI operative in Central Java who was arrested in conjunction with the September 4, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing, to dispatch additional JI members to Mindanao for training. He has also called for JI suicide bombers to be sent to the Philippines for operations.
Abusa said Dulmatin, along with Zulkarnaen and Abu Rusdan, was designated for involvement in terrorism by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April, and placed on the UN's 1267 Committee for terrorist financing in early 2005.
Sweet And Chemical-Free, Sibulan Bananas Is Now Talk Of The Town
DAVAO CITY (Roger Balanza / 05 Oct) - A farmer’s cooperative in the hinterland village of Sibulan is fast becoming the talk of the town because not only its people are hardworking and friendly, but they also grow exportable sweet bananas that are 100 percent chemical-free.
The Sibulan Organization of Banana Growers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SOBGROMCO) may only be a small player in the banana industry but it is slowly carving a niche in the large Japanese market for organic bananas.
Although covering only about 60 hectares, the SOBGROMCO highland bananas are in-demand in Japan which is its main market where the bananas fetch a dollar more than the non-organic Cavendish.
Aromatic, tastier and with a longer shelf life, the SOBGROMCO bananas of the pest-resistant Bongolan variety is endemic to the cool Upper Toril hinterlands, like Sibulan village, which is about 650 meters above sea level.
The farm, which lies inside the village’s thick forests, has been strongly endorsed by the different tribal councils in Toril district here and Davao del Sur province as a model farm for local natives. The cooperative farm straddles the boundary of Davao City and Davao del Sur. Its farm-hands are from the Tagabawa-Bagobo tribe, which accounts for 95 percent of the Sibulan population.
Mindanao’s exotic fruits could grab a bigger share of the current world demand for organic fruits, said the USAID–assisted Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM).
GEM fruit specialist Celso Enriquez said chemical-free fruits like mango, banana and papaya command a higher price and are most sought by countries preferring organic fruits. The leading exporter of organic bananas from Mindanao is the Ayala-owned TriStar Group of Banana Companies in Davao City which exports its bananas to Japan.
Firms like those run by the TriStar Group of Banana Companies, the flagship company of businessman Jesus V. Ayala, grows organic upland Cavendish bananas without the deadly chemical fertilizers and pesticides that fuel other banana companies to put profit over environmental concerns.
Environmentalist groups here have been locked in a protracted battle with banana companies over threats to the watershed areas. In Tamayong, Calinan, Pastor Apollo Quibuloy is leading his flock in the “Kingdom of Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name” in sending protest letters to the Davao City Council, for a stop to aerial spraying.
In several villages in the watershed areas, residents complain of respiratory diseases as plantations gobble up buffer zones to plant bananas a foot away from houses and intrude into critical slopes. But the debate boils down heavily on the most serious threat to the environment: massive use of pesticides and other deadly chemicals to control plant pests and diseases.
Mike Ayala, who has taken over the TriStar as its new chairman, said the firm experience has shown large-scale agricultural plantations can grow in environmentally-sensitive areas with corporate responsibility balancing profit and nature on an even keel. Tristar grows its top-grade bananas with 85 percent organic fertilizer.
Pest and weed control make use of company-devised secrets from a decade old study that showed pro-nature farm practices are as effective as using deadly chemicals. Although the company subscribes to medically confirmed studies that fungicide that controls banana leaf diseases is harmless, it has abandoned aerial spraying and adopted ground-based mechanical spray applications–all for the sake of calming down public fears.
Ayala and William Leh, Tristar president and chief executive officer, recently local government officials headed by City Administrator Wendell Avisado and Councilors Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling, Conrado Baluran and Gerald Bangoy in a tour of the TriStar farm in Tagakpan, Sirib, Subasta and Manuel Guianga in Calinan.
Amid fears of threat to the environment, the tour afforded Cabling, chair of the environmental committee, Baluran of Agriculture and Bangoy of Health, the other side of the coin: Tristar could be the model farm that would calm down public apprehension agricultural intrusion in the watershed areas could damage their water sources.
Amid fears of threat to the environment, the tour afforded Cabling, chair of the environmental committee, Baluran of Agriculture and Bangoy of Health, the other side of the coin: Tristar could be the model farm that would calm down public apprehension agricultural intrusion in the watershed areas could damage their water sources.
Ayala said that Tristar miracle was not achieved overnight but went through more than a decade of a painfully slow trial-and-error routine anchored on the company mission that profit could be gained without jeopardizing the environment. The Ayalas are not new in the industry.
The JVA Group of Companies, Tristar’s predecessor, is among the trailblazers of the lowland banana industry that placed Davao region in the world of sweet bananas. Tristar is among several companies which has locations in Calinan and other upland districts, as demand for sweet upland Cavendish bananas soars. I
ndustry figures show that about 16,000 hectares in Davao City have been planted to bananas with AMS accounting for 2,600; Stanfilco, 656; Lapanday, 1100 and Tristar, 656.
Despite being a minor player in the industry, Leh said Tristar has dominated the local organic banana export to Japan where its bananas have a special niche in the current vogue for naturally-grown fruits. Organic bananas are more expensive in Japan, where Tristar exports all its products.
Leh said Tristar has placed Davao City bananas in the highest level of the organic fruits category –and the company is responding with equal intensity to the trust given by the Japanese market.
He explained that in Japan, distributors in the organic product markets adopt what is called as the “rule of traceability,” where sellers certify their products but place the burden on the suppliers if end-users raise complaints.
Tristar uses only organic fertilizer that the company itself produces, that mealy bug infestation can be minimized with use of harmful detergent, that scaring beetles can be lured away from the banana fruits with an innocent plant and that corn borers are as happy if given an alternate feeding ground without attacking the banana plants.
The biggest argument Tristar could be a model farm in the watershed area lies on a creature that you could not find in other banana farms: frogs One of the most sensitive denizens of this earth, frogs croaked, leaped and danced all over the farm under the shades of the banana leaves. (Mindanao Insider)
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
MILF Rebel Hurt In Government Attack In Maguindanao
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Sibugay Province To Become Center Of Oil Palm Industry In South RP
ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Darwin Wee / 04 Oct) - Zamboanga Sibugay is eyeing to become the center of oil palm industry in Zamboanga Peninsula, having at least 113,000 hectares open for investors to develop oil palm plantations.
The oil palm industry project is being implemented by the Sibugay Land Resource Development Corporation (SLRDC) - a consortium of local government unit and non-government organizations in the province - about 110 kms east of here - which aims to partner and lure foreign inventors to put up agri-business in Zamboanga Sibugay.
The oil palm industry project is being implemented by the Sibugay Land Resource Development Corporation (SLRDC) - a consortium of local government unit and non-government organizations in the province - about 110 kms east of here - which aims to partner and lure foreign inventors to put up agri-business in Zamboanga Sibugay.
In an interview SLRDC's president Bennet D. Santander said, in addition to the 113, 000 hectares, the group with the help of the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Bureau of Plant Industry, have already identified at least 73 hectares for nursery that will serve as the seed bank of oil palm seeds which will supply the peninsula.
The plan of becoming the center of oil palm industry in Zamboanga Peninsula was an offshoot of a meeting during the formulation of the Oil Palm Development Roadmap for Mindanao that was agreed by different oil palm growers and government agencies in Davao City late last year.
Mr. Santander, who is also the provincial economic planning officer, said the group is also planning to develop this year at least 4,000 hectares for oil palm plantation to jumpstart the project within three years.
