Sulu holds peaceful Hari Raya celebration

Muslims pray outside the Sulu Capitol building in the southern Philippines as Governor Sakur Tan led the celebration the Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 11, 2010) – Tens of thousands of Muslims took to the streets in Sulu province to celebrate the Hari Raya which marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, police said Saturday.

Police said the Eid’l Fitri celebration passed on Friday without any incidents as Muslims prayed in mosques and filled the streets across Sulu, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

“People ended the Ramadan and celebrate the Eid with prayers across Sulu. The celebration is peaceful and joyous. There was no report of any violence, nothing, but peaceful celebration of the Hari Raya,” said Chief Inspector Amil Baanan, operations chief of the Sulu police force.

He said the governor of Sulu, Sakur Tan, led thousands of Muslims in the Hari Raya prayers held at a vast field in the town of Patikul. “The governor – as he did in the past - led thousands of Muslims in the prayers to mark the end of the holy month and the Eid celebration,” Baanan said.

Baanan said Tan later met with various business and civil groups in Sulu and also held a meeting with security commanders and government officials.

The Philippine Air Lines also opened its regular 3 times-a-week flights from Zamboanga to Sulu on Friday and further boosting trade and commerce in the province.

Last year, the Hari Raya celebration was disrupted by drastic military operations in Sulu after Marine General Benjamin Dolorfino, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, ordered the bombings of rebel targets in the province.

The military offensive triggered deadly attacks against security targets from rebel forces and widespread criticisms from conservative Muslims in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan Hari Raya Greetings

Philippine Army Hari Raya Greetings

Zamboanga Reformatory Center Hari Raya Greetings

Zamboanga City Council Woman Myra Abubakar Hari Raya Greetings

Habing Hari Raya Greetings

4th Civil Relation Group Hari Raya Greetings

Ex-mayor killed in ambush, 4 others wounded in Lanao Sur

MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 10) – Police forces mounted a massive search Friday for gunmen who ambushed a former town mayor in the restive province of Lanao del Sur.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, chief of the police force in the volatile Muslim autonomous region, said gunmen ambushed Alimatar Guroalim, a former mayor of Tugaya town, and wounded four of his companions.

Guroalim’s group was on their way to a mosque when they were ambushed in the town of Tugaya.

The motive of the attack was unknown and no individual or group claimed responsibility for the ambush.

Police suspect the attack was connected to politics or feud. Special elections are scheduled on November in the Lanao, one of five provinces the autonomous region.

Government troops were also sent to the province to help police forces maintain peace and order in the area. “We have deployed company-sized soldiers in the area to prevent more hostilities. There is an investigation going on right now,” said Brigadier General Rey Ardo, commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.

Ardo said the governor of Lanao del Sur, Mamintal Adiong Jr. also ordered a parallel investigation into the killing of the politician. He said Adiong also convened the crisis management committee on Friday and met with religious leaders and top security commanders to discuss how to diffuse the growing tension brought about by the killing of the former mayor.

“Tension is very high right now and we don’t want anymore bloodshed in the province,” he said.

General elections were held in the country on May 10, but some areas in Lanao province had been marred with violence and vote-buying that polls had been postponed. (Mindanao Examiner)

Witness Implicates Prominent Family in Philippine Massacre

MANILA, Philippines - Testimony has begun in the trial of a prominent Philippine politician accused in last year's massacre of 57 people, including at least 30 journalists.

A former house servant of Andal Ampatuan told the court Wednesday his boss had gathered his children at his home to discuss how to stop a rival politician from running for governor of southern Maguindanao province.

The employee, Lakmudin Saliao, said Andal Ampatuan Junior told his father the easy thing to do would be to "kill them all."

Andal Junior is the main suspect in last November's massacre in Maguindanao and he is one of nearly 200 people, including his father, linked to the crime.

The Ampatuan family had ruled the southern province for nearly a decade. Andal Junior was a local mayor who was also running for governor of Maguindanao at the time of the massacre.

Among those killed were several relatives of the rival politician, including his wife and sisters.

Many of the suspects remain at large.

Saliao testified that Andal Junior was waiting for the convoy on the day of the massacre and received instructions from his father by phone. He said the elder Ampatuan wanted to spare the lives of the journalists traveling in the convoy, but that his son insisted they be killed so there would be no witnesses.

Media watchdog groups say this is the deadliest single attack on reporters in the world. (AFP, AP and Reuters)

Manila bus hostage media chose 'ratings above lives'

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine reporters may have interfered with a police operation when reporting on a bus hostage crisis that killed eight Hong Kong residents, a television journalist told an official inquiry Wednesday.

Reporter Erwin Tulfo, in telephone contact with a sacked Manila policeman shortly before the gunman shot his hostages, acknowledged the behaviour of the journalists who covered the crisis raised ethical questions.

"The problem is, we are all chasing ratings, exclusivity. My colleagues may not admit it, but that was the main thing, getting an exclusive report," said Tulfo, testifying at a high-level official inquiry.

Armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, sacked policeman Rolando Mendoza took the busload of tourists hostage on August 23 in a desperate bid to clear himself of extortion charges and get his old job back.

Eight of the tourists were killed and seven others were injured in the central Manila standoff.

Teresita See, a representative of the Chinese-Filipino community and a member of the inquiry board, told Tulfo he and the other reporters airing the standoff live on television or radio may have violated broadcast ethics.

See said the broadcasts that aired around the world may have tipped off the hostage-taker about the movements of the police unit that eventually stormed the bus, while Tulfo hogged a telephone line being used by police negotiators.

"You tied up the open line of the hostage-taker for almost one hour, at the most critical hour," See said.

As the police negotiator was trying to offer a compromise deal, Tulfo's Radio Mindanao Network was giving Mendoza a live platform as he made a verbal threat to kill the hostages that was later carried out, See said.

"He wanted to grandstand and you provided the arena for that," See added.

After initially defending his actions, Tulfo, the chief reporter for Manila-based Associated Broadcasting Co television and also a reporter for the Radio Mindanao Network, later said that in hindsight media should own up.

"Madam Teresita Ang See was right when she was saying that something's wrong with the media," Tulfo said.

"From my point of view there's a lot of things to be changed," he added.

Representatives of the radio station earlier told the inquiry on Tuesday that they had violated no law or broadcast ethics in their reportage of the standoff.

The inquiry, which was due to wind up later Wednesday, has uncovered a litany of mistakes by police and other officials assigned to handle the hostage crisis.

On Tuesday the Philippine government said the media has agreed to new restrictions on covering police operations -- including limits on live broadcasts.(Agence France Presse)

Silsilah Forum holds orientation in Pagadian City

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 8, 2010) - The Silsilah Forum in Pagadian city in Zamboanga del Sur province held a orientation for some 50 faculty members and students as part of a series of an interfaith dialogue in Western Mindanao.

Most of those who attended the orientation were from the Zamboanga del Sur National High School. "This is one of the series of activities that the forum of Pagadian will undertake, with the support of Silsilah Dialogue Movement in Zamboanga City," organizers said.

Three of the SDM staff in Zamboanga were invited to the orientation - Norbert Solina, Aldamir Abdulkahal and Cristina Beltran - to share their dialogue experiences of Muslim-Christian relations, about the Harmony Chain Initiative, and about Silsilah.

The Harmony Chain Initiative is a special interfaith initiative of Silsilah which was initiated in the year 2000 for meditation and prayer for dialogue and peace, from Mindanao to the world. (With a report from Becky de Asis)

Troops recover explosives cache in South RP

Photos released by the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division shows two unidentified soldiers arranging dynamites troops recovered in Surigao del Sur’s Tagbina town. (Mindanao Examiner)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 7, 2010) – Philippine troops recovered dozens of dynamite sticks believed left behind by communist rebels in the southern province of Surigao del Sur, officials said Tuesday.

Officials said troops from the 75th and 23rd Infantry Battalions stumbled upon the cache of explosives on a trail frequented by rebels in the village of Santa Juana in Tagbina town.

“We have recovered a total of 68 sticks of dynamite. The recovery of these explosives saves a lot of life. The New People’s Army rebels have been using explosives to attack military and civilian targets in the southern Philippines,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Triumph Dominic Bagaipo, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division.

He said more troops have been deployed in the province to hunt down the rebels who were behind the spate of attacks in recent months. The rebels are fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (With a report from Geo Solmerano)

Dipolog Mayor Gets Coveted Military Award

DIPOLOG CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 6, 2010) - The Philippine military has named the local mayor as a model public official for supporting its various humanitarians programs.

The Western Mindanao Command conferred the prestigious "Model Public Official" to Mayor Evelyn Uy in a ceremony held recently in Zamboanga City.

Uy was the only elective official from Zamboanga del Norte province to have received such a recognition which was awarded during the 4th anniversary of Western Mindanao Command, state media said.

It said Uy earned the accolade for her outstanding performance in governance as a local chief executive and for her unwavering support to the Philippine Army's 101st Infantry Brigade.

The 101st Infantry Brigade is based in the town of Pinan in Zamboanga del Norte provinces and covers the entire province of Misamis Occidental, portion of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte. (With a report from Becky de Asis)

Core business values to help reduce poverty, target MDGs

MANILA, Philippines — Core values and business principles of a United Nations-led global initiative could help reduce poverty in the country and contribute to meeting the targets of the Millennium Development Goals, an official of the Philippine Business for Social Progress said Monday.

Rafael Cojuangco Lopa, PBSP executive director, said the delivery of basic services to the countryside with the able participation of the business community can help fulfill the government’s public role of achieving its MDG targets and the corporate sector’s commitment to the UN Global Compact Initiative in the Philippines.

PBSP is the national secretariat of both the GC Initiative and the MDGs.

Lopa said the MDGs are time-bound quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty adopted by at least 189 UN member-states as their official declaration at the onset of the millennium in 2000, with the end in sight of meeting the goals by the year 2015.

