Photo: Jolo Island Park In Sulu Archipelago

Colored lights and fountains adorn the park fronting the Sulu provincial capitol building on the Muslims island of Jolo. The beautiful facade of the mosque-inspired architecture is a favorite spot of promenaders in Jolo, about 960 kms south of Manila. (Mindanao Examiner)

Cotabato Police Chief Sacked After Spate Of Bombings

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 11 Jan) – The Philippine National Police sacked the local police chief after two bombings rocked Cotabato City in a span of 5 days and killed one person and wounding eight others.

Senior Superintendent Peraco Macacua was replaced Thursday by Senior Superintendent Panares Adap as the new Cotabato City police chief, a police officer Mary Culanag said. "There is an order from the regional police office and we have a new chief," she told the Mindanao Examiner.

Local authorities said an improvised bomb exploded late Wednesday near a garbage pit killing one person and wounded six more, mostly scavengers.

At least two people were also injured in a bomb explosion in downtown Cotabato City last Friday. The explosion shattered glass windows of several restaurants, but caused little damage to buildings near the blast site.

Policemen and soldiers also recovered and disarmed two more homemade bombs, assembled from 60mm mortar heads. No group admitted to the attack, but police and military believed the bombing was the handiwork of Moro rebels tied to the Jemaah Islamiya and the Abu Sayyaf. Both groups were previously linked to similar attacks in the region.

Former Muslim rebel-turned-mayor of Cotabato City, Muslimen Sema, did not give any statement about the blast.

Philippine authorities tightened security Thursday in the southern region of Mindanao following the spate of bombings that killed at least 6 people and wounded dozens more.

Six people had died and at least 33 others injured, many seriously in Wednesday bombing of a lottery outlet in General Santos City at around 6.45 p.m., according to local police chief Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon.

“We are still investigating the attack. Our SOCO (scenes of crime officer) team is in the area investigating the blast,” Toroctocon said on Thursday.

Another blast hit Kidapawan City at around 8.45 p.m. Wednesday and wounded two people.

President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye condemned the bombings.

“The bombings are acts of desperation in view of our strong gains against terror. The Filipino people will not be cowed and our government shall step up the fight on all fronts,” he said, adding, the President expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims.

“The authorities, with the support of the people, will leave no stone unturned in the conduct of the investigation and to bring to justice these agents of fear and terror. The fight against terror is everybody’s business. We have faced these threats in the past and we shall continue to neutralize them," Bunye said.

Security forces scrambled to stop the spate of terror attacks in Mindanao island. Police and military suspect the blast in General Santos City was the handiwork of the three terror groups.

The three blasts coincided with the opening of the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu island in the central Philippines.

Australia earlier warned its citizens of a possible bomb attack in the Philippines, but Filipino authorities ignored the report fearing it would scare aware summit leaders.

“We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive credible reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners.”

“Some reports suggest that terrorists could target sites in Metro Manila, Mindanao including the Sulu Archipelago, and Cebu Province. If you do decide to travel, you should exercise extreme caution when you are in the Philippines,” Australia warned. (Mindanao Examiner)

7 Killed, Dozens Injured In South RP Bombings

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 11 Jan) – Philippine authorities tightened security Thursday in the southern region of Mindanao following a spate of bombings that killed at least 7 people and wounded dozens more.

Six people had died and at least 33 others injured, many seriously in Wednesday bombing of a lottery shop in General Santos City at around 6.45 p.m., according to local police chief Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon.

“We are still investigating the attack. Our SOCO (scenes of crime officer) team is in the area investigating the blast,” Toroctocon said on Thursday.

Another blast hit Kidapawan City at around 8.45 p.m. Wednesday and wounded two people.

Authorities said an improvised bomb exploded near a garbage pit in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province, west of Kidapawan, at around 10.45 p.m. Most of the wounded were scavengers.

Security forces scrambled to stop the spate of terror attacks in Mindanao island. No groups claimed responsibility for all the attacks blamed by authorities on terror groups in the troubled Mindanao region.

Police and military suspect the blast in General Santos City was the handiwork of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, the Jemaah Islamiya and the rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in the south.

Authorities did not say what type of bomb was used in the attacks which coincided with the opening of the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu island in the central Philippines.

Australia earlier warned its citizens of a possible bomb attack in the Philippines, but Filipino authorities downplayed the report fearing it would affect or scare the summit leaders.

“We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive credible reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners.”

“Some reports suggest that terrorists could target sites in Metro Manila, Mindanao including the Sulu Archipelago, and Cebu Province. If you do decide to travel, you should exercise extreme caution when you are in the Philippines,” it said.(Mindanao Examiner)

6 Dead In Bombing In Southern Philippines

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Jan) - The death toll in Wednesday bombing of a lottery shop in the southern Philippines has risen to six and that more than two dozen people were confirmed injured in the attack by blamed by authorities on terror groups in the troubled Mindanao region.

Police and military suspect the blast in General Santos City was the handiwork of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, the Jemaah Islamiya and the rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in the south.

Authorities earlier reported that 5 people had died from the bombing that occurRed at around 6.05 p.m. in downtown area. Other reports said a second explosion was heard near a police post in Kidapawan City near General Santos City. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Mindanao Examiner)

5 Killed In New Terror Attack In Southern Philippines

GENERAL SANTOS (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Jan) – At least 5 people were killed in a bomb explosion late Wednesday in the southern Philippine port city of General Santos, police and military said.

The powerful blast outside a lottery outlet decapitated one woman and wounded about 10 others, one witness Mel Coronel said. “The body was decapitated by the powerful blast. Three were killed instantly and two others did not reach the hospital alive,” he told reporters, adding, a boy was among the dead.

The bomb exploded at around 6.05 p.m. while people were lining up to buy lottery tickets in the busy downtown area near the central market.

Authorities did not say what type of bomb was used in the attack which coincided with the opening of the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu island in the central Philippines.

Australia earlier warned its citizens of a possible bomb attack in the Philippines. “We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive credible reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners.”

“Some reports suggest that terrorists could target sites in Metro Manila, Mindanao including the Sulu Archipelago, and Cebu Province. If you do decide to travel, you should exercise extreme caution when you are in the Philippines,” it said.

No group claimed responsibility for the latest attack, but the military and police authorities suspect the Abu Sayyaf or the Jemaah Islamiya and rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front could be behind the blast.

Local police chief, Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon, said bomb experts were sifting through debris for evidence on what type of explosive was used in the attack. ”We still don’t know what type of bomb was used in the attack. We are still investigating the blast,” he said.

Two people were also injured in a bomb explosion Friday outside a restaurant in downtown Cotabato City in Maguindanao province. Police blamed the Jemaah Islamiya and an MILF commander Basit Usman for the blast. The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group currently negotiating peace with Manila, strongly denied any connection in the blasts.

Just last month, a bomb explosion ripped through the Kensan Mall in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province near Maguindanao wounding two people.

Philippine troops, backed by US military intelligence, were hunting two Jemaah Islamiyah bombers Umar Patek and Dulmatin, whom the Abu Sayyaf is coddling in Jolo island, about 950 kms south of Manila. Both Patek and Dulmatin are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed. (Mindanao Examiner)

12th ASEAN Summit Begins In Cebu

CEBU (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Jan) – The 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit formally opened Wednesday in the central Filipino province of Cebu under tight security and shadow of possible terror attacks from the regional Jemaah Islamiya militants and al-Qaeda-affiliate Abu Sayyaf group.

Philippine authorities assured member nations that security is tight during the weeklong summit. Australia and other Western countries issued travel warning after citing intelligence reports that terrorists may be plotting to disrupt the Summit.

The ministerial meetings have begun and leaders were discussing issues that will further enhance cooperation, peace and economic development in Southeast Asia.