He said the group has already sealed an agreement with the Malaysia-based Agriculturist Incorporated in Sandakan district to develop the initial 4,000 hectares for oil palm plantations. It is expected to bring about P1 billion worth of investments in the province.
"The initial 4,000-hectare joint venture projects will jumpstart the oil palm industry in Zamboanga Sibugay," he said here during a two-day workshop at the weekend.
He said the investment will fund the initial establishment of oil palm mill, a 40-hectare oil palm nursery station, fertilizers, and other infrastructures for the initial 4,000-hectare oil palm plantation. The group is targeting this year to import at least 1 million oil palm seeds from Malaysia because of its quality compared to those from Indonesia.
However, he said with the existing ban on exportation of oil palm seeds in Malaysia has become a stumbling block for the development for the project.
Mr. Santander said they have already presented the proposal to lift the ban during the BIMP-EAGA's top officials Third Natural Resource Development Cluster meeting in August in Palawan island in the central Philippines, but this was subjected to further discussion in the upcoming 14th BIMP-EAGA's Senior Minister Officials Meeting which will be held on the first week of November in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
Oil palm is one of the four flagship projects under the BIMP-EAGA's Action Plan 2006-2010. Others include Halal chicken production, seaweeds, and the virgin coconut oil, according to the officials of the BIMP–EAGA Business Council.
Mr. Santander expressed confident that the Malaysian government would grant them a partial lifting of the existing ban, this came after the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC)-the biggest downstream palm oil industry in Malaysia —expressed need of raw crude palm oil and palm kernel.
The Malaysian oil palm growers have only the capacity to contribute roughly 50 percent of the Industrial demand, and they are seeking other countries, particularly, the member countries of the BIMP-EAGA to provide them raw crude palm oil and palm kernel for their productions.
The POIC area is currently housing several locators which are into palm kernel crushing, biomass, refinery, bulking and warehousing. They also produce different kinds of oil palm finish products, such as in bio-diesel, oleo chemicals, coco butter, bio-fuel, margarine, cooking oil, and cosmetics, he said.
POIC's officials have already indicated there willingness to help us develop our oil palm industry here to become one of their 'upstream producers' of raw oil palm.
One of the factors Zamboanga Sibugay has is the proximity to the POIC's areas in which are based in Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Kimanis, with just 16 to 20 hours per shipment coming from Zamboanga Peninsula," he said.
He said the initial oil palm project would create at least 2,000 jobs and an average of annual income gross of about P250 million to P300 million.
Mr. Santander said they are targeting to develop an additional 18, 000 hectares of oil palm plantations. "The expected investment package will be about P4.5 billion and it will create more than 15, 000 jobs opportunities," he said.
Mr. Santander said they are targeting to develop an additional 18, 000 hectares of oil palm plantations. "The expected investment package will be about P4.5 billion and it will create more than 15, 000 jobs opportunities," he said.
On the other hand, he said another stumble block they are trying to address is the demand of the Malaysian government to have at least 70% ownership of the oil palm industry that will be established in any parts of the country if it is under a joint venture with Malaysia, which runs contrary to our Board of Investments policy.
"We have to address the trade barriers in order for the oil palm industry to take off," he said.
To give solutions to the trade barriers, he said the group is currently drafting a memorandum of understanding between the Philippines and Malaysia during the BIMP-EAGA's Senior Minister Officials meeting this year.Under the understanding Malaysia will provide both the financial capacity and the technological capability.
"They will shoulder all funds to develop an oil palm plantations in Zamboanga Sibugay, including the development of the 73-hectare for nursery which amounts to P50 million to P60 million," he said.
The province, on the other hand, will provide the land and the labor force. The understanding also covers the income sharing agreement of the two countries, he added. (Mindanao Examiner)
Top ARMM Official Killed In Cotabato Ambush
A scene near a public market in Cotabato City. Gunmen kill Wednesday 04 Oct 2006 a top official of the Muslim autonomous region, lawyer Arnel Datukon, in Cotabato City near Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines. (Juan Magtanggol)
MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Oct) - Unidentified motorcycle gunmen on Wednesday ambushed a car carrying an official of the Muslim autonomous region in the southern Philippines, police and military said.
Two gunmen, armed with M16 automatic rifles, opened fire on the car, killing a lawyer Arnel Datukon, executive director of the Social Fund Project of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, the regional police chief.
"There is an investigation going on and our forces are tracking down the gunmen responsible in this senseless killing," Goltiao told the Mindanao Examiner.
Datukon was on his way to work when ambushed around 8 a.m. in downtown Cotabato City near Maguindanao province, he said.
Witnesses said the attackers were clad in camouflage uniform and escaped after the ambush. Police and military camouflage are widely available in black-markets in Cotabato City, despite a strict campaign against the use by civilians of these uniforms.
"We are supporting the police force in the hunt for the ambushers. And troops have been alerted about the killing," Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division in Maguindanao, said in a separate interview.
He said Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, the regional army commander, ordered troops to intensify patrol in the city's outskirts to help the police secure Cotabato against lawless elements.
The governor of the Muslim autonomous region Datu Zaldy Ampatuan was not available to make a statement, but the politician, the son of Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, is frequently holding office in his hometown in Shariff Aguak.
The elder Ampatuan survived an ambush in June in Shariff Aguak town after a roadside bomb was detonated near the politician's convoy and authorities blamed the attack to a senior Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader, Zaid Pakiladatu, who denied the accusation. But Pakiladatu's wife was also killed in an ambush in Cotabato City several weeks later after the bombing.
The influential and equally powerful Ampatuan clan and the MILF are bitter enemies and forces from both sides had previously clashed in Maguindanao province. It was not immediately known if the latest attack was connected to the feud. (With reports from Juan Magtanggol and Mark Navales)
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Muslim Boy Hurt In Jolo Road Accident Airlifted To Zambo By U.S. Troops
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Oct) – A Muslim boy who was hit by a motorcycle in Jolo had been airlifted Tuesday to Zamboanga City on a military helicopter by U.S. and Filipino troops participating in a joint humanitarian mission in the southern island, a nurse here said.
The boy was hit while trying to cross a street near his school in Jolo island, the nurse, who was on duty at the emergency room of the private Western Mindanao Medical Center, told the Mindanao Examiner.
“They brought the boy here in the hospital and those soldiers had been very active in humanitarian missions. They had also airlifted and brought medical patients here in the past,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
She did not say what the condition of the boy was.
Private hospitals in Zamboanga City usually do not give information about its patients or details involving emergency cases.
Hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed in the southern Philippines and also involved in training Filipino soldiers under the so-called Kapit-Bisig, a codename for this year’s joint anti-terrorism warfare training in the southern Philippines.
But more than 500 U.S. Marines are also expected to arrive late Tuesday at the Subic Bay Free Port outside Manila on the WestPac Express, a U.S.-leased high-speed vessel, in preparation for another bilateral training exercises conducted annually by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military as part of their long-standing partnership.
The service members from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa, Japan, and their equipment are part of an advance element of U.S. forces that will participate in two upcoming RP-U.S. bilateral exercises, Talon Vision and Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) FY 2007.
These forces are arriving to begin preparations for follow-on forces and the many civil-military operations they will conduct to benefit Filipino citizens living near the training areas, including holding free medical and dental programs and completing engineering and construction projects, according to a U.S. Embassy statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
“These routine bilateral exercises, being held from October 16-31, 2006, are designed to improve interoperability, increase readiness, and continue professional relationships between the United States and Philippine Armed Forces,” it said.