Meanwhile, the GC Initiative is basically comprised of 10 universal principles on human rights, labor standards, and the environment that erstwhile UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan advocated to world business leaders to embrace and enact during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 1999.

“PBSP is committed to leading the private sector to contribute to the achievement of the MDGS by adopting the Global Compact principles as part of their corporate citizenship practices,” Lopa said on the eve of a forum of Philippine MDG stakeholders and partners scheduled today (Wednesday, 8 September) at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.

The Stakeholders’ Step-Up Campaign Forum on the MDGs is expected to be attended by about 750 leaders of national and local governments, congress, business and civil society, academe, international development partners, and members of the diplomatic community.

Slated to present the Global MDGs Report 2010 is Dr. Jacqueline Badcock, UN resident coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative to the Philippines, with President Noynoy Aquino as keynote speaker.

Also in attendance will be Social Welfare Sec. Dinky Soliman and Education Sec. Armin Luistro, with Socio-Economic Planning Sec. Cayetano Paderanga to present the Philippines 4th Progress Report on the MDGs as Director General of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

Paderanga earlier said the MDGs are a set of development goals and targets for 2015 that the government has committed itself during the 2000 Millennium Summit to eradicate poverty and hunger, promote access to education, reduce child and maternal mortality rates, halt the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as malaria and other infectious diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and promote a global partnership for development.

Capturing the country’s progress towards achieving the MDGs, the 1st, 2nd, and mid-term progress reports on the millennium goals were published in 2003, 2005, and 2007, respectively. The stakeholders’ forum at Dusit Thani will serve as the venue for the launching of the 4th progress report.

With the support of UNDP, the government’s 4th report aims to provide an assessment of the MDGs progress in the country from 1990-2009 as well as recommendations critical for the nation to reach these goals by 2015. The 4th report will be submitted to the UN General Assembly which is expected to convene at the UN headquarters in New York on September 20-22. (Mitch Confesor)

DA agency, private firms ink agreement to develop coco peat dryer

Photo shows (from left to right) Noel T. Florido, FilCoco president, Ricardo L. Cachuela, PHilMech Director, Victoriano B. Ocon, Suki Trading Corporation president and Manolito C. Bulaong, PHilMech director for research and development show the copy of signed MOA. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Erwin Embuscado)

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 7, 2010) - The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization of the Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of agreement with private sectors to develop a drying system for export quality coco peat, in a simple ceremony, here.

The coco peat is also known as coir fiber pith or coir dust. This high value powder is the by-product when the coconut husks are processed.

The raw coconuts are washed and heat-treated before being processed into coco peat products. These are used for horticultural and agricultural applications.

Among the private firms who partnered with PHilMech are the FilCoco Ventures Inc., a private corporation engaged in the production and exportation of coco peat and the Suki Trading Corporation, a Cebu-based machinery manufacturer.

Manolito C. Bulaong, PHilMech director for research and development said the coco peat is used as a growing medium and soil conditioner. It is also widely used by vegetable growers using hydroponics.

One of the critical factors in making coco peat is the moisture content. “The moisture content should be 20 percent so that it will be easily compressed to form into slabs,” Bulaong said.

Meanwhile, Noel T. Florido, president of FilCoco Ventures Inc., said the country has abundant resources. However, they need drying facilities to supply the requirement of the world market.

According to Florido, the United States and European markets need thousand of containers of coco peat annually.

“The industry has a great export potential. We are far behind India and Sri Lanka, when in fact we can also be competitive,” Florido said.

Based on the agreement, PHilMech will design a drying system for export quality coco peat in collaboration with the Suki Trading Corporation. PHilMech and Suki Trading will also be responsible on the performance testing and evaluation of the prototype design.

Prior to this, PHilMech already set-up a flatbed dryer with biomass furnace for drying coco coir at the FilCoco processing plant in Alabat, Quezon.

FilCoco also plan to promote corporate farming to help the coconut growers in the area by giving them the opportunity to market their products. Thus, giving them added income.

Florido sees this move as a way to help the families in the island uplift their socio-economic status. “It pains me to see children who are working while their parents are just playing cards,” he said.

He also said, “Our venture into this business is a noble project because this will help alleviate poverty. There is future in the coconut industry.”

Signing the agreement for the project “Development of a Drying System for Export Quality

Coco peat” were PHilMech Director Ricardo L. Cachuela, Manolito C. Bulaong, Noel T. Florido and Victoriano B. Ocon of Suki Trading Corporation. (Erwin Embuscado)

Lanao's most wanted man killed!

MARAWI CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 6, 2010) – Police forces killed a bandit leader tagged as behind the kidnapping of a Muslim trader and the spate of attacks on commuter buses in the southern Philippines.

Police said Khalid Pansar was killed in a firefight in the village of Lumbac in Lanao del Sur’s Pualas town. The fighting broke out after police forces tried to arrest Pansar, shot and killed a Muslim preacher, Ustadz Andalawan Salic in the village.

Pansar clashed with policemen in a running gun battle that lasted almost an hour, said Senior Superintendent Cosanie Derogongan, the provincial police chief.

