Australian Company Under Investigation For Renegade Ocean Fertilization: Wired Science

A NASA photo of the Sulu Sea.

The Ocean Nourishment Corporation is under investigation by the Philippines government for polluting without permission, jeopardizing plans to test a carbon-capturing process that pumps plankton-feeding urea into the ocean -- a process the company says could combat climate change, and that critics call dangerous.

ONC was the subject of my recent ocean fertilization article, originally prompted by a press release issued by environmental activist groups. In the PR, they said the Sydney-based company was poised to dump 500 tons of urea into Sulu Sea waters between Malaysia and the Philippines.

Urea is rich in nitrogen, as is runoff from fertilizer and animal waste, which in large quantities can cause toxic plankton blooms and ultimately leave waters lifeless and stripped of oxygen. Five hundred tons, then, seems like a lot -- but the number turned out to be wrong.

On Tuesday I talked to Jim Ridley, ONC's director. He said the next tests would involve about one ton of urea -- just enough to produce a bloom with a surface area of several hundred square meters. The 500 ton test wouldn't happen for a while, probably not until early next year, depending on the results of their recent one-ton Sulu Sea test.

On Wednesday, my article came out; on Thursday, Jim Thomas emailed to ask if the recent test really happened. I didn't understand why it surprised him -- the company was scheduled to present "bottle tests" of treated Sulu Sea water at the upcoming American Geophysical Union meeting.

Apparently activists thought the bottles of water were Sulu Sea samples seeded in lab. The company had, in partnership with two state universities*, filed an application for the upcoming test, but not for an earlier test.

The two government agencies charged with reviewing the application -- the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources -- denied giving ONC a permit.

BFAR, said Jim Thomas, was going to investigate the company.

If they really had injected urea into the sea, they'd broken the law.

Meanwhile, the World Wildlife Fund condemned ONC's anticipated 500-ton dump, which Ridley had explained was really just one ton.

"WWF urges extreme caution in testing this unproven and potentially-risky technology in natural marine ecosystems, especially in critical biodiversity areas such as the Sulu Sea, home to some of our richest fishing grounds and the Tubbataha Reefs, a World Heritage Site," declared the group on their website.
“The potential environmental impact of dumping 500-tonnes of urea into the sea is just too great ... Leaving potential negative impacts to speculation is not only scientifically unsound – it is morally irresponsible," said Rafael Senga, the WWF's energy policy coordinator.

The criticisms were echoed by other environmentalists, some of them local. "This technology is dangerous and unacceptable because it could imperil our marine environment — the main source of survival and livelihood for poor fisherfolk in the Philippines,” said Rubert Aleroza, chair of a fisherman's group worried about toxic algae and red tides.

But while concerns about toxic algae are valid, they've got a somewhat hysterical undertone. Caution is warranted -- but should urea fertilization be considered a priori unacceptable? Is it impossible to do safely? Are the perils so grave as block any sort of testing?

At some point, the Ocean Nourishment Corporation needs to test their process in the real world. We can't fully -- or even partly -- understand urea fertilization until that happens. Even if it turns out to be a bad idea, we still might learn something useful in the process.

Also, messing with an ocean patch the size of a city neighborhood isn't going to break the whole system. The urea injections are a one-time thing, and tests can be halted if something goes wrong.


That's what BFAR director Malcolm Sarmiento told ONC when they submitted their application earlier this fall.

"It is advised that while doing the experimental process, a close monitoring on dominant plankton cell density as well as presence of harmful species should be carefully observed," wrote Sarmiento. "In an unlikely event, the process should be immediately suspended.”

The project doesn't need to be stopped -- just carefully watched. There are good scientists working with ONC; they've been researching this for a decade.


The Philippines government, in consultation with its own scientific advisors and hopefully those from the International Maritime Organization, can decide where the test should take place.

They can pick a safe spot, give some pointers, make sure that ONC's scientists are measuring the right things -- the types of plankton produced, nearby effects, and so on. Maybe they can even figure out some way of determining whether the plankton blooms will be felt up the food chain, providing more fish to the local fishermen -- something ONC expects to happen, though their anticipated studies aren't designed to measure this.

(Of course, they can punish ONC if the company broke the law; that's only fair. And the government can also decide to forbid the tests. But I'd like to think that they'd wait for a bit more data.)
ONC is far from realizing its goal of licensing plans to building gas-burning factores that produce urea that is injected, in bulk, day after for years, into large areas of the sea. Whether that goal is a good thing, or a bad thing, or a total waste of time, isn't yet known.

The company's marketing has certainly outpaced its science, and there's a danger of commercial haste producing bad science, overestimations of benefits and overlooked risks that, multiplied commercially in a few years time, could cause harm to people and environment. For that reason, the Ocean Nourishment Corporation -- and Planktos and Climos and every other band of industrial sea farmers -- ought to be regulated.

But that doesn't mean ocean fertilization should be stopped forever, or ONC turned into a pariah. If fertilization works, it could help combat climate change. The research will generate valuable knowledge of ocean ecosystems.


And there's nothing wrong with trying to turn carbon capture into a business. If it doesn't hurt anyone, commerce is a good thing. Commercial haste can produce error, but so can fear and dogma.(Brandon Keim)

Girl Who Killed Self Is Buried in South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 10, 2007) – A poor girl who committed suicide because of extreme poverty in southern Philippines was buried Saturday.

Mariennet Amper, 12, hanged herself Nov. 2 inside their thatched house in the village of Maa in Davao City. Hundreds of people, many of them moved by the girl's tragic end, came to pay their last respect. They cried as the girl's white coffin was buried.

Television network GMA-7 also aired a special on Saturday as a tribute to the girl, who had written a letter asking the TV program "Wish Ko Lang" (I Just Wish) for a pair of school shoes and bicycle for her younger brother and goats for her unemployed parents - her father, Isabelo, a former construction worker and mother, Magdalena.

The letter was written two years ago and was never mailed for lack of money to buy a postage stamp. GMA-7 has given the family a mini-van, a dozen goats and a bicycle just as what the girl wished for.

"All her classmates are present and they cried also. We cried, but could do nothing else now," the girl's father said.

Manila said the girl's suicide was an isolated incident.

"A child committing suicide because of hunger and poverty may be an isolated case, but Filipino families experiencing extreme hunger and poverty are definitely prevalent."

"We have already seen and heard news of adults committing suicide in desperation borne out of poverty by jumping from billboards or hanging themselves," Alphonse Rivera, head of the child rights organization, Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Rivera said the effects of poverty have been evident even during the time of previous administration, but had worsened during the Arroyo government. "Since 2005, surveys indicated rising statistics on the incidence of hunger among Filipinos yet, no decisive move to alleviate economic conditions has been done by the government," he said.

President Gloria Arroyo this week has ordered the released of P1 billion to further accelerate the government's hunger-mitigation and anti-poverty program.

But Rivera said funding was "too little, too late." "Economic policies must be reviewed to enable the people to live a decent life. Increase wages, nationalize the oil industry, genuine land reform for the farmers – these are what the people are calling for but has remained unheeded," he said.

Rivera also cited a recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute that 11 million Filipinos live on less than $1 (P42) a day experienced hunger. "Many children have stopped schooling and are forced to work to help in the family's income. Yet after all their efforts, at the end of the day, they still go to bed hungry," he said. (Mindanao Examiner)

Corruption, Greed And Love For Money...

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 10, 2007)- They say greed and money poison the mind, then the heart is also corrupted. An article published by one of the Philippines' oldest and most respected daily, The Manila Times, tells a story of how journalists in Olongapo City accused each other of corruption.

And this happens everywhere in the country, where many journalists fall victims to corruption and illegal activities and all because of dirty money.

Here is the Manila Times story written by correspondent Anthony Bayarong.

OLONGAPO CITY: Journalists here denounced the allegations of a tabloid correspondent accusing them of protecting an illegal gambling or peryahan at the Subic Bay Freeport and in this city.

The allegations appeared in People’s Journal on November 2, 4 and 5, written by Johnny Reblando who is also an RMN news correspondent. He alleged that members of the press covering Subic Bay Freeport provide operators of illegal gambling an ample protection.

Members of the Subic Bay Press Corps (SBPC) said they are concerned about the allegations because the group is the biggest organization of correspondents, with more than 40 members in its roster.

The SBPC has repeatedly asked Reblando to name the alleged media protectors, but he declined, saying, “Kung sino ang pumiyok, guilty [Whoever reacts would be guilty].”

By declining to name names or provide convincing evidence, Reblando made suspects out of all media practitioners, which is wrong, unfair, unethical and unacceptable, maintained the SBPC statement.