The boy was hit while trying to cross a street near his school in Jolo island, the nurse, who was on duty at the emergency room of the private Western Mindanao Medical Center, told the Mindanao Examiner.
“They brought the boy here in the hospital and those soldiers had been very active in humanitarian missions. They had also airlifted and brought medical patients here in the past,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
She did not say what the condition of the boy was.
Private hospitals in Zamboanga City usually do not give information about its patients or details involving emergency cases.
Hundreds of U.S. troops are stationed in the southern Philippines and also involved in training Filipino soldiers under the so-called Kapit-Bisig, a codename for this year’s joint anti-terrorism warfare training in the southern Philippines.
But more than 500 U.S. Marines are also expected to arrive late Tuesday at the Subic Bay Free Port outside Manila on the WestPac Express, a U.S.-leased high-speed vessel, in preparation for another bilateral training exercises conducted annually by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military as part of their long-standing partnership.
The service members from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, III Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa, Japan, and their equipment are part of an advance element of U.S. forces that will participate in two upcoming RP-U.S. bilateral exercises, Talon Vision and Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) FY 2007.
These forces are arriving to begin preparations for follow-on forces and the many civil-military operations they will conduct to benefit Filipino citizens living near the training areas, including holding free medical and dental programs and completing engineering and construction projects, according to a U.S. Embassy statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
“These routine bilateral exercises, being held from October 16-31, 2006, are designed to improve interoperability, increase readiness, and continue professional relationships between the United States and Philippine Armed Forces,” it said.
Zamboanga Forms Task Force To Monitor Migratory Birds
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 03 Oct) - Different sectors from all over the Zamboanga Peninsula banded together to prevent the entry of thedeadly avian influenza virus in the southern region as the migration season ofbirds starts again, environment officials said Tuesday.
They said a new task force called “Task Force Wild Bird” was formed to help detect and respond to threats of the dreaded disease, according to Eduardo M. Bisquera, Jr., regional technical director of the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Service, of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
They said a new task force called “Task Force Wild Bird” was formed to help detect and respond to threats of the dreaded disease, according to Eduardo M. Bisquera, Jr., regional technical director of the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Service, of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
"The Task Force Wild Bird is an ad hoc group to assist the region'sNational Avian Influenza Task Force primarily to reinforce the monitoring of the government's anti-bird flu program, following the expected influx of migratory birds this year as the winter season takes in the northern and southern part of the world," he told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the task force is composed of law enforcers, academe, environmental groups, non-government organizations, city andprovincial veterinarian and agriculture experts; medical and media practitioners in the region. It will operate as the DENR's "nerve center"which will keep a close watch on the region's more than 10 identified wetlands.
The group will also implement measures that will prevent local fowlsand even humans from venturing into the wetlands where migratory birds are frequently spotted. Zamboanga Peninsula is among the top 20 priority areas being monitoredby the National Avian Influenza Task Force, said Dr. Leo P. Galicia, the regional veterinarian chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
He said Zamboanga Peninsula is vulnerable to the H5N1 virus because of its geographical location being close to Malaysia and Indonesia which have been affected in the past with the avian influenza.
Presently, among countries in Asia, the Philippines remains free from thebird flu virus.
However, Mr. Bisquera said "this should not make uscomplacent."He said the Philippines is part of the so called migratory flyway where thousands of birds pass.
Most of the birds came from as far as Australia, China, Siberia, and Mongolia."Migratory birds are suspected to be carriers of H5N1, which hasalready infected millions of poultry in various parts of the globe,"Mr. Bisquera said.
The DA maintains a series of lectures about the bird flu virus to poultry producers in the region. The Veterinary Quarantine Office has also beefed up its monitoring of chicken products that pass every sea and air ports in the region. (Mindanao Examiner)
Catholics Work For Beatification Of Slain Bishop In South RP
TAWI-TAWI – Catholic parishioners have gathered at a church in the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi as part of an ongoing effort toward beatification of their slain bishop, the Union of Catholic Asian News reported Tuesday.
It said men and women and children assembled at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish in Bongao town over the weekend and listened to members of the Bishop Benjamin de Jesus Beatification Movement explain the survey they are conducting.
The movement was started in 2003 to work for the beatification of the previous bishop of Jolo, who was killed in 1997. Gunmen shot De Jesus just outside the church called Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in downtown Jolo, 950 kilometers southeast of Manila, where the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo is based.
Carmen Gobaton, a beatification movement member and Jolo church worker, explained to parishioners in Bongao the inspiration behind her group's efforts and why they are asking people how long and how well they knew the bishop.
Survey forms also ask how people got to know the bishop, what kind of qualities they observed in him and what significance his death held for them.
The movement is a "spiritual" initiative and has no "political agenda," Gobaton stressed at the orientation session. She told UCA News the gunmen who shot the bishop may have killed the prelate’s body, but they did not quell his spirit or his influence on the people he met during his ministry in Jolo.
Among the projects the bishop began were housing for tricycle drivers, cooperative stores and livelihood programs for the Badjao and Muslim Tausugs.
Gobaton said Tawi-Tawi is her group's third survey area. Earlier this year about 170 Muslims, Christians and Badjao responded to surveys conducted in their communities. Among them were members of Basic Ecclesial Communities and the late bishop's cooperatives, beneficiaries of his housing projects and Notre Dame of Jolo students and their parents.
In Siasi town, on a small island south of Jolo, at least 55 people of various religious and cultural groups responded to the survey, also earlier this year.
One man told researchers that in his predominantly Badjao Tuhug-tuhug community, the slain bishop came to be known as "Father Bishop" because he visited them frequently as a priest.
"He made an effort to come for anniversaries of programs such as the foundation of the Badjao learning center. He ate with us and spent time with our children in the kindergarten," the man told the volunteers conducting the survey.
An imam (Muslim prayer leader) credits Bishop de Jesus for inspiring him to become a prayer leader.
"He taught me to be prayerful," the imam said. One man claimed he would be dead by now if not for the late bishop's "compassion." He explained that he had gotten "very sick" and the bishop took him immediately to the hospital emergency room.
Gobaton said the movement for Bishop de Jesus' beatification began after the chairperson of Jolo's worship committee, Juludi Elam, shared at a Lenten activity in 2003 about how the slain bishop had inspired her and many others.
Those present at the Lenten event, including two deacons of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and lay parishioners "close" to Bishop de Jesus, suggested they work for the bishop's beatification and martyrdom cause.
They began meeting regularly until they identified the tasks to be accomplished and assigned people to do the research. They also agreed to compile the bishop's writings, including his letters.
In the past year, movement members have met the fourth Sunday of every month to pray and reflect on their experiences with the late bishop.
Gobaton said people given pieces of cloth from Bishop de Jesus' vestments have reported healings. Some people also told researchers they became well after praying to the late bishop for his intercession.
Born in the Malabon district of Manila, Bishop de Jesus served as a member of the Oblate outreach program at Notre Dame College in Jolo in 1976, nine years after being ordained a priest. He later became school president, and in January 1992 Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop and apostolic vicar of Jolo, succeeding then retiring American Bishop George Dion.