“PNP elements immediately responded and engaged in a firefight that ensued for almost an hour that resulted to the death of Khalid Pansar, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the different parts of his body,” Derogongan said, referring to police forces.

He said Pansar was Lanao del Sur’s most wanted man. He was also tagged as behind the series of highway robberies and the August 31 kidnapping of Abdulkarim Magarang in Marawi City.

“Further investigation disclosed that Khalid Pansar was engaged in a series of highway robbery, hold-ups along the Narciso Ramos Highway and alleged involvement in the abduction of Abdulcarim Magarang in Marawi City and burning of Rural Transit in Kapatagan town in Lanao del Norte,” Derogongan said.

He was referring to the August 26 attack on a provincial bus that left four people dead, including two policemen. Gunmen in police uniform flagged down the bus in Kapatagan town and shot its driver and his conductor and the policemen who were among the passengers.

The bus came from Cagayan de Oro City and was bound for Zamboanga City when the attack occurred. The motive of the attack was unknown.

Last year, gunmen also strafed a passenger jeep and killed and wounded at least six people on a highway near Tagoloan town in Lanao del Norte. (With a report from Becky de Asis)

Bomb explodes in Southern Philippine town

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 6, 2010) – An improvised bomb exploded early Monday at a market in the restive province of Maguindanao in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said there were no reported casualties in the attack which occurred at around 3:45 a.m. in the village of Bulalo in Sultan Kudarat town. “We are investigating this explosion and the motive of the attack,” said Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Hao, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

He said an 81mm mortar bomb was believed used in the attack. It was the second bomb explosion since last week after an improvised explosive also went off at a bus depot in Maguindanao’s Cotabato City on Thursday night, although no casualties had been reported.

The latest bombing came a day after police and military tightened security in the southern Philippines following the killing in Sulu province of an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Gafur Jumdail and two other militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terrorists.

Jumdail, brother of a key militant leader, Umbra Abu Jumdail alias Dr Abu, was fatally shot by police commandos. Hao said troops were told to stay alert for possible retaliatory attacks by the Abu Sayyaf in civilian areas in Mindanao.

It was unknown whether the Abu Sayyaf, which means “bearer of the sword,” has anything to do with the attack. The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed by authorities to the spate of terrorism in the volatile region, where security forces are battling Muslim and communist insurgencies the past four decades. (Mindanao Examiner)

Comandante Sayyaf muertos en choque de la policía en el sur de Filipinas

La ciudad de Zamboanga, Filipinas (Mindanao Examiner / 5 de septiembre 2010) - Comandos de la policía mató a un sub-líder de Al Qaeda-grupo vinculado con Abu Sayyaf en un enfrentamiento la madrugada del domingo en la sureña provincia filipina de Sulu, dijeron funcionarios el domingo.

Las autoridades dijeron que los combates murieron Gafur Jumdail en la remota aldea de Lapa en Maimbung ciudad antes del amanecer después de que comandos de la élite Fuerza Especial de Acción rastreó el terrorista y su grupo.

"Fuerza de Acción Especial de comandos se enfrentaron con Abu Sayyaf y mató a Gafur Jumdail en el pueblo de Lapa", el comisario jefe José RAMAC, el jefe de policía de Sulu, dijo por teléfono desde su puesto de mando en la provincia.

RAMAC dijo que varios militantes más fueron heridos cree en el choque. No dijo si había bajas en cuanto a la policía.

Jumdail es un hermano del líder de Abu Sayyaf Abu Jumdail Umbra alias Dr. Abu, que también estaba relacionado con el 08 de junio 2008 el secuestro del reportero de la televisión Ces Drilon en Sulu.

Los militantes interceptaron Drilon y sus dos camarógrafos Jimmy Encarnación y Angelo Valderrama, incluyendo su guía el profesor Octavio Dinampo persiguiendo al mismo tiempo una historia exclusiva sobre el Abu Sayyaf, que según las autoridades tiene vínculos también con el grupo militante indonesio Jemaah Islamiya llamado.

Drilon trabaja para el gigante de televisión ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, mientras que Dinampo enseña Ciencias Políticas en la Universidad Estatal de Mindanao.

El Abu Sayyaf fue marcado también como detrás de una emboscada del año pasado de un convoy de la policía, matando al comandante de la policía provincial, comisario jefe Julasirim Kasim y varios otros en la ciudad de Maimbung. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf commander killed in police clash in Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 5, 2010) – Police commandos killed a sub-leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in a clash early Sunday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said Sunday.

Officials said the fighting killed Gafur Jumdail in the remote village of Lapa in Maimbung town before dawn after commandos from the elite Special Action Force tracked down the terrorist and his group.

“Special Action Force commandos clashed with the Abu Sayyaf and killed Gafur Jumdail in the village of Lapa,” Senior Superintendent Joseph Ramac, the Sulu police chief, said by phone from his command post in the province.

Ramac said several more militants were believed wounded in the clash. He did not say whether there were casualties on the police side.