The two-day meetings held at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) and the Mactan Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa were ahead of the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit on Jan. 13-15.

Simultaneous conferences by the ASEAN senior economic officials and the special ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) and a meeting of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam senior officials and the special ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) were also held on Wednesday.

President Gloria Arroyo said great stakes are involved in the continuing integration of the entire East Asia, which is driven by strong centripetal forces to close ranks for a safer and more secure community, open and equitable trade and cooperation in all fronts of energy development, and the prosperity of its diverse peoples.

“We face a great future in East Asia as a caring and sharing community, and this meeting of leaders will be another golden opportunity to carve out new directions of development across borders, fighting poverty and building coalitions of technology.”

“We stand at the threshold of great challenges and opportunities, and timely decisions will enable ASEAN and East Asia to seize the moment and the momentum to achieve broader human security, peace and prosperity at the grassroots of every village and community,” she said.

Ambassador Victoriano Lecaros, spokesman for the 12th ASEAN summit, said that the ministerial meetings will focus on various international and regional issues, review and discuss proposals to transform the vision of an ASEAN Community into a reality.

Parallel meetings with the ASEAN senior officials and economic ministers will be held on Thursday at Shangri-La Hotel where they will also meet with their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and India.

The ASEAN leaders, on the other hand, will also hold separate summits -- ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the 2nd East Asia Summit.Aside from the main summit meeting, the ASEAN leaders will also hold other summits, including the annual ASEAN sub-regional grouping’s summits such as the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area, the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle and the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Grouping.

National Organizing Committee (NOC) Secretary General Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr. earlier said some 50 meetings would be conducted from Jan. 10-15.

The ASEAN Economic Ministers will also finalize seven documents for signing during the Summit. The blueprint -- which will focus on how ASEAN could benefit from the elimination of tariff for the ASEAN-6 by 2010 and for the new ASEAN members by 2015 -- is one of the most important documents to be signed by the leaders.

Over the years, ASEAN has seen the growth of regional networks of non-governmental organizations.

One of the most active of these groups is the ASEAN Peoples’ Assembly, which is an important partner of ASEAN in moving forward its integration initiatives. Arroyo has chosen the theme for the 12th ASEAN Summit, entitled “One Caring and Sharing Community.”

The theme will reflect the initiatives to be taken by the Philippines in ASEAN community building and common people’s participation. Last year, Malaysia hosted the 11th ASEAN Summit and discussed seven main issues -- the spread of bird flu, southern Thailand conflict, democracy in Myanmar, crude oil prices fluctuation and poverty, investment and trade and an ASEAN charter.

The 12th ASEAN Summit was supposed to be held last month, but had been postponed because of a typoon. The ASEAN is composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (Mindanao Examiner, with government media reports)

TVI Completes Drilling In Zamboanga Gold Project

TVI Pacific Inc. announced Wednesday that its Philippine affiliate, TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD), has completed additional exploration drilling on the Balabag Property located in Zamboanga del Norte province in the southern Philippines.

Information concerning prior results of the drilling program at Balabag was included in the Company’s October 10, 2006 news release. A total of 30 additional drill holes (BDDH 27 to 54) have been completed, with 3 other holes on-going, using a combination of PQ3 (triple tube) and HQ3 (triple tube).

This brings the total number of completed drill holes to 53 with a total aggregate meterage of 6,488 meters as of November 30, 2006. The drilling program has been conducted by Exploration Drilling Corporation, TVI’s wholly-owned subsidiary.

The most recent drilling results are summarized in the Assay Table on the firm's website. Maps indicating hole locations and setting out additional information relating to trenches, tunnels and schematic vein structures are also available at www.tvipacific.com.

“Management of TVI Pacific continues to be encouraged with the results of the drilling program at Balabag,” said TVI CEO Cliff James. “In addition to a multi-vein mineralization system identified by completed elements of our exploration program, new outcrops found further east may indicate extensions to existing vein structures which we expect to follow up on by further drilling and trenching. We expect the current drilling campaign to be completed early in 2007 enabling a comprehensive Scoping Study by mid-2007.”

Interpretation

The Balabag Gold project is centered on a 1.5 km by 1 km structurally controlled area consisting of a series of vein structures occurring in tuffaceous agglomerate and andesitic rocks bordered to the north and south by NW-SE regional faults displaying sinistral displacement. Data collected to date suggests an en echelon dilational system of sigmoidal veins that are stacked running east-westerly and gently dipping to the north.

At Balabag, gold mineralization mainly occurs within quartz carbonate ferrigenous veins hosted in the tuffaceous agglomerate. This volcanic assemblage lies some 3 km to the east of a local dioritic intrusive where copper anomalies historically have been reported. Such intrusives are often associated with epithermal gold deposits around the Pacific Rim. (Read More)

Sayyaf Leader Killed In Jolo Island Clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Jan) - Government soldiers gunned down a senior Abu Sayyaf leader blamed for the spate of terrorism in a clash late Tuesday in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, officials said.

Officials said troops killed Binang Sali alias Freedom in a firefight on a remote village called Anuling in the town of Patikul, a day after President Gloria Arroyo ordered security forces to intensify the hunt for the al-Qaeda-linked terror group. "Elements of the MIG 9, ISAFP and Scout Rangers permanently neutralized ASG-UTG leader Binang Sali," a regional army spokesman Major Eugene Batara told the Mindanao Examiner.

Batara was referring to the Military Intelligence Group 9, the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Army's Scout Rangers, deployed on the island five months ago to helped track down Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants, including two Bali bombers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek.

He said troops recovered the body of Sali and a .45-caliber pistol. "There is an ongoing operation to track down other terrorists," he said without further elaborating.

It was unknown whether Sali was alone or with his group and how the fighting started.UTG refers to the urban terrorist group, blamed for the spate of bombings in Jolo and Zamboanga City the past years. The group was implicated in the killing of a US soldier in a roadside bombingin Zamboanga City in October 2002.

Arroyo visited Jolo island on Monday and praised soldiers for their successful operation against the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya after killing an Indonesian Jemaah islamiya militant, Gufran, and five Abu Sayyaf gunmen in fierce sea battle of Tawi-Tawi island over the weekend.

The six were believed trying to escape for Sabah by speedboat when intercepted by security forces, according to Philippine military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.

Last month, troops dug up the alleged remains of Abu Sayyaf chieftain, Khadaffy Janjalani, in the hinterlands of Patikul town. Janjalani was believed killed in gun battle with security forces in September and had been buried in a shallow grave until two captured Abu Sayyaf militants led troops to his graveyard.

US forces were helping the Philippine military defeat the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya in Jolo island.

American troops were providing intelligence and training to Filipino troops and were actively involved in humanitarian missions in remote Muslim villages to win the hearts and minds of the locals. (Mindanao Examiner)

Japan-Inspired Trade Program Now In Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Lowell Vallecer / 09 Jan) - “If they were able to make it succeed in Japan, in Thailand and even in the other parts of the Philippines, there is no reason why it shouldn’t succeed in Muslim Mindanao”.

This was the challenge posed by Assistant Secretary Maritess Maguindra, of the Department of Trade and Industry in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DTI-ARMM), to participants who attended the One Town, One Product (OTOP) Strategic Planning Conference held recently at the Grand Astoria Hotel in Zamboanga City.

The planning conference was attended by OTOP point persons from all the provinces under the ARMM. Maguindra said OTOP is all about rural enterprise development. OTOP’s success, she said, could very well address the economic underdevelopment in the ARMM just as it helped in Japan where the idea first started.

The paucity of gainful employment and economic activities in the ARMM are among the reasons why the Muslim Mindanao region is among the most impoverished and troubled in the country, Maguindra said.