Witnesses to his killing claimed to have seen three men approach the bishop before they shot him in the head and chest, killing him instantly. One suspect, Mubin Madangan, was later arrested and tried for the murder, but the trial was halted and he was released in June 2000 after a key witness died.
Locals had told UCA News they suspected a politician was behind the bishop's assassination. They claimed a witness had identified the gunmen as aides and a nephew of the politician. (UCAN)
It said men and women and children assembled at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish in Bongao town over the weekend and listened to members of the Bishop Benjamin de Jesus Beatification Movement explain the survey they are conducting.
The movement was started in 2003 to work for the beatification of the previous bishop of Jolo, who was killed in 1997. Gunmen shot De Jesus just outside the church called Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in downtown Jolo, 950 kilometers southeast of Manila, where the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo is based.
Carmen Gobaton, a beatification movement member and Jolo church worker, explained to parishioners in Bongao the inspiration behind her group's efforts and why they are asking people how long and how well they knew the bishop.
Survey forms also ask how people got to know the bishop, what kind of qualities they observed in him and what significance his death held for them.
The movement is a "spiritual" initiative and has no "political agenda," Gobaton stressed at the orientation session. She told UCA News the gunmen who shot the bishop may have killed the prelate’s body, but they did not quell his spirit or his influence on the people he met during his ministry in Jolo.
Among the projects the bishop began were housing for tricycle drivers, cooperative stores and livelihood programs for the Badjao and Muslim Tausugs.
Gobaton said Tawi-Tawi is her group's third survey area. Earlier this year about 170 Muslims, Christians and Badjao responded to surveys conducted in their communities. Among them were members of Basic Ecclesial Communities and the late bishop's cooperatives, beneficiaries of his housing projects and Notre Dame of Jolo students and their parents.
In Siasi town, on a small island south of Jolo, at least 55 people of various religious and cultural groups responded to the survey, also earlier this year.
One man told researchers that in his predominantly Badjao Tuhug-tuhug community, the slain bishop came to be known as "Father Bishop" because he visited them frequently as a priest.
"He made an effort to come for anniversaries of programs such as the foundation of the Badjao learning center. He ate with us and spent time with our children in the kindergarten," the man told the volunteers conducting the survey.
An imam (Muslim prayer leader) credits Bishop de Jesus for inspiring him to become a prayer leader.
"He taught me to be prayerful," the imam said. One man claimed he would be dead by now if not for the late bishop's "compassion." He explained that he had gotten "very sick" and the bishop took him immediately to the hospital emergency room.
Gobaton said the movement for Bishop de Jesus' beatification began after the chairperson of Jolo's worship committee, Juludi Elam, shared at a Lenten activity in 2003 about how the slain bishop had inspired her and many others.
Those present at the Lenten event, including two deacons of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and lay parishioners "close" to Bishop de Jesus, suggested they work for the bishop's beatification and martyrdom cause.
They began meeting regularly until they identified the tasks to be accomplished and assigned people to do the research. They also agreed to compile the bishop's writings, including his letters.
In the past year, movement members have met the fourth Sunday of every month to pray and reflect on their experiences with the late bishop.
Gobaton said people given pieces of cloth from Bishop de Jesus' vestments have reported healings. Some people also told researchers they became well after praying to the late bishop for his intercession.
Born in the Malabon district of Manila, Bishop de Jesus served as a member of the Oblate outreach program at Notre Dame College in Jolo in 1976, nine years after being ordained a priest. He later became school president, and in January 1992 Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop and apostolic vicar of Jolo, succeeding then retiring American Bishop George Dion.
Witnesses to his killing claimed to have seen three men approach the bishop before they shot him in the head and chest, killing him instantly. One suspect, Mubin Madangan, was later arrested and tried for the murder, but the trial was halted and he was released in June 2000 after a key witness died.
Locals had told UCA News they suspected a politician was behind the bishop's assassination. They claimed a witness had identified the gunmen as aides and a nephew of the politician. (UCAN)
Monday, October 02, 2006
PGMA Reactivates Southern Philippines Development Authority
Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, Sr., left, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), turns over to Secy. Zamzamin Ampatuan, center, new SPDA Administrator, the documents of SPDA assets, as former Jolo island governor Yusup Jikiri, who chairman of the SPDA Board, looks on. (Photo courtesy of MEDco)
DAVAO CITY (Mark Navales / 02 Oct) – The new administrator of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan on Monday vowed to pursue President Arroyo’s priority program in Mindanao.
The SPDA, created through Presidential Decree No. 690 during the Marcos regime, was deactivated in 2002. It was engaged in various development projects involving conflict-affected areas and communities.
But President Arroyo, in an Executive Order No. 560, reactivated the agency in August 29, 2006, in order to pursue development efforts to fast track the full implementation of the 1996 GRP-MNLF Peace Agreement.
“More than just operating on its present assets, the SPDA will go intoinvestment generation and will be project-oriented. This will not be a picnic; we are going to roll our sleeves, rework processes and ensure thatwe will develop and implement good and sound livelihood projects,” said Ampatuan, former head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
Ampatuan said that the agency will focus on areas that lack investment and explore schemes that will provide more investment access to small entrepreneurs or investors.
While the SPDA aims to assist efforts in fulfilling the 1996 peaceagreement, which includes providing economic assistance, or livelihoodservices to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) soldiers, Ampatuan also pointed out the SPDA will also coordinate with the Autonomous Regional Government (ARG) in the implementation of projects within the Autonomous Region in MuslimMindanao, whose governor Zaldy Ampatuan is a relative.
To be re-established with a 10 Million Peso funding from the President’s Contingency Fund, the SPDA’s subsequent budget shall be included in the General Appropriations Act.
Leyretana on Saturday handed over to Ampatuan the inventory of existing SPDA corporate projects, subsidiaries, real estate properties, as well as the inventory of existing SPDA assets, Leyretana welcomed the new SPDA Director and his corporate vision for SPDA.
“Working for S.O. 1391 was a daunting, but nonetheless fulfilling task tosafeguard the assets and properties of a crucial development agency in Mindanao. For Secy. Ampatuan, challenges abound the re-establishment of the SPDA, but I am confident that he, along with the new SPDA Board, has thevision, the heart, and the capabilities, to surpass them. My best wishes go to them,” Leyretana said. (Mindanao Examiner, with reports from MEDco)
RP Still Optimistic With MILF Peace Talks
MANILA (Juan Magtanggol / 02 Oct) – The Philippine government on Monday expressed optimism that it would be able to find a way to break the deadlock in the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group.
The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, previosly warned that Manila should be blamed if the peace talks fail after both sides ended peace negotiations in Malaysia last month without any agreement.
Manila began peace negotiations with the MILF in 2001, but no major accord has been signed by both sides, except for a cease-fire agreement. And many rebels are slowly losing their patience on the five-year old peace talks.
President Gloria Arroyo’s peace adviser Secy. Jesus Dureza said in Spain that new perspectives are being studied and crafted as a way forward in the ongoing impasse on ancestral domain with the Muslim rebels in Southern Philippines.
“There is always a way forward. Just like in the many more problematic situations in the world, a peaceful settlement can be achieved provided both sides are determined to mutually seek peace,” said Dureza, who is meeting other international peace negotiators in Madrid.
“I know the Moro Islamic Liberation Front wants peace for the Bangsamoro people in the South. We in the government, and the rest of the people who are tired of conflict, also aspire for peace. Looking for the way is what this is all about. It may not be easy, but President Arroyo and the whole nation are determined to seek the path to peace,” he said.
