ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2009) – Philippine Marines chief Major General Benjamin Dolorfino has formally assumed Thursday as new commander of military forces in Western Mindanao.
Dolorfino replaced Lieutenant Nelson Allaga. He vowed to intensify the campaign against Moro and communist rebels and defeat terrorism in the southern Philippines.
It was also the same statement by previous commanders who served and go, but the problems on insurgency and terrorism were still unchanged.
Dolorfino, his aide and 21 other soldiers, including a defense undersecretary, were previously held hostage by Moro rebels in Sulu province after a failed meeting in February 2007.
Moro National Liberation Front rebels under Habier Malik and Khaid Ajibun held Dolorfino’s group for three days and freed them after a series of government negotiations.
The rebels demanded Manila to free detained MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari, who is facing rebellion charges in Manila in exchange for the release of the hostages so he can lead the MNLF to the tripartite conference in Saudi Arabia. (Mindanao Examiner)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2009) – Security forces rescued two abducted fishermen after a firefight Thursday with suspected Moro rebels in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, south of Zamboanga City, the military said.
The two - Ronnie Nabi and Renante Saquien – were rescued in Akbar town after policemen, backed by soldiers stormed the village of Semut and clashed with gunmen, believed to be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Other reports blamed the abductions to the Abu Sayyaf and pirates.
“The fishermen are okay and they were brought to the Western Mindanao Command (in Zamboanga City) for medical examination and debriefing,” Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman, said.
The fishermen were abducted off Basilan in March after gunmen attacked their trawler and killed three of its crew, said Basilan deputy governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul. “It is good this is over,” he said.
Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the chief of staff of the police in the Muslim autonomous region, said the victims were rescued after security forces tracked down the kidnappers and eventually clashed with them.
“We have finally recovered the fishermen. There were no reports of casualties in the fighting, but the operation is going on to track down the kidnappers,” said.
Attacks on trawlers and fishermen are not uncommon at sea around Basilan because rebel groups such as the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf are actively operating in the province, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.
In January, Abu Sayyaf gunmen intercepted a small boat carrying state teachers off Zamboanga City and seized the trio and brought them by boat to Basilan and freed in May after private negotiators allegedly paid huge ransoms for their liberty. (Mindanao Examiner)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 15, 2009) – A proposal to grant amnesty or open peace negotiations with the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group is causing a demoralization in the police and military in the southern Philippines.
Senator Richard Gordon has proposed to grant amnesty to the terrorist group after the recent release of kidnapped Italian aid worker Eugenio Vagni after six months in captivity in the southern island of Sulu.
Sulu deputy governor Nur Ana Sahidulla also said that Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad told her that they are open for talks on amnesty. The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for the spate of kidnappings-for-ransom and bombings in the Mindanao.
“We cannot afford to hold a peace talk to the Abu Sayyaf or worst allow they be granted amnesty. The Abu Sayyaf is a terrorist group that had killed not only policemen and soldiers, but innocent people as well.”
“There is growing demoralization now in the ranks of the military in Sulu and perhaps even in areas where soldiers are fighting the Abu Sayyaf,” said one government soldier, who spoke on condition that he would not be named.
Policemen in Sulu province also claimed the proposals to start peace talks or grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf has demoralized many of them.
“How many policemen were killed by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu? Our good provincial commander Julasirim Kasim was killed by the terrorists. They murdered innocent civilians, innocent Muslims. There must be no amnesty, not even peace talks. The Abu Sayyaf and their allies must also be killed so we may have peace in Sulu,” a policeman said.
Kasim was ambushed in May and killed along with were his brother and three other policemen.
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has also opposed any amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf, saying, the government does not negotiate with terrorists. He blamed the Abu Sayyaf for the series of bomb attacks and kidnappings in Sulu.
“There should be no negotiations with terrorists. Terrorists must pay their crimes,” said Tan, who survived a road bombing in May blamed by the police and military to the Abu Sayyaf group.
Tan, backed by the government, has declared a state of emergency in Sulu to allow authorities to run after Abu Sayyaf supporters who are providing them refuge.
Philippine authorities said the Abu Sayyaf has links with the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya, who was also involved in the kidnapping of Vagni and two other Red Cross workers Swiss national Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba in January in Sulu’s Patikul town.
Lawmakers also opposed the proposals, saying, it would go against the government’s policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has rejected any amnesty with the Abu Sayyaf and ordered the military to pursue the terrorist group and its supporters.
The military said it will strictly follow the chain of command and that operations against the Abu Sayyaf will not cease. “The Armed Forces will strictly follow the chain of command. The operation against the Abu Sayyaf is continuing. We are focus in our mission and that is to fight terrorism,” Cacho said.
But Cacho admitted the proposed amnesty and peace talks with the Abu Sayyaf have become a big issue in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “It is a political issue. It is for the government to settle, but that’s a big issue in the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” she said.
Cacho said they have not received reports that troops were demoralized, but she was quick to say that the military respect the opinions of the soldiers. “Soldiers are entitled to their opinion and this should be respected,” she said.
Secretary Avelino Razon, the presidential peace adviser, also rejected amnesty proposal to the Abu Sayyaf, saying, it goes against the government’s policy of no-negotiations with terrorists.
It was unknown whether the proposed amnesty or peace talks with the Abu Sayyaf would affect US military assistance to the Philippines. Hundreds of US troops are deployed in the southern Philippines, including Sulu, and were helping the local military defeat the Abu Sayyaf since 2001.
The Abu Sayyaf is listed as a foreign terrorist organization by Washington.
Philippine authorities said several Jemaah Islamiya terrorists, among them Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek, who are all wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombing in 2002, has joined the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
The US has offered at least $16 million rewards for their capture. (Mindanao Examiner)
A Blaan “Kamlung Banwe” (defender) rides his battle horse during the Fye Kura (Best Horse) competition and students from the Malalag-Cogon High School also took part in a street dance drawing interest from thousands attending the 2nd Slang Festival, marking the 40th Foundation anniversary of Malungon town in Sarangani province in the Southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 14, 2009) – Philippine soldiers killed a Muslim girl and injured two others during a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout in Maguindanao province in Mindanao, human rights advocates said.
The Liga ng Kabataang Moro said troops opened fire on a house in Sultan Kudarat town and killing the eleven-year girl. Two other house occupants were wounded in the weekend assault.
“The (military) operation did not follow standard search operation procedure, military entered the house without even knocking the door and began firing that led to death of a young girl and wounded others. We condemned this on the highest term,” said Michael Dumamba, the group’s secretariat.
The SALINLAHI Alliance for Children's Concerns, an umbrella organization of child-focused organizations in the Philippines, also condemned the killing and called on the Commission on Human Rights and Congress to investigate the girl’s death.