The adoption by the ARMM provinces of the OTOP program as part of its small and medium enterprises development strategies, made it possible for this priority economic program of the national government to reach even the Philippines’ southernmost province of Tawi-Tawi which is under the administrative jurisdiction of the ARMM.

The identified provincial OTOP products in the ARMM provinces include rubber for Basilan, seaweeds for Tawi-Tawi and cassava for the provinces of Sulu and Maguindanao. Lanao’s OTOP is yet to be confirmed. The selection of the OTOP product or services is based primarily on the availability and reliability of supply of indigenous raw materials as well its marketability.

Dr. Sitti Amina Maluddin-Jain, DTI Assistant Regional Director for Western Mindanao, revealed that since the inception of the OTOP program in the last quarter of 2004, there are now 79 identified provincial OTOP products all over the country, except the ARMM. With the recent inclusion of the five provincial OTOP products in the ARMM provinces, the total number is now placed at 84, Jain said.

Jain suggested that the ARMM should adopt Halal Food Products as its regional model OTOP. ARMM is in the best position to pursue and promote halal food as majority of its populace are Muslims who adhere to the strict requirements on food preparation based on the teachings of the Quran, she said.

OTOP is patterned after the One Village, One Product (OVOP) project in Japan. The project was a huge success that it was soon copied in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and other Asian countries. It was adopted as a priority economic program by the Arroyo administration in 2004.

To ensure its success, OTOP-Philippines offer a comprehensive package of assistance via a convergence of services from local government units, national government agencies and the private sector. These include business counseling, training, and product development, introduction of appropriate technologies, financing and marketing.

The DTI is tasked to advocate the program and provide the necessary support to the local government units together with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Land Reform, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Tourism and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority.

However, the program’s success relies much on the dedication, commitment and involvement of the city, provincial or municipal chief executives as they take the lead role in identifying, developing, and promoting a specific product or service which has a competitive edge for their respective area. (The author writes for the Department of Trade and Industry in Western Mindanao)

Lawyer for Philippine journalists in suit against president’s husband receives death threats

The lawyer handling the class action suit of Philippine journalists against Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was threatened on the phone on 3 January 2007, according to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a Southeast Asian Press Alliance founding member.

Harry Roque received a phone call at about 10.00 a.m. (local time) from someone calling himself “Jun Santos”, who warned Roque to stop “lawyering for destabilizers.” The caller professed to be a supporter of the President Arroyo and a member of KAMPI, the political party she founded.

Roque later received three text messages threatening to kill him and his family. One offered a P5 million (approx. US$102,600) bounty on the lawyer’s head.

The first text message, which came at about 1.00 p.m., said, “Atty. Roque, RIP (Rest in Peace), we from the Hukbong Bayan (Army of the Country) are continually watching you and your moves of betrayal to the nation. We are again warning you to shut your fishy mouth.”

A second message followed, which again threatened Roque and his family. “Dura lex, sed lex. Our law may be harsh but it is still our law. Not all the time you are lucky. Your end is near and your family.”

The third and last message said, “To all interested persons: we are giving away P5 million/$105,000 as a reward for the capture of Harry Roque, dead or alive. Atty. Roque is a lawyer of terrorist communist group in the Phils. A destabilizer, insurgent, an anti-American. Caution: he is armed & dangerous. Any info on his whereabouts, pls call or text 09152546579.”

The number turned out to be that of a mobile phone owned by the Public Affairs department of the Philippine Army, who denied involvement with or knowledge of the death threats against Roque.

“My strong suspicion is that it is Malacañang (the Presidential office) behind these death threats,” Roque said in an interview with the “Daily Tribune” newspaper.

Roque is also part of the legal team for a rape survivor identified only as “Nicole”, who was raped by US Marine Daniel Smith on 1 November 2005. Sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment by a Philippine court, Smith has been transferred to the custody of the US Embassy in Manila by the Arroyo government. “Nicole” is protesting the transfer.

BACKGROUND

The journalists filing the class action suit against the president’s husband are among the 45 reporters, columnists, editors and publishers he is suing for libel. Joining the class action suit, which is filed on behalf of the press, are other journalists and media organisations Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and “The Daily Tribune”. The class suit is asking for P15 million (approx. US$305,630) in damages for the inconveniences Arroyo’s libel suits have allegedly caused as well as their chilling effect on press freedom. (SEAPA)

OPINION: VITAL THRESHOLD by Juan Mercado

“Life is the threshold at which all other hopes begin.” And Health Secretary Francisco Duque is talking of how this threshold is surging, seen in our lengthening life expectancies.

In the mid-40s, life was “nasty, brutish and short” with life expectancy at 47 years. Today, it is 70 years, “due to a shift to a healthier life style,” the secretary says. DDT spraying after World War II, in fact, stomped out malaria that helped to lengthen lives.

“We’ve surpassed Thailand’s life expectancy of below 70”, the secretary went on. Thus, more Filipinos will, in William Butler Yeats’ haunting image, “comb grey hair” “Human Development Report 2006”, in fact, reveals that Filipino life expectancy today is 70.2 years. And it is 69.7 years for Thais.

It's a pity that Secretary Duque’s comparison skips the international context. He also didn’t bring out the stark disparities between provinces.

Singaporeans can look forward to 79 years of life. And the Japanese golfer, who tees off here, will probably outlive his Filipino caddy by 12 years. That gap shows what is possible. “That a man’s reach should exceed his grasp/ Or what’s a heaven for?” Browning once asked.

Life expectancy for Pampangenos and Cebuanos is now 72 years, “Philippine Human Development Report” reveals. But people in Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Maguindanao are handcuffed to life spans that at 52, are almost a generation In between these extremes are people in Kalinga, Apayao, Quirino and Antique : 62 years is within their reach.

These “fault lines” mirror the skewed distribution of wealth, power, and strange hold over resources, by miniscule elite. The richest 20 percent in Metro Manila, for example, consume 45 centavos out of every peso. Mostly huddled in the slums, the poorest 20 percent try to make do with eight centavos.

Poverty is a “state of powerlessness, and not merely the lack of assets and services to meet the most basic of needs.” And chronic hunger spawns lethargy, apathy and ill-health, so widespread, they're taken for granted. Also, horizons of the rich rarely extend beyond their “gated enclaves”. The rich man’s line of sight, the parable tells us, blotted out Lazarus scrounging for crumbs at his gate.

Affluence guarantees these elite aside from summer homes, second cars, trips abroad -food, medical care, shelter, education, clean water, sanitation, aside from summer homes, second cars, trips abroad. These add on years of life, prompting many to ask: Does wealth vest a franchise to life on the few?

We must learn to see these dry-as-dust figures for what they really are: sentences to early deaths for helpless men, women and children. Many never get to thresholds “at which all other hopes begin”.

“Differences in homes, clothing, schools or even diets, are galling enough,” the late National Scientist Dioscoro Umali told Asia Society in New York. “But denial of life and premature graves constitute an obscene injustice…and cuts into the depths of our common humanity. They vest the cries for justice with the pent force of suppressed anger. We will reap the whirlwind if we persist in sowing the wind this way.”

This denial of life probably is seen most vividly in what Secretary Duque frets about: “the increasing number of maternal deaths, especially in rural areas”. Out of every 100,000 deliveries here today, he reports, 270 Filipina mothers die. This is six times the maternal death rate of Thailand which is 44. Why this stark difference?

Far too many Filipina mothers resort to untrained "hilots", the secretary said. DOH is therefore introducing maternity packages. These could steer pregnant women to local health centers, which often are short of medicine, or government hospitals, which invariably are overcrowded.

You deliver a baby in Thailand today; nine out of ten you'll have skilled health personnel in attendance, UN human development indicators. That slumps to only six out of ten in the Philippines. Are we seeing here part of the bill for mass migration of our doctors, nurses or midwives?

