MISS PAGADIAN 2007: The Candidates By Ariel Allera

From top to bottom: Japal, Mueller, Macalisang, Villamor, Rabasio, Real, Taylor, Calderon, Rambo and Monieva.

PAGADIAN CITY - This year, 13 lovely ladies are vying for the title of Miss Pagadian and the enviable opportunity to represent the city to Bb Pilipinas pageant. As scriptwriter of the search, I've had the chance to sit down with every one of the girls, so as to have an early inkling on who is going to be crowned Miss Pagadian 2007 at the City Gym come June 19.

1. Grace Japal is the life of every party owing to her sunny disposition in life. While others mistake her for being otherwise, close friends of this 18-year-old talkaholic could prove that she's actually approachable and a cheerful giver. She stands five-feet-four.

2. Principled and God-fearing are the two adjectives that best describe Susanne Mueller. At 18, this five-feet-four stunner studies Computer Technology at Southern Mindanao Colleges.

3. Cathylene Macalisang is a teacher wannabe from Southern Mindanao Colleges. Standing five-feet-four, this 22-year-old brown-complected beauty takes pride in Pagadian for teeming with beautiful ladies like herself.

4. Her fellow candidates might seem jealous of Merlie Villamor's queen-quality confidence in herself. However, this five-feet-five Criminology senior of Western Mindanao State University never fails to make their day with her endless funny tales. She's 19 years old.

5. Five-feet-five Chennie Jay Ramos Rabasio is a Forestry junior at Mindanao State University-Marawi. Born in Malaysia 17 years ago, she considers Pagadian her beloved hometown, though she visits the former every now and then to hug her dearly missed family.

6. Self-confessed good adviser Arianne Share Real was born in the African country of Libya 17 summers ago. She stands five-feet-five and goes to Misamis University in Ozamis City as a Nursing student. She comes home to Pagadian every weekend to get together with her family and friends whom she treasures most.

7. Tiffany Taylor is a Computer Science student at Western Mindanao State University. Describing herself as funny yet emotional, this five-feet-five American mestiza admits to not having had a boyfriend in her 17 years of age.

8. Fely Grace Calderon admits to having a harmonious relationship with her collegues in the pageant. Poised at five-feet-six and responsible enough at 22, this stenography-freak City Government of Pagadian casual employee finished Office Administration at Saint Columban College.

9. Computer Science junior Gerlyn Rambo is a self-confessed optimist who believes in the adage: Winners never quit. Quitters never win. All at five-feet-six, this reigning-queen dead ringer is 18 and hopes to be Claire Faye Penados's successor.

10. Irene Monieva, 19, is a Commerce student of Southern Mindanao Colleges where, in every corner, she's sought after for being voluptuous yet refined. This five-feet-six lass believes that there is goodwill among the constituents in this laidback city of Pagadian.

11. The 21-year-old Bernadeth Ones resembles a lot to 1996 Bb Pilipinas World Daisy Reyes. She is an Education senior and a majorette at Southern Mindanao Colleges. This five-feet-six beauty queen material describes herself as simple, down-to-earth and self-confident.

12. Zandra Alexa Manacap Rocio is 17 and a five-feet-six head turner at Southern Mindanao Colleges. Often mistaken for being snobbish, little do people know that this Sandara Park look-alike is flexible, down-to-earth, and a God-fearing person at that.

13. Another Southern Mindanao Colleges-HRM student is Nena Dawn Galon Goling. She is young at 17, yet she is determined to succeed in every endeavor that she gets into. This sweet morena belle stands five-feet-seven.

German National Wounded In Philippine Attack

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Jun) – Unidentified motorcycle gunmen shot and wounded a German national in broad daylight attack Wednesday in the Philippine capital, police said.

Police said Michael Heinen, 63, was onboard the family van driven by his adopted Filipino son, when gunmen attacked them.

The assailants fled after the gunshots drew public attention. Heinen’s son, Julius Balas, rushed the German to the hospital.

The victim’s condition is still unknown. Policemen did not give additional details of their investigations and the motive in the attack is still unknown.

Little was known about the German or his business in the Philippines.

Last week, a German national, Thomas Wallraf and his three Filipino companions, were kidnapped by former Moro National Liberation Front rebels in North Cotabato province in the southern Mindanao region.

Wallraf’s group was later freed unharmed after another rebel group, the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, threatened to kill the kidnappers and their families if they will not release the hostages. (Mindanao Examiner)

SPECIAL: Newspapers Must Embrace Digital Future To Survive

CAPE TOWN - Newspapers hoping to retain their readers and survive in the technological age must venture into the online and mobile phone spheres, a World Association of Newspapers (WAN) meeting heard Tuesday.

Speakers at a workshop said the newspaper was a dying breed but could avoid extinction by modernizing its approach and extending its digital reach.

"We have to learn that online is where the action is, and we have to move our journalistic resources there," Mario Garcia, chief executive of the United States-based Garcia Media Group, told delegates to the WAN's 60th world newspaper congress and 14th world editors' forum being held in Cape Town.

He described the new path of news, starting with an e-mail or mobile phone alert of a breaking story, followed by reading it online and ending in its publishing in a newspaper the following day.

In such a scenario, he said, there was little point in newspapers repeating the news hours after it first broke. They would have to learn to present readers with new, forward-looking story angles.

"Nowadays, you have to assume that the reader knows more than you do," he said.

Martha Stone, director of the WAN's "shaping the future of the newspaper" program, told delegates the time has come for news organizations to cross-train journalists to tell a story in print, radio, television or online.

"Many newspapers experience today their circulations going down, but their reach into the market place with the internet is surging," she said.

Leonard Brody, chief executive and co-founder of NowPublic.com, a website for "citizen journalism" with over 90,000 contributors in ordinary people worldwide, believed the monopoly of traditional media was being challenged by camera phones and other technology enabling anyone to find news.

"We are moving very quickly into an era where everything is being recorded," he told the meeting.

On Monday, a WAN report said newspapers around the world saw a 2.3 percent rise in circulation in 2006 and a growth in advertising revenue despite the rise of digital media. (We are reposting this article by the international news agency, Agence France-Presse, to help bring awareness about the power of the Internet in today's media. Ed.)

Granny Dies In Fire In South RP

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jun) – A 68-year old woman died in a fire that gutted her house in the southern Filipino town of Generoso, police said on Tuesday.

Police suspected arson as the cause of the fire and is investigating reports that a man was seen fleeing from the house shortly after it was engulfed by flames on Monday.

The woman, Justina Iran, was not able to escape from the burning house, police said.

Last week, four children and their grandmother also died in fire after being trapped inside their house in Bukidnon province. Arson investigators blamed faulty electrical wiring connection as the cause of the fire. (Romy Bwaga)

Boy Hangs Self In Southern Philippines

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jun) – A Filipino boy, scolded by his grandmother for fighting his cousin, hanged himself in the southern Philippines, police said Tuesday.

Police said the eleven-year old boy, Denmark Quinto, was found dead by family members inside his room in the family house in the village of Tienda in Digos City.

The boy, police said, was scolded by his mother and locked himself inside the room on Monday. It was the last time the woman saw her son alive.

Police said the boy was found hanging from a beam with a blanket tied around his neck.

Suicide among minors is not common in the Philippines because of the strong faith of Filipinos in Christianity.

Although there were many cases of crimes committed by children because of extreme poverty and illegal drugs, bad family upbringing and influence of those around them. (Romy Bwaga)

RP Tightens Security In Troubled South; Terrorists To Strike!

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jun) – Philippine authorities have placed the Muslim autonomous region in the strife-torn island of Mindanao in heightened alert because of possible terror attacks.

The increased security came just a week after the United States told its citizens not to travel in the troubled region because of the terror threats.