According to SBPC, amusement center owner Avelino Menor, in a sworn statement dated November 6, said Reblando harassed him for P20,000.

Menor added that he had been giving Reblando money for “merienda and cell-phone loads” since 2005 which, if proven true, would be contrary to ethical standards of a journalist.

In his sworn statement, Menor said that he had given Reblando P10,000 on October 14 and that the next payment would be on the 15th of November, but Reblando allegedly called Menor on October 30 asking for the remaining balance of P10,000. When Menor could not produce the money, Reblando went ahead with his exposé on illegal gambling at the Subic Freeport and the city.

The sequence of events, as described by Menor, is a classic extortion scheme known to media practitioners as “attack and collect/defend and collect” (AC/DC).

The SBPC is investigating the matter although journalists here urged the Journal Group, RMN Manila and the National Press Corps to initiate its own investigation. (Mindanao Examiner)

Urea 'Climate Solution' May Backfire: ABC Science Online

Moves to fertilize the ocean with nutrients to boost CO2-consuming phytoplankton and fish stocks has prompted calls for international controls on such experiments.

Plans by an Australian company to sink hundreds of tonnes of urea into the ocean to combat climate change may backfire and exacerbate global warming, critics say.

Sydney-based company Ocean Nourishment Corporation (ONC) is looking at using nitrogen-rich urea to boost the growth of CO2-absorbing phytoplankton.

The idea, says the company, is for this form of carbon sequestration to lock up carbon in the oceans for thousands of years.

It says that encouraging the growth of more phytoplankton could also boost fish stocks.

But a number of scientists and civil society groups are worried about the lack of independent oversight of such private exploration of 'ocean fertilization', which they say could trigger environmental problems rather than solve them.

ONC plans to develop this method of carbon sequestration to generate valuable carbon credits.

And it's using the research of Adjunct Professor Ian Jones at the University of Sydney's civil engineering department to do so.

Jones has conducted laboratory experiments to show that nitrogen is important in boosting the growth of phytoplankton in ocean samples.

ONC has taken the research out of the lab. It has just completed an experiment involving 1 tonne of nitrogen in the Sulu Sea off the Philippines, says managing director John Ridley.

The company is now discussing with the Philippines government plans to scale up the experiment to 1000 tonnes of nitrogen over the next year.

Ridley says the company is also talking to the Moroccan government about similar experiments in the Atlantic Ocean.

But scientists involved in publicly-funded basic research into the role of nutrients including iron in the oceans are worried about the commercial imperative behind the latest experiments.

"This latest development in the Sulu Sea has all of our community concerned, as there doesn't appear to be any published evidence of how urea fertilization impacts ocean biology and ecology," says bio-geochemist Dr Philip Boyd of New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, or NIWA.

Dr Cliff Law of NIWA and others say independent scientific experts should oversee research by a growing number of private companies developing ocean fertilization.

"At the end of the day we're dealing with companies that want to make money out of carbon credits," he says.

ONC says there is little publicly available material on the field experiments, partly because of the need to protect intellectual property.

It says the experiments are mimicking natural upwelling of nutrients that occur in productive ocean areas.

In a commercial plant this would involve using urea produced from natural gas to sequester 10 megatons of CO2 per year.

It also says each of its plants could provide 50 grams of marine protein per day for 38 million people.

Others say such moves could bring bad news as well as good.

Law says natural upwelling of nutrients can trigger toxic algal blooms and the release of nitrous oxide, a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.

Ridley says the company will use ships to monitor phytoplankton growth and concentrations of nitrogen will not be allowed to go high enough to cause algal blooms.

"If we step the scale of this up we can actually track it by satellite," he says.

"That all sounds very neat," he says. "If only it was so easy."
Law says boosting phytoplankton for fish stocks will also keep carbon circulating in the ecosystem, which would therefore undermine any sequestration efforts.

In addition, he says one of the challenges to long-term sequestration is drawing the dead phytoplankton down deep into the ocean.

Law says experiments seeding the ocean with iron have shown hardly any plankton sink below 100 meters, which means any carbon in them would be re-released within months.

Even if the plankton appear to sink, he says currents can bring them up again quite quickly.

Law says verifying long-term ocean carbon sequestration is difficult and expensive and he wonders how ONC will do this.

An international scientific group on ocean dumping, known as the London Convention, is understood to be discussing urea ocean fertilization at a meeting in the UK this week.

Earlier this week a coalition of civil society groups urged the convention to stop urea experiments until their impacts had been properly assessed.

Earlier this year the convention cautioned against ocean fertilization using iron.

Ridley of ONC says the convention only has jurisdiction over experiments carried out in the high seas.

Instead, he says ONC will focus on territorial waters so it can be involved in carbon credit schemes.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has labeled ocean fertilization as a hypothetical solution to climate change, carrying unknown side-effects and economic costs.(Anna Salleh)

Philippines Detains Suspected Palestinian Militant

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 09, 2007) – Philippine authorities have arrested a Palestinian national on suspicion he has links with the Islamic resistance movement HAMAS.

Yussof Umar Animour was arrested in Tawi-Tawi province near the Malaysian state of Sabah in southern Philippines earlier this month, but had not been made public.

Local policemen escorted the Palestinian, accused of being a member of the HAMAS, an acronym for “Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia,” a radical Islamic fundamentalist organization operating primarily in the Gaza District.

“I am not a member of the HAMAS and I don’t even know who the leader of HAMAS is,” Animour, who was in handcuffed, said in Zamboanga City Airport before being whisked away by policemen.

The 41-year old Palestinian denied any links with terrorists. “They have just appeared in my house and invited me for questioning, but now…look at me,” he said.

A local news television broadcast Animour’s denial.

Security officials did not give any statement about the Palestinian’s arrest, but other sources said the foreigner had been interrogated for days before he was flown to Manila for further investigation.

Animour was reported to have married a Filipino Muslim in Tawi-Tawi and has left behind a family. It was unknown how many children he has, but reports said he has been illegally staying in the Philippines for more than 20 years.

HAMAS, formed in the late 1980 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, have used both political and violent means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel.

HAMAS activists, especially those in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks—including large-scale suicide bombings—against Israeli civilian and military targets.

In the early 1990s, they also targeted suspected Palestinian collaborators and Fatah rivals. HAMAS increased its operational activity during 2002-2003 claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests.

The group has not targeted US interests—although some US citizens have been killed in HAMAS operations—and continues to confine its attacks to Israelis inside Israel and the territories, according to the Federation of American Scientist (FAS) Intelligence Resource Program. (Mindanao Examiner)

Saudi Pledges Support To Peace And Development In Sulu

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and Vice Gov. Lady Ann Sahidula during a recent program in Sulu province. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 09, 2007) – Saudi Arabia has pledged to support peace and development projects in the largely Muslim province of Sulu in southern Philippines.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said they are preparing several proposals for infrastructure and other development projects after Saudi Ambassador to Manila, Mohammed Ameen Wali, assured him of his country’s support.

“Saudi is very supportive of our peace and development efforts and we are now preparing several project proposals that will help alleviate the situation of the poor in Sulu,” Tan told reporters.

Saudi Embassy also donated five cases of preserved dates which would be distributed to the poor and victims of a recent fire in Sulu province, said Tan, who met with Wali in Manila this week.

Saudi’s support to Sulu, Tan said, would help alleviate the situation of many poor people in the province and can even provide them livelihood through various anti-poverty programs.

“The support of Saudi Arabia (to Sulu) will surely bring peace and development and livelihood worthy of human dignity. We are launching our own jihad towards the attainment of peace and unity. Other forms of jihad, particularly violent jihad is primitive,” Tan said.

Saudi Arabia previously signed a US$20 million loan agreement for the development of Mindanao roads project. The loan agreement financing was sourced from the US$100 million pledge under the Saudi Fund for Development (SDF).

Saudi Arabia, an influential member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), is also supporting the peace process in the southern Philippines. It will also host a three-day Tripartite Meeting between the OIC, the Philippines and the former rebel group, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), starting Saturday in Jeddah.

Tan said the meeting will discuss the implementation of the 1996 peace accord between Manila and the MNLF headed by its jailed chieftain Nur Misuari regarding the situation in the southern Philippines.

Misuari is facing rebellion charges after his forces tried, but failed to overrun a military base on the island in 2000. Misuari, disgusted with the peace agreement, fled to Malaysia, but was arrested there and later deported to Manila.