Thailand’s smaller population has higher per capita income. Yet, Bangkok spent $260 per capita of its GDP for health. We penny-pinched at $170. No wonder, 99 percent of Thai kids are fully immunized against TB. Compare that to 58 percent for Filipinos. And will Thais, in the future, be taller than Filipinos? Out of every 100 Filipino school kids, 32 are stunted, compared to 13 percent for Thais.

Clean water and sanitation are the most cost-efficient means for whittling death rates, says the UNDP study: “Beyond Scarcity". Some 99 percent of Thais have access improved sanitation. But only 72 percent of Filipinos do In Cuba City, 38 out of every 100 households tap into water supplies of neighbors because of its obsolete municipal system and collapsing aquifers.

The litmus test for those seeking elections in May is what they can do about premature deaths now that will make a difference later. The operative word is now. “Tomorrow is a postdated check. But today is cash.”

As those deaths show, we are a country of great needs. We need models of limited wants. Surely, fewer deaths for Filipina mothers and children are within our reach. We have the resources, the technology, and the human skills to ensure that the “threshold where all other hopes begin” need not close. But who has the backbone?

Arroyo Visits Jolo Island, Commends Troops For Successful Anti-Terror Ops

Click photo to play video

President Gloria Arroyo's visit to Jolo island Monday, 08 Jan 2007. (Mindanao Examiner)

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Jan) – Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on Monday praised soldiers for their successful operation against members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiya militants in Jolo island.

Arroyo visited the troubled island, about 950 kms south of Manila, under tight security. About 300 troops and policemen guarded the Filipino leader who inaugurated a $969,000 US-funded road project in Parang town and a hospital inside a military base in Jolo town. US Charge d'Affaires Paul Jones and Presidential peace adviser Secy. Jesus Dureza accompanied Arroyo.

A US EP3 reconnaissance plane was also spotted over Parang town, aside from a pair of Filipino MG-520 combat choppers. About a dozen local politicians arrived with armed escorts. Soldiers and policemen overwhelmed some 200 people invited in the inauguratin in Parang town.

Arroyo shook hands with the locals and briefly stopped to chat with some Muslim women. She also praised the US for its development projects in Jolo, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.

Arroyo commended the soldiers for their courage in fighting the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya. She was also briefed by Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and Western Mindanao military commander Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo.

Soldiers killed at least 6 Abu Sayyaf members, including an Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya militant, in a fierce sea battle on Saturday off the southern island of Tawi-Tawi near the Sabah border.

Esperon on Monday said those killed were attempting to escape to Sabah. Troops attacked an Abu Sayyaf speedboat after it tried to escape from a sea blockade near Panglima Sugala town.

The boat’s passengers traded automatic gunfire with soldiers until they were all killed.

“I commend the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the successful operation against the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah, which only proves that these terrorist elements have nowhere to hide and are in fact already doomed to annihilation.”

“Our fight against terror goes hand in hand with the global and regional effort; and as we face the ASEAN summit, we would like to assure all our allies in East Asia and beyond that the Filipino soldiery and people are on watch every hour of the day, determined to do their share to defeat terror for a more secure and safer world,” she said.

Arroyo was referring to the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit set to be held in the central Philippine island of Cebu this week. (Mindanao Examiner)

Indon Man Among 6 Abus Killed In Tawi-Tawi Clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Jan) – The Philippine military on Sunday tagged an Indonesian militant as among six gunmen killed in a clash at sea off the southern island of Tawi-Tawi.

Philippine security forces killed at least 6 members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in fierce sea battle on Saturday. And among those slain was Indonesian militant Gufran, a member of the Jemaah Islamiya.

The military did not say how it was able to get the identity of the foreigner, but a press statement on Sunday said Gufran was believed to be a lieutenant of Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin.

Dulmatin is one of several Indonesian terrorists, including Umar Patek, hiding in Jolo island with the Abu Sayyaf. Dulmatin and Patek are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed.

The Philippines military in October said troops captured Dulmatin’s wife, Istiada Bt. H. Oemar Sovie, alias Amenah Toha, and her two children in Jolo island and had been deported to Indonesia late last year.

The Saturday fighting erupted after soldiers attacked an Abu Sayyaf speedboat after it tried to escape from a sea blockade near Panglima Sugala town at around 4.45 a.m.

The boat’s passengers traded automatic gunfire with soldiers until they were all killed. The clash broke out just two days before President Gloria Arroyo is to hold a military conference in Jolo island near Tawi-Tawi. (Mindanao Examiner)

OPINION: FEAST OF THE THREE KINGS, GASPAR, MELCHOR, BALTAZAR WHO? By Juan Mercado

To close off the Christmas season, we mark Sunday the feast of “The Three Kings” who upset Herod with a request for directions : “Where is the newborn king of Jews?. We have seen his star rising in the east and come to honor him.”

Matthew didn’t call them “kings” but “magis”— scholars who studied the stars and gained insights into earth. Was the star Halley’s Comet, estimated to have appeared in 12 B.C.? Was it light from that comet, flashing with blinding speed through thousands of years that the Magi saw? “Suppose your car travels at the speed of light,” Steven Wright wisecracks. “Would your headlights work?”

The people of Bethlehem were blind to what the Magi saw beyond the star. But prophecies came to pass. Psalm 72: “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall being presents.” And Isaiah: “They shall bring gold and incense and they shall show forth praises of the Lord.”

Year after year, that story triggers exactions that range from the thoughtful to the hilarious. It depends on the teller’s background.

Daniel McNamara, for example, is an Ateneo de Manila university astrophysicist. The Magi were “men acquainted with the heavens”, he writes in Windhover.” They would not have known these “supernovas…are recognized today, by modern science as generators of the chemical elements, born in the stars, 14,000 billion years ago. These make life possible on earth…

“The physical life that the Magi and we live is based on the chemical residues of these stars,” he adds. “These same elements form the body of the Babe born of Mary. As he designed to partake of our elements, He invites us, through a living faith….to follow the brightest nova, Himself…

For the Magi, “the star calls them to leave their comfort zone and journey in faith, as Abraham did…When the Star disappears, they are on their own and must use their own resources. They are in a strange land at the mercy of powers they can not control. So, submit they do, always guided by their trust in the tar’s guidance.”

The star triggered Herod’s massacre two year olds in Bethlehem, after the Magis refused to say where the Child was. They “returned to their country by another way” Herod was attracted by what John the Baptist proclaimed, a friend from Malaysia reminded me. But Herod’s greed squelched that opening to light.

“Remember what the old Indian chief told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people, like you and me. ”Son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all,” he said.

“One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, and ego. And the other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, generosity, truth, compassion".

The grandson mulled this over. Then, he asked: "Which wolf wins?" The old man simply replied: "The one you feed."

Reaction from a former lady UN colleague in Paris was lighter: “This is the time of year when many people think back to when Gaspar, Balthazar and Melchor knelt before the Babe and”presented unto Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh," a former lady UN colleague in Paris emailed.

“But there’s no mention of wrapping paper in Matthew’s account. He would have written: "Lo, the gifts were inside 600 square cubits of paper” Joseph was going to throw it away but Mary protested: “Saveth it for next year!'

“The first Christmas gifts were not wrapped. Why? Because the Magi were: (a) wise; and were (b) men. “Men are not gift wrappers. They don’t understand putting paper on a gift just so somebody can tear it off. This is not just my opinion. It is a scientific conclusion, validated by a statistical survey of two friends – both men.

“My point is: gift-wrapping is a skill like having babies. It comes more naturally to women than to men. So, I counsel men friends: When possible, buy gifts already wrapped. If the recipient doesn’t recognizes it, just say : “It is myrrh”.

“Remember: The important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it. The critical thing, during this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt. Author Unknown (but definitely male)”

But what if you were 21 years old and just equaled Jose Rizal’s grades at Ateneo?