Terrorists may be planning an attack on civilian areas, particularly in bus depot and market places.

Filipino military spokesman, Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, said security forces are placed in “extreme” alert in Mindanao.

“We are tightening security in Mindanao because of this terror threat,” he told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

The region is home to local terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf and several rebel organizations, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People’s Army and smaller breakaway factions and bandits, blamed for ransom kidnappings of foreigners and wealthy Filipino traders.

Aside from these groups, Filipino soldiers are also tracking down about three dozen Indonesian and Malaysian bombers of the Jemaah Islamiya hiding in the southern Philippines.

Philippine soldiers on Monday already doubled its security in Maguindanao province following a foiled bombing of a packed commuter bus.

“We have taken extra efforts to ensure the safety of the public. More soldiers are deployed to help police guard public areas,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said.

The official said soldiers disarmed a homemade bomb planted in the bus late Sunday.

The bomb was discovered by the bus driver after he made a stop in the province to pick up passengers. The bomb was rigged to an electronic timer that would trigger detonation.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the foiled bombing, but the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya are actively operating in the province.

The United States Embassy said: “The Embassy has information that terrorists may be planning to carry out bombings at bus terminals and public market places.”

“U.S. citizens should exercise extreme caution in central Mindanao. U. S. citizens living and working in central Mindanao are urged to reassess their personal security and to keep a low profile, and should avoid public gathering places,” it added.

Terror attacks in Mindanao last month killed at least 11 people and wounded more than 100 others and Filipino authorities blamed the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya in the latest bombings.

In 2004, the Abu Sayyaf bombed a ferry off the Manila Bay and killed more than 100 passengers. Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya as foreign terrorist organizations and offered as much as ten million dollars for the capture of their leaders. (With reports from Juley Reyes and Mark Navales)

Pedicab Driver, Pinarangalan Dahil Sa Magandang Asal

NEGROS (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jun) – Isang pedicab driver ang binigyan ng parangal ng pamahalaang ng Dumaguete dahil sa magandang ugali at katapatan nito.

Si Fernando Lastimosa ay pinarangalan matapos na kumalat ang pagbabalik nito ng mga ibat-ibang bagay na naiwan ng kanyang mga pasahero sa bisikletang ipinapasada.

Nabigyan pa ito ng P5,000 bilang pabuya ng pamahalaan sa magandang asal na dapat umanong maging halimbawa hindi lamang ng ibang pedicab driver, kundi maging ng bawat Pilipino.

Nahiya pa si Lastimosa sa natanggap na papuri at sinabing nakalakihan na nito ang magandang asal na ipinamalas ng kanyang mga magulang kahit na lumaki sa hirap.

Halos maiyak naman ang mga kaibigan at kapamilya ni Lastimosa sa hindi inaasang parangal ng pamahalaan sa pangunguna ni Mayor Agustin Perdices. (Mindanao Examiner)

Mayor Ng Cebu, Umani Ng Batikos!

CEBU (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Jun) – Umani ng malaking batikos si Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña mula sa publiko dahil sa pagpapatigil nito sa konstruksyon ng isang maliit na paaralan dahil lamang sa diumano'y bengansa.

Nagalit umano si Osmeña sa Barangay chairman ng Lahug na si Mary Ann de los Santos ng sabihin nitong walang naitulong ang mayor sa nasabing lugar sa kasagsagan ng kampanya umano sa nakaraang halalan.

At dahil doon ay ipinatigil nito ang pagpapagawa sa paaralan na sana’y magagamit ng mga mahihirap na estudyante sa nasabing barangay.

Nais umano ni Osmeña na humingi ng tawad si Delos Santos sa pahayag, ngunit nagmatigas ang lider ng barangay at sa halip ay naglunsad ito ng “Piso Mo, Eskwelahan Mo“ fund drive at naguumapaw naman ang simpatya ng publiko sa kanya.

Nagambag-ambag na rin umano ang maraming mga residente upang makapangalap ng salaping magagamit sa pagtatapos ng paaralan. Nakarating naman ito sa pandinig ni Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia at agad naglabas ng resolusyon ang Provincial Board at nangakong magbibigay ng P5 milyong pondo bilang tulong.

Kaliwa’t –kanan naman ang batikos na tinanggap ni Osmeña sa naging desisyon nito. Tinanggal rin diumano ni Osmeña ang gasoline subsidy ng naturang barangay.

Pinuri naman ng publiko si Garcia at mga pulitikong tumugon sa sinapit ng Barangay Lahug.

Nais rin umanong humingi ng tulong ng mga taga-Barangay Lahug kay ex-Makati Rep. Mark Jimenez dahil kilala ito sa kanyang pagkamaawain at matulungin sa mga mahihirap, partikular sa mga bata. (Mindanao Examiner)

Grand Ma, 4 Kids Perish In Fire In Southern RP

BUKIDNON (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jun) – A grandmother and four of her nieces died in a fire after being trapped inside their house in the southern Philippine province of Bukidnon, police said Monday.

Police said the five were not able to get of their burning room in the village of Agusan, in Manolo Fortich town at the weekend.

Arson investigators blamed faulty electrical wiring connection as the cause of the fire.

Police said neighbors tried, but failed to rescue the victims because of the fire had engulfed the whole house.

The children were aged between 5 and 10 and their parents were out of the house when the fire broke out before midnight. (Romy Bwaga)

Photo: Philippine Troop In Jolo Island

A Philippine soldier holds his machine gun as he rests under a house in the island of Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago, where security forces are pursuing members of the terror group Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Rebels Execute Drug Man, Wife Beater In South RP

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jun) – Communist insurgents executed a farmer on suspicion he was pushing drugs and beating his wife in the southern Philippines, police said on Monday.

The 34-year old farmer was allegedly killed by musketry in the village of Darapuay in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province, a known stronghold of the New People’s Army rebels.

The execution occurred at the weekend and it sent a chilling warning to villagers that rebels will not tolerate the proliferation of illegal drugs and abuse on women.

Police said at least two gunmen were involved in the murder of Antonio Balbiran.

No other details about the man’s illegal activities were available and none of his relatives and family would want to give a statement about the killing.

The NPA is known to kill criminals and rebels have been involved in the past in the disappearance of many civilians suspected as government spy. (Romy Bwaga)

Failed Coup Leader, Palaban!

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jun) – Ipinangako ngayin ni dating Philippine Navy Lieutenant Seniorgrade Antonio Trillanes ang lahat ng paraan upang mailigtas ang mga nakapiit na opisyal ng militar na idiniin sa nabigong kudeta laban sa administrasyon Arroyo.

Sinabi ni Trillanes na gagamitin nito ang mga legal na hakbang sa sandaling mailuklok na sa Senado para matulungan ang grupo nina dating Marine Commandant Major General Renato Miranda, dating Scout Ranger chief Brigadier General Danilo Lim at Colonel Ariel Querubin.

Ikinatwiran nito na kung tutuusin ay hindi dapat nasa kulungan ang mga opisyal na naghahangad lamang ng pagbabago at mailabas ang kabulukan ng administrasyon.

"They are not supposed to be there. They risk their lives and detained because they attempted to fight against the wrong system," ani Trillanes sa pahayagang Mindanao Examiner.

Naninindigan rin si Trillanes sa harangin nitong masibak sa posisyon ang Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dahil hinding-hindi aniya malilinis ang pamahalaan hanggat ito ang nakaupo sa kapangyarihan.

Samantala, wala namang balak ang dating opisyal ng militar na iwanan ang mga kasamahang detenido dahil sa Oakwood mutiny sakaling manalong senador at hindi pa rin naaabswelto sa kaso.

Ayon kay Trillanes, maaaring ihirit na lamang nito sa Makati Regional Trial Court na payagan na makadalo sa mga sesyon ng Mataas na Kapulungan ngunit babalik sa kulungan pagkatapos.