Spain invited over a dozen government negotiators for a 3-day forum in Madrid.
Aside from Dureza, the Philippines is represented by government panel negotiator Anabelle Abaya, a conflict resolution expert who sits in the negotiations with the communist party. Peace talks with the Filipino Maoist rebels are also on standstill at the moment. The University of Culture of Peace in Barcelona facilitated the closed door marathon sessions.
Discussed during the forum aside from the Philippine peace process were situations in Columbia, Darfur, Congo, Burundi, Azerbaijan, Aceh Indonesia, Sahara, Pakistan and others.
Murad Ebrahim, the MILF chieftain, said the talks are now passing “a turbulent area” and that the Filipino government must take responsibility for the breakdown of the negotiations.
This signals that we are now on the danger zone of the peace talks,” Ebrahim said, referring to the failure of the negotiations on Sept. 9 held in Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks.
The MILF has rejected Manila's offer for a limited autonomy in the mineral-rich, but restive Mindanao island, home to about 4 million Muslims who want a separate Islamic state.
Mohager Iqbal, the head of the MILF peace panel, said the Philippine government offered them the 5-province Muslim autonomous region and 613 other Muslim villages in exchange for a peace deal.
"They offered the MILF the whole of the Muslim autonomous region and 613 other Muslim villages scattered in Mindanao, but all these are subject to Philippine legislation. The offer is just like a leopard skin and we did not agree with it."
"Peace cannot be unilaterally imposed on the MILF and the Muslim people," Iqbal told the Mindanao Examiner.
The Muslim autonomous region is composed of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi -- which are among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989.
The MILF previously proposed that the Muslims be given an option to choose in a referendum whether they wanted Mindanao to be an independent state or not.
Peace talks ended with both sides failing to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue -- ancestral domain -- which refers to the MILF demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland. It is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement.
"The peace talks ended with nothing, but conditional offers from the Philippine government which we cannot accept," Iqbal said, adding, the Filipino President Gloria Arroyo has lack political will to resolve the decades old problems in Mindanao. "GMA lacks the political will to resolve the Mindanao problems." GMA refers to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Ebrahim also said that offer was unacceptable to the Muslims. “This is a conditional offer that no real revolutionary group worthy of its name can accept,” he said.
Iqbal said the MILF has submitted its proposal to the government peace negotiators, but they disagreed on the scope of coverage of the Muslim ancestral domain. "There are still some contentious issues and these are the scope of Muslim territories under the ancestral domain and how the government and the MILF would share the resources in these areas," he said.
The ancestral domain covers the five Muslim autonomous provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. And other areas in Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes.
The MILF previously said it is willing to compromise if only to arrive at an acceptable, reasonable and comprehensive agreement that would include not only the Muslims, but all 18 ethnic tribal groups in Mindanao. Once an agreement is reached on how the MILF can govern these areas, government and rebel peace negotiators would finally discuss the political settlement of the country's longest-running Muslim insurgency problem.
Iqbal said Malaysia may pull out its cease-fire observers in Mindanao if the peace talks collapse. "Malaysia may recall all its cease-fire observers deployed in Mindanao if the peace talks totally collapse. That is the implication if the peace talks fail and Malaysia has implied this clearly to the MILF and the Philippine peace negotiators," Iqbal said.
The 60-man Malaysian-led international truce observers are deployed in Mindanao since last year to monitor the truce between MILF rebels and government forces.
Peace talks between the government and MILF started in January 1997 but the absence of a neutral third party bogged down the initiative. It was only on March 24, 2001, after the all-out war against the MILF declared by former President Joseph Estrada that Malaysia, at the behest of the Philippine government, facilitated the talks.
However, in February 2003, despite the avowed all-peace policy of President Arroyo, an all-out war was again declared against the rebels, but both sides later agreed to resume peace talks. Just this year, President Arroyo said that 80% of the peace talks have been completed and that permanent peace in Mindanao is within reach.
Ebrahim said the MILF will continue the peace talks, but warned the government that the rebel group would side with the Muslims should they decide on other means to continue their struggle for freedom.
“For the MILF, negotiation is still the best option to resolve the conflict in Mindanao. We have already spent so much time, efforts and resources for this,” Ebrahim said. “However, if the government insists to dilly-dally and treat the peace talks as mere counterinsurgency tool, who can blame the Bangsamoro people if they choose other means to continue their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination? For the MILF, we will stand by our people.”
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The Eleven Islands, Just Pristine Beauty!
The Eleven Islands - pristine and white sand beaches - a future tourist destination in Zamboanga City. (Darwin Wee)
THE ELEVEN ISLANDS (Darwin Wee / 01 Oct) – Once described as a "no man's land"since the declaration by then President Ferdinand Marcos at the height of Moro insurgency in 1970's, the Eleven Islands, located off in the eastern cost of Zamboanga City, are now to undergo a major transformation in a bid to develop the area as an eco-tourism destination.
The local government of Zamboanga City in partnership withnon-government organizations and environmentalist groups are considering the potential of Eleven Islands as the new frontier of the tourism industry.
Viewed from the air, the Eleven Islands are covered with thick greens and dashing white powdery sand beaches, ringed by clear, blue sea. It is panoramic beauty.
It is composed of six big islands and six islets, namely, Bobo with a land area of50 hectares; Cabugan, with 71 hectares; Limbang, with 19 hectares; Sirumon, with 14 hectares; Lampinigan, with 11 hectares; and, Buguias with 10 hectares and the smaller Visa (2 hectares), Baong (3 hectares), Simoandang (5 hectares), Salangan (4 hectares), and Panganacan (5 hectares).
The islands are located some 30 kilometers away from Zamboanga and are scattered over a seven kilometer stretch, fronting the three coastal villages of Panubigan, Lubigan, and Dita.
In a concept paper prepared by the Zamboanga City Planning and Development Office, the project involves the development of the islands into a"primary cluster of tourist destination," jointly showcasing the"Christian and Muslim cultures.
The islands are inhabited by Muslim and Christian fishermen.
"The program aims to foster unity between the Christian and Muslim communities. The integrated tourism circuit planned by City Hall will enable the communities to interact and jointly worktowards making the area an attractive and diversified tourist attraction," assistant planning officer Ofelia E. Despalo told the Mindanao Examiner.
“We have a plan to develop the Eleven Islands into various tourist activity sites, transforming it as flower islands, utilizing the colorful Zamboanga's iconic sailboats called "vinta" as cruiseboats to hop from island to the other,” she said.
The islands are inhabited by Muslim and Christian fishermen.
"The program aims to foster unity between the Christian and Muslim communities. The integrated tourism circuit planned by City Hall will enable the communities to interact and jointly worktowards making the area an attractive and diversified tourist attraction," assistant planning officer Ofelia E. Despalo told the Mindanao Examiner.
“We have a plan to develop the Eleven Islands into various tourist activity sites, transforming it as flower islands, utilizing the colorful Zamboanga's iconic sailboats called "vinta" as cruiseboats to hop from island to the other,” she said.
The water surrounding the islands is ideal for swimming and snorkeling and scuba diving. The islands are also densely vegetated, indicating the high fertility of the soil.
Ms. Despalo said the islets can be connected byhanging bridges.
“The integrated tourism circuit project will also include linking the cluster with the one big island, Sacol Island – located closer to Zamboanga City – with Bolong Beach, located between them, and turning it into a world-class beach resort,” she said.