He accused Manila of reneging in the peace deal and for failing to uplift the poor living standards of many Muslims in the South. Under the agreement, the Philippines is to provide a mini-marshal plan and housing and livelihood to tens of thousands of former rebels.

Philippine authorities have allowed Misuari to attend the tripartite meeting, Tan said.

Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, OIC Secretary General, has welcomed Manila’s decision to allow Misuari to participate in the meeting. OIC had sent a high-level delegation to the southern Philippines to assess the volatile situation last year.

The opening of the tripartite conference will be preceded by an expanded meeting of the Indonesia-led Committee of Eight, in-charge of southern Philippines.

Sporadic fighting between Filipino troops and MNLF forces still continue in many areas in southern Philippines, despite the peace deal. MNLF rebels signed the deal with Manila, but the government allowed them to keep their huge inventory of high-power weapons, mostly automatic rifles, anti-tank rockets and machine guns. They later accused the Arroyo government of failing to comply with the accord.

Former rebels also seized a delegation of senior military officials in Sulu earlier this year after reports of a scheduled tripartite meeting on Feb. 6-8 in Jeddah had been shelved off by the Arroyo government.

The hostages were later freed after the Philippine government agreed to proceed with the tripartite conference. The gunmen also demanded Manila to free Misuari so he can lead the MNLF to the meeting. (Mindanao Examiner)

The National Press Club's Clubbing Of Freedom Of Expression

MANILA, Philippines - The National Press Club’s defacement and censorship of a commissioned mural in their club restaurant recalls to mind a celebrated incident involving the Mexican artist Diego Rivera and the Rockefeller Center.

In 1933, Rivera was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to do a mural for the lobby of the RCA Building at New York’s Rockefeller Center. Rivera, a leftist, was well known for his grand murals replete with sinewy laborers in all forms of working poses.

He had just finished a large scale mural with a similar theme for the Detroit Museum of Art sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and despite the bias for proletarian vistas, the liberal, art loving Rockefellers decided their center should have a Rivera mural too.

Rivera though added a portrait of Lenin in the mural and this was over the top for Nelson Rockefeller. Despite his wife Abby’s lament, who collected Riveras, Rockefeller confronted the artist demanding he remove the offending Lenin.

Rivera, already paid for the mural, refused, was summarily fired, and the mural destroyed. Rivera would have his revenge by recreating the same mural back in Mexico with Lenin in his glory and the patriarch John D. Rockefeller inserted elsewhere drinking martini at the expense of the toiling masses.

The National Press Club is in a similar imbroglio, having commissioned the Neo-Angono artist collective to do a mural with a press freedom theme. But the tack the Club undertook was downright abhorrent. They decided the mural was “leftist” and proceeded to have it altered without artists’ permission.

They altered the mural to censor texts which included the current plight of a mother seeking an abducted son, defacing well-respected journalists, and painting over sections deemed offensive to the current Philippine president.

Paintings, particularly murals, if well done, have changed people, norms, and societies. We only need to recall Juan Luna’s Spoliarium which would influence a medical student named Jose Rizal to alter his career and write his devastating anti-colonial novels and become our national hero.

Paintings often reflect the times and if the Neo-Angono mural reflects the current state of Philippine affairs and the unpopularity of the current President, so be it. One would shudder to think if the National Press Club lived in the 19th century and found the Spoliarium to be offensive to the Spanish monarchy.

The cavalier and contemptible manner by which the National Press Club blithely desecrated a work of art is evidence enough that these so-called journalists haven’t a clue about freedom of expression.

In a free society, contending thoughts, contending works of art are allowed and respected despite its inherent inclinations and viewpoints.

The National Press Club’s actions has just put their profession to ridicule, painted as cowards, and now insinuates itself as being in-the-pay of the powerful. Fellow journalists who abide in the freedom of expression should call for the immediate dismissal of the club officers.

Despite the destruction of his mural, Diego Rivera secured even more artistic commissions, gained world fame and lived financially comfortable to a ripe old age. Abby Rockefeller continued collecting Riveras, later donating them to the Rockefeller funded Museum of Modern Art for the public to see and appreciate.Rivera’s works are now revered and have a universal appeal transcending its leftist themes.

The Neo-Angono artists collective have the last laugh. In the current booming Southeast Asian art market, the moronic act by the National Press Club has just increased the appeal and selling cachet of current and future works of the Neo-Angono collective by ten fold.

And, if it has universal appeal, a work of theirs could probably hang proudly in the National Museum, along with the Spoliarium.(John L. Silva is senior consultant to the National Museum of the Philippines)

8 Soldiers Wounded In Sayyaf Clash In Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 07, 2007) – Eight government soldiers were wounded in a clash with Abu Sayyaf militants on a remote village in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said Tuesday.

Officials said a still undetermined number of gunmen were either killed of wounded in the fighting late Monday in the hinterland village of Tiis in Talipao town.

“Eight of out soldiers are wounded in the clash. We believed many terrorists are either killed or wounded in the fighting. There is a pursuit operation going on today,” Major Eugene Batara, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Other reports said troops clashed with members of the Moro National Liberation Front which signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996. Troops and MNLF members had previously clashed in Sulu province, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.

The United States listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and has offered as much as ten million dollars rewards for the capture of its known leaders.

President Gloria Arroyo also set aside more than one hundred million pesos in bounties for the capture of Abu Sayyaf leaders dead or alive. The US is helping Manila defeat terrorism and sent soldiers to train Filipino troops in anti-terrorism warfare. (Mindanao Examiner)

Indigenous Peoples Join "Kalimudan"

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - One of the primary objectives of the “Kalimudan: Panaghi-usa sa Mindanao (Mindanao Indigenous Peoples’ Gathering)”, a cultural extravaganza slated on November 17-25 at the Magsaysay Park, is to celebrate the richness of the Mindanao’s indigenous tribes’ unique cultures and to foster a deeper cultural understanding to sustain a culture of peace.

To support this goal, various tribes from all over Mindanao have pledged their support to participate in this endeavor. From Northern Mindanao, the Higaonon, Tala-andig, Uamyamnon/Tigwahanon, Caraga, Banwaon/Higaunon, Agusan Manobo, Mamanwa and Kamayo tribes will showcase their living cultures and traditions.

The colorful tribes of the Subanen and Yakan will represent Western Mindanao while the famous T’boli and Te’duray tribes will represent South Central Mindanao.

From the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, the Maguindanao, Maranao, and Tausug tribes will proudly exhibit their cultural heritage. Davao Region, the region with the most number of tribes in the Philippines, will have theAta-Manobo, Dibabawon, Manguangan, Bagaobo-Tagabawa, Tagakaolo, B’laan, Mansaka, Mandaya, K’agan/K’lagan, Sama and Sangil tribes.

Kalimudan is divided into four components, namely the vernacular architecture showcase, cultural performances and exhibits, public forum, skills-share and creativity workshops, and the trade fair, craft sales and auction.

One of the highlights of the event is in the indigenous peoples’ architectural showcase where diverse characteristics of the highland, midland and coastal dwellings will be constructed, such as the Ata-Manobo house, Dibabawon Shaman’s house, B’laan healing house, Mansaka tree house, Bagobo Datu’s house, Tagakaolo Farm dwelling for rice storage, Mandaya weaver’s house, Kalagan royal house, among many others.

The indigenous tribes of Mindanao will not only participate in the forum series with legislators, educators and otger private agencies but will also join in the creativity workshops that include craft production, design enhancement, traditional performing arts, visual arts sector workshop, musical instrument-making, techno-demo and food tasting of indigenous cuisine, and games and traditional sports. (Ian Garcia)

Manila Promises More Education Opportunities

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - "Educating a nation cannot be accomplished by single individual or institution. Education is a shared responsibility," Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Jesli Lapuz, said.

Lapuz admitted that limited resources especially budget availability has hampered the DepEd's effort to ensure the delivery of quality education.

With this burden, the government gladly welcomes non-government organizations and individuals supportive of uplifting the education and literacy rate in the country.

Lady Mayor Leonida A. Angcap of Midsalip for instance; beams with joy for the support it gets from Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) - a flagship project of the national government funded by World Bank and is implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Of the 7 CIDSS-recipient municipalities in ZDS, Midsalip, Matalang and Dumalinao has its farm to market road and level 2 water system contributory to improved livelihood opportunities, better school attendance of children and access to potable water.

Midsalip has 8-kilometer concrete road benefiting 7 barangays with 70% Subanen population. Manang Violeta, a resident joyfully said, 'karon nga miabot na namo ang kalsada, makakaon na mi lab-as nga isda" (with good road, we can now eat fresh fish". With good road, we can now easily transport patients to Pagadian and other cities, she added.