A young Horacio de la Costa did those 55 years ago. A brilliant legal or literary career awaited him but he joined the Jesuits and in the Novaliches novitiate wrote: “The Secret of the Star”:

“I do not think the Three Wise Men / Were Persian kings at all. / I think it much more likely they / Set sail from our Manila Bay, / in answer to the call.

“And though the great historians/ May stare at me, and frown, / I still maintain the Three Wise Men / Were Kings from my hometown.

“And if you ask why I affirm/ That Melchor was King of Tondo, / When Gaspar ruled Sampaloc, / And Baltazar Binondo.

“We will not argue. We will walk / The streets on Christmas Eve, / And I will show you the poor man’s rafter/ Where hangs the Star the Kings sought after/ High above Christian prayer and laughter -- / You will see it, and believe.

“For when they crossed the sea again/ From Bethlehem afar, / They lost their camels in the sea, / And they forgot the Christmas tree. / But they brought back to you and me/ The secret of the Star.”

Philippine Military Corrects Report, Says 6 Abus Are Killed

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Jan) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines corrected late Saturday its report that 7 Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in fierce sea gun battle off the southern Tawi-Tawi island.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said only six gunmen were killed in the clash and apologized for the mistake.

“Only six and not seven Abu Sayyaf terrorists are killed in the battle,” he said without elaborating.

The Western Mindanao Command headquarters in-charge of the operation also said that 7 militants were slain in the sea battle.

“Joint AFP units encountered ASG elements onboard a speedboat and after a 30 minutes firefight at sea, the group of Abu Hubaida and Black Killer was completely neutralized. The result, seven enemies are killed, all body counts, and the double-engine boat and weapons have been recovered,” Bacarro earlier told the Mindanao Examiner.

Soldiers attacked the enemy boat after it tried to escape from a sea blockade near Panglima Sugala town at around 4.45 a.m. The boat’s passengers traded automatic gunfire with soldiers until they were all killed, officials said.The fighting broke out just two days before President Gloria Arroyo is to hold a military conference in Jolo island near Tawi-Tawi. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Troops Kill 7 Sayyaf Terrorists In Fierce Sea Battle Near Sabah

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Jan) – Philippine security forces killed at least 7 members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in fierce sea battle on Saturday off the southern island of Tawi-Tawi near the Malaysian border, officials said.

Officials said the soldiers attacked an Abu Sayyaf speedboat after it tried to escape from a sea blockade near Panglima Sugala town at around 4.45 a.m. The boat’s passengers traded automatic gunfire with soldiers until they were all killed.

The fighting broke out just two days before President Gloria Arroyo is to hold a military conference in Jolo island near Tawi-Tawi.

The exact number of the passengers was unknown, but a Filipino military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said soldiers recovered at least 7 bodies and several high-powered firearms, including an M-203 automatic rifle.

“Joint AFP units encountered ASG elements onboard a speedboat and after a 30 minutes firefight at sea, the group of Abu Hubaida and Black Killer was completely neutralized. The result, seven enemies are killed, all body counts, and the double-engine boat and weapons have been recovered,” he told the Mindanao Examiner by phone.

It was not immediately known where the Abu Sayyaf militants were headed to or if they were planning an escape to nearby Sabah in Malaysia or return to Jolo island, where troops are battling hunting other members of the terrorist group.

Black Killer was an alias used by an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader, Jundam Hadjirul, who escaped from jail on Basilan island in April 2004 along with 52 prisoners, including 18 militants.

Little was known about Abu Hubaida, but the Abu Sayyaf is included in the US terror list and Washington offered as much as five million dollars bounty for the capture of its leader Khadaffy Janjalani and his lieutenants.

Western Mindanao military chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo ordered security forces Saturday to track down other Abu Sayyaf members and intensify their offensive.

The Philippine military last month announced that soldiers dug up the alleged body of Janjalani, who was killed in a firefight in September in Jolo island’s Patikul town. He took over command of the Abu Sayyaf when his brother, Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, who founded the group, was killed in a firefight with policemen in 1998 in Basilan Island.

Government soldiers were still hunting other senior Abu Sayyaf leaders and nearly a dozen Jemaah Islamiyah militants, including Umar Patek and Dulmatin. Both were believed with the Abu Sayyaf group in Jolo island, about 950 kms south of Manila.

The two men Patek and Dulmatin are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 Sayyaf Militants Captured In Zamboanga City In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Jan) – Military intelligence agents, backed by security forces, arrested before dawn Saturday two Abu Sayyaf militants tagged as behind the kidnapping six years ago of dozens of people in Basilan island in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said government agents disguised as civilians arrested Wakil and Abug Sampang inside a restaurant in Zamboanga City.

“Agents tracked the two Abu Sayyaf terrorists at the Village de Zamboanga restaurant and arrested them,” a regional military spokesman Army Major Eugene Batarra told the Mindanao Examiner.

Batarra did not say if the two wanted men were armed or not, but claimed they had been implicated in the kidnappings of dozens of people after their group barged into a Catholic church and a hospital in Lamitan town in Basilan in June 2001.

“They were involved in many kidnappings in Basilan and have a lot of crimes that they must pay,” he said without elaborating.He said the two were being investigated at an undisclosed military base in Zamboanga City.

Security forces had previously arrested dozens of Abu Sayyaf militants and their affiliates in Zamboanga the past years.Zamboanga City has been previously bombed many times by the Abu Sayyaf. (Mindanao Examiner)

Michigan State University Needs Professor

The Michigan State University’s School of Journalism is looking for a full/associate/assistant professor with an expertise in research about the media in Muslim countries of South-east Asia and/or South Asia, with a preference for South-east Asia.

The candidate will:

- produce significant research and scholarly publications on the media and press systems of the region- collaborate with scholars in the region, within the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and other MSU academic units, and in other U.S. and non-U.S. institutions- develop and teach undergraduate and graduate courses related to international journalism and press systems and practices in South-east Asia and/or South Asia, as well as other courses within the school’s curriculum- provide outreach/training for professionals and educators in the region and for U.S. journalists covering the region.

The candidate should have:

- a Ph.D. or equivalent- a record of interdisciplinary research, teaching interests in press and media systems, and practices in Muslim countries of South-east Asia and/or South Asia, with South-east Asia preferred- fluency in at least one language in the region- familiarity and/or experience with media and communications industries in the region.

Review of applications will begin on Jan. 30, 2007. Position to begin Aug 16, 2007. Mail application letter, CV, transcript of highest degree, copies of published research (including research on South-east Asia or South Asia press and media, and three letters of recommendation to:

Eric Freedman
Search Committee Chair
School of Journalism
305 Communication Arts Bldg.
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824
USA

You may also e-mail a letter of interest and CV with the statement that the other materials (transcript, published articles and recommendations) are coming by mail.

For queries, write to freedma5@msu.edu.

IPS Asia-Pacific ipsasia@ipsnews.net

Bomb Attack In Southern Philippines Injures 2 People

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jan) – At least two people were injured in a bomb explosion Friday in downtown Cotabato City in the southern Filipino province of Maguindanao, police and military said.

Police said the blast occurred on Macacua Street at around 11.05 a.m. just “We are still awaiting reports. Our investigators are still at the scene,” police officer Ray Gamut told the Mindanao Examiner.

Policemen and soldiers also recovered and disarmed two more homemade bombs, assembled from 60mm mortar heads.

The explosion shattered glass windows of several restaurants, but caused little damage to buildings near the blast site.

No group admitted to the attack, but police and military believed the bombing was the handiwork of Moro rebels tied to the Jemaah Islamiya and the Abu Sayyaf. Both groups were previously linked to similar attacks in the region.

Last week, two people were also injured in a bomb explosion inside the Kensan Mall in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province near Maguindanao.