The short term plan will cover the development of Sacol Island as thebase of the vinta boat cruise and the upgrading of the Bolong Beach. The medium term will involve the development of the 'Flower Islands' and the establishment of the vinta cruise routes from them to Sacol Island.
Ms. Despalo noted that the projects are expected to attract more tourists. She said the project is estimated to cost more than P200 million andwill jointly be implemented by the Department of Tourism, the Philippine Tourism Authority, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Zamboanga City Government and private sectors.
The short term plan will cover the development of Sacol Island as thebase of the vinta boat cruise and the upgrading of the Bolong Beach. The medium term will involve the development of the 'Flower Islands' and the establishment of the vinta cruise routes from them to Sacol Island.
Ms. Despalo noted that the projects are expected to attract more tourists. She said the project is estimated to cost more than P200 million andwill jointly be implemented by the Department of Tourism, the Philippine Tourism Authority, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Zamboanga City Government and private sectors.
James Ali Abdul, area manager of the United Nations' ACT for PeaceProgram, has been helping the residents in the islands in recent years. He said that in order for the project to be successful, the plan must have the strong participation and cooperation of the locals.
"Concerned sectors must prioritize the needs of the people here, such as their health, education, shelter and livelihood," he said.
The ACT for Peace Program allocated P4.5 million for the constructionthere of about 200 houses for the families of former rebels.
"It is an initial assistance in our long-term plan to rebuild the communities that have been deserted off and on for over three decades due to intermittent armed conflict in the area. We have plans to build a health station worth P500,000 and another P500,000 for 'Bantay-Dagat' or ecological preservation efforts," Mr. Abdul added.
Former Moro rebel-turned-village leader Akbari S. Samson expressed gratitude for the new projects from the local government and the ACT for Peace Program.
“In the past, we were always left behind as far as development aid is concerned, now my people are happy that the government and the United Nations are helping us," the 49 year-old Mr. Samson said in a separate interview.
Photo: ARMM's Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, Big Job For A Tough Lawyer
Muslim autonomous region’s Solicitor General, lawyer Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, right, head of a team investigating anomalies in the Department of Education, receives documents from a teacher assigned in Lanao del Sur province. Sayadi says the Department of Education in the autonomous region is losing at least P15 million a month because of salaries paid to teachers who are dead, retired or non-existent. (Mark Navales)FLAG COPS Offers Free Legal Services To Policemen
Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco with FLAG Cops executive director, lawyer Ed Tamondong, left, and lawyer Noel George P. Puyat.ZAMBOANGA CITY (01 Oct) - The Free Legal Assistance for Good Cops (FLAG COPS) Foundation, a non-government organization, has offered its legal services to the members of the local police force who are either facing charges in line with duty or those who cannot afford to pay the services of lawyers in defending themselves.
Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco, in a news release Sunday, said she met recently with lawyers Noel George P. Puyat and Ed Tamondong, of the Flag Cops, in Manila to discuss about the free legal assistance the gtoup can provide to deserving members of the local police, who are facing charges in connection with their jobs.
The two lawyers contacted the vice mayor after learning about her request for the implementation of a law providing for the legal aid.
However, Climaco said only policemen facing charges that are service related are qualified to avail of the free legal assistance from the foundation.
Climaco said she would speak to the Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal, regional police chief, and Supt. Francisco Cristobal, chief of the local police force, to inform them about the free legal services being offered by the FLAG COPS.
She earlier met with lawyer Jun Esguerra, of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), and both discussed how lawyers can provide free legal assistance to policemen.
“The FLAG cops will hire lawyers and pay for them to defend our good policemen who have been accused of charges committed in line of duty”, Climaco said.
Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Marie Isabelle Climaco FLAG Cops executive director, lawyer Ed Tamondong, left, and lawyer Noel George P. Puyat.
Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco, in a news release Sunday, said she met recently with lawyers Noel George P. Puyat and Ed Tamondong, of the Flag Cops, in Manila to discuss about the free legal assistance the gtoup can provide to deserving members of the local police, who are facing charges in connection with their jobs.
The two lawyers contacted the vice mayor after learning about her request for the implementation of a law providing for the legal aid.
However, Climaco said only policemen facing charges that are service related are qualified to avail of the free legal assistance from the foundation.
Climaco said she would speak to the Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal, regional police chief, and Supt. Francisco Cristobal, chief of the local police force, to inform them about the free legal services being offered by the FLAG COPS.
She earlier met with lawyer Jun Esguerra, of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), and both discussed how lawyers can provide free legal assistance to policemen.
“The FLAG cops will hire lawyers and pay for them to defend our good policemen who have been accused of charges committed in line of duty”, Climaco said.
Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Marie Isabelle Climaco FLAG Cops executive director, lawyer Ed Tamondong, left, and lawyer Noel George P. Puyat.
Dipolog Readies For Trade, Investment, Tourism Gab
DIPOLOG CITY (Ernie Rojo / 01 Oct) - “The entire city of Dipolog will spread wide its arms to welcome the delegates and guests attending the first ever Mindanao Trade, Investment and Tourism Congress slated on October 5-6,” this was announced by Edgar Bagarinao, president of the Dipolog Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Dipolog, the capital of Zamboanga del Norte, will play host to a gatheringof business chambers, government policy makers, economic leaders andforeign dignitaries that will discuss Mindanao’s development anchoring onthe areas of trade, investment and tourism.
Bagarinao, who is also the congress director, said that the two-daycongress will provide the platform for discussions on the opportunities,potentials and challenges being faced by the region.
“This congress isunique in the sense that this is the first time that the three key enginesof development – trade, investment and tourism – will be presentedalongside each other in one forum,” he added.
“We are being supported by the provincial government of Zamboanga delNorte and the city governments of Dipolog and Dapitan. We consider thisevent as our local business community’s contribution to the efforts ofpromoting our place as an ideal destination for tourism, investments andconventions,” said Bagarinao.
Meanwhile, Elena Haw and Roy Trinidad, chairperson and president of theFederation of Business Chambers of Mindanao Foundation (FBC-Mindanao),respectively, have called on the local business chambers and associationsin Mindanao to participate in the Dipolog-hosted congress. FBC-Mindanao,composed of 15 local chambers of Mindanao, is organizing the congress.
“This congress comes at a most propitious time that Mindanao has beenidentified by our government as one super region. This event will showwhat Mindanao is contributing to our national growth and at the same timelook for what we can give to further the development of the region,” thetop officials of the business federation declared.
Prominent business and government leaders invited to speak during theevent include Senator Ralph Recto; Agriculture Secretary DomingoPanganiban; Peace Process Adviser and Lead Cabinet Officer for MindanaoJesus Dureza; Congressman Cesar Jalosjos.
And also Canadian trade Commissioner Ellen Ruth Zeisler; PCCI Chairman Miguel Varela; DTI assistant secretary and BIMP-EAGA senior officer Merly Cruz; USAID-GEM team leader Marlon Libot; TVI mining firm public affairs director Rocky Dimaculangan; and Phil. Retirement Authority deputy general manager Fernando Francisco.
Congress partners include TVI Resource Development Phils., Growth withEquity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, Cebu Pacific, Chip’ N Food Corp. and Mediatrix Homes.