In Ticala, 93 pupils are now housed in a P1.3 million worth school building. 70% of which is a KALAHI grant while 30% of it is the LGU counterpart. "So far, this is the first big barangay project that we have, revealed Barangay Captain Yasser Samal.

Municipal Engineer Mossidic Calalagan, describes Ticala as a 90-hectare coco trees dominated island with 90 households who are peace-loving people mostly engaged in fishing.

Raised from Ticala and had his elementary education there, Calalagan said, children today are lucky to have a school in the island. He added that during his time, he used to paddle to and fro the mainland San Pablo daily for an hour through pump boat to finish elementary education.

Correspondingly, Zamboanga City District 1 Representative Beng Climaco, values education for youth. As a legislator, she advocates in the promotion of children's rights and welfare.

Recently, she forged partnership with the National Youth Commission (NYC), to conduct value education for the youth. Her kind of education involves the orientation of leaders like SK chair and members on their roles and functions of Sangguniang Kabataan officals that should be practiced based on virtues of goodness, honesty and good governance.

To continuously enjoy the momentum of more development opportunities coming in, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the caucus in Malacanang for key leaders of the administration coalition over the weekend squelched 'all humors and speculation that this country is divided.

The President revealed that she and the coalition leadership had 'agreed on a process of national consolidation, gathering all our allies around the common vision' towards national consolidation 'based on a coalition of principle and action.'

Good road, fresh fish as viand, potable water to drink, children's rights and welfare are indeed contributory factors among many, that paves the way for better opportunities in far-flung areas. And these are made possible through a focused vision, direction and GO-NGO partnerships, national consolidation and coalition of principle and action opens more opportunities specially to far-flung areas. (Mimi Edaga)

Filipino Theologian Embraces Islam: IslamOnline.net

MANILA, Philippines - When Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari wanted Mindanao to secede and become an Islamic state, a Mindanao-born theologian and sociologist was among the first to rise and argue that the southern Philippine island is never home to Muslims alone.

Catholic priest Estanislao Soria campaigned against the Moros’ takeover of the whole of Mindanao. “I vehemently disagreed with Mr. Misuari. I campaigned against the Moro movement,” said Soria, who used to be popularly known as “Father Stan.”

Soria did not want to argue without basis as he is an academic and theologian schooled in the Jesuit-run learning institutions.

He embarked on a historical and sociological research to back his arguments. In the back of mind, though, was the thought of the need to convert Muslims to Christianity. This also brought him to read Islamic writings, and, quite surprisingly, lead him to revert to Islam.

“As a linguist well-versed in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, I thought I can learn Arabic that easily. I also wanted to translate Arabic writings into English as well as translate Western ideologies like existentialism into Arabic but I realized it was difficult,” he told IslamOnline.net.

Soria believed that making Western writings available in Arabic would lead Muslims in Mindanao to appreciate Christianity more than Islam. “I wanted to open their minds to Christianity because I had heard a lot of negative things about the Muslims. I told myself they have to be educated.”

But in getting deep into his readings, Soria realized that persons considered as “Church fathers” such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, got their knowledge from Islamic readings and teachings; that many of the so-called Western ideologies and theologies have long been discussed in Islam.

“[My readings] enlightened me that Western civilization’s thoughts sprung from Islamic teachings. After reading more works of Islamic theologians, I strongly changed my views on Islam,” he said.

Soria added, “I even realized that the Gospel of Barnabas is even more credible than the gospels of the four evangelists [included in the Christian Bible].” The Gospel of Barnabas is a work purporting to be a depiction of the life of Jesus by his disciple Barnabas. It is also considered to be pro-Islamic.

He, too, found out through his sociological research that most of the negative things said of the Filipino Muslims were untrue. “They were not what they were stereotyped to be.”

In 2001, Soria, who had served as parish priest in various cities and towns in Metro Manila after taking his college and theology studies at Xavier University and Loyola School of Theology, both of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University, reverted to Islam.

He has since been known as Muhammad Soria, but many, including his Muslim friends, still call him “Father Stan.”

The 64-year-old Soria said his decision was met with condemnation and disgust by most of his relatives and former parishioners, an experience similar to what many of the Muslim reverts, locally known as Balik Islam, go through. This, however, did not deter him from leaving the priesthood after 14 years and embracing Islam.

Soria is getting used to Islam, which to him is not only a religion but a way of life.

He has gone on Hajj in Makkah five times already, being a member of the Islamic Da`wah Movement of the Philippines. He also married a 24-year-old woman last year after living a celibate life as a priest.

Soria said that if there is one thing that Muslims should learn from Christians, it is being organized. To him, having a structure would greatly help in spreading Islam as structure helped the Christians.

For example, he said, Muslims should put up universities all over the globe, as Catholic missionaries did with their universities. Also, “why can’t Islamic states produce preachers and do what the Christian missionaries did?” he asked.

He further said there is a need to “intellectualize Islam through rationality” because by doing so the teachings embodied in the Qur’an would be better appreciated by people totally new to it.

He is also ecstatic about the annual fast this Ramadan. He said he is again reminded of the sunrise to sundown fast’s “spiritual value” in contrast to the Christian’s dieting “which is too material or human.”

Soria said, “In Islam, we are taught that if you discipline your body the Creator would grant your wish.” Harmony between Filipino Muslims and Filipino Christians in this largely Christian nation, amid the stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists, is among the wishes he prays to be granted.(Rexcel Sorza)

Subanon Youths Host Feeding Program For Kids In Southern Philippines

A Subanon boy distributes hot cup of chicken porridge as other children pose for photograph; and inset, Jumel Gumamay, a beneficiary of medical mission of TVIRD in Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte province in southern Philippines. (Rene Patangan)

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, Philippines – Jumel Gumamay, an eight-year old Subanon native, rarely gets to taste poultry, meat, or fresh fish.

In the poor hinterland village of Tabayo in Siocon town where Jumel and his parents live, meals are often in the form of root crops or mashed green bananas, and on some occasions, dried fish. As a result, many local children aged two to 12 are malnourished or undernourished like Jumel.

But thanks to a newly formed group of teenagers and young adults who call themselves the Subanon Youth Organization, Jumel and some 500 children in and around their ancestral domain had the chance to enjoy several nourishing cupfuls of arroz caldo (chicken porridge) during the SYO feeding program that coincided with the International Youth Day celebration.

"Lami kaayo ang lugaw nga naay sagol nga manok. Hinaut unta nga sige nga naay in-ani nga arroz caldo (the porridge with chicken meat is so good. I wish that we will always have arroz caldo every day)," Jumel said happily as he sat with his second serving.

The night before the feeding program, SYO also sponsored a well-attended dance-for-all and fund-raising event dubbed "Pabayle sa Malusok" (dance party) to finance the group's basketball court project, which SYO members hope will help promote youth development through sports and fight against substance abuse.

Employees of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. helped raise funds for the SYO feeding program organized by Rocelle Magpayo, TVIRD Program Officer on Human Rights Initiatives, and Jaja Bangkas, Human Resources Officer, at the company's corporate headquarters in Makati City. "This is really great. The Subanon youths want to make a difference, and we in TVIRD believe that these young people, given the motivation and support, can contribute a lot in effecting positive change in, and in achieving sustainable development for, their indigenous community," Magpayo said.

TVIRD operates a gold-copper mine in Mount Canatuan in Siocon town under a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement with the Philippine government.

"Duyog sa among pagsaulog sa International Youth Day, mao ang paghatag sa pagpakabana dili lamang sa susama namo nga mga kabatan-onan apan lakip na niini ang mga kabataan sanglit sila ang sumusunod nga henerasyon. Angayan nato sila nga hatagan sa maayong pagtagad sama sa gihatag nato sa atong kaugalingon (Our celebration of the International Youth Day is not only limited to giving attention to our fellow Subanon youths but to children as well since they represent the next generation. We should take care of them as much as we take care of ourselves)," SYO President Regino Tumangkis told his peers.

SYO was formerly known as the Canatuan Youth Achievers (CYA), which was organized last year by the Green Earth Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GEMPCO), a consultancy group hired by TVIRD to assist in the implementation of its livelihood programs. CYA disbanded when GEMPCO's contract with the company expired.

Shortly after TVIRD consolidated its Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO), the company encouraged former members of CYA to undergo leadership training and to participate in a summer youth camp in the hope of strengthening their leadership and organizational skills. The renewed vitality that SYO members have been exhibiting in recent months indicates bright prospects for young residents of Canatuan and nearby communities.