Sinabi pa ni Trillanes, ika-11 sa mga lumalamang sa bilangan ng Commission on Elections at National Movement for Free Elections, na matatalo lamang ito kung garapalan ang gagawing pandaraya ng pamahalaan.

Kasunod ni Trillanes sa bilangan sina Ralph Recto at Juan Miguel Zubiri at ipinahayag nito na masungkit ang huling mga posisyon sa Magic 12 kung puwersahan nang isasakatuparan ng administrasyon ang pandaraya.

Sinabi pa ni Trillanes na mahahalata na ng husto at posibleng maging mitsa ng pag-aalma ng taumbayan kung dadayain ng Malakanyang ang bilangan ng mga boto upang ilusot sina Recto at Zubiri sa ika-11 at 12 puwesto.

Kasabay nito'y umapela si Trillanes sa kunsensya nina Recto at Zubiri kung hahangarin na manalo sa pamamagitan ng manipulasyon ng mga boto.

Sina Trillanes at Atty. Aquilino Pimentel III ang nananatiling nakapako sa ika-11 at 12 batay sa pinakahuling resulta ng canvassing ng Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Ayon kay Trillanes, maliwanag sa kanilang mga dokumento at impormasyon na pasok siya sa ika-11 posisyon na may kalamangang 250,000 boto kay Pimentel na lamang naman ng 140,000 hanggang 150,000 kay Zubiri na nasa ika-13.

Binanggit pa nito na kung tutuusin ay nadaya pa siya ng administrasyon ng isang milyong boto na maglalagay sana sa kanya sa ika-8 o 9 na ranggo.

Tinitiyak pa ni Trillanes na hindi nito palalagpasin ang mga opisyal ng Comelec na nakisangkot sa dayaan ng administrasyon at may mga ebidensya silang ilulutang sa mga susunod na linggo.

Samantala, imposible naman para kay Trillanes na makadalo sakaling magkaroon ng proklamasyon ang Comelec bunsod na rin ng higpit ng seguridad na kinakaharap nito. (Juley Reyes)

The Mindanao Examiner TV Commercial

(Mindanao Examiner Productions)

U.S. Humanitarian Efforts Praised In Southern Philippines

Philippine and U.S. sailor unload boxes of humanitarian supplies. (Photo contributed by Mark Alvarez.)

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jun) – Filipino villagers praised U.S. soldiers involved in the humanitarian mission in the southern region of Mindanao, where Philippine and American forces are holding a joint naval warfare training.

Some 2,000 troops are currently participating in the ten-day “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training,” known as CARAT 2007 which started last week.

CARAT 2007 is a combined naval tactical operations exercise involving fleet forces of both the Philippine and United States Navies. The exercise also focuses on relationship building through social and community service events such as providing free medical, dental, and veterinary care in host communities.

U.S. and Philippine sailors visited the Boalan Elementary School in Zamboanga City and donated sports equipment, books, food, and hygiene materials. They also provided free medical and dental care to villagers in Basilan island.

"We are really lucky about all these gifts and many students like me will benefit from the books donated by the Americans," Bennie Santiago, a grade schooler, told the independent Mindanao Examiner newspaper.

“Partnership is the key theme of the bilateral naval exercises ongoing between the United States and Philippine Navies,” the U.S. Embassy said on Monday.

Three U.S. ships -- the USS Harpers Ferry from Sasebo, Japan; the USS Ford from Everett, Washington; and the USS Jarrett from San Diego, California -- and three smaller Philippine boats are participating in the training. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bomb Attack Foiled In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Jun) – Philippine authorities on Monday doubled its security in the restive southern region of Mindanao following a foiled bombing of a packed commuter bus in Maguindanao province.

“We have taken extra efforts to ensure the safety of the public. More soldiers are deployed to help police guard public areas,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the independent regional newspaper, The Mindanao Examiner.

The official said soldiers disarmed a homemade bomb planted in the bus late Sunday. The bomb, he said, was rigged to an electronic timer that would trigger detonation. “We still do not know who was behind the foiled bombing,” he said.

Ando said the bomb was discovered by the bus driver after he made a stop in the town of Datu Andal to pick up passengers. It was discovered after the bus driver found a wire protruding from the bag and told the police about the find.

“The bomb is assembled from gun powder and nails and batteries and wires. We are just lucky that the bus driver is vigilant,” Ando said.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the foiled bombing, but terrorist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesian Jemaah Islamiya and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels are actively operating in the war-torn province.

Just last week, the United States Embassy in Manila warned its citizens not to travel to Mindanao because of possible terror attacks.

“The Embassy has information that terrorists may be planning to carry out bombings at bus terminals and public market places,” it said.

“U.S. citizens should exercise extreme caution in central Mindanao. U. S. citizens living and working in central Mindanao are urged to reassess their personal security and to keep a low profile, and should avoid public gathering places,” it added.

Terror attacks in Mindanao last month killed at least 11 people and wounded more than 100 others and Filipino authorities blamed the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya in the latest bombings.

In 2004, the Abu Sayyaf bombed a ferry off the Manila Bay and killed more than 100 passengers. Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya as foreign terrorist organizations and offered as much as ten million dollars for the capture of their leaders. (Mark Navales)

Press Statement Of Abducted UCCP Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero

What does it take a government to have the nerve to abduct, torture, and terrorize my family on the basis of an old inciting to sedition case and a baseless murder charge?

Far more absurd is the accusation that I am the Secretary of the CPP Provincial committee in Cavite.

This lie that they tried to extract from me by means of physical, mental and psychological torture and projecting me in public as a "hand-gun and grenade carrying rebel."

I am a Pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and never participated in any killings, illegal or unlawful activities, or any common crime.

My family and I have just taken a tricycle from the local church which I have served for two consecutive years (June 2006-2007) where we just celebrated UCCP's and the local church's 59th and 72nd anniversaries respectively (On May 27, at around 5:30 pm, a white van cut the tricycle's path and military-looking men quickly alighted to grab me; despite my plea that they show me the warrant they said they had. I was man-handled and forcefully shoved inside the van, put a handcuff on my hands behind me, covered my head with a cloth and packing tape, was beaten, punched and kicked repeatedly.

They brought me to a place I didn't know. Here, still handcuffed, men would take turn interrogating and beating my head with their fists and blunt objects. (Like a 1,000 ml mineral bottle and other objects). All throughout, layers of plastic bags covered my head. My torturers would tighten the bag until I could no longer breathe. I passed out two times and urinated in my pants.

They made me shake my head for about an hour and beat me whenever I stopped they said they would do these things to my family if I did not cooperate. I was forced to give names and addresses of my whole family, officers of church and conferences, name of my administrator at Union Theological Seminary where I am studying theology, leaders of progressive labour and peasant organizations in Southern Tagalog.

They opened my computer by forcing me to give the password, got my e-mail password. They erased all of my church, school and personal files and replace it with documents that belong to the so-called underground left.

After about twelve hours, they put me back on the van still handcuffed and blindfolded. They threatened to kill me, burn me or bury me. They continued to beat me and make new names for me. They got my SIM card.

They called me Pastor-Impostor. And lectured me on the "evils" of communism and how the church, legal people's organizations are "used" to create trouble by criticizing the government.

When the van stopped, it took an hour before they led me down, made me sit down and lie down. After an hour, they removed my blindfold. Here I learned I was in Imus, Cavite specifically at Camp Pantaleon Garcia, Cavite Provincial Police Office (PPO).

Later on in the afternoon, that was the only time I saw the warrants of arrest and to what unit of the PNP I was turned over to by my abductors.

Now that I have the time to collect my thoughts and view my situation inside what police offices "call a subhuman" cell, let me make a preliminary analysis of my unfinished ordeal.