Dipolog, the capital of Zamboanga del Norte, will play host to a gatheringof business chambers, government policy makers, economic leaders andforeign dignitaries that will discuss Mindanao’s development anchoring onthe areas of trade, investment and tourism.
Bagarinao, who is also the congress director, said that the two-daycongress will provide the platform for discussions on the opportunities,potentials and challenges being faced by the region.
“This congress isunique in the sense that this is the first time that the three key enginesof development – trade, investment and tourism – will be presentedalongside each other in one forum,” he added.
“We are being supported by the provincial government of Zamboanga delNorte and the city governments of Dipolog and Dapitan. We consider thisevent as our local business community’s contribution to the efforts ofpromoting our place as an ideal destination for tourism, investments andconventions,” said Bagarinao.
Meanwhile, Elena Haw and Roy Trinidad, chairperson and president of theFederation of Business Chambers of Mindanao Foundation (FBC-Mindanao),respectively, have called on the local business chambers and associationsin Mindanao to participate in the Dipolog-hosted congress. FBC-Mindanao,composed of 15 local chambers of Mindanao, is organizing the congress.
“This congress comes at a most propitious time that Mindanao has beenidentified by our government as one super region. This event will showwhat Mindanao is contributing to our national growth and at the same timelook for what we can give to further the development of the region,” thetop officials of the business federation declared.
Prominent business and government leaders invited to speak during theevent include Senator Ralph Recto; Agriculture Secretary DomingoPanganiban; Peace Process Adviser and Lead Cabinet Officer for MindanaoJesus Dureza; Congressman Cesar Jalosjos.
And also Canadian trade Commissioner Ellen Ruth Zeisler; PCCI Chairman Miguel Varela; DTI assistant secretary and BIMP-EAGA senior officer Merly Cruz; USAID-GEM team leader Marlon Libot; TVI mining firm public affairs director Rocky Dimaculangan; and Phil. Retirement Authority deputy general manager Fernando Francisco.
Congress partners include TVI Resource Development Phils., Growth withEquity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, Cebu Pacific, Chip’ N Food Corp. and Mediatrix Homes.
Allow Inmates To Vote, Jail Chief Says
MANILA (Belsie Agustin / 01 Oct) - Bureau of Jail Management and Penology officer-in-charge, Chief Supt Antonio C. Cruz, said he favors the idea on allowing inmates, not yet convicted of a crime, to vote in local and national elections.
He said he would not oppose any plans of putting poll precincts inside jail facilities for prisoners to be able to vote.
Cruz said the Commission on Elections should initiate and finance the establishment of election precincts inside jails where detainees can cast their votes.
He said the proposal was espoused by several civic groups and human rights advocates to uphold inmates’ right to suffrage, citing a provision in Article V, section 1 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least six months immediately preceding the election.”
The law further provides that, “No literacy, property, or any substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.”
Cruz said some 63,000 offenders are currently in jails and many of them wanted to be able to cast their votes.
In 1991 and 2004 elections, Cruz said, qualified inmates of Davao City Jail in Mindanao and Lucena City Jail in Quezon province were allowed to vote. In these elections he added, the COMELEC had set up voting precincts inside said jails and allowed registered inmate-voters to cast their votes.
Some 6,000 inmates in Manila City jail and 3,000 more in Quezon City Jail are awaiting to be given their chance to select, if ever they be allowed to vote, their candidates that can help in their predicament and pursue for their increase of BJMP’s meager budget.
BJMP’s inmates alone represent a large voting block and their votes, if allowed to participate in an election, can make a difference in our present political system.
"Our inmates should be afforded with their basic rights to the Constitution as it also contributes to their rehabilitation," Cruz added.
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Zamboanga Nurses Decry Order For New Board Exam
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 01 Oct) - More than 500 local nurses, who passed the licensure examination, have protested President Gloria Arroyo's order for a retake of the controversial June nursing board examination, which had been tainted by allegations of cheating and fraud.
The nurses branded Arroyo’s order as “unfair and unjustified,” but at the same time were appealing to the President to reconsider her decision for the retake of the licensure examination.
Celeste Castillo, who was 5th placer in the board examination, said: “It is very frustrating and very unfair considering the hard work and the sacrifices the examiners made to pass the licensure exam only to be ordered to retake”.
“We have worked so hard for this license, they cannot take it away from us just like that,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.
Sixto Casano, who graduated at the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) here, said the President should not give in to pressure by groups and politicians who were calling for the retake of the nurses’ examination.
“We are strongly against the order to retake the examination. The move of Arroyo was politicized, if ever she was pressured by international groups or by some nursing universities in Manila, we will strongly condemn whoever is behind this move,” he said.
He explained that “if we agree to the order, then it’s like an admission to the wrongdoing.”
Casano echoed the sentiments of other board passers lamenting that those behind the alleged leak of the examination results had gone unpunished and that the examinees “were taking the brunt of the effect of the misconduct of those responsible.”
“What the government should do is to go after the culprits and spare the innocent,” he said.
Some 17,000 of the 42,000 nurses who took the board examination had passed and that 369 of them were graduates of WMSU.
Casano said that deans of nursing schools here are planning to appeal the President’s order.
Many nurses in other parts of the country, who also passed the examination, had protested Arroyo’s order.
Arroyo ordered the Philippine Regulation Commission to have the nurses retake the board examination’s Test III and Test V, where the answers had been allegedly leaked to some nurses’ review centers in exchange for money. (Mindanao Examiner)
The nurses branded Arroyo’s order as “unfair and unjustified,” but at the same time were appealing to the President to reconsider her decision for the retake of the licensure examination.
Celeste Castillo, who was 5th placer in the board examination, said: “It is very frustrating and very unfair considering the hard work and the sacrifices the examiners made to pass the licensure exam only to be ordered to retake”.
“We have worked so hard for this license, they cannot take it away from us just like that,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.
Sixto Casano, who graduated at the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) here, said the President should not give in to pressure by groups and politicians who were calling for the retake of the nurses’ examination.
“We are strongly against the order to retake the examination. The move of Arroyo was politicized, if ever she was pressured by international groups or by some nursing universities in Manila, we will strongly condemn whoever is behind this move,” he said.
He explained that “if we agree to the order, then it’s like an admission to the wrongdoing.”
Casano echoed the sentiments of other board passers lamenting that those behind the alleged leak of the examination results had gone unpunished and that the examinees “were taking the brunt of the effect of the misconduct of those responsible.”
“What the government should do is to go after the culprits and spare the innocent,” he said.
Some 17,000 of the 42,000 nurses who took the board examination had passed and that 369 of them were graduates of WMSU.
Casano said that deans of nursing schools here are planning to appeal the President’s order.
Many nurses in other parts of the country, who also passed the examination, had protested Arroyo’s order.
Arroyo ordered the Philippine Regulation Commission to have the nurses retake the board examination’s Test III and Test V, where the answers had been allegedly leaked to some nurses’ review centers in exchange for money. (Mindanao Examiner)
Mindanao Power Plant Operational By December
The Mindanao coal-fired power plant in Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental province. (Dante Sudaria) MISAMIS ORIENTAL (Mike Banos / 01 Oct) – The construction of the Mindanao coal-fired power plant is proceeding as scheduled and should be operational by the end of the year, plant officials said.
"We are on the final stage of the power plant's commissioning. The first unit has passed the guarantee and efficiency test while the second unit is gearing-up for a reliability test in preparation for full operation by yearend," said Jerome Soldevilla, communications officer of Steag State Power Inc, (SPI), the project company of the Mindanao Coal-Fired Power Plant.