"Among dakong pasalamat ngadto sa TVIRD ug sa mga empleyado niini tungod sa gihatag niini nga suporta sa among organisasyon. Hinaut nga kini magapadayon pa. (Our deepest gratitude to TVIRD and its employees for the support they are giving to our organization. We hope that they will continue doing so)," Tumangkis said. (Rene Patangan)

Sayyaf Militant Killed In Basilan Island Raid

BASILAN ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 05, 2007) – Government soldiers killed an Abu Sayyaf militant after storming Monday a hideout of the al-Qaeda-linked group in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, officials said.

Officials said soldiers attacked the hideout on a remote village called Bato-Bato in Akbar town at around 5.30 a.m. sparking a firefight that killed the gunman.

“One terrorist is killed in the raid and troops are still pursuing several more who managed to escape during the fighting,” Major Eugene Batara, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said troops recovered an M16 automatic rifle from the slain militant. There were no reports of military casualties, he said.

The Abu Sayyaf, which means “bearer of the sword,” initially was fighting for Muslim homeland after Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, founded the group in the late 1980s.

But the group, mostly made up of former Moro National Liberation front rebels, resorted to banditry and terrorism after Janjalani was killed in a firefight with policemen in Basilan island in 1989.

Washington listed the group as a foreign terrorist organization after the Abu Sayyaf abducted a US citizen, Guillermo Sobero, and beheaded him in 2001. The group was also linked in many kidnappings of foreigners, including three US nationals; one of them was later shot during a rescue operation in Zamboanga del Norte province. (Mindanao Examiner)

IDB Engineer Missing In Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 05, 2007) – A Filipino Muslim engineer working for the Islamic Development Bank was reported missing in the southern province of Sulu, police and military said on Monday.

Morced Tagitis arrived in the province from Zamboanga City on October 30 for a scholarship project, but he did not return since then after leaving his budget hotel in Kakuyagan village in Jolo town.

“We still don’t know where he is. The man has not returned to his hotel. We are closely coordinating with the police to find out what happened to the man,” Army Colonel Antonio Supnet, commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Brigadier General Ruperto Pabustan, chief of army special forces in Sulu, said Tagitis is working as a coordinator for the IDB’s scholarship program for Muslims in the province. “We don’t know what happened. He could have gone home,” he said in a separate interview. (Mindanao Examiner)

Zamboanga Town Hall Bombed

IPIL, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 05, 2007) – A crude bomb planted on a municipal building in southern Philippines exploded, but the military on Monday said there have been no reports of deaths.

Officials said the blast caused little damage to the façade of the building in the town of Talusan in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

The explosion late Sunday destroyed the door of the building housing the Association of Village Chairmen, said Army Maj. Eugene Batara, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command.

“We are still investigating the motive of the attack and who was behind it,” Batara told the Mindanao Examiner.

Army Colonel Joven Magalso, commander of 102nd Infantry Brigade in the province, said they have deployed soldiers in the area to help police forces patrol the town.

“The blast could be related to last month’s village polls. We are coordinating with the police to track down the perpetrator,” he said in a separate interview.

Police said dozens of people were killed and wounded in poll-related violence in the Philippines. Elections in the country are traditionally bloody. (Joseph Danda)

Filipinos Stop Money Transfers: XPRESS

DUBAI - Filipino expatriates are planning to withhold money transfers to the Philippines from today until Monday (November 5) in a bid to push up the value of the US dollar by creating a temporary shortage of the greenback.

The campaign, which started in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, has snowballed throughout the Middle East and is said to have received a "positive response" in areas with a high concentration of Filipino workers such as the US, Canada, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, said Dick Orense, a Filipino community leader in Abu Dhabi.

"We don’t intend to sabotage the economy. We just want our voices to be heard," said Orense.

The idea to temporarily stop transfers as a means to raise the value of the greenback was bolstered by a paper written by an economist and published online early last month.

Cielito Habito, a former Philippine economic minister, said the country’s coffers were awash with dollars due to increased inflows of remittances from overseas Filipinos.

As of July, $8.1 billion (Dh29.7 billion) in remittances had already come in this year, a jump of 16 per cent from last year, he said.
Proponents of the boycott believe it would bring the dollar to the 50 peso (Dh4.2) level.

Bernie Cinco, a Filipino community leader in Abu Dhabi who works in Sharjah, suggested that remittances to the Philippines be sent through “unofficial channels”.

“This has a domino effect. The supposedly strong Philippine economy will surely be zapped once the dollar supply of banks gets depleted. Sending money through unofficial channels like door-to-door cargo forwarders would directly benefit our families and will not be subjected to bank charges,” he said.

Filipino expatriates had called for a special rate for overseas remittances as a stop-gap measure to the currency crisis.

Bankers, however, disagree. "A subsidy would bring us back to the subsidy era, which only created market and price distortions," said Amroussi Rasul, Vice-President and Middle East representative of Philippine National Bank.

On the other hand, overseas Filipinos couldn’t be blamed for taking drastic measures, he said.

“It’s a tight situation for those earning in dollars. The appreciation of the peso amounts to a virtual pay cut. They get much less at home for the same money they earn abroad,” Rasul told XPRESS.

An official of a leading money exchange company in the UAE debunked claims that the banking system will be put in disarray should remittances be sent through unofficial channels.

“Even if they remit money through door-to-door cargo firms instead of through money transfer agents, it’s the same story. Cargo companies also engage our services to send money in bulk,” said Carlos Serrano of Al Rostamani Exchange.

Ben Dumlao, a UAE-based Filipino expat, says the remittance boycott campaign is not a good idea.

“The depreciation of the US dollar has a domino effect worldwide. The purchasing power of the UAE dirham has gone down too. Prices of commodities and flat rentals are squeezing the budget of all expats in the UAE. We could not help but excruciatingly accept these facts,” he said.

Rasul meanwhile, said that whether this week’s planned money transfer stoppage would succeed or not, the Philippine government should attend to the problems besetting Filipinos overseas.

“We can’t belittle steps like this,” he said.

FORECAST:

Former Philippine economics minister Cielito has forecast a gloomy currency outlook as he sees the Philippine peso to strengthen to 40 pesos (Dh3.3) against the US dollar by yearend.

The peso-dollar rate is so far hovering at 43 pesos (Dh3.6).

The Philippine central bank has started buying the dollar in the currency market as the peso steadied near 43.98 per dollar and hit a seven-year high in Tuesday’s (Oct. 30) trading. Remittance inflows in 2006.

1. India - $24.5 billion2. Mexico - $24.2 billion3. China - $21 billion4. Philippines - $13.7 billion5. Russia - $13.7 billion.
(Source: UN Fund for Agricultural Development and Inter-American Development Bank) (Ares P. Gutierrez)

OPINION

DATA FROM BELOW: RATED PG By Ike Seneres

I was still surprised when I was disenfranchised from voting in the recent election, despite having voted in my usual precinct all these years. As I was told, the COMELEC did a “shaving” procedure (that’s the term that they used), moving some voters to other precincts. I could not see the logic of it, because all my relatives who live in the same neighborhood as mine stayed in the same precinct, including my wife. Whoever did the “shaving” did not seem to realize that logically, spouses should vote in the same precinct.

I do not know how many others were similarly disenfranchised, but it is very clear that the poll body failed in its duty to build and maintain its databases, diligently and properly, that is. No matter how high tech a computer system is, the final reckoning is still in the buildup of the content, because it is the quality of the content that measures the maturity of the data keepers, not the luster of the machines.

As a guest political analyst of UNTV, I was asked about the significance of that election. I said that since the barangay is supposed to be the smallest unit of governance, it should be the milieu where the delivery of public services are objectively planned, delivered, monitored and measured, in terms of data that should feed the municipal, provincial, regional and national databases, assuming that these are diligently built and maintained.

If the government really wants to report truthful and accurate data at the national level, it should gather the data from below, because the aggregate data should only be a sum of its parts. This rule should apply not only to the reporting of the crime rate, the poverty rate and the unemployment rate, but also to the reporting of deliverables in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the later being an international commitment.

If the government is not basing its reports on data that is coming from below, where is it getting the information that it brings out? Information is nothing but processed data, and there is no other way of producing it.

For more information about public governance, email: iseneres@yahoo.com

Kano, Na-Praning Sa Sunog

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 04, 2007) – Isang sasakyan umano ng mga sudnalong Kano ang nasunog sa lalawigan ng Sulu matapos na mag-overheat ang makina nito, ayon sa ilang military sources dito.