Jumdail is a brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Abu Jumdail alias Dr Abu, who was also linked to the June 8, 2008 kidnapping of television reporter Ces Drilon in Sulu.

Militants intercepted Drilon and her two cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, including their guide Professor Octavio Dinampo while pursuing an exclusive story about the Abu Sayyaf which authorities said has links also with the Indonesian militant group called Jemaah Islamiya.

Drilon works for the television giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation while Dinampo teaches Political Science at the Mindanao State University.

The Abu Sayyaf was also tagged as behind last year’s ambush of a police convoy, killing the provincial police commander, Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim and several others in the town of Maimbung. (Mindanao Examiner)

MILF leader's brother killed in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 4, 2010) - An unidentified assassin killed a brother of a senior Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader in an attack in the troubled city of Cotabato in the southern Philippines, police said on Saturday.

Police said gunman fatally shot Nasser Kabalu in the village of Bagwa late Friday. The victim's brother Eid Kabalu is a leader of the MILF and the group's former spokesman.

The motive of the attack is still unknown, but police said it has began an investigation into the murder. The victim, police said, was walking on his way home when the gunman tailed and shot him at close range.

The attacker, whom police initially identified as Abu, escaped after the shooting. (Mindanao Examiner)

Police tag more suspects in Zamboanga airport suicide bombing

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 4, 2010) – Philippine police have implicated a former lawmaker and two defeated mayors as allegedly behind the failed assassination of Sulu Governor Sakur Tan in a suicide bombing outside the Zamboanga International Airport.

Tan was among over two dozen people wounded in the August 5 terror attack. The bomber, Reynaldo Apilado, and Hatimil Haron, one of his cohorts, were killed in the blast.

Chief Superintendent Edwin Corvera, the regional police chief, said former Sulu Representative Munir Arbison was implicated by witnesses to the bombing, including two of his political allies, ex-mayors Najib Maldiza of Maimbung town, and Ahmad Nanoh, of Pangutaran.

Arbison ran against Tan in general elections in May this year, but he lost. Both Maldiza and Nanoh also lost in the elections.

Senior Superintendent Edwin Diocos, regional chief of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the three politicians were implicated by at least 4 witnesses who claimed to have knowledge of the failed assassination of Tan.

“Based on the testimonies of witnesses that they were among (those) who talked (and) conspired with each other (to kill Tan) in a certain place here in Zamboanga City and somewhere in Manila,” Diocos told reporters, adding the witnesses were present during the planning to assassinate Tan.

“The four witnesses were there present during the planning,” he said.

Police also implicated at least three more men – Allan Sabudin, Muamar Astali and Adong Salahuddin – in the attack after they were seen in a hotel security video in Zamboanga City together with Apilado and Haron before the bombing. The three men remain at large.

But police also accused Maulana Omar, Jojo Adam, Musimar Alih, Munir Hadjirul and several more who are allies of Arbison in the failed assassination of Tan.

Arbison in an interview with a local television station has denied all the accusations against him. “We will answer all the accusations. I know my conscience is clean,” he told TV 11.

Tan also survived a roadside bombing last year in Sulu province, but ten of his companions, including a town mayor, were wounded in the attack. One of the suspects in the bombing, Abner Tahil alias Abs was arrested late last month in the village of Kasangyangan in Jolo town in Sulu.

Tahil was also being investigated for his role in the latest attack on Tan.

National police chief Jesus Versoza said the attack was connected to the failed assassination of Tan last year. Police blamed the roadside explosion to the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf after two of its bombers were captured in a firefight with security forces and they pointed to Tan’s political foes as the mastermind in the failed assassination.

Corvera previously said they have received information from people claiming to have knowledge or were involved in the failed assassination of Tan. He said most of the information was passed to them through a police hotline they put up after the bombing.

He said information they received allegedly tagged a defeated congressional aspirant in Sulu province as behind the airport bombing while another implicated two defeated town mayors who are known political foes of the governor, and several policemen and that a bounty was put up by the mastermind to assassinate Tan. A third politician in Sulu, who lost in the May elections, was also implicated in the bombing. (Mindanao Examiner)

AHRC reports death of Filipino man after arrest in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 3, 2010) - The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported the mysterious death of a Filipino man who was arrested by Philippine authorities in Mindanao.

In a report Friday, it said the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines in Mindanao claimed Sumar Abdulwahab, who belonged to the Maguindanaon, an ethnic tribe, was found dead days after he was said to have escaped from authorities.

It said that on June 3 this year, officers from the National Bureau of Investigation, a special investigating body, arrested him in Sitio Manil in the village of Daliao in Sarangani’s Maasim town on murder charges.

The NBI is an agency attached to, and under, the supervision of the Department of Justice.

The NBI claimed they had arrest orders for Abdulwahab on charges of murder, which included one count of Murder, Multiple Frustrated Murder and Multiple attempted Murder.

The victim was seen sitting at a post of the Barangay Defense Force when the NBI officers, who were onboard four separate vehicles, arrived. They immediately cuffed his hands behind his back after showing him the arrest orders. The person manning the post was then told to take the victim's motorcycle to the office of the village chief.