It said the soldiers were members of the Task Force Tugis of Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
“The raid conducted by Task Force Tugis showed incompetence and is obviously inconsistent with proper rules of engagement. Such act is utterly condemnable as it is a clear violation of the child’s basic right to life,” said Sophia Garduce, a spokeswoman for the SALINLAHI.
Militant groups and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front also blamed the military for many human rights violations in Mindanao.
Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a regional army spokesman, said the girl was killed in a shootout between soldiers and gunmen and that authorities were investigating the incident.
“There is an investigation and we cannot say who killed the girl unless the probe in completed by the police,” Ponce said.
He said three suspected bombers were arrested during the raid and troops recovered an improvised explosive assembled from a 60mm mortar. Ponce did not say whether the trio was members of the MILF or other rebel groups.
Ponce has put the blame of every single bombing in Mindanao to the MILF, which is fighting for self-determination in the volatile, but mineral-rich region. (Mindanao Examiner)
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 13, 2009) – Government forces clashed Monday with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the troubled southern Philippine province of Maguindanao.
The fighting broke out after rebel forces attacked army troops trying to breach an MILF stronghold in the village of Meta in Guindulungan town.
“Gun battle started as MILF guerilla units fired at advancing AFP troops toward upper grounds of Meta. Firefight lasted for almost an hour as both forces disengaged from fighting. No casualty was reported on either side,” the MILF said.
The village of Meta leads to the MILF camps Omar and Badre’, scene of bloody fighting in recent months. The MILF also referred to the army soldiers as occupation Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The MILF is fighting for the past three decades for a self-determination in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
Italian Red Cross staff Eugenio Vagni in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines after his release Sunday, July 12, 2009. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 13, 2009) – The Philippine military on Monday said operations to eliminate Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya terrorists continue in the southern island of Sulu.
Terrorists have freed over the weekend an Italian hostage Eugenio Vagni after six months in captivity. Vagni, a Red Cross staff, was kidnapped in January along with two other aid workers Swiss national Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba – both had been released in April.
“Our operations against the terrorists are continuing in Sulu. We have troops pursuing them,” Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Vagni was released to Sulu deputy governor Nur Ana Sahidulla at around 1.15 a.m. near Indanan town.
Sahidulla said no ransom was paid for Vagni’s liberty, but the militants originally demanded as much as $2 million for his safe release. Other reports said some P50,000 were also given to the terrorists as payment for Vagni’s so-called “board and lodging.”
No other details were made available by the police and security officials did not give any statement surrounding Vagni’s release.
Italian philanthropist Armando de Rossi, who heads the 3P Foundation, helped Sahidulla in the negotiation for Vagni’s safe release. De Rossi pledged humanitarian and development projects.
“We want to thank all those who helped secure the safe release of Eugenio. The crisis (management) committee (headed by) and Governor Sakur Tan and all the others who made this (release) possible,” De Rossi said.
De Rossi’s foundation is active in humanitarian works in Sulu and had previously donated millions worth of aid to mostly poor villages in the province.
ABS-CBN television, which quoted unnamed sources, reported that the military would swap two wives of an Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad for Vagni. Both women were eventually freed by the military.
The two women, Rowena Aksan and Nursima Annudden, were arrested at a military checkpoint in Tagbak village in Indanan town on Tuesday along with four other militants Rabia Asiri, Marwina Salasain, Madrimar Bagadi and Midsfar Aksan. Soldiers also seized from them more than P300,000.
It was unknown why the six were not handed over to the police. The military implicated the six people in the kidnappings of Vagni and two other Red Cross workers, Swiss national Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba.
There were suspicions that ransoms were paid for the release of the aid workers. The Red Cross denied it paid ransoms in exchange for the freedom of Notter, Lacaba and Vagni.
The Abu Sayyaf had previously used ransoms collected from kidnappings to purchase weapons and finance terror attacks in Sulu and Mindanao.
Just barely two months after the Abu Sayyaf freed Lacaba and Notter, a series of bombings occurred in Mindanao that left scores of people dead and wounded. Authorities blamed the attacks to the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya.
It was not immediately known whether the supposed ransoms paid for the release of the aid workers were used to finance the bombings.
Military and police intelligence reports said several Jemaah Islamiya terrorists are among the Abu Sayyaf that kidnapped Vagni’s group - Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek - who are all wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombing in 2002. The US has offered at least $16 million rewards for their capture.
Sulu Governor Sakur Tan is also supporting military operation against the terrorists, saying, Abu Sayyaf hostilities must be stopped to spare civilians from terror threats.
“We need top protect our citizens from threats of terrorism. Terrorism must be stopped,” he said.
Tan is the only politician who came out publicly to declare an all-out war against terrorism in Sulu and public support is outpouring.
The United States listed the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya as foreign terrorist groups alongside with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Philippine authorities said the Jemaah Islamiya terrorists fled to Mindanao where they sought refuge under the protection of the Abu Sayyaf and rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group. (Mindanao Examiner)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 12, 2009) – Communist rebels ambushed an army truck ahead of ahead of a scheduled peace talks and killed a soldier and wounded three more in the southern Philippine province of Davao Oriental, officials said on Sunday.
Officials said some 30 New People’s Army rebels opened fire on the government soldiers after a roadside bombing in the village of Pintatagan in the town of Banay-Banay.
The attack occurred on Saturday afternoon hours after rebels also toppled three electrical poles in the village, said Captain Rosa Maria Cristina Manuel, a spokeswoman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.
“One soldier was killed and three others were wounded in the ambush,” she told the Mindanao Examiner. She said the truck was transporting more than a dozen soldiers.
She said the soldiers, members of the 2nd Light Armor Brigade, were on their way to secure government projects in the town when the rebels ambushed their truck.
“The troops were supposed to replace the personnel tasked to secure the construction of government projects when a pressurized landmine hit their vehicle,” Manuel said.
Troops, who were sent to rescue the soldiers, also clashed with the ambushers and the fighting lasted more than 20 minutes. She said the rebels briefly seized an undetermined number of civilians in the neighboring village of Puntalinao and used them as shield against pursuing soldiers.
Manuel said Colonel Romeo Calizo, commander of Army’s 1001st Infantry Brigade, has ordered troops to track down the rebels. “The rebels cannot face the soldiers squarely. They inhumanely used the civilians as shields for their escape and this is a gross disrespect to Human Rights and a violation of the International Humanitarian Law,” she said, quoting Calizo.
“Likewise, the Philippines is a signatory to the Ottawa Convention banning the use of landmines and under the United Nations’ Law on Armed Conflict, the uses of landmines are banned under article 809,” Calizo added.