Ang masakit pa umano ay inabandona ng mga sundalong Kano ang sasakyan ng ito’y mag-apoy nuiong kamakalawa at mabuti na lamang at hindi ito sumabog. Naganap ito kamakalawa.

Hindi agad mabatid ang dahilan ng insidente at ayaw rin magsalita ang mga opisyal ukol sa naganap.

Daan-daang mga sundalong Kano ang nasa Sulu at tumutulong sa lokal na militar sa pagsasanay ng mga tropa sa ibat-ibang training. (Mindanao Examiner)

South RP Fire Leaves 7,000 People Homeless

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 04, 2007) – Two people had died and thousands were left homeless after a fire swept through several neighborhoods in an island-town off Sulu province in southern Philippines, officials said on Sunday.

Officials said dozens were hurt in the fire that left more than 7,000 people homeless late Saturday afternoon in South Laud village in Siasi town.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated. But police said many of the houses in the village were made of lumber and strong winds helped fan the fire.

“More than 7,000 people were without homes. (Sulu) Governor, Sakur Tan has ordered a massive relief operation on the island to help the victims. We are doing our best to immediately help as many people as we can,” Khalil Hajibin, a member of the Sulu Provincial Council, who led the relief operation, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Sulu police chief, Superintendent Ahiron Ajirim, said they are still investigating the cause of the fire. “We are awaiting reports and so far at least two people – a couple – died from the fire,” he said in a separate interview.

He said the island had no fire engines and that soldiers and policemen helped villagers fight the blaze. Five policemen, he said, also lost their houses from the fire.

Other reports said the fire started from a store selling fuel, but it was unclear how it began.

It was the second fire in two months in Sulu province. Thousands were also left without homes after a fire broke out in the village of Asturias in Jolo town in September. (Mindanao Examiner)

The Future of the 'War on Terror': Fox News

WASHINGTON - This week, the Pentagon released official figures on how dramatically the security situation has improved in Iraq.

Terrorist attacks, secular violence, roadside bombings, Iraqi civilian deaths and U.S. casualties are all down. The announcement received scant notice from the so-called mainstream media.

About the only news from the global war on radical Islamic terror to receive less attention this week was the erroneously headlined story on The Associated Press wire: "Army captain from Fort Lewis, WA, drowns in the Philippines."

The item immediately captured my attention for two reasons: First, the struggle against Islamic terror in the Philippines is the topic of this week's episode of "War Stories" on FOX News Channel (Saturday at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT). Second, but of greater import, while shooting this documentary, we lived in the field with U.S. and Filipino special operations troops working to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah -- terrorist groups closely affiliated with al-Qaida. As I read the article, I selfishly hoped that the soldier who had perished so far from home was not one of those we had come to know so well.

It turns out that 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Joseph F. Curreri of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, was not one of the brave Americans we lived alongside in the fetid jungle. According to a U.S. Army news release, he was on his first deployment and drowned in a training accident not far from where we were embedded with members of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines.

The terse announcement, typical of those when special operations personnel are killed in the line of duty, noted that Curreri joined the Army in 2004 and that he "grew up in suburban Baltimore and swam and played water polo in high school before attending University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He was a four-year letterman on the USC swim team and captain of the team in his senior year."

Now in case you or any of the Democratic candidates, who discussed UFOs in this week's nationally televised debate, missed it, here are the salient parts of this story: Staff Sgt. Joseph F. Curreri is now a deceased American hero. He was smart; he had to be to get into USC.

He was a gifted athlete -- the captain of his college swim team. With our nation already at war, he volunteered to serve in the Special Forces. And when he died, he was serving our country in the southern Philippines helping their fight against radical Islam.

Unfortunately, given the unwillingness of the mainstream media to print or broadcast anything positive about the men and women in our armed forces, most of us never hear or read about bright, brave young Americans such as Curreri. Nor will those who count on the major networks and newspapers for information be able to grasp how we are going to win a global war against the Islamic radicals who are dying to kill us.

That's why FOX News Channel sent our "War Stories" team to the southern Philippines -- so that we could chronicle a dramatic but little-known success story. Even critics of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan agree that the campaign in the southern Philippine archipelago could well become the model for how to win the war against Islamic terror.

Everyone we talked to, from Washington to Manila, recognizes there are enormous differences between what we have documented for "War Stories" in 10 trips to Southwest Asia and what we saw happening in the Sulu Archipelago.

Most visibly, there are nearly 170,000 American troops in Iraq and nearly 25,000 in Afghanistan. Though the actual number is classified, there are fewer than 1,000 U.S. Special Forces soldiers, Navy SEALs, Marines and airmen in Col. Dave Maxwell's Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines.

And equally important, President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines serves as the head of state for the kind of established, functioning democracy that people in Iraq and Afghanistan can only hope for.

This week, millions of Filipinos turned out to vote in municipal elections, despite threats by Islamic militants to disrupt the balloting.

When I asked President Arroyo about political controversy over the U.S. military mission, she emphasized the long-standing relationship between the American and Filipino people: "We have been together through the second world war. We've been together through the war in Korea, through the war in Vietnam, and now we're together in the war against terrorism."

That's the same kind of response we got from every Filipino officer and enlisted soldier, sailor, airman and Marine with whom we talked. And all of that is thanks to bright, brave Americans such as Staff Sgt. Joseph F. Curreri of the U.S. Special Forces. I'm sorry that he couldn't be here to see the episode starring his comrades in arms, who showed us the future of the "war on terror." (Oliver North)

OPINION

CUTTING POVERTY BY HALF: “RATED PG” By Ike Señeres

I was shocked to hear the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) statement that the Philippines is assuring the United Nations that it is going to meet its commitment of cutting poverty in this country by half on or before 2015, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Perhaps in the same way that promises are made to be broken, some of our government officials may think that speeches are just meant to be delivered, without caring whether the promises made in these speeches could be met or not.

I do not know how and where the DFA got the basis for the promise that they made to the UN, knowing that there is no credible source right now of anti- poverty data in the Philippines that would tell us where we stand in this massive undertaking.

Depending on who is counting and who is talking, poverty in this country would range anywhere from 30% to 70%, but I believe that the latter is a more realistic estimate. Assuming for the sake of argument that the poverty rate is only 30% it would still represent about 5 million households out of about 16 million households, based on our estimated population of 80 million.

Cutting poverty by half in eight years means liberating 2.5 million households from the poverty line, based on the lower estimate. How is the government going to do that?

Based on the higher estimate that would mean liberating more than 5 million households and I could not imagine how that could be done.

For the government to be responsible about its promises, it should base its projections on empirical and historical data. Where are these data sets and how could we validate these?

In the same way that promises are meant to be broken, lies are not meant to be eaten. Sad to say, along with poverty comes hunger, a real life and death problem for many of our people.

For more information about public governance, email iseneres@yahoo.com

OPINION

GMA Pardons Erap: Philippine Moro Watch By Karib J. Muhalli

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Oct. 16 exonerated former President Josep “Erap” Ejercito Estrada, who is convicted of plunder for receiving of and aggrandizing himself in Jueting (illegal gambling) payola.

By giving executive clemency to Estrada— from whom she had taken over the three-year-remaining presidency in 2001through People Power II, a peaceful revolution— by now GMA is trying to prove that she is determined in pursuing her administration’s national reconciliation program amid scourging scams of the multi-million ZTE broadband deal allegedly implicating her and her husband in the kickback taking motive, and the Malacañang cash bonanza bribe for the solons to rally supports for the Palace’s bid for Charter Change roadmap in 2012, a proposed trans-government from presidential to parliamentary form.

But the presidential pardon due to ex-president Estrada after serving his sentence more than 6 years cutting his life imprisonment for plunder raised eyebrows among his detractors and opponents one of them is Luis “Chavit” Singson.

Chavit— a principal witness to the plunder case which paved way to expulsion of Erap as the country’s President and put him in jail— had been his best gambling mate some quite years ago. In his hometown, San Juan City, Erap, in his euphoric message before the beaming countrymen, thanked GMA for the clemency.

He said he could now devote most of his times to care for his ailing mother Doña Mary Ejercito, 102, who is still confined due to old age in the Medical Center of that City. Promising not to indulge himself again in “dirty politics”, Erap even cleared his conscience and reputation that he never squandered public fund.

That’s why he need not apologize to the public, for he is just the victim of unfair justice. As a free man now he is poised to help the country’s sagging economy keep upright and set his countrymen’s worsening situation forward due to abject poverty, as GMA is tapping him to lead the anti-poverty program. Throughout his career stint as movie actor-turned politician-now civilian, he has been known as pro-poor.