(1) The unit which abducted me is an organized AFP unit which operates covertly or below the law. It is composed of elements coming from different units of AFP's Intelligence Community. As a counter-insurgency unit, it uses ex-NPAs. They are lawless enforcers.

(2) Making use of court cases which involves suspected personalities of the left, no matter how weak, these cases may be served and used to make the arrest legitimate. In my case, I am implicated in a Murder Case in 1990. Case files show that I do not have a direct or indirect link to the crime.

(3) To bring me to the court by means of the arrest warrants issecondary. Their primary objective is to extract information from meby means of torture.

(4) It is also meant to terrorize my family, my relatives, friends, church members and practically everyone I know and who know me. It creates a thinking that this repeated attack on a person's right, which may end in incarceration or death, can happen to anybody.

I am outraged by their branding me as a "Pastor-Impostor" because it is an affront to the sacred office I have sworn to serve God Almighty who knows every heart and mind.

Finally, I hold the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government responsible for the abduction and torture I have suffered and the subhuman captivity I am forced to accept. The GMA Administration should listen to the repeated cries of the people to stop violation of human rights and the political killings.

They may have put in jail, but my spirit is free and firm because God is with us always.

(SGD.) PASTOR BERLIN V. GUERRERO

United Church of Christ in the Philippines

Inside the Camp Pantaleon Garcia
Cavite Provincial Police Office
Imus, Cavite



Note: Please find related stories and articles about Pastor Berlin Guererro (Ed.)

Photo: Historic Bud Dajo In Sulu Archipelago In Southern Philippines

A Muslim village sits on the foot of the historic Bud (Mount) Dajo in Jolo island in the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines.U.S. and Philippine troops are currently holding joint amphibious training off the Sulu Archipelago. U.S. forces under the command of Major General Leonard Wood, a naval detachment comprising 540 soldiers, along with a detachment of native constabulary, armed with artillery and small firearms, attacked a village hidden in the crater of the dormant volcano Bud Dajo on March 10, 1906. No American soldiers were killed, though sixteen were wounded; more than 600 mostly unarmed Muslim Moro villagers were killed. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

AFP At Navy, Hugas Kamay Sa Torture Sa Dinukot Na Pastor!

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jun) – Katulad ng inaasahan, mariing itinanggi ng Philippine Navy na pinahirapan at binugbog ng intelligence agents nito ang isang pastor ng United Church of Christ of the Philippines na si Berlin Guerrero na pinagbintangan miyembro ng rebeldeng New People’s Army.

Ang mouthpiece ng Armed Forces na si Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro ang mismong nagsabi na base sa inisyal na resulta ng pagsisiyasat ng Navy sa nasabing alegasyon ay hindi umano ginalaw ng mga sundalo ang pastor makaraang arestuhin ito sa bayan ng Binan sa lalawigan ng Laguna.

Ngunit mismong ang Philippine National Police ang nagsabing walang kinalaman ang ahensya sa alegsasyon ng pagpapahirap sa alagad ng Simbahan.

"The Philippine Navy denied subjecting Pastor Guererro to torture," ani Bacarro. Subalit, tiniyak ng opisyal na handa ang AFP na harapin ang anumang alegasyon ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao.

Inamin rin ng pastor na siya’y pinahirapan at pilit na pinaamin na isang lider ng NPA at isinabit rin ng mga awtoridad ito sa pamamaslang.

"If it is found out that there is torture committed or there is a breach committed by members of the Philippine Navy, this will be subject to sanction, administratively and criminally," dagdag ni Bacarro.

Naunang sinabi ng pamilya ng pastor na ito'y dinukot ng mga sundalo. Agad naman ipinasa ng Navy sa pulisya ang pastor matapos na mag-ingay ang UCCP at mga relihiyosong grupo sa ibang bansa ukol sa pagdukot sa biktima. (Juley Reyes)

Armed Forces, Duda Kay CPP Founder Joma Sison!

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jun) – Malaki ang duda ang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) sa pag-aangkin ni Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison na hindi na ito konektado sa rebeldeng New People’s Army (NPA) at sa sariling organisasyon.

Sinabi sa pahayagang Mindanao Examiner ni AFP spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro na ipinahayag lamang ni Sison ang naturang pagdistansya sa CPP at NPA, gayun rin sa National Democratic Front of the Philippines upang protektahan ang sarili nito, ngunit matibay pa rin ang impormasyon ng militar na nananatil itong lider ng organisasyon.

"This was done to protect himself but basically what the information that we have on the ground is that he is still recognized as the top leader of the CPP-NPA," ani Bacarro.

Una nang inaangkin ni Sison na 29 na taon na siyang wala sa komunistang samahan ngunit sinabi ni Bacarro na may mga dokumento silang hawak na aktibo pa rin si Sison sa CPP-NPA.

Kahit aniya itinanggi ni Sison na siya ang nagpapakilalang "Armando Liwanag", naniniwala ang militar na kinikilalang lider ito ng mga gerilya at patuloy pa ring nagbibigay ng mga kautusan.

Kasabay nito, ipinauubaya na lamang ng AFP sa European Union kung tuluyang maihahanay sa mga terorista si Sison.Hinamon rin ni Bacarro si Sison kung talagang hindi na kabilang sa CPP-NPA ay kusa itong bumalik ng Pilipinas at harapin ang mga kaso. (Juley Reyes)

Photo: Military Accomplishments

The 1st Marine Battalion Landing Team-8 headed by Col.Ramiro Alivio (center) congratulates his men under Lt. Col Felix Almadrones in Basilan island in the southern Philippines where soldiers seize assorted weapons and munitions, including a 50-caliber machine gun after a clash with Abu Sayyaf gunmen led by Abdul Karim Hamjali.

And the Army’s 54th Engineering Brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Jorge Nomos hands over the symbolic key of the completed JMAT project to Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. The construction of "Bantay Ceasefire" and 6th Infantry Division Peacekeeping force facilities is in coordination with the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province. (All captions by Mark Navales and Merlyn Manos/Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

Rebels Condemn Philippines-Australia Defense Pact

Gregorio Rosal, Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman. Rosal has condemned the signing of a new defense pact between Manila nd Canberra that will allow Australian troops to train Filipino forces in Philippine soil.

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jun) – Filipino communist rebels have criticized President Gloria Arroyo for signing a security pact with Australia that would allow troops from both countries to hold joint anti-terrorism warfare training in the Philippines.

The defense cooperation accord called the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is aimed at enhancing military capabilities of both countries in fighting terrorism and transnational crimes.

The agreement contains key elements such as the basis of visits, entry and departure conditions, how training and exercises are to be conducted, carriage of arms, security and criminal jurisdiction, provisions, importation and exportation regulations and environmental protection.

Rebel leader Gregorio Rosal said the agreement only furthers foreign military intervention in the Philippines, which is a violation of the national sovereignty of the Filipino people.

"With the Philippine-Australia SOFA, we can expect closer and more sinister coordination between U.S. and Australian military troops in the Philippines in carrying out combat, reconnaissance, espionage and other military activities in violation of Philippine sovereignty," Rosal said.

He said the SOFA is similar to the Visiting Forces Agreement between the United States and the Philippine governments.

“Through the VFA, the American military has been able to permanently deploy a significant number of combat troops, reconnaissance forces, intelligence operatives and other open and covert interventionist forces in Philippine territory.”

“U.S. forces in the Philippines have also maintained a practically permanent base of operations in Zamboanga City,” Rosal said.

He also cited Australia's all-out support for the so-called U.S. interventionist wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

With the signing of the SOFA, Defense Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the Philippines is to receive 28 patrol crafts worth some four million dollars from Australia.

The boats would be used to patrol Mindanao’s huge marshlands, used by rebels and terrorists as a springboard to launch terror attacks. Aside from patrol crafts, Australia would also spend four million dollars annually to train Filipino troops in anti-terrorism warfare.