On June 4, Abdulwahab's sister, Johaniya, and a council member of their village, had gone to the office of the NBI in the village of Lagao in General Santos City. The NBI, however, told them that they could only see Abdulwahab the next day. They were also told to bring the personal effects of the victim for him to use when they returned.

When Johaniya and others returned the next day at around 3 p.m. the NBI personnel refused them entry to their office and told her that Abdulwahab had escaped the night before at around 11 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. by breaking the glass window of the detention facility where he was held. After this visit to the NBI, the victim's family had not heard any news regarding his whereabouts.

But on June 8, five days after he had gone missing, the victim's family heard over the radio of the recovery of a dead body by scavengers in Malalag town in Davao del Sur province, a place which is a considerable distance from their town.

The decomposing body had been placed inside an oil drum filled with construction cement; his hands were tied behind his back and the body showed visible signs of torture. The corpse was found near a cliff after a foul smell had drawn the attention of the scavengers, who then informed the police.

After hearing the report over the radio, the victim's family had immediately gone to the place where the corpse was found. It is common in the Philippines for families of missing persons to check every reported recovery of bodies to see if it was their loved ones. In this case, the family's fears proved true.

When the family arrived at the local funeral parlor where the corpse was taken, they were only able to confirm that the corpse was that of Sumar Abdulwahab by his clothes and a picture of his child in a pocket.

In the post mortem report, it found that the victim suffered a 5.2 centimeter wound behind his ear, a skull fracture and contusion in his right check. Also, the victim's teeth had been extracted, the AHRC report said.

Alleged brains behind Zambo airport blast tagged: ABS-CBN

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Three former Sulu officials were identified by police on Friday as the alleged masterminds in the August 5 blast at the Zamboanga airport.

Former Sulu 1st District Rep. Munir Arbison, former Maimbung Mayor Najib Maldiza, and former Pangutaran Mayor Ahmad Nanoh were the brains behind the blast, according to Chief Superintendent Edwin Corvera, Zamboanga Peninsula regional police director.

The attack killed 2 people, including the suspected bomber, and injured 22 others.

Corvera said police have submitted additional information to the Department of Justice, adding the names of the 3 former officials on the list of suspects in the attack.

The other names added on the list of suspects are Maulana Omar, Jojo Adam, Musimar Alih, and a certain Munir Hadjirul, police said.

Multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder charges were earlier filed against 3 suspects -- Allan Saibuddin, Addung Salahuddin, and a John Doe.

Corvera said 4 witnesses have submitted sworn affidavits implicating the 3 former Sulu officials and 4 other suspects.

Senior Superintendent Edwin Diocos, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) regional director, said the witnesses took part in planning the airport bombing, which targeted Sulu Governor Abdul Sakur Tan.

The witnesses claimed that Arbison, Maldiza, and Nanoh hatched three separate plans to kill Tan, Diocos said.

The supposed schemes include a car bomb and the May 13, 2009 Patikul attack on the governor’s convoy.

The airport blast was “Plan C,” the CIDG official said.

Zamboanga City prosecutor Ricardo Cabaron is evaluating the affidavits of the witnesses to determine whether to charge the 3 former Sulu officials and the other suspects named in the case. (ABS-CBN Zamboanga - RJ Rosalado)


Link: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/09/03/10/alleged-brains-behind-zambo-airport-blast-tagged

Exotic fruits flood Sulu province

Exotic fruits, among them durian, are now flooding in the southern Philippine province of Sulu as peace and order continue to improve as locals prepare for the celebration of the Hari Raya festival, says Sulu Governor Dr Sakur Tan. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 3, 2010) – Exotic fruits are now flooding in the southern Philippine province of Sulu as peace and order continue to improve as locals prepare for the celebration of the Hari Raya festival.

Among the fruits that are bountiful now in Sulu are durian (Durio zibethinus), mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) and lanzones (Lansium domesticum) and farmers sell them at low prices that locals now are feasting on homemade jams.

Local officials attribute the bountiful harvests to the stable peace and security situation in Sulu, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

“Peace and order is very good. The security situation is excellent and trade and commerce are alive. Farmers enjoy the bountiful harvests and we have tons and tons of fruits – durian, mangosteen, lanzones among others,” said Sulu Governor Sakur Tan.

He said farmers can freely harvest their fruits without fear of attacks from rebels or operations by government forces.

And because there are so much fruits in Sulu, a medium-sized durian now sells for as low as 10 pesos each while a kilo of mangosteen is peg at 5 pesos and lanzones at 3 pesos a kilo.

Traders in nearby Zamboanga City and Basilan province are hauling the fruits and resell them at higher prices. In Zamboanga, durian sells for as much as 100 pesos a piece. Some even send them to as far as Manila where eating durian is a luxury rather than a delicacy because of its expensive prices there.

Sulu durian is considered by many as the best in the Philippines because of its small seeds and sweet white and yellow flesh.