Their showing of optimistic gist is worthwhile that the Filipinos can emulate that despite differences in political or sectoral leanings we have to move and work for the altruistic and heroic causes under one flag, one country, if we are to cope with the neighboring countries’ booming development for decades.

But this does not simply mean the looming political controversies are over. The Laws are there to bring the convicts to justice. To be frank, Erap has been humored as under-qualified and lackluster President of the Philippine Republic, perhaps, owing to his humble academic performance as a mere dropped-out engineering student from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Few boastful are even ashamed to claim him as their President, thereby undermining his very instinctive attribute as champion of the poor Filipino masses, comparing him with the other RP’s Presidents like late Pres. Ferdinand “Macoy” E. Marcos, a number one BAR top-notch; Pres. Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino, a homemaker but a Mathematics graduate at Mount St. Vincent College in New York; Pres. Fidel V. Ramos, a military Guru from the West Point in USA; and the present Pres. Gloria “Ate Glo” Macapagal-Arroyo, an economic scientist graduate at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Yet, neither they nor Erap is smart, so to speak exclusively of their regime's economic performance and political stability since more than thirty years now.

In fact, the smartest of them all is Macoy, who implemented the 1972 Martial Law; but like Erap, he is also publicly charged with millions worth of ill-gotten wealth and laundered money, ousted from presidency and exiled to Honolulu, Hawaii, thanks to the People Power I or Edsa I.

Cognizant of the recurrent crises, we believe that the main factor that will ultimately add pressure for callous GMA to vacate her most-coveted Post is the intense backing of Ramos elite group, along with military column and Churchmen movement to empower the protesting people.

This time is the real Edsa III.The mislabeled Edsa III led by Estrada’s massive poor people failed due to reluctant support of the said key group to drive out GMA in 2002.

The same is true with the Oakwood mutiny staged by a handful number of military renegades called Magdalo against GMA regime in 2003, and the people uprising to unseat GMA in 2005 at the height of the alleged "Hello Garci" voice-taped scandal framing GMA of vote rigging over close rival Fernando Poe Jr. in the presidential elections were also a futile attempts.

Will the demolition-revolution man— Apo Ramos— forsake GMA as a “sacrificial lamb” just to save the whole entity of Lakas (People Power Party), a mainstream political party in the country he has started and established? Ate Glo is either to be castigated with, or she is to escape from the same fate, a political impasse her predecessor Estrada and late strongman Marcos sadly and penitently experienced.

Philippine Sweepstakes Office Accused Of Spending Money For Lavish Concert

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 02, 2007) – A lawmaker on Friday accused the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) of spending millions of pesos for a show on board a luxury liner.

Rep. Joseph Santiago said the PCSO spent the money in subsidizing a show by American singer David Pomeranz on board the 76,800-ton SuperStar Virgo, a five-star luxury cruise ship that provides five-day "escapades" across Southeast Asia.

“Why did the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office spend millions of pesos to sponsor a show on board an international luxury cruise ship, when the agency does not sell lottery tickets overseas? Did PCSO officials simply want an excuse to go on a junket, a pleasurable excursion at public expense?” he asked.

Santiago said PCSO executives were among those treated to front row seats in one of Pomeranz's shows in the SuperStar Virgo off Singapore.

“This is ridiculous and wasteful on the part of the PCSO and its officials. They definitely have a lot of explaining to do,” he said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

“We are dumbfounded as to why the PCSO is sponsoring these costly overseas events, when it does not sell online lottery tickets abroad,” Santiago added, but he did not say how much PCSO spent for the concert.

Santiago has been highly critical of the "needless and lavish spending" of the PCSO and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on advertising and other promotional activities, even if they are “virtual monopolies.”

The Catanduanes lawmaker previously criticized the PCSO and Pagcor for spending hundreds of millions of pesos every year on publicity when they have no local competitors.

“This is something that should be promptly looked into by the appropriate congressional committees, if only to ensure the more prudent use of public funds,” Santiago said. “Both the PCSO and Pagcor are obviously wasting a lot of badly needed financial resources on publicity spending.”

“We are dealing here with staggering sums that could be better spent to directly subsidize more community hospitals and patients, or to boldly support basic as well as higher education in the provinces. Besides, the best way for the PCSO and Pagcor to promote their activities, considering they face no real competition here, is simply to help more underprivileged communities and charitable institutions,” Santiago said.

Pagcor is the country's third most profitable corporation and government's third biggest revenue generator. In 2006, Pagcor posted a total income of P25.4 billion, the firm's highest ever in its 23-year history.

Pagcor alone is believed to be allocating at least P1.25 billion annually for advertising, marketing and public relations.

Inside the Ring: The Washington Times

Pacific terrorism

U.S. special operations forces in the Pacific have made significant progress in the past year battling the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines.

"Abu Sayyaf ... has been mitigated very successfully by the government of the Philippines and their security forces," said a senior officer of the Special Operations Command-Pacific, known as SOC-PAC, which is supporting operations against the Islamist group.

"In the past year, several of their key leaders have been killed."
The officer said during a background briefing in Honolulu, where the SOC-PAC has its headquarters, that the remaining Abu Sayyaf members are divided and fighting among themselves over who will replace leaders who have been killed.

Additionally, electronic "chatter" picked up from the group about plans for attacks against Filipino and U.S. targets revealed that "it's just that, chatter," the officer said, noting that in the past such chatter has led to actual attacks.

"So their ability to turn chatter into action has been substantially mitigated in the past year," the officer said.

The officer would not say that the group has been defeated, but another sign of its growing weakness as an Islamist terrorist force is that many members of Abu Sayyaf are turning themselves in to Philippines authorities.

"This is a great success for the Philippine government," he said, noting that many were disarmed, debriefed and reintegrated back into society. Some received cash rewards for giving up their Abu Sayyaf membership.

The success against Abu Sayyaf is an indirect result of U.S. special forces troops — Army, Air Force and Navy commandos — who helped train and assist Filipino security forces. A key element of the assistance has been the provision of military equipment and intelligence.

A second major U.S. special operations effort in the Pacific is support to the Indonesian government in battling another al Qaeda-linked group, Jemaah Islamiyah, that operates throughout Southeast Asia.

Jemaah Islamiyah "is a little tougher target because Indonesia, unlike Philippines, is a Muslim country," the officer said.

"In Indonesia the difficulty is that the government is playing hardball against this group but at the same time is catering to the ideological bent of the society," the officer said, noting that a lot of "empathy" for the group exists in Indonesia, making countering it more difficult.

Pacific Command-based special operations commandos currently are working with local forces in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Pakistani commandos

Recently retired Pakistani Gen. Ehsan ul-Haq, the former No. 3 officer in the military, said Pakistan has increased both the numbers and quality of its commando forces in the war against Islamic extremists.

The Pakistan military's Special Services Group numbers more than 10,000 troops and is on the front line in fighting terrorists operating throughout the country, especially in remote border areas.

"These are very, very professional forces, elite and highly trained," Gen. Ehsan said during a meeting with reporters and editors of The Washington Times.

The general said the commandos are experts at what the British once called "frontier warfare."

The commandos were supported by training and equipment provided by the U.S., he said.

Al Qaeda in Iraq

The commander of international forces in Iraq said yesterday that significant progress has been made against al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq.

"It's clear that they no longer have significant sanctuaries and logistics capabilities to support numerous simultaneous attacks against large portions of the population," Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters via televideo conference.

Gen. Odierno said the group still has some capability to conduct deadly and "vicious" attacks against civilians in parts of Iraq.
But he noted that "the top levels of the leadership have been taken, either killed or captured."

"Some of them have been replaced, but those who replace them are not as good as those who were there before," Gen. Odierno said. "And we continue to see a slow degradation in al Qaeda's capability here in Iraq."

He said U.S., allied and Iraqi offensive security operations contributed to the success.

"But the real change has been that the populace rejects al Qaeda," Gen. Odierno said. "They no longer have the passive support of the community.

They've been rejected by their actions, and the people do not want to support them. In fact, what we find for the most part is that people will do anything to keep them out of their area, and they want to work closely with us to ensure that remains."

New Afghan tactics

Insurgents and terrorists in Afghanistan are entering the country without weapons and are being armed for attacks once inside the country, a U.S. Army commander in Afghanistan said this week.

Brig. Gen. Rodney Anderson, deputy commanding general of the Combined Joint Task Force-82, told reporters by teleconference Wednesday that insurgents infiltrate Afghanistan without weapons and "then conduct their attacks or link up with their equipment once inside the country."

Afghan border police have detected and detained some of these infiltrators, he said.