Arroyo the SOFA will help to professionalize the Philippine military through training and advanced education along with the vital contribution of special sea crafts to help us fight terrorists lurking in the swamps and shadows of remote southern islands.

“Like the Philippines, Australia has felt the lash of terrorism on its citizens. By working together on a regional basis, we hope to make our country and the entire region safer and more secure for our God-fearing people,” she said.

Communist rebels have previously threatened to attack U.S. targets in the Philippines.
Zamboanga City is host to a huge number of American soldiers and communications bases, but the local mayor Rodrigo Duterte has flatly rejected a government proposal to hold a joint RP-US anti-terror training in Davao City.

The Philippines is also working for a similar military cooperation with Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. Manila is currently holding joint anti-terrorism training with the United States off the Sulu Archipelago. (Mindanao Examiner)

Smart Bro, Inireklamo!

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 03 Jun) – Posibleng malagay sa iskandalo ang Smart Communications dahil sa pagbebenta nito ng mga personal computers na may tatak na Intel Pentium 4 processor sa kabila ng Celeron lamang ang gamit nito sa mga PC sa ilalim ng Smart Bro internet.

Inireklamo ang naturang PC dahil sa sobrang bagal nito. Kahit ikabit pa umano sa broadband o DSL connection ng PLDT at ibang Internet server ay wala rin epekto.

Unang inalok ng Smart Bro sa mga kliyente ay pawang mga IBM computers, subalit sa dakong huli ay tila “generic” na ang mga piyesa ng kanilang PC na ang pangalan ay “VIPER” at Samsung naman ang monitor.

Patuloy rin umanong isinasatabi ng mga customer service representatives nito ang maraming reklamo ukol sa nasabing mga computers.

Hindi naman mabatid kung alam ng Intel o kung may pahintulot ang Smart at ang supplier nito ng mga VIPER computers na gumamit ng sticker na may tatak “Intel Pentium 4” sa kanilang produkto kahit na Celeron ang processor ng mga ito.

Maging ang karton ng CPU ay may tatak rin P4 na sa uang tingin ay mapagkakamalang Pentium 4, subali’t “Made In China” naman ang nakatatak ditto.

Idudulog umano sa Department of Trade and Industry ang nasabing reklamo.

Ibinibenta ng Smart ang VIPER computer nito kasama ang Internet commection bilang package sa halagang halos P21,000 sa loob ng isang taon. (Mindanao Examiner)

Journalist Slayer Transfered To Zamboanga Jail

Slain journalist, Edgar Damalerio (left) and policeman-turned-murderer, Guillermo Wapile in these undated photos.

PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jun) – A policeman-turned-journalist slayer was transferred from here to another jail in Zamboanga City after allegedly receiving death threats.

Guillermo Wapile, the murderer of broadcaster Edgar Damalerio, has been brought to the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center (ZCRF). Wapile, formerly assigned with the Pagadian City police force, is branded as “high-risk.”

The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Western Mindanao have confirmed the transfer of the criminal, according to the Philippine News Agency.

“ZCRC warden Supt. Victor Borres disclosed Saturday that former policeman Guillermo Wapile was transported last week under heavy guards to the ZCRC,” it said.

“Wapile's transfer is in line with an existing Supreme Court administrative circular allowing the transfer of "high risk" prisoner or inmate to a safer detention center,” the agency quoted jail superintendent, Victor Borres, as saying.

Borres claimed that Wapile is also facing separate charges in court for robbery and carnapping. He will not be allowed to go out of his detention cell without jail guards accompanying him and his hands will be handcuffed, he said.

“Food that will be brought to Wapile's cell will also be thoroughly inspected as part of the security measures,” Borres said.

Wapile was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in 2005 for murdering the journalist. At least 3 witnesses in the killing of Damalerio were also killed one after the other.

Despite Wapile’s arrest, the mastermind in the murder of the journalist remains unknown up to this time and Damalerio’s family has been hiding because of death threats.

Damalerio, a staunch anti-corruption crusader, was shot dead outside his office in Pagadian City in 2002.

The motive of the killing is also unknown, but police in Pagadian City tried, but failed to cover up the murder. It also presented a fall guy to cover up for Wapile, who went into hiding until his arrest.

The Philippines now ranks second to Iraq on the list of deadliest countries for journalists in 2005, according to international media group Reporters without Borders.

Dozens of journalists were killed in the Philippines the past decade and most of the killings remain unresolved. (Mindanao Examiner)

Amok Kills 10 In Central RP, Police Say

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jun) – About two dozen people were killed and wounded before sunrise on Saturday after a man ran amuck and hacked his neighbors in the central Philippine province of Samar, police said.

Police said the man was apparently under the influence of liquor or possibly drugs when he went into a murderous rampage on a village in Calbayog City.

Armed with a bolo – a long heavy knife with a single edge – the man attacked everyone on his path and killing ten people and wounding at least 14 others before surrendering.

Police said among his victims were relatives and children, including a pregnant woman who was hacked dead inside her house.

The motives of the attack were unknown and the man has not spoken yet about what he did, police said. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Police Tags Commies As Behind Compostela Ambush

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jun) – Police on Saturday tagged the communist New People’s Army (NPA) as behind the attack on two provincial engineers in Compostela Valley in the southern Philippines.

Police said the two -- Joseph Germo and Dominador Abedilla – were seriously wounded in the ambush in the town of Montevista on Thursday.

The motive of the attack is still unknown, police said, but it was quick to blame the NPA.

It said the two engineers were onboard a motorcycle and heading to a village to inspect a solar drier project of the provincial government when gunmen opened fire on them. The two men are still in hospital.

Police said the rebels may have mistaken the duo for soldiers. The NPA is fighting more than four decades of Maoist war in an effort to topple the democratic government and put up a communist state. (Romy Bwaga)

RP, US Marines Finish Month-Long Markmanship Training In Basilan Island

Philippine Marines pose with their American counterparts in Tabiawan,village in Isabela City in Basilan province during the closing ceremony of a month-long Joint Expertise Exchange Training. Also in the photo are Lt. Charlie Loya (right), team leader of the U.S. marine contingent and Col. Ramiro Alivio, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade. (Photo contributed by Dave Malcampo, PIA Western Mindanao)

BASILAN ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jun) – Philippine and American Marines finished a month-long joint weapons and counter terrorism training in the southern island of Basilan.

The Philippine Information Agency said the recent training, which focused on weapons, marksmanship, tactics and counter terrorism strategies, were conducted by the Philippines’ 1st Marine Brigade and the U.S. Marine Special Operations Company “A” (MARSOC).

The training team was composed of Lt. Col. Maximo Balisteros, Operations Officer of the 1st Marine Brigade; Maj. Gregorio Hernandez, Operations & Training Officer of the 6th Marine Battalion; and Lt. Charlie Loya, 2nd Platoon Commander of the Alpha Company, Marine Special Operative Command, it said.

“An officer and 79 enlisted personnel from the Philippine Marines joined the training. From the US Marines, 1 officer and 24 enlisted personnel participated,” PIA said.

The exercise was dubbed Joint Expertise Exchange Training.

Colonel Ramiro Alivio, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade, said the training provided enhanced capabilities of both Filipino and American soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare. (Mindanao Examiner News Service)

Soldiers of Misfortune: Children as Weapons

A child warrior of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front during a combat training in the southern Philippinbes. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service/Mark Navales)

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 02 Jun) - For 377 days, Gracia Burnham, an American missionary, was held captive by Abu Sayyaf, a Filipino group associated with Al Qaeda.
During that time, she experienced horrors we can’t even imagine. She also gained an insight to one of the world’s most pressing issues.