The bomb, smuggled undetected by security guards, was left at the mall’s baggage counter where it exploded. An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Solaiman, later claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The military said the leader of the Abu Sayyaf Khadaffy Janjalani was killed in a clash in September in Patikul town in Jolo island and that his remains had been recovered by soldiers from a shallow grave.

Janjalani took over command of the Abu Sayyaf when his brother, Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, who founded the group, was killed in a firefight with policemen in 1998 in Basilan Island.

Troops were still hunting Janjalani’s lieutenants and two Jemaah Islamiyah militants Umar Patek and Dulmatin, whom Abu Sayyaf gunmen are believed to be protecting on Jolo, about 950 kms south of Manila. Both Patek and Dulmatin are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops Hunt Bandits Behind Killing Of 2 Kidnapped Traders In Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jan) – Government soldiers were hunting down a group of bandits behind the gruesome murder of two kidnapped traders in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte, officials said Friday.

Officials said the two men, seized last week, were beheaded. The bodies were discovered by patrolling soldiers two days ago on a remote village in Sibuco town.

The motive of the killing was unknown, although the police and military suspect the victims may have been executed after they failed to pay ransom money. There were no immediate statements from the victims' families.

Officials said no individual or group claimed responsibility for the grizzly murder, but the police tagged a former commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-turned-bandit leader Majid Abdulhaman as responsible for the killings.

“There is an operation in the town,” said Major Eugene Batarra, a regional army spokesman. Aside from bandits, MILF rebels and Abu Sayyaf militants, whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, are actively operating in the area. (Mindanao Examiner)

Wanted Bandit Leader Slain In Southern RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jan) – Security forces killed a bandit leader, tagged as behind the slaying of a deputy town mayor in the southern province of Zamboanga del Sur, officials said.

Officials said soldiers clashed with bandits and killed their leader, Kamil Lao and one of his lieutenant, in the coastal town of Labangan late Tuesday.

The soldiers were patrolling the village of Dalapang when they ran into the group of Lao and a firefight ensued, they said.

Police tagged Lao, a former commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as behind the killings of two provincial deputy mayors and eight other people, including two councilmen in separate attacks in 2005.

Lao’s group was also implicated in several other killings of innocent civilians and fishermen and series of highway robberies and extortion activities in Zamboanga del Sur province. (Mindanao Examiner)

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Arroyo Signs Order To Promote Gov't Anti-Poverty Program

MANILA (Jason Carlos / 04 Jan) – President Gloria Arroyo has signed an executive order strengthening the role of national convergence groups which promote the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) program.

She said the government is all set to strengthen its nationwide program to reduce poverty and promote economic equity throughout the country.

The Executive Order No. 569 defines the role of the Regional KALAHI Convergence Groups (RKCGs) in the comprehensive peace process to address internal armed conflicts and their root causes, which include poverty and economic inequity, among others.

Arroyo has earlier institutionalized KALAHI as the government’s strategy for poverty reduction, and enjoins government agencies to observe multi-stakeholder and interagency convergence in all poverty reduction activities.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), under Secy. Jesus Dureza, which oversees and coordinates the implementation of the government’s comprehensive peace process, has established close linkages among different stakeholders and local government units to promote Kalahi and aggressively implement its programs. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Military Says U.S. Involved In Intell Ops In Troubled South

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jan) - The Philippine military on Wednesday admitted that U.S. intelligence experts were involved in tracking down members of the Southeast Asian terror group, Jemaah Islamiya, believed hiding with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern island of Jolo.

"It's principally on the field of technical intelligence," the Philippine News Agency quoted a Filipino military spokesman Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro as telling reporters at the Camp Aguinaldo headquarters here.

"As to the details of the technical intelligence, I don't know, I'm not privy. They are providing us limited technical intelligence," Bacarro said.

The U.S. military in the past not only provided valuable intelligence to the Armed Forces of the Philippines about the Abu Sayyaf, but also took part in a covert operation with local soldiers to rescue a kidnapped American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham held by the Abu Sayyaf in Zamboanga del Norte province in 2002.

The U.S. previously used unmanned drones and Orion spy planes and electronic warfare in locating hideouts of terrorists in the southern Philippines.

Philippine authorities said as many as 30 Jemaah Islamiya terrorists are operating in the troubled region of Mindanao and Jolo island, about 950 kms south of Manila.

At least 5 of them, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both wanted by Jakarta for the 2002 Bali bombings, are said to be in Jolo under the protection of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Just last month, Filipino military commanders in Jolo island said soldiers dug up what they believed were the remains of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with troops in September. But DNA tests are still needed to confirm whether the remains belong to the elusive leader, blamed for the spate of terrorism in the southern Philippines.

The Philippine military also linked the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, to the Jemaah Islamiya, an accusation strongly denied by the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

Washington tagged both the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya as foreign terrorist organizations and offered millions of dollars in rewards for the capture of Dulmatin and Janjalani. (Mindanao Examiner)

Coup Leader Website Up For Grabs!

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jan) – What was once the website of perhaps one of the most elusive military coup leader, Captain Nicanor Faeldon, is now up for grabs after its domain name pilipino.org.ph expired.

The website had been previously used by Faeldon to mount civil disobedience and
taunt Philippine authorities about his daring exploits. Faeldon launched insults at the military by releasing photographs and videos of him freely going inside military and police camps while on the country’s most wanted list.

The website was so popular and hits had reached one million just a month after Faeldon put up the pilipino.org.ph on December 25, 2005.

“If this domain is not renewed soon, it will become available for registration on a first-paid first-served basis,” read a post from the website now maintained by www.domains.ph.

Domain names should be renewed annually.

From a flag at half-mast as his website’s front page, now only a photo of a street shot with a sign “closed” is posted on the former website of Faeldon.

Gone were the calls for President Gloria Arroyo to resign.

Faeldon, a member of the Philippine Marines, is one of more than three dozen soldiers under trial for leading a failed coup against Arroyo in July 2003.

He was one of the six top leaders of the group that occupied the Oakwood Premier Suites in Makati City, the country’s business district. Faeldon escaped on December 14, 2005 after attending a court hearing.

Since then, Faeldon posted photographs and video clips of him from inside various military camps from as far as Southern Command in Zamboanga City in Mindanao to the Central Command headquarters in Cebu in central Philippines.

And even inside the tightly guarded Camp Aguinaldo, the main military base in Manila and at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Quezon City, while security forces were pursuing him day and night.

Faeldon was captured January 27, 2006 along with his girlfriend Captain Candelaria Rivas while driving home to his safe house in Manila. Rivas was one of the military prosecutors in the cases filed against Faeldon and other mutineers.

Despite Faeldon’s arrest, his supporters continued to post anti-Arroyo sentiments on the website. Even after Faeldon’s capture, his website continued to receive more than 1,000 hits a day until its demise. (Mindanao Examiner)

GMA Defends Transfer Of Convicted Marine To US Custody

MANILA - President Gloria Arroyo said convicted rapist Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was transferred to the custody of the US embassy to avert the further erosion of the country’s strategic relations with the US over the non-compliance by the Philippine government of its treaty obligation under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The President said Smith’s transfer to the custody of US authorities "will not affect the substantive issues at bar, nor impede justice and the rule of law."

Convicted by the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for raping a 23-year old Filipino and sentenced to life imprisonment, Smith has appealed his conviction.

President Arroyo said she is prepared to meet all legal challenges to the government action on the Smith case, and "we are confident that its legitimacy and wisdom will be upheld."

“This difficult decision was made and taken with only the best interest of the Philippines in mind. I therefore ask all Filipinos to stand by it and to stand behind our alliance with the United States to fight terror and poverty,” the President said in a statement.

“I wish to appeal for understanding from the people that this action will not affect the substantive issues at bar, nor impede justice and the rule of law.”