Manila said it would resume stalled peace talks with communist rebels next month after negotiations collapsed in 2004. The NPA is fighting the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Freed Italian aid worker Eugenio Vagni at a military base Sunday, July 12, 2009 in Jolo town in Sulu province in southern Philippines. And after his arrival in Zamboanga City en route to Manila where his anxious family and friends are waiting. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Nickee Butlangan).
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 12, 2009) – Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants have freed Before dawn Sunday an Italian aid worker kidnapped in January in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police said.
Police said Eugenio Vagni was released to Sulu deputy governor Nur Ana Sahidulla at around 1.15 a.m. near Parang town. Vagni, the last of three Red Cross workers kidnapped by the militants, was brought to a military hospital in Jolo town where doctors examiner the 62-year old aid worker.
It was unknown if ransom was paid for Vagni’s liberty, but the militants originally demanded as much as $2 million for his safe release. No other details were made available by the police and security officials did not give any statement.
ABS-CBN television, which quoted unnamed sources, reported that the military would swap two wives of an Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad for Vagni.
The two women, Rowena Aksan and Nursima Annudden, were arrested at a military checkpoint in Tagbak village in Indanan town on Tuesday along with four other militants Rabia Asiri, Marwina Salasain, Madrimar Bagadi and Midsfar Aksan. Soldiers also seized from them more than P300,000.
The six were also implicated in the kidnappings of Vagni and two other Red Cross workers, Swiss national Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba.
Both Notter and Lacaba were freed separately in April by the Abu Sayyaf, but there were suspicions that ransoms were paid for their liberty. The Red Cross denied it paid ransoms.
The Abu Sayyaf had previously used ransoms collected from kidnappings to purchase weapons and finance terror attacks in Sulu and Mindanao.
Just barely two months after the Abu Sayyaf freed Lacaba and Notter, a series of bombings occurred in Mindanao that left scores of people dead and wounded. Authorities blamed the attacks to the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya.
It was not immediately known whether the supposed ransoms paid for the release of the aid workers were used to finance the bombings.
Military and police intelligence reports said several Jemaah Islamiya terrorists are among the Abu Sayyaf that kidnapped Vagni’s group - Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek - who are all wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombing in 2002. The US has offered at least $16 million rewards for their capture.
The United States listed the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaan Islamiya as foreign terrorist groups alongside with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Philippine authorities said the Jemaah Islamiya terrorists fled to Mindanao where they sought refuge under the protection of the Abu Sayyaf and rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group. (Mindanao Examiner)
Crime scene investigators recover human bones from a grave in Davao City in the southern Philippines. The Commission on Human Rights is currently investigating the hundreds of unsolved summary killings perpetrated by the shadowy group called the Davao Death Squad. (Photos by Keith Bacongco - AKP Images / Text by the Mindanao Examiner)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 11, 2009) – Crime scene investigators recovered Saturday human skeletal remains from a grave in Davao City in the southern Philippines.
The remains were believed to be a victim of summary execution in Davao, tagged by human rights advocates as one of the most dangerous in the southern Philippines because of unsolved murders blamed to the shadowy group called Davao Death Squad.
Lawyer Leila de Lima, who heads the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, witnessed how police investigators dug one after the others human bones inside a firing range.
The remains were believed from a death squad member who was reportedly executed by his colleagues five years ago for a still unknown reason.
A former member of the death squad has provided information about the grave to the Commission on Human Rights and vowed to expose those behind the dread group blamed for the hundreds of extrajudicial killings in Davao over the past years.
Most of those killed were criminals and ex-convicts, including teenagers accused of various crimes in Davao City. The grave was one of several where victims of executions were buried.
The mayor of Davao City, lawyer Rodrigo Duterte, denied the existence of the Davao Death Squad and said many of the killings were related to gang wars.
The Commission of Human Rights maintained the killings were carried out by the death squad. House Speaker Prospero Nograles, who represents Davao City's first congressional district, urged authorities to resolve the murders. (Mindanao Examiner)
ISSUES: Torture; right to liberty and security; administration of justice.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a man who was abducted by soldiers, tortured and held incommunicado for over three months remains in detention over questionable charges.
After abducting him on January 9, 2009, the soldiers tortured him to confess his involvement to the bombing and burning of houses in North Cotabato. He suffered electric shocks to his sex organ and was deprived of food.
CASE DETAILS: (According to information received from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)-Mindanao)
On January 9, 2009 at 11am, Mansur Utto Salih was eating lunch with two others, Andy Makasaop and a person whose nickname is Gulam. At the time they were at Salih’s house and suddenly armed men entered. One of them shot at Salih prompting the latter to drop to the floor for cover.
Two men bound Salih and Andy's wrists, blindfolded and gagged them with adhesive tape.
The armed men then loaded Salih and Andy onto their vehicle that took them somewhere for about 30 minutes. In this place they could hear the sound of an airplane prompting them to believe that they must have been inside military headquarters of 6th Infantry Division (ID), Philippine Army (PA), in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. The military's headquarter is also located at the Awang Airport.
The two were then taken inside a room and the adhesive tape binding their wrists were replaced with handcuffs (the scars were still visible when the interview was conducted). Salih and Andy were held incommunicado separately. Salih later learned that Andy had been released but he could not determine when. Unlike Andy, however, Salih was held for over three months.
When interviewed on April 16, 2009, Salih spoke of the torture and ill treatment he endured. His ankles were chained and the soldiers applied electric shocks to his sex organ, his body and behind his ears. Each time they applied the electricity the held it against him for four seconds.
Whenever he fainted they poured cold water on his face and body. He could no longer recall how many times he fainted. Both his feet became swollen when they were struck repeatedly with an iron bar. He was also punched about the stomach and chest several times. Salih sensed that there were three persons questioning him while six others were torturing him. During the questioning he was also deprived of food and water.
For seven consecutive days, Salih had experienced the same ordeal. He also noticed that he had been taken to three different rooms in which he was interrogated and tortured. Within this period, he was only given food and water on two occasions. He also remained chained.
On January 16, 2009, Salih was loaded onto a vehicle, handcuffed and blindfolded and taken somewhere on a journey that he believes lasted for about three hours. Upon reaching their destination, he was taken to a room where he was fed. But, as soon as he finished eating he was shoved to the cement floor. There, he was held incommunicado for two weeks. During those two weeks he was not beaten but only fed only once a day, either breakfast or lunch.
After two weeks of his detention, his custodian began spoon feeding him. However, when Salih asked the custodian to feed him slowly so that he had enough time to chew the food he would be punched. If he allowed the food to fall the person feeding him would hit his mouth with a spoon, kick him and punched his face. He was also fed with one or two spoonfuls of chilies every meal.
His ordeal went on until March 28, 2009. On that day, he was taken back to the military headquarters at the Awang Airport where he was held until April 6, 2009. During the entire day of the journey he was not given food and water.