Suicide bombing attacks in Afghanistan have been carried out by a combination of foreign fighters as well as some Afghans, Gen. Anderson said.

CIA interrogations

CIA Director Michael V. Hayden revealed this week, in defending agency interrogations of terrorists, that more than 70 percent of the intelligence used in a recent national estimate came from questioning captured terrorists.

"The last six years have shown us that the best sources of information on terrorists and their plans are the terrorists themselves," Mr. Hayden said in a speech Tuesday in Chicago.

Calling the intelligence "simply irreplaceable," he also noted that the elicited information "is the sole reason we have rendition, detention and interrogation programs."

Fewer than 100 of the most hardened captured terrorists have been put through interrogation since 2002.

"Of those, less than a third have required any special methods of questioning," Mr. Hayden said.

The CIA director said the National Intelligence Estimate confirmed that the danger of another major al Qaeda attack against the U.S. is real. Al Qaeda aims "to execute a spectacular attack that would cause mass casualties, massive destruction and economic harm," he said.

Mr. Hayden noted that the estimate was less certain about one key element of al Qaeda plans: the presence of group operatives inside the U.S.

The CIA director's comments are a tacit admission that the agency continues to have a difficult time planting spies inside or close to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. (Bill Gertz)

RP Poll Body Gets New Muslim Member

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 01, 2007) - President Gloria Arroyo on Thursday named a prominent Muslim judge from the southern Philippines to sit at one of seven commissioners at the Commission on Elections.

The Philippine News Agency said Arroyo appointed Iligan City Judge Moslemen Macarambon Sr. to fill a post that has been vacant for nearly a year. The last Muslim poll commissioner was Mehol Sadain, a professor of Asian studies at the University of the Philippines.

The appointment must still pass the scrutiny of and confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, which convenes next week.

But this early, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he would oppose Macaranbon's appointment because of the judge's close association with former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, who was accused of cheating in the last presidential elections in favor of Arroyo.

Macarambon's appointment completes the six slots for commissioners. The seventh slot, that of chairman, has been vacant since October 1, when Benjamin Abalos resigned.

Abalos resigned after he was accused of bribery over a government broadband deal favoring a Chinese firm. Senior Commissioner Resurreccion Borra has replaced ABalaos.

Commenting on the appointment, Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento said he was "quite surprised" since Macarambon's name was not in a purported list recently circulated to the press.

"Honestly, I do not know the person, his professional background, his competence… but he is a Muslim and for me it is a welcome (move) because it is consistent with the peace agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the government, that Muslims be appointed (to high posts) in government," said Sarmiento, a former undersecretary in the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

The purported list, however, mentioned another Muslim, Alioden Dalaig, Comelec's director of the law department, as among the candidates from whom the President picks her choice.

Macarambon was reportedly recommended by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and now ambassador to the Philippine mission in the United Nations. He belongs to the well-known and highly-regarded Macarambon clan of Lanao province.

The rest of the commissioners are Florentino Tuason, Romeo Brawner, and Nicodemo Ferrer.

Fire Hits Slum In South RP

Fire fighters battle flames Thursday Nov. 01, 2007 in Cotabato City in southern Philippines.

(Mark Navales/Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 01, 2007) – A fire broke out Thursday at a slum area in Cotabato City in southern Philippines, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or injuries, officials said.

The fire left hundreds of people homeless. Arson investigators said the fire swept through the neighborhood which was once a cemetery.

It was unknown if the fire was deliberate or accidental. (Mark Navales)

Soldier’s mother: ‘He was proud of his country’: The Examiner

US Army Staff Sergeant Joseph F. Curreri.

BALTIMORE - When Army Staff Seargent Joseph Curreri realized his Saint Christopher’s medal had slipped from his neck during a scuba-training mission on Siet (Lake Seit) Lake near Panamao (town in Sulu province) in the southern Philippines, he jumped back into the water, anxious to retrieve the pendant.

But the former champion swimmer apparently misjudged the water’s depth, blacked out and drowned last Friday while trying to return to the surface.

“This was so unexpected,” said Keith Schertle, coach of the Loyola Blakefield High water polo team, which Curreri founded as a senior. “I have known Joe since he was 10, and he could do anything in the water.”

Curreri, 27, and a native of Towson, had been deployed to the Philippines as part of the war on terrorism and was on his first overseas mission. St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers.
“He was very proud of his country,” said his mother, Karen Mittemeyer of Redondo Beach, Calif., who added that her son had earned the Army’s Special Operations Scuba Diver badge. “He was intelligent, religious and extremely adventurous.”

Mittemeyer said her son was anxious to return to Los Angeles, where he lived with his wife, Athena, to further his education.

“Joe had so much integrity and such a desire to succeed,” said Jenn Lohse of Towson, who swam with Curreri at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. “He was happy to be involved in the Army.”

Curreri, who started swimming for the NBAC when he was 9, graduated from Loyola High.

He swam for the University of Southern California, where he captained the team his senior year. In the Army, he was a Special Forces communications sergeant assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

“Joe enjoyed camaraderie and hard work,” said Murray Stephens, the NBAC’s founder and director. “He demonstrated leadership by being a team captain.”

“I remember looking at Joe’s [Army] photo and recalling his determination,” Schertle said. “Whenever Joe put his mind to something, he accomplished it.”

(Laura Duffy/http://www.examiner.com)

Pinoy Film "The Islander" Joins US Film Fest

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 01, 2007) – A Filipino film by acclaimed director Mirana Medina has been selected for showing at the Chopin Theater for the 4th annual Chicago Filipino American Film Festival (CSAFF).

Her 97-minute film, “The Islanders,” about life of Filipinos and Americans before the war in Corregidor island, was first shown in Greenbelt Cinema in the Philippines in 2003 during the Cinemanila International Film Festival.

The CSAFF has this to say about the film: "Told in exacting detail with archival photography and eyewitness testimony, THE ISLANDERS, directed by Miranamedina, is a fascinating look at the fortress island of Corregidor, the U.S. military stronghold that was all but decimated in World War II. While Corregidor is often noted for its strategic significance in the Pacific Theater of World War II, THE ISLANDERS provides a rare look at the people that lived there, through the eyes of Filipino and American residents and their descendants."

Medina, an independent filmmaker, has recently shown her digital documentary, “Alyana,” a study of autism in the Philippines, in Davao City.

The CFAFF has been scheduled for the second weekend of November.

This unique festival showcases the best works by Filipino and Filipino-American filmmakers. For the third straight year, the film festival will be held at the Chopin Theater at 1543 W. Division St., in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood.
The festival will begin November 9 and run through November 11.

For the past three years, the mission of the film festival has been to highlight and celebrate the works of emerging Filipino-American filmmakers, as well as cutting-edge cinema from the Philippines.

Previous years have included acclaimed features, such as Cavite, Imelda, Panaghoy Sa Suba (Call of the River), Slow Jam King, The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, Crying Ladies, Magnifico and Leave It to Chance.

The CFAFF is presented by the Filipino American Network (FAN). FAN is a not-for-profit organization that calls, challenges and supports Filipino American young adults by providing resources, connections and opportunities to enrich their lives, support their growth and deepen their self-awareness of their Filipino heritage.

In addition to hosting the Chicago Filipino American Film Festival, FAN also sponsors the Holiday Gift Basket Drive for Senior and hosts other events for Chicago's Filipino American community.(Mindanao Examiner)

RP Troops Kill Sayyaf Leader

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 01, 2007) – Government soldiers clashed with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Filipino province of Basilan, killing a sub-leader and wounding several others, officials said on Thursday.

Officials said the fighting erupted in the hinterland village of Kapayawan near Isabela City after troops stormed an Abu Sayyaf hideout late Wednesday.

There were no reports of military casualties and officials said troops were still tracking down other militants who escaped the fighting. The body of the slain militant, believed that of Ayong Ikung, had been recovered by soldiers, including several weapons and explosives.

“The killing of the Abu Sayyaf shows the government is winning the war on terror and we will continue our operation against the Abu Sayyaf and other lawless groups,” Major Eugene Batara, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Little was known about Ikung or whether he was involved in previous attacks on soldiers in Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City, also targeted in the past by Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.

Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf and the two other groups as foreign terrorist organizations and has offered tens of millions in dollars in rewards for the capture of its known leaders.

President Gloria Arroyo also set aside more than one hundred million pesos in bounties for the capture of Abu Sayyaf leaders dead or alive. The US is helping Manila defeat terrorism and sent soldiers to train Filipino troops in anti-terrorism warfare. (Mindanao Examiner)