I’m not talking about Islamic extremism, although Burnham obviously has some hard-earned insights into that phenomenon. I’m talking about the use of child soldiers.

After being kidnapped, Gracia and her husband Martin, whose story is told in the June 4th issue of the New Republic, were starved and force-marched through the jungle. Along the way they saw other hostages beheaded and raped. Finally, she saw her husband Martin die after a botched rescue attempt.

One of Burnham’s principal tormentors was a 14-year-old Abu Sayyaf soldier named Ahmed.

Burnham admits to loathing him for “hoarding food when she had none, throwing stones at her while she bathed—fully clothed—in the river, and pushing her along the trail saying ‘faster, faster.’”

And yet Burnham prayed for a way to love Ahmed. She got her chance after he was wounded in a firefight and soiled himself. When she saw that he was embarrassed, she thought of her own son and felt love for Ahmed. She washed Ahmed’s clothes in the river before he was taken into the jungle on a stretcher, bound, gagged and “stark raving mad.” To this day, she has no idea what happened to him.

Apart from being loved by his victim, Ahmed’s story is typical. On any given day, there are an estimated 250,000 children, some as young as eight, being used by “state-run armies, paramilitaries and guerilla groups around the world.” They’re employed as soldiers, porters, sex slaves and even human mine detectors.

In Uganda alone, 25,000 to 30,000 children have been abducted by an especially brutal group calling itself “The Lord’s Resistance Army.” Children are brutalized and then made to brutalize and kill others, including their own siblings.

Other countries where child soldiers are being used include Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Burundi, to name but a few. However the children are “recruited,” the result is the same: “their health and lives are endangered and their childhoods are sacrificed.”

If all of this comes as a surprise to you, you’re not alone. The war in Uganda, never mind who’s fighting it, has been called a “forgotten war.” That’s the first thing that needs to be changed. The church needs to draw attention to what, by any reasonable measure, is a humanitarian crisis. To help you understand the issue, we’ve got some resources at our website.

You may also want to learn about a recently-introduced bill called “The Child Soldiers Prevention Act.” Co-sponsored by Senator Brownback, it seeks to put into action what the Congress has already put into words: that the United States should “lead efforts . . . to end this abuse of human rights.”

Not surprisingly, Christians are among the bill’s principal sponsors and supporters. Because if Gracia Burnham could love Ahmed, the child soldier who tormented her, the rest of us surely can at least speak out on behalf of the many thousands like him.

In the Philippines, child warriors are rampant across the country's regions -- from northern Luzon to the Sulu Archipelgo in the south, rebels and terrorist groups and private armies of political warlords exploit these innocent children.

The use children to spy on military and police and often trained in combat to kill. The Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the New People's Army and the Abu Sayyaf and even the Jemaah Islamiya used children in the Philippines as combatants and little is being done by the government to prevent all these abuses. (Breakpoint.org with Chuck Colson,this commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley)

BABAE KA Party List Thanks Supporters

MAKATI CITY - The Babae para sa Kaunlaran (BABAE KA) women's party-list would like to express our gratitude to those who supported, campaigned and voted for the organization, as well as to those who in one way or another sympathized with us during the most trying times of the campaign.

We could say that it is a campaign filled with unexpected challenges. From the start we knew that it would be difficult for us to gather the number of votes needed for a partylist to achieve its electoral objective especially given our meager resources compared to other groups. But still we persist.

We dared to campaign in the hope that it will be a principled one -- a campaign based on programs and platforms and not on the number of posters, streamers and media advertisements. However, we find out that it is more than that. During the party-list campaign, mudslinging and black propaganda prevailed perpetrated by those party-list groups in power.

We never expected those leftist organizations to result to dirty tricks, lies, deceit and harassment but they did. The results of the party-list election and the ongoing drama wherein various organizations have been accused of vote padding are proofs that all the so-called charges against BABAE KA are fabricated by those with malicious and self-serving motives.

BABAE KA has been vindicated.

On the other hand, our issues against these organizations are true and would be proven, if the COMELEC will not give in to pressures from these leftists. To date, BABAE KA officers are still being harassed thru text messages.

But as what we have stated, BABAE KA will never be cowed by the bullying tactics of these leftist organizations.

The experience in 2007 party-list election will serve as a valuable lesson for BABAE KA. We shall come back stronger, better and much more prepared in 2010.

Again, thanks to all.

Mabuhay ang Kababaihan!

Mabuhay ang Sambayanan at Pamilyang Pilipino! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Philippine High Court Junks Rebellion Charges vs. 6 Militant Solons

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 1 June) – Political activists and progressive party list groups allied with the labor union Kilusang Mayo Uno demanded immediate the release of a detained militant lawmaker following a decision Friday by the Philippines’ Supreme Court junking rebellion charges against the politician and five others solons.

Rep. Crispin Beltran, also known as “Ka Bel” (Comrade Bel) is facing rebellion charges and currently under medical care at the Philippine Heart Center.

Aside from Beltran, the government also charged Reps. Saturnino Ocampo, Liza Masa, Rafael Mariano, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador.

“The decision of the Supreme Court affirmed the innocence of Ka Bel and that he must be freed right now and not a moment must be wasted. It took more than a year of campaigning for Ka Bel’s freedom and justice can never be sweeter than this,” Elmer Labog, of the KMU, said in a statement sent to the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Labog said: “Since the case has been dropped, there’s no reason for his continued detention. The pressure was just too much and something had to break. Various organizations here and around the world, including the Amnesty International and the Inter-parliamentary Union, condemned the illegal arrest of Ka Bel.”

Beltran has been under detention for more than a year now. (Mindanao Examiner)

"Dirty Harry" Rejects Plans To Hold RP-US Anti-Terror Warfare In Davao

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. (Photo by CPJ.Org)

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 1 June) – A Southern Philippine mayor on Friday rejected government proposal for U.S. and Filipino troops to hold joint anti-terror training in the port city of Davao.

Rodrigo Duterte, the city’s mayor, said the training would put Davao on the list of possible terrorist target and warned that any attempt to pursue the plan could attract more attacks from anti-American militants and communist insurgents.

Duterte said he would not allow Davao City as venue of any war games between Filipino and American soldiers. He said a senior government official phoned him about the proposal to bring the training to Davao City.

"If troubles erupt, I will wash my hands," Duterte, known as the “Dirty Harry” of the Philippines, said.

Dirty Harry is a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel. Clint Eastwood played the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan.

Callahan's nickname, "Dirty Harry," is a reference to his reputation for taking on the "dirtiest" cases and resolving them even if it involves the violation of criminals' rights.

"The mere presence of U.S. soldiers is like a magnet for terrorists,” Duterte said. (Romy Bwaga)

Police Detains Japanese Man For Mauling Wife In Southern Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 1 June) – Philippine authorities jailed a Japanese man after his Filipino wife accused him of mauling her inside the apartment in Cagayan de Oro City in the southern region of Mindanao.

Police said the 64-year old Kijusi Miura was arrested late Thursday in the family home in the village of Bulua. His wife, Liza Miura, told policemen that she was beaten up by the Japanese who went home drank.

Police said the woman was accompanied by her sister, Myrna Dayuhag, and sought help.

The victim told police investigators that the Japanese always beat her up every time he was drank. She said she was always being mauled for no apparent reason at all.

Police said it would file charges against the Japanese man. It gave no details about the foreigner and the woman did not say how long they have been married or staying together. (Romy Bwaga)

U.S. Officials Open Joint Military Training In South RP

U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat in Tumaga village, 01 June 2007.

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 1 June) – American Ambassador Kristie Kenney on Friday visited the southern Filipino port city of Zamboanga, where U.S. and Philippine troops are holding a joint amphibious training.

Kenney formally opened the 13th “Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training,” known as CARAT 2007.