On one occasion from between March 28 and April 6, Salih recalled having been taken to a doctor. However, Salih said the doctor did not properly examine him. He was only asked if he was in pain and checked his blood pressure. Salih was reluctant to tell the doctor of his ordeal as he was hoping that, should he keep quiet about what had happened to him, they would release him.
However, on April 7, 2009 at 12noon, Salih was first taken and remanded to the North Cotabato Provincial Jail in Amas, Kidapawan City. Two of those taking him in custody made him sign some documents, the contents of which was also not properly explained to him. It was learned later that those who had remanded him to prison were soldiers. It was only after entering the jail that his handcuffs and blindfold were removed by a jail guard.
To cover up the incident, the soldiers who took custody of him, deliberately falsified the date they took custody of the victim to April 1, instead of January 9, 2009.
Salih later learned that he had been charged with two counts of frustrated murder, in connection with the bombing incident that took place in Kidapawan City, and 29 counts of Arson regarding the burning of houses that took place in 2008, reportedly perpetrated by a rebel commander before the Regional Trial Court in Midsayap, North Cotabato.
Although Salih's case is being heard in courts in North Cotabato province, in June 2009 he was transferred to a jail in Bicutan, Metro Manila. His transfer was prompted by a resolution approved by members of City Council of Kidapawan City for his and several other detainees who are considered "high risk". The transfer took place after armed men attacked the North Cotabato Provincial jail.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The AHRC has documented cases wherein persons, mostly those persons who are accused of or suspected of perpetrating bombings, are subjected to brutal torture and held incommunicado at the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division's (ID), Philippine Army, at the premises of Awang Airport.
In April 2002, five persons, two of whom were at the time minors, were taken into the headquarters after having been arrested in separate incidents. They were accused of perpetrating the bomb blast in Davao City. They were blindfolded, electrocuted, beaten, and suffered dry and wet methods of suffocation to forced them to admit that they perpetrated the bombings.
In January 2004, a man was also tortured inside the headquarters. He was kicked, beaten and electrocuted. His fingers were squeezed after putting bullets in between them and he was forced to drink something that smelled like urine. They threatened to dump him into a canal and feed his sex organ to a dog.
In May 2007, two men, both belonging to Muslim minorities, were also tortured inside the headquarters following their arrest over allegations they were involved in incidents of bombing in Central Mindanao. They were also deprived of food.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the government agencies below to ensure that an impartial investigation is conducted into the abduction, torture and detention of the victim.
Those responsible, in particular the soldiers who remanded him to prison and the military leadership to the camp where he was held incommunicado, should be identified and prosecuted. The charges laid on him in court must be thoroughly reviewed. Once proven that the evidence on him was obtained by way of torture it must be withdrawn.
The AHRC has also written letters to the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture asking for his intervention into this case.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear_______,
Re: PHILIPPINES: Soldiers torture a man with electric shocks to his sex organ to force a confession
Name of the victim:
1. Mansur Utto Salih, 32 years old, married, a resident of Sitio Project, Ungap, Sultan Kudarat, Maguinadanao Province. He belongs to a Maguindanaon tribe. About nine persons interrogated and tortured him one after the other while he was held incommunicado inside a military camp in Barangay (village) Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao. He is presently detained in a jail in Bicutan, Metro Manila.
2. Andy Makasaop. He was released without any charges ahead of Salih. Alleged perpetrators: Soldiers attached to the 6th Infantry Division (ID), Philippine Army (PA) whose headquarters are located in Awang Airport. Place where the victims were abducted: Sitio project, Upper Ungap, municipality of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao
Date of incident: After he was abducted on January 9, 2009, he was held incommunicado detention until April 7, 2009.
I am writing to express my concern regarding the abduction, torture and detention of Mansur Utto Salih. He and his companion, Andy Makasaop, were abducted on January 9, 2009. They were taken to a place they came to know later as the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division, Philippine Army at the Awang Airport in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
Soon after arriving at the military camp, they were taken to separate rooms where they were subjected to questioning, torture and were held incommunicado. The adhesive tapes used to bind their wrists when they were abducted were then replaced with handcuffs. Their ankles were chained.
Although Makasaop had been released without charged, the soldiers kept Salih for over three months where he was subjected to questioning. He was tortured and moved from one interrogation room to the other.
For example, upon arriving at the Awang Airport on January 6, 2009, those questioning him applied electric shocks to his sex organ, his body and behind his ears several times. Each electrocution lasted about four seconds.
When he lost consciousness the soldiers poured water over him. His feet became swollen after being beaten with an iron bar. Those who tortured him forced him to confess masterminding the bombing incident in Kidapawan City and burning of houses in Midsayap, North Cotabato in 2008.
For seven consecutive days, Salih was tortured in the same manner in three different interrogation rooms. On those days, he was only given food twice and a glass of water. He could also not move properly as his ankles were chained and his eyes were blindfolded. The ordeal continued from the time of his abduction until he was remanded to the North Cotabato Provincial Jail in Amas, Kidapawan City on April 7, 2009.
I am extremely shocked at how the soldiers have treated the victim. The manner of his arrest, investigation and detention violates all the legal procedures that should have been strictly observed in arresting a person accused of a crime. Not only did the soldiers deliberately usurp the police power on arrest, they also turned their own military headquarters into a torture chamber.
Apart from Salih's case, there have also been previous cases in the past wherein persons, particularly those who are accused or suspected by the soldiers as having been involved in bomb attacks or rebel activities, have been tortured soon after being taken inside their military headquarters at the premises of Awang Airport, Cotabato City.
I therefore urge you to ensure that the victim's allegation of abduction, torture and being held incommunicado are thoroughly investigated. Should it be proven that the evidence used in the charges laid on him in court for bombing in Kidapawan City and burning of houses that took place in Midsayap in 2008 was taken by way of torture, they must be withdrawn. It is unacceptable that this person has had to face trial to charges that are questionable.
Lastly, I urge the Philippine government to live up to its obligation to the United Nation's Convention against Torture (CAT) to ensure protection to victims of torture. It should also take prompt action to ensure that the pending bill criminalizing torture is acted upon.