“The government had to take this action in order to forestall the further deterioration in our strategic relationship with the United States, which was being rapidly eroded by our non-compliance with the Visiting Forces Agreement,” she said.

She said this difficult decision was made and taken with only the best of the Philippines in mind.

“The Executive Branch is prepared to face legal challenges to this decision and we are confident that its legitimacy and wisdom will be upheld.”

“I therefore ask all Filipinos to stand by it and to stand behind our alliance with the United States to fight terror and poverty,” the President said.

After Getting Back Convicted American Soldier, U.S. Resumes War Games With Philippines

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner/ 02 Jan) - The United States Embassy in Manila on Tuesday announced the resumption of suspended joint war exercise with the Philippines, four days after an American soldier convicted of raping a Filipino woman, was handed to U.S. authorities.

American marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith had been transfered to U.S military custody late Friday after Filipino government officials whisked him away from the Makati City jail.

A local court ordered Smith locked up in jail Dec. 4 after he was found guilty of raping the 23-year old woman last year in Olongapo City.

"We look forward to resuming the Balikatan," said U.S. Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop. "Balikatan should move forward now that the custody issue is resolved," he said.

The U.S. military announced Dec. 22 that suspension of the war games after Judge Benjamin Pozon, of the Makati Regional Trial Court, denied a petition by Smith’s lawyers to transfer him to the U.S. Embassy.

Lussenhop said they were also disappointed by the suspension of the Balikatan, which means shoulder-to-shoulder, the codename for the annual joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States.

"We're disappointed with the cancellation of the Balikatan as well. We did not raise any issue about the (court's) verdict, but the custody issue," Lussenhop said.

Filipino activists on Tuesday also burned a U.S. flag while marching in Manila to protest Smith's transfer to U.S. authorities.

Dozens of protesters from the militant group called KAISA-KA torched the flag as they marched along the busy Manila road, T.M Kalaw.

The U.S. Embassy said the transfer of Smith to U.S. authority is consistent with the terms of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), an international bilateral agreement that is binding on both the United States and the Philippines.

U.S. officials said Article V, Paragraph 6 of the Visiting Forces Agreement specifies: “That custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with the United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings.”

They said that Smith is not a private citizen, and therefore the handling of his case is subject to the terms of the VFA.

Philippine Interior Secy. Ronaldo Puno on Tuesday defended Smith’s trasnfer to U.S. authorities, saying, the government was just adhering to the provisions of the VFA. “There is nothing illegal here. We are just following what is stipulated in the VFA,” he said.

Lawyers supporting the woman raped by Smith said they would file criminal charges against those responsible in the trasfer of the soldier to U.S. authorities. (Mindanao Examiner)

Filipino Activists Burn U.S. Flag In Manila

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jan) Filipino protesters burned a U.S. flag Tuesday in the Philippine capital as they denounced the transfer of convicted American marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to U.S military custody.

Smith was sentenced to 40 years in prison for raping a 23-year old Filipino woman last year in Olongapo City. A local court ordered Smith locked up in Makati City jail Dec. 4, but Filipino government officials took him away late Friday and handed over to the U.S. Embassy.

The woman raped by Smith and militant and women’s groups supporting her were angered by the move and vowed to launch street protests and file charges in court against the Philippine officials.

Dozens of activists belonging to the group KAISA-KA burned the flag as they marched along the busy Manila road called T.M Kalaw.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said convicted Smith has been transferred from the Makati City jail back to U.S. military custody.

It said the transfer of Smith to U.S. authority is consistent with the terms of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), an international bilateral agreement that is binding on both the United States and the Republic of the Philippines.

Judge Benjamin Pozon, of the Makati Regional Trial Court, previously denied a petition by Smith’s lawyers to transfer him to the U.S. Embassy while they are still appealing the case.

U.S. officials said Article V, Paragraph 6 of the Visiting Forces Agreement specifies: “That custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with the United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings.”

They said that Smith is not a private citizen, and therefore the handling of his case is subject to the terms of the VFA.

The U.S. military last week announced it was suspendending all joint military exercises scheduled for next year because of the court’s refusal to hand over Smith to the American Embassy.

Philippine Interior Secy. Ronaldo Puno on Tuesday defended Smith’s trasnfer to U.S. authorities, saying, the government was just adhering to the provisions of the VFA. “There is nothing illegal here. We are just following what is stipulated in the VFA,” he said.

Lawyers supporting the woman raped by Smith said they would file criminal charges against those responsible in the trasfer of the soldier to U.S. authorities. (Mindanao Examiner)

Apparition Draws Hundreds Of Devotees In Negros Town

(Wikipedia Image, Creative Art: Mindanao Examiner)

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jan) – Hundreds of Catholic devotees were flocking a small coastal village in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental where two images of Jesus Christ and an angel appeared on an old Acacia tree.

The image of Christ’s face first appeared late Monday and this was followed by another apparition of what witnesses claimed was an angel, complete with white wings, on a village called Poblacion in San Enrique town.

Since then, devotees have continuously flocked to the town, named after a Catholic saint, and bringing with them prayers and blessed candles and rosaries.

“I saw Christ’s face. I pray hard for miracles, for God to save us all from the fires of hell and everybody must repent for all their earthly sins,” said Saturnino Co, 64.

The man, quoting excerpts from the Bible, said the images were signs of that the second coming of Christ is near.

A local boy Ralph Torecilla reported seeing the image on the tree to his family and neighbors and the news spread like wildfire, driving hundreds of people, many curious by the apparition, to the area.

Church officials declined to give a statement about the supposed apparition, but this never stopped worshippers from lighting candles in front of the tree and pray for miracles.

San Enrique is situated at the southern portion of Negros Occidental. A fifth class type of municipality in the province and according to National Statistics Office that in the year 2000 the population of San Enrique already reached to 22,091.

Traders also spouted like mushrooms, selling almost anything associated with Christ to angel Gabriel, from a blessed candle to talisman to ward of evil to incantations to attract luck and money.

The Philippines is Asia’s only Catholic nation and Filipinos are traditionally superstitious and quick to believe in so-called stories of miracles and apparition and even leprechauns and fairies. (Mindanao Examiner)

Pirates Free Dozens Of Fishermen In South RP

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 01 Jan) – Security forces searched patches of scattered islands for pirates who held dozens of Filipino fishermen off the southern Tawi-Tawi province near Sabah.

The pirates seized two trawlers at the weekend near Kantipayan Island and held its crew for ransom until navy gunboats arrived. The gunmen were demanding five hundred thousand pesos from the boat owners, the military said.

The pirates abandoned the hostages and escaped on motorboats when they saw two navy vessels approaching the ships.

The fishermen said they were seized before sunrise on Sunday and freed almost 12 hours later.

The military said it learned about the incident after the fishermen sent out an emergency code and that the navy was ordered to rescue the hostages.

Pirate attacks are common in the Sulu Archipelago where pirates and rebels actively operate. The archipelago is a rich marine area, but also a dangerous fishing ground and even ferries had been attacked in the past.(Mindanao Examiner)

Four Reasons Why Smith Should Be In RP Custody

MANILA - The undersigned groups express their outrage over how the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs have taken the cudgels for Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith who, we have learned, has been released to the custody of the US Embassy upon orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

These officials have forgotten that they represent the Filipino people and not an American serviceman.

Instead of deferring to the judiciary’s interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), they have thwarted the legal import of the original provisions of the VFA and substituted their own meaning to justify the transfer of Smith’s custody to the United States.

This case is not only an issue of custody.

How the government conducts itself before a supposed co-equal sovereign will ultimately impact on the exercise of our sovereignty and will show how far the government is willing to abide by the provisions of the Constitution in upholding the dignity of the Filipino people, in respecting our human rights, and in protecting the rights of women against violence.