CARAT 2007 is a combined naval tactical operations exercise involving fleet forces of both the Philippine and United States Navies. The exercise also focuses on relationship building through social and community service events such as providing free medical, dental, and veterinary care in host communities.

Kenney also inspected the USS Harper’s Ferry, one of three American naval ships participating in the exercise, and met with Philippine Army Lieutenant General Eugenio Cedo, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, to discuss on how to further expand joint humanitarian and development programs in the troubled region.

Local mayor Celso Lobregat welcomed the U.S. official who also toured several American-funded projects for development in the Zamboanga area.

While in Zamboanga, the ambassador visited poor Muslim communities and led U.S. and Filipino officials in distributing some 42,000 books to school libraries.

The books were donated under the Education Awareness Support Effort (EASE) program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and will go to more than 130 schools, allowing students to have access to encyclopedias, dictionaries, literature and short stories.

She visited the island of Pangapuyan Island, a remote community that received electricity through a program supported by the USAID under the AMORE Project, which aims to provide electricity to more than 400 remote and conflict-affected villages in Mindanao. AMORE also announced an additional $2 million to the program.

Kenney also inspected a hanging footbridge in Tumaga village which was built so villagers can safely and easily cross a river and improve their access to needed health, social and economic services in the town center.

The USAID, through its Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) program, built the new 30-meter long pedestrian footbridge to replace a deteriorating wooden bridge.

After a short tour in the village, Kenney also attended a roundtable discussion on tax collection with Lobregat and Zamboanga business leaders. Zamboanga City is one of 16 Mindanao cities participating in USAID’s and The Asia Foundation’s Transparent and Accountable Governance (TAG) Project.

Under TAG, participating city governments have committed themselves to enacting specific governance reforms to improve services and reduce corruption. Zamboanga City chose to reform its processes for collecting business taxes and issuing business permits. (Chris Navarra)

Davao Dad Pushes For Community-Based Forest Management Accord To Protect Mountain

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) – Local Councilor Leo Avila has thrown his support to the desire of hundreds of forest dwellers at Mount Tipolog in Tawan-Tawan in Baguio District to manage the area through a community-based forest management agreement (CBFMA).

In a recent hearing conducted by the City Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources that Avila chairs, the councilor assured the CBFMA applicants of his endorsement.

He said the endorsement is based on the confidence and belief that the people can make CBFMA work this time. Avila said he will author a resolution to also get the nod of his fellow councilors to back the application.

“I am wondering what’s keeping the application too long when this area is supposed to be given to you, after all you have been in this place for the longest time already,” Avila said.

“I believe that if the application will be granted, the forest occupants will be all the more enjoined to actively work for the protection of the environment because only through that will CBFMA can sustain its work. We can even make this one a model,” Avila said.

During the committee hearing, the possible conflicts about the CBFMA application were clarified including the identification of the Mount Tipolog as a protected area.

But Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) Napoleon Paje stressed that allowing the CBFMA application could mean assured community-initiated protection of the area.

“It is not a conflict to anything. In fact, it will even strengthen efforts to protect the environment because the people will be primarily the frontline of defense against destructive forest activities and developments,” Paje said.

The National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) is also set to come out with a separate resolution endorsing the application as most of the applicants are members of an indigenous Lumad community in Tawan-Tawan.

And residents are happy about this development.

Pedro Bolasito, president of the Mount Tipolog Bantay Kinaiyahan Farmers Association, said the endorsement that they will get from the authorities is a positive development that boost for their desire to protect their tenure in the area.

“Dako among pasalamat nga kami nakita karon sa atong otoridad. Ang among buhaton karon mao ang pagsiguro nga dili mapasipad-an ang Mount Tipolog kay kini magpasabot nga among panginabuhian adunay siguridad,” Bolasito said.

“We are really thankful with our authorities. We will make sure that Mount Tipolog will be protected.”

The application of the group came after the cancellation of the Environment Department of the Industrial Tree Plantation Agreement (ITPLA) that covered 1000 hectares of the land currently occupied by Lumad and non-Christian settlers. Bolasito, in his letter to the CENRO, said their application for a CBFMA is “an assertion on our part of claim as stewards of this place.

The ancestors of the Lumad have been here long before the settlers came…the place is considered the life of the indigenous peoples.” Bolasito also said that Lumad and new settlers who have survived through farming in the area could never allow anyone to intrude and operate there.

What the community is trying to protect is the sanctity of the place, which is also identified as a conservation area. When the community urged the DENR to cancel the ITPLA of a local businessman, their fight was anchored on their desire to protect the environment.

They also feared being dislocated which apparently could cause them their livelihood.

“We hope we still get the same support from them. We are also asking the support of the city government on this. Mount Tipolog is a very important place for the Lumad and the settlers and we all hope that they will all see this,” Bolasito said. (Jeff Tupaz, Special to the Mindanao Examiner)

Special Seaborne Forces, Muling Binuhay Ng Philippine Army

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 1 June) – Muling binuhay ng Philippine Army ang Special Forces nito na may kakayahang pandagat at inihahanda na para sumabak sa giyera sa Mindanao laban sa mga teroristang Abu Sayyaf Group at Jemaah Islamiyah.

Napag-alaman kay Special Forces Commander Brigadier General Arturo Ortiz na muling kikilos ang 12th Special Forces Company (Riverrine) sa huling bahagi ng taon sa sandaling matapos na ang retraining ng mga ito.

Una na ring na-reactivate ang 8th at 11th companies ng nasabing elite force noong nakaraang taon.

Ang Philippine Army ang tatanggap ng 28 hi-speed airboats buhat sa Australia bilang bahagi ng defense cooperation agreement sa nasabing bansa.

Sinabi ni Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres Jr. na darating ang unang batch ng airboats bago matapos ang taon.

Sa inisyal na plano, ayon kay Torres, dalawang kumpanya ng water-borne troops o tinatayang 300 sundalo ang unang isasabak sa Mindanao.

Naniniwala pa ang opisyal sa pangangailangang magtalaga ng espesyal na yunit ng militar na tutugis sa mga kalaban sa karagatan.

Problema ng militar ang malawak at masukal na tubig sa Liguasan Marsh sa Central Mindanao na pinamumugaran ng mga terorista.

Ipinagdiwang rin kahapon ang ika-11 anibersaryo ng Special Operations Command (Socom), na binubuo ng elite Army units kabilang ang Special Forces, Frst Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) at ang sinanay ng Amerika na Light Reaction Battalion. (Juley Reyes)

Muslim Rebels Praised For Rescue Of German National, 3 Others In South RP

GRP-MILF AHJAG team lawyer Abdul Dataya turns-over kidnapped victims to Philippine Marines Maj.Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino at the International Monitoring Team Headquarters in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province. The four kidnapped victims - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – have been handed by the Moro Islamic Liberations rebels to Malaysian truce observers and the Philippine military in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province on Friday, 01 June 2007. Also in the photos are Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion commander Lt.Col.Dickson Hermoso, Police Region 12 Director, Chief Supt.Felizardo Serapio Jr.and Head of Mission International Monitoring Team Maj.Gen.Dato Ismail Bin Abbas.

(Mindanao Examiner Photos/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) – Philippine Muslim rebels handed over Friday a rescued German national and three other Filipinos kidnapped by bandits in the southern province of North Cotabato, security officials said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila, rescued the four hours after they were seized while traveling in Pikit town on Thursday.

The four - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – have been handed to Malaysian truce observers and the Philippine military in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province.

Marine Maj. Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino, chairman of the government Ad hoc Joint Action Group, said the four were on their to Manila. “The release of the four is the result of a good coordination between the MILF and the Philippine military,” he told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

“The MILF is able to react immediately and rebel forces sealed off the area where the abductors are holding the four victims and recovered them safely,” he said.