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo President Republic of the Philippines Malacanang Palace JP Laurel Street, San Miguel Manila 1005 PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 736 1010 Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
2. Ms. Leila De Lima Commissioner Commission on Human Rights SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue U.P. Complex, Diliman Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 929 0102 Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188 E-mail: mtm_rodulfo@yahoo.com
3. Deputy Director General Jesus A. Verzosa Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP) Camp General Rafael Crame Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2724 8763 Tel: +63 2 726 4361/4366/8763 E-mail: ruth_cossid@yahoo.com
4. Ms. Agnes Devanadera Secretary Department of Justice (DoJ) DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura 1004 Manila PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 521 1614 E-mail: raulgonzalez_doj@yahoo.com
5. Lieutenant General Victor S. Ibrado Chief of Staff Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) AFP-GHQ Offices, Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 911 6436 Tel: +63 2 911 6001 to 50
6. Mr. Quinciano V. Bueno Regional Director CHR, Region 12 Pascua Bldg., Arellano Street Koronadal City PHILIPPINES Tel: +63 83 5538887
7. Mr. Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. Secretary Department of National Defense Room 301 DND Bldg., Camp Emelio Aguinaldo E. de los Santos Avenue Quezon City PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 911 6213 Tel: +63 2 911 9281 / 911 0488 E-mail: osnd@philonline.com
8. Mr. Avelino Razon Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) 7th Floor Agustin Building I Emerald Avenue Pasig City 1605 PHILIPPINES Fax: +63 2 638 2216 Tel: +63 2 636 0701 to 066 E-mail: osec@opapp.gov.ph
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 1, 2009) – Niyanig ng lindol kahapon ang lalawigan ng Agusan del Sur sa rehiyon ng Caraga sa Mindanao, ngunit walang inulat na nasawi o nasirang mga gusali.
Ayon sa alert na inilabas ng Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology ay naitala ang lakas ng lindol sa 3.7 sa Richter scale. Naganap ang lindol dakong alas 10.30 ng umaga halos 23 kilometro mula sa bayan ng Prosperidad.
Tinatayang mahigit sa tatlong kilometro ang lalim sa lupa ng pinagmulan nito. Naramdaman rin umano sa ibat-ibang bahagi ng rehiyon ang lindol.
Ang Pilipinas ay nasa tinatawag na “Ring of Fire,” isang malaking area sa mundo, particular sa Pacific Ocean, na kung saan ay madalas ang mga seismic at volcanic activity.
Kasama sa Ring of Fire ang Andes Mountains sa South America, ang coastal regions ng western Central at North America, ang Aleutian at Kuril islands, ang Kamchatka Peninsula sa Japan, ang Taiwan at eastern Indonesia, gayun rin ang New Zealand at mga isla sa western Pacific. (Mindanao Examiner)
A photo released Saturday, July 11, 2009 by the Mathematics Trainers Guild Philippines shows the proud Filipino students and their medals after the awarding ceremonies at the Durban City Hall in South Africa. (Seated from left) John Russell Virata, Geraldine Baniqued, Arielle Elise Chua, Sarah Jane Cua, and Zheng Rong Wu. (Standing from left to right) Matthew Chris Chan, Adrian Raphael Co, Ostin John Ong, Vance Eldric Go, Janssen Kotah, Hanz Vladimir Cabanes, Paolo Manuel Iyulores and Elvis Ayroso.
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines won a team silver medal while each of the 13 Filipino high school students bagged at least one bronze medal in the 10th Invitational World Youth Mathematics Inter-cities Competition held in Durban, South Africa from July 5 to 10.
The contest was participated by 228 high school students from 19 countries, including Canada, China, Australia, Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, South Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Philippines.
Filipino math wizards who bagged individual bronze medals are Geraldine Baniqued of Saint Paul College-Pasig; John Russell Virata of Gideon Academy; Zheng Rong Wu of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School; Matthew Chris Chan of Saint Stephen's High School; Vance Eldric Go of Saint Jude Catholic School-Manila; and Elvis Jeremy Ayroso of Philippine Science High School-Manila.
“The training of these students paid off. Accomplishment is easy when we work the hardest,” said Dr Simon Chua, head of the Philippine delegation and president of the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild, which trained the Filipino students for the competition.
Dr Chua emphasized that focus and concentration during trainings are the essential ingredients to reaching the goal in any math contest.
Four Filipino students who got individual merit awards are Adrian Raphael Co of Xavier School, Ostin John Ong of Bacolod Trinity Christian School, Arielle Elise Chua of Saint Jude Catholic School, and Paolo Manuel Iyulores of Ateneo de Manila High School.
The Philippine Team A composed of Geraldine Banigued, Arielle Elise Chua, Russell Virata and Zheng Rong Wu was awarded first runner-up while Philippine Team B whose members were Matthew Chris Chan, Adrian Raphael Co, Vance Eldric Go, and Ostin John Ong got second runner-up.
Philippine Team C composed of Elvis Jeremy Ayroso, Paolo Manuel Iyulores , Janssen Kotah and Hanz Vladimir Cabanes received Merit Award.
Another Filipino math whiz who participated in the competition, Sarah Jane Cua of the Pangasinan Universal Institute, won a bronze medal in the individual contest and second runner-up in the team category as a borrowed member of the Canada International Team. Overall, the Philippines got a first runner-up award equivalent to a silver medal.
Besides Dr Chua, the other leaders of the group were Dr Eduardo Dela Cruz, dean of the School of Education and Normal of Arellano University; Dr Isidro Aguilar, supervisor of the Division of City Schools of Taguig and Pateros; and Sheryl Lejos from the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
The Philippine delegation arrived in Manila on Saturday. (Robert Degolacion)
Police released Friday, July 10, 2009 a sketch of a suspected bomber blamed for a deadly attack that killed 6 people and injured dozens more. Shops also closed on Friday to protest Sunday bombing blamed on terrorists. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2009) – Business shops in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines closed on Friday as traders protest a deadly bombing blamed to local terrorists.
Police also released a sketch of a man suspected to have carried Sunday’s attack outside a Catholic church that killed 6 people and injured dozens more. Christian and Muslim religious leaders condemned the bombing.
Shops also put signs calling for a stop to bombings and kidnappings. A McDonald branch put up a streamer which reads “Stop Kidnappings.” The US hamburger chain was among those that closed on Friday.
Soldiers and policemen were spotted patrolling Cotabato City for fear that there would be more attacks or kidnappings. Several people had been kidnapped and ransomed off in Cotabato the past months and police blamed them to the Pentagon Gang, whose members were former Moro rebels.
On Friday, President Gloria Arroyo cancelled her scheduled visit to Cotabato City because of threats of terror. (With a report from Mark Navales)
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2009) - Militant drivers' group Transmision Piston and its allied organizations said they will join a nationwide transport strike on Monday to protest high prices of fuel.
Organizers said the government failed to stop the continued increase in oil prices and overpricing of fuel products. They also assailed government orders which mandate higher and exorbitant fines for drivers.
The protests will be held simultaneously in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Panay, Guimaras, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos cities.
Edil Gonzaga, Transmision spokesperson, said: “We and the public have long been suffering from the incessant price increases and the resultant increases in the basic comodities and services.”