Locals are now preparing for the Islamic festival Eid’l Fitr. The festival, which falls next week, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Eid’l Fitr is one of the highlights of the Muslim cultural and religious calendar. It is celebrated at the end of the fasting month or Ramadan, when the new moon is sighted.

The Malay words ‘Hari Raya' translate as 'Day of Celebration' or the ‘Festival of Breaking the Fast'. Muslims usually attend Eid prayers in mosque in the morning. The celebrations begin with the birth of the new moon of Syawal, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar.

The celebration will also coincide with the maiden flights of Philippine Air Lines to Sulu from Zamboanga City. Effective September 10, PAL flies between Zamboanga and Jolo three times a week on AirPhil Express-operated flights under our Code Share Agreement.

Sulu is located at the southernmost portion of the Philippines, lying between the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea, and is composed of over 150 islands and islets.

It boasts of a number of fine beaches, one of which is the famous Tubbataha Reef, a 33,200 hectare underwater splendor frequented by divers all over the world. It was honored by United Nations in 1993 as the first natural site in the Philippines to be inscribed in the prestigious World Heritage List. (Mindanao Examiner)

MILF Chieftain Murad Ebrahim Issues Ramadhan Message.

Al-Hj Murad Ebrahim. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Kidapawan City celebrates Hinugyaw Festival

Participants to the weeklong Hinugyaw 2010 Festival perform during a street dance on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 in North Cotabato province. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Geo Solmerano)

Unforgettable Images of War

An exhibition of photographs chronicling a century and a half of conflict documented by the International Committee of the Red Cross is currently being held at the Kidapawan City Hall.

The exhibit offers a unique and first-hand look at what war and armed violence do to people’s lives – from the heartbreaking loneliness of an elderly woman made homeless by last year’s war between Georgia and Russia to the unbridled joy of two brothers reunited after being separated by fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Forty unforgettable images of war-torn Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, and the Philippines by renowned war photographers Ron Haviv, James Nachtwey, Antonin Kratochvil, Franco Pagetti and Christopher Morris will be on display. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Geo Solmerano)

Rebels accuse Manila of mounting military offensives; resumption of peace talks in peril

An undated photo of Philippine communist rebel leader Jorge Madlos, the spokesman for the National Democratic Front, from the marxistleninist.wordpress.com.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 1, 2010) - Philippine communist rebels on Wednesday accused President Benigno Aquino of launching fresh military operations instead of pursuing peace talks that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the country.

Rebel leader Jorge Madlos, also a spokesman for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, said Aquino has ordered more deployment of troops and intensify the military operations against the New People’s Army across the country and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao.

He said Oplan Bantay-Laya ended in June this year, but Aquino extended it for shortly after he assumed the presidency. Oplan Bantay-Laya is a codename for the government’s anti-insurgency campaign launched 9 years ago.

“The extension of the Arroyo regime’s brutal nine-year anti-insurgency campaign Oplan Bantay Laya exposes Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s real “peace” plan: to step up military offensives against the New People’s Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front - daydreaming of inducing revolutionary forces to capitulate and to impose its demands on the peace talks consistent with the US Counter Insurgency strategy.”

“Oplan Bantay-Laya supposedly ended last June, but Noynoy Aquino, being the new commander-in-chief who fantasizes of ending the people’s democratic revolution in three years, ordered the fascist AFP to deploy its troops all over the country and intensify the AFP military campaigns and operations against the NPA beyond the Oplan Bantay-Laya June deadline. Since Mr. Aquino’s inauguration on June 30, these nationwide combat operations have been met, with intensified and widespread tactical offensives of the New People’s Army in Mindanao and in other parts of the country,” Madlos said.

He blamed the government’s anti-insurgency campaign for the spate of killings of activists and innocent civilians suspected as rebels in the country.

“Oplan Bantay-Laya spawned the extrajudicial killings of more than a thousand ordinary civilians, peasants and worker leaders, activists, religious and journalists, and committed countless other human rights abuses, including the dislocation of the socio-economic well-being of the people in the countryside,” Madlos said.

He said because of the Oplan Bantay-Laya, rebel forces also intensified its attacks in the country, more particularly in the southern Philippines where the New People’s Army carried out offensive operations in the provinces.

“Clearly, military incidents in Mindanao have escalated as a direct consequence of Oplan Bantay-Laya’s extension. Revolutionary forces only justly, and valiantly, fought back to defend the gains of the revolutionary movement, the masses and the revolutionary forces. Noynoy Aquino cannot play Pontius Pilate and excuse himself from culpability in the abuses and destruction wrought by the escalation of Oplan Bantay-Laya’s bloodbath, because, as the new commander-in-chief of the reactionary state’s armed forces, it is he alone who can authorize these nationwide AFP massive offensives. Mr. Aquino is poised more for war than in creating the favorable atmosphere for just peace,” Madlos said.

Madlos said it is the first time in recent history for a new government to have deliberately opted to wage war nearly as soon as it was installed.