When the Philippines ratified the VFA, many nationalists feared the return of military abuses. Women’s groups were apprehensive since any heavily militarized area is a breeding ground for prostitution and acts of violence against women.

One critical aspect of the VFA is in the area of criminal jurisdiction. In construing these provisions, there should be no attempt at departing from their true import to unduly favor the United States.

Custody of Smith belongs to the Philippines for the following reasons:

1. It is very clear from Article V, Paragraph 6 of the VFA that the US obligation to make Smith available to Philippine authorities for any investigation or judicial proceedings ceases “(i)n the event Philippine judicial proceedings are not completed within one year.” Accordingly, “the one-year period will not include the time necessary to appeal.”

Logic and common sense dictate that the judicial proceedings contemplated in that paragraph refer only to the proceedings during the trial state.

A contrary interpretation would mean that the Philippines will lose the right to demand from the US the production of Smith once the judicial proceedings, which include the period to appeal, are not completed within one year.

Absurd situation

This would result in the absurd situation where Smith’s custody resides with the US, but without the corresponding obligation on their part to make him available to Philippine authorities because judicial proceedings were not completed within one year.

The VFA cannot be interpreted in a way that would leave the People of the Philippines without recourse or remedy against a US personnel charged with an offense.

2. The same paragraph clearly distinguishes between the period of conduct of judicial proceedings, when the US has exercised custody over Smith, and the period of appeal, during which he shall be detained in “facilities agreed on by appropriate Philippine and United States authorities.”

Clear distinction

Philippine law clearly distinguishes between the status of the liberty of an accused during the conduct of the judicial proceedings in the trial court and on appeal.

Pursuant to a Supreme Circular 4-92-A, judges are required to immediately issue orders of commitment after the conviction of national prisoners (those sentenced to three years and one day and above). This should be done once an appeal is filed.

However, in recognition of the VFA, Judge Benjamin Pozon ordered the commitment of Smith to the Makati City Jail pending the agreement on the appropriate facility for the latter between the Philippines and the US.

Article V, Sec. 10 speaks of “confinement or detention” in facilities agreed on by the two parties. The judge, however, correctly pointed out that the “facilities” under this paragraph should be those run by the Philippine authorities and not by the Americans, as the Philippines could not possibly exercise jurisdiction over such place.

Constitution is supreme

The judge correctly applied the appropriate provision considering that Smith has already been convicted.

The exercise of criminal jurisdiction should be construed strictly in favor of the Philippine government because of the nature of the VFA.

Allowing Smith to remain in US custody would constitute a violation of the principles of the Constitution insofar as there is an abdication of the right of the State to exercise sovereign power over Smith.

3. We should not forget that our Constitution is supreme law and not even treaty provisions can subvert its guarantees.

Smith is ‘national prisoner’

Unless Smith merits differential treatment, he must be treated in the same way as other “national prisoners” and be committed in a Philippine facility … where Philippine jurisdiction can be exercised at all times.

4. We should be equally mindful of our country’s other treaty obligations.

Signed:

– Sen. Leticia R. Shahani,
– Ateneo Human Rights Center, Women
– Gender Institute, Cedaw Watch, Contributors


(This is a repost from http://www.indybay.org Ed.mindanaoexaminer.com)

OPINION: SPRIGS OF HOPE by Juan L. Mercado

“Make sure the poor have reason for hope.” - 1999 Nobel Economics Laureate Armatya Sen.

Nine out of ten Filipinos entered the New Year with hope rather than fear, Social Weather Station concludes from a nationwide survey. “Are we the hopeful of the hopeless?” a friend in Jerusalem emailed? Or is there hard-nosed basis for this rosy forecast?

Our “elites” scoff at ordinary – and largely poor – people as “passive”. It’s their code word for less-than-bright. Yet, before 2007 started, ordinary citizens trashed the attempt by the House of Representatives, backed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to castrate the 1987 Constitution and tighten their grip on power. Earlier, people beat down military buccaneers and political “outs” to clamp on juntas. And they stonily ignored the call by ex-president Joseph Estrada, a fragmented opposition and radical left, to boil into the streets. .

These were crossroads choices. “Passive” citizens made them without the usual massing on Edsa’s well-beaten path. Was this “People Power” in a previous forgotten format? And in 2007, will this power zero in a tainted Commission on Elections that a spineless Ombudsman has refused to straighten out?

Discerning the future has never been one of man’s special strengths. How do you factor in the unpredictable? “Crystal-balling” is about making educated guesses of what lies beyond the horizon. From today’s realities, one sifts the trends likely to endure -- and reshape tomorrow. “In today, tomorrow already walks.”

Looking ahead is demanding. Many of our leaders’ mindsets extend only up to the next elections. And few have the vision that goes beyond one, let alone two or three generations. For example, flushing aquifers, contaminated by salt due to over-pumping, as in Cebu, can take two centuries or more.

Those who’d push horizons further out, do so for their grandchildren. When the future finally arrives, most will be in their graves .Nonetheless, the drill to glimpse ahead usually reaches fever pitch on New Year. “If you could look into the seeds of time / and say, which will grow and which will not”, Banquo tells Macbeth.

Solita Monsod concisely summed positive gains posted by the economy did in 2006.—which gives hope. In 2007, will these gains translate beyond repaying IMF into more fully in alleviating misery of the poor? Out of every 100 Filipinos, 38 remain handcuffed to a daily income of P98. “Hope is the poor man’s income”, the old Danish proverb says.

But the blight resulting from skewed wealth of moneyed oligarchies is patent. The number of Filipina mothers, who die at childbirth, crests at 200 for every 100,000 pregnancies, UN Human Development Report notes. Compare that to Malaysia’s 41. And chronic hunger stunts 32% of our children, compared to 2% for Singaporeans. Communication is a key to development. The 54 out of every 1000 Filipinos who hefts a cell phone looks impressive -- until you realize that 109 Thais do.

Out of every 100 grade school kids here, 75 finish Grade V. But 92 in Indonesia do. The implications of a half-educated people are chilling. “All democracies live in fear of the ignorant,” Harvard University’s John Kenneth Gailbraith said. “There must be a knowledgeable electorate…or surrender to the voices of ignorance…”

We have to make up for lost time. Korea started to pull ahead of us in the 1960s. Today, Korean GDP is five times that of Filipinos. Over the last 25 years, Filipino incomes grew by only 2.6 per cent. That’s “cadaverous when compared to Thailand’s eight times”, says UP’s Dennis Mapa. And that sound of racing footsteps is Vietnam which could overtake us next.

Yet, we will stumble into 2007, as we did in 2006, without an approved national budget, warns Joker Arroyo, one of our better senators. Both Senate and House have been unable to agree on the appropriations bill. So, future government operations will be strapped into a budget for a vanished past. “You can never plan the future by the past”, the statesman Edmund Burke once said. But then Burke never saw our Congress.

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of,” Confucius writes in the Anaclets. “But in a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.” And that’s why the Philippines is lagging in meeting the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty, infant mortality and other threats.

Look at the past. Those who gave us hope were not those who occupied official positions. They were mostly being ordinary men and women, self-effacing individuals, in our communities, who poured themselves out for others. Some have been recognized. For marshalling private resources and government cooperation to build homes for the poor, Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga richly deserved the Magsaysay Award.

All of us can draw personal lists of many others who work with little notice. Some nuns, I know, scrounge for medicine, soap, food for hundreds of prisoners, write to their families, and seek scholarships for their children. A Cebuana physician ministers, as a Medical Mission sister, to lumads in Bukidnon. A woman-lawyer spends time giving free legal counsel to the poor. Some friends help patients and families in the leprosarium.

The list is of such people is long. They give fretful people like us reason for hope. “And if you keep green boughs of hope in your heart,” the old Chinese proverb says, “the singing bird will come.”