Several militant and progressive groups are expected to join the protests and among them are the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Kadamay and the Kilusang Mayo Uno. (Mindanao Examiner)
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2009) – Suspected New People’s Army rebels bombed two delivery vans they allegedly held up in Iloilo province in central Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the rebels, numbering about two dozens, flagged down the vans on a village in the town of Igbaras, carted cigarettes and bombed the vehicles owned by Mega Via Corporation before retreating to the hills.
“The NPA rebels carted away six boxes of assorted brands of cigarettes before destroying the vans,” said Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Philippine Army’s Civil-Military Operations Group.
It was unknown if the drivers were unhurt in the attack.
He said the rebels were also behind many extortion activities in western Visayas. He also accused senior NPA leaders of pocketing extortion monies which rebels call “revolutionary” taxes.
“The extortion scheme relentlessly imposed by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front and the NPA on businessmen only enriches senior communist cadres at the expense of the lives of lowly guerillas mostly of peasant origin who wage arduous and resolute armed struggle in the countryside.”
“Some senior party cadres even live in a lucrative lifestyle overseas or within the comforts of urban exclusive villas here in our country. The bulk of the fees exacted by the communist movement are controlled by the central leadership of the dictatorial organization, benefiting only those senior party cadres who are at the helm of the organization’s leadership,” Lucero said.
He added that the huge collection generated by the rebels enabled senior party cadres to send their children to exclusive and international schools.
Lucero did not identify any of the NPA leaders he accused of pocketing extortion money, but said most of the information came from former rebels who surrendered to the government.
“Needless to say, those business establishments that refused to submit to these extortion demands are subjected to the CPP-NPA-NDF’s terror acts through the use of sheer violence, threat and intimidation. And Mega Via Corporation has become a new entry in the list of companies which suffered this lecherous act of the NPA,” Lucero said.
The NPA has been waging a secessionist war the past four decades. (Mindanao Examiner)
Members of the Young Moro Professional Network speak to journalists in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines where they held Peacebuilding Agenda-Making Forum with fellow Muslims. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Jung Francisco)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2009) - The recent bombings in Jolo town in Sulu province; Cotabato City and Lanao del Norte in Mindanao drew chills among young Moro professionals like Drieza Lininding, of Marawi City, who took a 15-hour bus ride to Zamboanga City for a Peacebuilding Agenda-Making Forum with fellow Muslims.
It felt like dejavu when in mid-December 2008, bombings in Iligan City nearby Drieza's hometown would have prevented him from attending the same peace building assembly of Young Moro Professional Network in Zamboanga City.
The YMPN, a nongovernmental organization, is composed of people advocating peaceful means to improve the socio-economic well-being of the Bangsamoro people.
While a majority of members live in the Philippines, particularly in Metro Manila and Mindanao, there are several members who are based in other countries. YMPN members are largely employed, both in government and private sector jobs.
The YMPN was founded in 2000 during the administration of former Philippine president Joseph Estrada. A group of young Moro professionals initially organized themselves as part of the popular protest at EDSA against the alleged corruptions of Estrada. As a result of these protests, Estrada was ousted from the presidency.
The founding Moros were further motivated by dismay with the Philippine government total war policy against the Moro communities in Mindanao, despite an outstanding peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front and ongoing negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Many NGOs concerned with the cultivation of lasting peace and harmony in Mindanao perceived the unilateral declaration of war by the government of the Philippines as a diversion from investigations and protests against the alleged corruptions and unfitness of president of the country.
The war displaced hundred of thousands Moros and threatened to poison Muslim-Christian relations, as in the early 1970s.
The success of EDSA 2 in ousting Estrada motivated the YMPN founders to continue peacefully advocating and working for the socio-economic well-being of the Moro masses.
The founders envisioned a network of young Muslim professionals that promote volunteerism; using their own resources, talents, education and training, and working collectively or individually to help other Muslims in unfortunate circumstances.
This peaceful means is in stark contrast to the armed liberation struggle by MNLF and MILF against the government from the early 1970s to present.
Since its founding, the YMPN has been active in encouraging young Moros to adopt peaceful means to uplift themselves. The YMPN has stressed the practice of Islam as a peaceful and modest way of life.
The core members have designed and implemented leadership training program, using an Islamic framework, aimed at the next generation of YMPN members. In most engagements, these core members are the lecturers and readily provide a role model to their audience for their advocacy for peaceful means.
YMPs like Drieza, benefited from education where their parents had not, because of the conflict.
Now, Drieza and the YMP Network, is waging war of their own using their resources, talents and skills, to expose injustice.
"The bombings will not go away if the rages against structural injustices are not addressed," said Aleem Matabalao Guiapal, an Asian Institute of Management alumna, who recently presented a paper on Social Networking as a Peacebuilding Instrument at the Harvard University with actor Diether Ocampo.
Engineer Don Loong said that the important issue that must be addressed urgently is the Human Development situation in the Muslim autonomous region, especially, the problem of debilitating education.
However, he cautioned that a purely development approach coupled with disarmament will not work. The political solution through the peace process must be given priority as it will address the root causes of the Moro grievance.
A stalled political resolution directly affects peace and order and halts, if not impairs, all other community development initiatives. Without a clear political resolution on sight, it is difficult to make all other intervention in Southern Mindanao sustainable.
Journalist Samira Gutoc explained that the YMPN came up with the project MYSpeak, Mindanao Youth Speak Out on the Peace Process as part of Peacebuilding by Moro professionals to seek space in the peace process.
Gutoc said they facilitate peace discussion and are hopeful that they can bring the discourse to the national level. Gutoc said the spirit of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain remains across ethnicity as it embodies the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
Humanitarian worker Jodel Isahac, of Jolo, said Moro professionals must participate in the uplift of the marginalized situation of Moro homeland to gain real freedom.
The Young Moro Professionals Network is the second and third generation product of BM struggle; the YMPN represents a significant portion of the Bangsamoro in the its quest to find lasting peace.
The YMPN understand the culture, customs and traditions more than any other; and the YMPN is in a position to put forward the aspirations of the BM in the light of the changing times and technological advancement.
In their fora, among the comments in the discussion were the reform of the electoral process where the YMPN would promote a righteous and transformed process and would represent the views of the populace. The YMPN also intends to look to the needs of the common people while promoting Islam. (Amilbahar Mawallil)
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2009) – U.S. authorities are hunting down one of two Filipino nurses accused in a California Medicaid fraud ring that allegedly bilked the state out of nearly $4.6 million and put the lives of disabled children at risk, CNN reported.
The Filipinos - Susan Bendigo and Priscilla Villabroza, both accused ringleaders - were charged separately in the U.S.
CNN quoted a statement from office of the U.S. attorney for central California that the defendants are accused of either posing as licensed nurses or organizing a scheme to send unlicensed nurses to provide home- or school-based care to disabled patients, many of them children with cerebral palsy or other developmental disabilities.