He said previous regimes had some sense to allow military offensives to ebb in their first months in office, but not so in Aquino’s case. “He appears to be in a hurry to please his US imperialist masters, especially in laying the ground for the entry and the increase in profitability of mining companies and foreign-owned plantations such as Xtrata in South Cotabato and Dole Philippines in Surigao del Sur and Compostela Valley, and a host of other foreign monopoly capitalist investments,” he said.

Madlos said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Mindanao fears that peace talks are once again in danger of being derailed because of the extension of the Oplan Bantay-Laya which has already led to the escalation of a new cycle of government attacks that may even surpass the Arroyo regime’s bloody campaign.

He appealed to the public to demand the government to pursue the peace process and remove all obstructions that hinder its realization.

Government peace talks with the NPA collapsed in 2004 after rebels accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners in the country and the removal of the terrorist tag on the Communist Party of the Philippines and its political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the NPA. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippine Energy Efficient Project pipped in Mindanao

A man shows off incandescent bulbs he purchased from the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative that will entitle him to get free a maximum of six compact fluorescent lamps as part of the National Residential Lighting Program of the Philippine Energy Efficient Project. (Mindanao Examiner Photo).

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 1, 2010) – Manila has resumed the Philippine Energy Efficient Project or PEEP which aims to eliminate the use of incandescent bulbs and switch to compact fluorescent lamps as part of its National Residential Lighting Program.

As many as 68 million incandescent bulbs are believed being used in the country today, but the program aims to replace only 13 million of these bulbs. And 33 power cooperatives in Mindanao, including the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative have begun collecting incandescent bulbs and exchange them with compact fluorescent lamps.

The Department of Energy said the compact fluorescent lamp uses less electricity than incandescent bulb and due to its low power consumption, there is less pollution. It said a 60-watt incandescent bulb can be replaced with a 15-watt compact fluorescent lamp.

Up to six compact fluorescent lamps are being given to each consumer in exchange for their incandescent bulbs. However, only the most recent electric bill will be used as proof to entitle the consumers to claim their free compact fluorescent lamps.

But this early, the program is already laden with scandals, at least in Zamboanga City where the local cooperative has been reported selling 25-watt incandescent bulbs for 20 pesos each to consumers who then exchange them for free compact fluorescent lamps being offered by the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative.

The local prices of a 40-watt incandescent bulb range from 13 to 15 pesos each.

But under the National Residential Lighting Program, electric cooperatives are not allowed to sell incandescent bulbs to consumers. It was the second time this year that the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative launched the program.

Reynerio Ramos, the general manager of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, said he was not aware of the selling of incandescent bulbs inside the premises of the firm.

“Let me check about this. I am not aware of it,” Ramos said.

The electric cooperatives and private distribution utilities were also briefed in July this year in Mindanao about the program to ensure that Clean Development Mechanism rules will be followed not only during distribution of compact fluorescent lamps and proper disposal of incandescent bulbs.

The briefing provided step-by-step procedures on how to implement and record, and monitor the distribution of compact fluorescent lamps.

Scores of consumers have flocked to the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative to buy the bulbs and exchange them with fluorescent lamps so they can avail of the free government offer.

“Somebody is making a killing out of this program. Somebody is benefiting from this business,” said one consumer who purchased a dozen incandescent bulbs in the local cooperative and exchanged them for free compact fluorescent lamps.

Another consumer said he was able to buy six incandescent bulbs at the cooperative for 120 pesos and exchanged them with six compact fluorescent lamps and was contemplating of selling it to his neighbors for 75 pesos each.

Just this year, the Zamboanga City Cooperative was criticized for its purchase of brand new vehicles and luxury cars for its executives despite its huge debts and inefficient services.

The compact fluorescent lamps being distributed by the government is not for sale and the Department of Energy even printed on its boxes a telephone hotline number 02-82402267 where consumers can inquire about the program. The boxes also contained the picture of former President Gloria Arroyo, who first launched the program last year.

The project is worth over $31 million, mostly grant from the Asian Development Bank.

The government project intends to seek carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Through this mechanism, developing countries, such as the Philippines, can host projects that reduce greenhouse gases and help achieve the country’s sustainable development objectives.

The Department of Energy said PEEP is a project that will pay for itself through savings in terms of reduced energy consumption, reduced fuel importation, deferred power capacity addition and additional earnings due to trading of carbon reduction emissions. It said the government resources can very well be allocated to other priority programs.(Mindanao Examiner)

PAL opens flights to Sulu

Jolo is the capital of Sulu and is located at the southernmost portion of the Philippines, lying between the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea, Sulu is composed of over 157 islands and islets.

It boasts of a number of fine beaches, one of which is the famous Tubbataha Reef, a 33,200 hectare underwater splendor frequented by divers all over the world.

Tubbataha Reef Marine Park was honored by UNESCO in 1993 as the first natural site in the Philippines to be inscribed in the prestigious World Heritage List.

Effective September 10, PAL flies between Zamboanga and Jolo three times a week on AirPhil Express-operated flights under our Code Share Agreement.