"Commercial operations will begin as planned not later than 31 December 2006 and we will have our official inauguration in January 2007" he added. "As of 27 September 2006, the power plant project attained a weighted progress achievement of 99%. Based on this figure vis-à-vis the timelines, we are on track and confident that it will commence commercial operations as committed."
Oliver Brock, head of Steag's commissioning team, has been working closely with his counterpart Y. Onishi, head of the Kawasaki Plant Construction, Inc. (a subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries) since the first quarter of the year for the commissioning of the first 105MW unit even as the second 105MW unit is being assembled nearby.
That may sound like good news for an island where demand is fast outstripping available power supply, but power supply in the island remains critical, as oil fired plants come down and repairs in its hydroelectric plants continue.
Emmanuel Abellanosa, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Assistant Vice President for Mindanao, said they have been constrained to implement voluntary power curtailment or "power shedding" at various times last summer due to imbalances between the available power from National Power Corporation (NPC) and the demand from residential, commercial and industrial users.
"There's not enough spinning reserve in the Mindanao grid to address contingencies," Abellanosa said.
NPC figures show the system gross reserve in Mindanao from the latter half of 2005 to year end 2006 was already insufficient to meet the 11.9-percent load following/frequency and spinning reserve requirements.
NPC president Cyril C. del Callar, earlier warned that "recurring power shortages are expected especially during peak periods, when generators and or associated transmission lines are on forced outage."
Peak power demand in Mindanao last summer topped 1,100 megawatts but the NPC only managed to supply an average of 1,050 megawatts to the Mindanao Power Grid. As a result, whenever there's a glitch in the distribution system, power is cut in some areas as the grid seeks to balance the remaining available power throughout the delicately balanced system.
Abellanosa said NPC's total power generation was curtailed due to rehabilitation works in the 92MW Agus IV Hydro-Electric Power Plant at Iligan City, the 255-megawatt Pulangi IV Hydro Electric Plant in Bukidnon and the 25MW Iligan Diesel Power Plant in Ditucalan, Iligan City, turned over a few years back by independent power producer Northern Mindanao Power Corporation.
As a result, power supply to the Zamboanga peninsula and nearby areas was curtailed by 50MW causing up to three hour power outages although Cagayan de Oro City managed to get by thanks to the 18MW Mindanao Energy Systems (Minergy) power plant which augmented available power to the local utility (Cagayan de Oro Electric Power & Light Co. or CEPALCO).
Rufino T. Magbanua, communications officer for Transco NCMA, said at least 85 percent of Mindanao has already been tapping independent power producers (IPPs) and NPC power barges particularly in key areas.
That's for the short term. Over the medium and long term, even if only ongoing base load coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental comes online as scheduled by year end, it's merely going to patch things over but not fix it.
Although the grid is being weaned away from its traditional dependence on hydroelectric power plants, the bulk of generated power in the island is still being sourced from the Agus Hydroelectric Power Plants in Iligan City and Lanao del Sur and the Pulangi Hydroelectric Power Plants in Maramag, Bukidnon.
The Regional Development Council in Region 10 (RDC-10) has sounded the alarm over the deteriorating power situation in Mindanao.
Arsenio L. Sebastian III, RDC-10 vice-chairman and Dr. Modesto Babaylan, RDC 10 infrastructure committee co-chairman, disclosed recently that Pulangi is producing only 100-120MW of its 255MW rated capacity due to accumulated siltation in the Pulangi River feeding its catchment basin.
Besides the lack of available funds to dredge the Pulangi river, Sebastian said they also have no place to dump the dredged silt taken from it.
Sebastian is also concerned the Mindanao coal–fired power plant might not be sufficient to meet energy demand in the island, citing Department of Energy statistics show a rising demand for power that the present supply might be unable to meet even with the new base load plant online.
Del Callar earlier said that from 2007 to 2008, power supply in Mindanao would be stable as the system gross reserve remains sufficient to meet the LFFR and spinning reserve with the scheduled commissioning of the 200 MW coal plant.
The average power supply reserve margin in the Mindanao grid from 2005 to 2008 is 7.26% with 2008 having the lowest projected power supply reserve margin of 3.93%. By 2009, peak demand for power in Mindanao will start to exceed the existing power capacity, with additional new capacity of about 57 MW to be needed for the year and an average of 116 MW every year thereafter.
But the environmental advocacy group Task Force Macajalar (TFC) has called on the NPC to review its projections.
TFM spokesperson BenCyrus Ellorin said Mindanao can sustain its power needs without resorting to fossil fuels like oil or coal because its existing hydropower plants are sufficient to meet the island's needs if their full potential of 12,000MW is tapped.
Latest NPC figures only show an existing power band of 982 –1,500 MW with independent power producers (IPPs) capable of another 543 MW.
NPC expects power demand in Mindanao to grow 11.8 percent from 2005-2011 and would need an installed capacity of 2,830MW by the end of this period with the Mindanao Coal-Fired Power Plant filling the gap.
Ellorin believes Mindanao would be better off if it rehabilitates its present hydroelectric power plants and reforest the watersheds that support them or inter-connect with the rest of the Philippine grid with the Leyte-Mindanao Inter-connection project.
The Mindanao grid is divided into three sub-grids - North, West, and South Mindanao. Of these, only North Mindanao enjoys an excess capacity while the West and South Mindanao grids have to import from the North Mindanao sub-grid to sufficiently address peak power demand in their respective areas.
The country's Power Development Plan for 2005 to 2014 stresses the importance of putting up more power generating plants in order to avert a power shortfall in the major islands of the country, particularly in Mindanao since the previous surplus has been effectively erased with the reopening of the National Steel Corporation (NSC, now Global Steel International, Inc. or GSII) steel plant in Iligan City.
In a recent forum to determine just how real the Mindanao Power Crisis is, CEPALCO Sr. Vice President David Tauli said there's no large power plant (e.g.., 100MW or larger) scheduled for construction in Mindanao from 2007-2011 after STEAG State Power Inc's 210MW coal-fired power plant goes online this year end.
By 2009, Tauli's projections show Mindanao's energy demand at 9,150 gigawatt hours while dependable power supply, SPI's coal-fired power plant included, would only be 9,200 GWh, way below the 11.9-percent load following/frequency and spinning reserve requirements of Transco and a generating system that's no longer "N-1" reliable.
Tauli said this would result to widespread and lengthy brownouts when a section of the transmission system goes on the blink. A drought like the one expected to hit the island soon would worsen this situation.
In the same forum, former NPC president Guido Alfredo Delgado concurred with Tauli's observations, citing how energy prices in Mindanao are too low, hence the lack of an economic incentive to add new capacity to the island's power grid.
"There are no creditworthy off-takers and no long term market, hence no long term funds available in the local market for investments in power generation, which by its very nature calls for long-term funds," Delgado noted. "On top of that, there are the stranded costs of Napocor and distribution utilities Mindanao power consumers are mandated to pay under the EPIRA."
Tauli, Delgado and Ellorin all agree the passage of the Renewable Energy Bill which has been languishing in Congress to include a mandatory "renewable power supply portfolio" for distribution utilities should lead to investments in renewable sources of electricity, but chances of the bill's passage before Congress goes into recess next month look dim. (Mindanao Examiner, with reports from Kagay-an.com)
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