It said agents have arrested 20 out of 42 people accused in the fraud. The long defendant's list makes the case the largest of Medicaid fraud in California, U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien said in the statement.
Each defendant has been charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and at least one count of health care fraud, according to the statement.
Some parents and patients became suspicious of the nurses when they noticed their lack of skills.
"In one case, a 'nurse' was unable to replace a tracheotomy tube that had fallen out of a young patient's neck. In another case, an impostor nurse simply fled a medical situation when she apparently was unable to provide assistance," according to the statement.
Some of the unlicensed nurses had foreign training, but never passed a U.S. qualifying nursing exam, the attorney's office said, while others had no medical training at all.
Bendigo and Villabroza instructed the workers to lie about their status and used the names of licensed nurses on documents, the indictment says.
Villabroza operated a home health agency - the Santa Fe Springs company Medicare Plus Home Health Providers - the indictment said. Villabroza, a registered nurse, knowingly hired unlicensed nurses and billed Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, for the work of licensed vocational nurses from August 2004 through 2007, the indictment alleges.
Villabroza pleaded guilty last year to five federal counts of health care fraud, the attorney's office said.
Bendigo, a registered nurse, was also director of Santa Fe Springs' Excel Plus Home Health Services, which provided nurses to home health agencies, according to the indictment.
Bendigo also was charged last year but fled the country, the statement said. Officials think she is hiding in the Philippines, said U.S. attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Villabroza is awaiting sentencing, and could be sent to prison for up to 50 years, Mrozek said.
Each of the 42 new defendants faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each charge if convicted, according to the statement. (CNN)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2009) – An accomplished Filipino banker Armando Samia was unanimously elected as interim chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines, government media said on Thursday.
The Philippine Information Agency said Samia replaced Jaime Panganiban, who resigned to attend to his private business.
Samia was the former head of Development Bank of the Philippins's marketing sector. The report said Samia was elected on Wednesday during a special shareholders' meeting at the DBP head office in Makaty City.
Prior to joining the DBP, Samia was vice president and deputy general manager of the Bankers Trust Company, Manila Offshore Branch, where he headed sales and distribution of its various products originating from corporate finance.
The Islamic bank’s Board members are Patricia Santo Tomas, Reynaldo David, Reyerend Magno Teves, Ramon Durano IV, Samira Gutoc, Nabid Alfad Tan, and Abdul Hadjisalam and Ibrahim Mamao.
It will elect the new members of its Board during its regular annual shareholders' meeting on July 29 and the election of the new officers of the bank during an organizational meeting to be held immediately after the annual shareholders' meeting.
The Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines is the first and only Islamic bank in the country whose mandate is to serve the banking needs of the Muslim community.
It was formed as the Philippine Al-Amanah Bank in 1973. It was reestablished as Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank in 2000 to promote and accelerate socio and economic development of the Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao.
Its head office is located in Zamboanga City and maintains an executive office in Makati City and nine other branches located in the cities of Makati, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, Davao, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi and Zamboanga and Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner)
Army soldiers and policemen man a check point near Esteros Bridge in Cotabato City and Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao province Thursday, July 09, 2009. Four people were killed and dozens injured in a recent bomb attack outside a Catholic church in Cotabato City. Authorities blame the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and Moro rebels for the blast. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)
MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2009) - Philippine security forces were alerted Thursday for more terror attacks in the troubled region of Mindanao following the spate of bombings that killed at least 6 people and wounded dozens more.
Soldiers and policemen were deployed in many areas in the Muslim autonomous region and other parts of Mindanao to thwart possible attacks by terrorists.
Cotabato and Iligan cities were bombed this week and authorities blamed Moro rebels and the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya for the attacks.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels denied any involvement in the series of bomb attacks in the troubled South and called for an independent investigation into the blasts.
The MILF blamed the military for the attacks, saying, it was part of a government plot to justify the possible declaration of a state of emergency by President Gloria Arroyo.
In Manila, Army Major General Jogy Fojas said they have received reports that MILF rebels, the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya are in the Philippine capital and were planning to carry out bombings in civilian areas and military camps.
Fojas' statement was denied by the Philippine police and militant groups branded the report as a prelude to more attacks by soldiers and blamed them to the rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)
Motocross is fast becoming a favorite sports in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines, which recently hosted a race tourney. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Mark Navales)
Soldiers escort a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant Hakim Jajirim who was captured in a raid in Jolo town in the southern Philippine island of Sulu on Thursday, July 9, 2009. Police and soldiers seized assorted gun parts, including an M60 machine gun in his hideout late Wednesday. Security forces also captured two wives of militant leader Albader Parad and four other suspected Abu Sayyaf members in Sulu on Tuesday. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Nickee Butlangan).
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2009) – Philippine soldiers captured 7 people believed to have links with Abu Sayyaf militants tied to Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya in the southern island of Sulu, officials said on Thursday.
Officials said among the seven were two wives of a militant leader Albader Parad and a man suspected of supplying weapons to the Abu Sayyaf.
The man was captured on Wednesday by soldiers and policemen at a hideout in Jolo town, said Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.
“He is undergoing tactical interrogation,” she told the Mindanao Examiner.
Parad’s wives and four other militants, who were arrested in Indanan on Tuesday, are also being investigated for their roles in a deadly bombing that killed 2 people in Jolo.
The six were also implicated in the kidnappings of three Red Cross workers Swiss national Andreas Notter, Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba and Italian Eugenio Vagni in January in Patikul town. Both Notter and Lacaba were freed by the Abu Sayyaf on suspicion that ransom was paid for their liberty.
Television reports identified the wives of Parad as Rowena Aksan and Nursima Annudden while their companions were Rabia Asiri, Marwina Salasain, Madrimar Bagadi and Midsfar Aksan. ABS-CBN reported that soldiers also seized more than P300,000 from the group intercepted at a military checkpoint in the village of Tagbak.
Military and police intelligence reports said several Jemaah Islamiya terrorists are among the Abu Sayyaf that kidnapped the aid workers - Mauiya, Dulmatin, Zulkifli bin Hir and Umar Patek - who are all wanted by Indonesia for the spate of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombing in 2002. The US has offered at least $16 million rewards for their capture.
The Abu Sayyaf, whose name means “bearer of the sword” in Arabic, split from the larger Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996.
The United States listed the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organization that also boasts of ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Philippine authorities said the Jemaah Islamiya terrorists fled to Mindanao where they sought refuge under the protection of the Abu Sayyaf and rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group. (Mindanao Examiner)
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2009) – Nine Filipino enterprises were conferred Thursday the first-ever Presidential Awards for Outstanding Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for their contribution to the country’s economic growth, the Philippine Information Agency said.
It said President Gloria Arroyo conferred the awards to the Roger and Beth Pilinut Candy, J. Emmanuel Pastries, and the Lighthouse Cooperative, all in Luzon. And in the Visayas, the recipients were the Doods Enterprises, Filbake Food Corporation, and the Vicmik Enterprises. For Mindanao, Arroyo also awarded the Lao Integrated Farm, Manolette Bakeshop and the AMS Employees Fresh Fruits Producer Cooperative.
Arroyo also awarded 26 Presidential Citations for best practices in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises promotion and development to various best practices nationwide, majority of them local government units which have streamlined their respective business licensing units.
The awarding is part of the week-long activities of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Week celebrated every second week of July in pursuance of Republic Act 9501, the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises which Arroyo signed in May last year. (Mindanao Examiner)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 9, 2009) – Philippine communist rebels said they are resuming formal peace talks with Manila next month, five years after the negotiations collapsed.
Luis Jalandoni, head of the communist peace panel, said preparations are being made by both sides for the resumption of formal talks in Oslo, Norway next month.
“On behalf of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, I wish to announce that preparations are being made by the Negotiating Panels of the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for the resumption of formal talks in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway sometime in August 2009.”
“The GRP and NDFP Negotiating Panels have agreed on the implementation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees for the purpose of enabling persons covered by JASIG to participate in the preparatory meeting and formal talks of the aforesaid parties in August. Legal teams of the two panels are currently working and cooperating to ensure the implementation of the JASIG,” Jalandoni said.
He said both the peace panels have also agreed to exchange within this month a joint statement containing the agenda and points of agreement in the formal talks.
Norway, which is brokering the peace talks, helped negotiators meet June 15 in The Hague to discuss the preparations for the resumption of formal talks, according to Jalandoni.
It was unknown if communist rebels would sign a case-fire agreement with the government or not.
The United States listed the Communist Party of the Philippines and its political arm, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and their armed wing, the New People’s Army as a foreign terrorist organization on Manila’s prodding after the peace talks collapsed. The European Union also blacklisted the three groups.
The NPA accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on an agreement that would free political prisoners and stop the killings of activists in the country, among others.
Secretary Avelino Razon, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, on Wednesday said the government is ready to resume formal talks with communist and Muslim rebels in an effort to end decades of bloody secessionist war in the country.
Razon’s call came Razon’s announcement came after a series of recent bombings blamed by the police and military to the MILF killed six people and wounded dozens more in the southern Philippines.
Government peace talks with the NPA collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement that will put an end to four decades of bloody fighting in the country.
Peace talks also with the MILF also in August last year after the failed signing of the Muslim ancestral domain. The MILF said Arroyo reneged on a deal that would have granted to some four million Muslims their own homeland in Mindanao. But the Supreme Court said the agreement was unconstitutional.
“After 40 years of fighting, it’s time we give peace a chance,” Razon said. “The government sees a good prospect for the resumption of the talks in the immediate period given the commitment of both parties to work in addressing the issues that clog the negotiating table.”
Razon said the Arroyo government is determined to end the fighting not only in Mindanao, but all other conflict areas in the country. He said the government would like to see a conclusion of the peace process, particularly with the MILF and the NPA rebels by 2010 as envisioned by Arroyo.
Razon also said that the government has intensified its rehabilitation and development projects in Mindanao and other rebel-influenced areas. But rebels said continued government offensive resulted in a humanitarian crisis and unabated human rights violations against Muslims. (Mindanao Examiner)
About a thousand people attended a forum on anti-charter change at the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City in Mindanao on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. (Photo by Michael Madamba)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 8, 2009) – Civil and progressive groups opposed to proposals to change the Constitution held a forum on Wednesday in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines.
About a thousand people trooped to the Notre Dame University where the forum was held to listen to resource persons discussed proposals by allies of President Gloria Arroyo to amend the Constitution.
The proposal could prolong the stay of Arroyo who is to step down next year when her term ends.
Representative Satur Ocampo, of Bayan Muna Party List, spoke about his group opposition to the passage of the House Resolution 1109 which would convene a Senate-less Constituent Assembly that would tackle the changes in the charter.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles, who is one of those campaigning to amend the Constitution, said the changes are needed to introduce economic and other important reforms.
Ocampo said:”It is a total sell-out of national patrimony and sovereignty if we shall let this to happen. It is the future of the next generation which is at stake.”
He stressed some critical points that people should consider to resist charter change and among them are proposed amendments to “obliterate” nationalist provision especially on economic restrictions which does not allow 100% foreign ownership on lands, mining, shipping and education, among others.
One of the forum’s organizers, Pastor Orlando Zambrano, of the United Methodist Church, also expressed his dismay of what he called “Arroyo’s minions in lower congress which is to prolong the term of the president.”
“Her allies primarily working out to change the present presidential to parliamentary form of government through charter change, which is the only way for her to escape lawsuits and prosecution of corruption and plunder charges. Another term in favor of Arroyo as a president of this country would mean another burden to Filipino people.” Zambrano said.
Zambrano, who founded the group called “People’s MARCH,” issued a unity statement that reads:
We, the people’s movement against charter change or people’s march, express our strong opposition to House Resolution 1109, which would convene the House of Representatives into a constituent assembly (Con-Ass), and any move to amend the constitution perpetrated by the politicians who currently hold power.
The Filipino people cannot entrust the future of this country in the hands of those who profess to be selfless leaders while instigating or deliberately acting as complicit in massive graft and corruption, human rights violations and the sellout of our sovereignty.
A switch to a parliamentary form of government is not the key to solving any of the problems the country is facing. The problem does not primarily lie in the form of government or in the constitution. It is in the kind of leaders running this country.
We condemn the incessant attempts of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her minions to press on with charter change despite the public’s disagreement. Their greed and lust for power are truly appalling.
We believe that charter change is nothing but a ruse to keep President Arroyo in power and to advance the interests of the elites, foreign capitalists and the unscrupulous politicians.
We also believe that President Arroyo, fearing for her and her family’s prosecution for their involvement in corruption charges, human rights violations and other crimes against the Filipino people, is exhausting all means to remain in power.
We vow to stir the minds of the people to the true agenda of charter change and its would-be consequence to the lives of Filipinos. We vow to mount pressure against charter change. We vow to resist the money, power and influence of those advancing cha-cha.
We will not allow a despot and her cohorts to continue to plunder our coffers, trample on the sanctity of human rights and give up our vital resources to foreigners.
We call on everyone to take a stand and join us in resisting cha-cha. Now is not the time for apathy. We cannot afford to be fence sitters when the good of the country and our fate as a nation are at stake. (With a report from Michael Dumanba)