Gunmen were forced to release the four to the MILF in the village of Balongis in Pikit town after rebel forces surrounded their hideout and threatened to kill the kidnappers.

The release of the hostages previously reported as all Caucasians came hours after the rebel group, backed by security forces, mounted a massive rescue operation.

The four were heading to North Cotabato from Davao City onboard a van when gunmen flagged down their vehicle. The MILF has in the past helped the government rescue kidnapped foreigners and Filipinos in Mindanao.

The abductions coincided with the start of the ten-day joint amphibious war games between the Philippines and the United States. But security officials said it was not connected with the ongoing war games off the southern region. (Juley Reyes and Mark Navales)

Pulisya, Humingi Ng Paumanhin Sa Dinakip Na Pastor!

QUEZON CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) - Humingi ngayon ng paumnahin si Philippine National Police Chief Director General Oscar Calderon para sa anumang naging kapalpakan ng mga tauhan nitong nagsagawa ng pag-aresto kay Pastor Berlin Guererro ng United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

Kasunod ito ng pakikipagpulong ni Calderon at mga opisyal ng pambansang pulisya sa pamunuan ng UCCP upang malinawan ang insidente ng pagdakip sa miyembro nitong nakatalaga sa Binan, Laguna.

Tiniyak pa ni Calderon na hindi nito palalampasin at sasampahan ng kaso sakaling matukoy na umabuso ang pulisya o ang tauhan ng Naval Intelligence Security Forces na dumampot sa pari.

"I apologize for whatever lapses our people in the field might have committed. This matter is being looked into and we will file cases against those who will be found guilty," ani Calderon.

Nilinaw ni Calderon na ang Philippine Navy ang umaresto kay Guererro noong Linggo at dinala sa Cavite Provincial Police Office kinabukasan.

Sa alegasyong pambubugbog, sinabi ni Calderon na sumailalim na sa medical examination si Pastor Berlin at nasa ligtas rin ang kalusugan nito.

Siniguro pa ng PNP Chief sa UCCP ang mahigpit na pakikipag-ugnayan sa grupo sa sandaling magkaroon ng pag-arestong muli sa sinumang miyembro nito.

Nahaharap umano sa bintang na pagpatay ang pastor na sinasabing may koneksyon sa New People’s Army. Mariing itinanggi naman ito ng pastor at ng kanyang pamilya. (Juley Reyes)

For First Time, Indigenous People In South RP Get Medical Help

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) - Unmindful of the swirling dusts and the scorching tropical sun, a medical and dental team formed by the mining company TVI Resource Development Philippines (TVIRD), provided much-needed health care services to a remote indigenous mountain village in Zamboanga del Norte in the southern Philippines whose residents – many of whom are anti-mining advocates – had, until recently, protested the company’s presence in the area.

The team launched its first in a series of humanitarian missions in Paduan Ridge, some 13 kilometers from the company’s gold and silver project in Mount Canatuan.

The TVIRD Canatuan Project lies within the 6,253-hectare ancestral domain owned by the Subanon indigenous people in Siocon town.

Throngs of Subanon families trooped to the community tribal hall to avail themselves of the free consultation, medicines, vitamins, food supplements, tooth extraction and circumcision.

The mission, organized by TVIRD’s Community Relations and Development Office (CReDO), also administered oriental cures recognized by the World Health Organization. These include acupuncture, reflexology, moxibustion (an oriental medicine therapy utilizing moxa, or mugwort herb) and ventusa (a Chinese-inspired healing method aimed at removing bad blood in the body).

Alex Clarabal, a CReDO Community Officer, led other trained staff members in administering these cures.

Company physician Ramil Ignacio, speaking before the more than 100 indigenous people who crowded the hall, advised the Subanon community that good health is the real key to development.

"Ang tinuod nga bahandi dili mao ang salapi o bulawan nga atong makuha sa palibot, apan ang maayong panglawas. Angayan nato kini nga alimahan tungod kay pag-antus ang ikadulot niini ug kalisod kun kita magsakit na."

"The ultimate wealth is not the money or gold that we get from around us, but excellent health. We should take care of our health because it would bring about suffering and hardship when we eventually get sick," he said.

Ignacio is a mainstay at the TVIRD-supported Canatuan community clinic, which provides health care to both company employees and Subanon villagers.

Before TVIRD began its operations in Mount Canatuan in mid-2004, residents had to travel at least four hours through inhospitable and dangerous terrain to get medical attention.

The TVIRD medical team was complemented by Miguel Neri II, a dentist from the provincial government of adjacent Zamboanga Sibugay, during the four-day medical mission.

Apart from Paduan Ridge, the team also went to Solonsangan, a hamlet in Tanuman village and Skyline New Village, also within the Siocon ancestral domain.

"Malipayon kami ug mabulahan nga nahodangat dinhi ang TVI aron sa paglusad, sa medical mission, alang sa mga apektadong komunidad. Mao pa kini'y pinakauna nga adunay programang-medikal nga nahiabot dinhi sa among lugar."

"Among gikalipay ang pag-abot ninyo dinhi alang sa pagtunol sa nang-unang serbisyo-medikal," one member of the Paduan indigenous Council of Elders, said.

"We are very happy and fortunate that TVI came here to our place to launch their medical mission for impact communities. This is the first time that a medical outreach program ever reached our place. We welcome your coming here to deliver basic medical services."

For some time, residents of Paduan had been resisting the TVIRD’s attempts to bring social and medical services to the area. A bailiwick of anti-mining advocates, Paduan proved difficult for CReDO personnel to help.

Subsequently, village elders, seeing CReDO’s persistence and their social development projects in neighboring communities, felt TVIRD’s sincerity and allowed the mission into Paduan.

Some 400 Subanons benefited from the company’s medical and dental missions in four of its impact communities.

TVIRD's presence in Canatuan has been largely supported by many Subanon and government officials because of livelihood opportunities and development projects being undertaken by the company in Siocon town.

But there are also rag-tag groups, mostly composed of anti-mining activists from other provinces, allegedly paid by foreign organizations to oppose the operation of TVIRD in Zamboanga del Norte. Some of the money allegedly went to the pockets of their leaders. (With a report from Rene Patangan and Juan Magtanggol)

NZ Ambassador Gets Assurance: Dennis Maga Will Not Be Arrested In Philippines

QUEZON CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) The Philippine government has assured New Zealand that authorities will not arrest a local political activist who led a huge protests there during a state visit of the Filipino leader.

Dennis Maga, of the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno and spokesman for the Free Ka Bel Movement in the Philippines, is facing possible arrest after staging anti-Arroyo protests this week.

“The Prime Minister is aware of Mr Maga's claims that he believes he is likely to be arrested on his return to the Philippines,” a spokesperson for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark told Scoop on Friday.

Canberra said it has been given assurance by its Philippines counterpart that Maga will not be arrested on his return home later this week.

New Zealand's Ambassador to the Philippines sought clarification from senior Philippines' officials and was told there are no charges pending against Maga and no warrant has been issued for his arrest," the Prime Minister's spokesperson said.

Scoop understands a request was issued Friday from the Council of Trade Unions to the Prime Minister Helen Clark's office asking that diplomatic channels be used to seek assertions or clarification from its Philippines counterpart - that Maga does not face arrest.

That clarification has now been given.

However, Philippines trade unionist and human rights activist Maga has applied to remain in New Zealand for another month while he and his supporters seek assurances he will not face arrest nor death on his return home.

Maga had planned to return to the Philippines on Sunday.

For the next month, Maga will be a guest of both the National Distribution Union and Unite Union where he will continue to visit work sites, union meetings, and gatherings to educate New Zealanders about human rights abuses in the Philippines.

Maga also received expressions of solidarity from unions in Australia. He traveled to New Zealand especially to raise awareness of human rights abuses in the Philippines.

He said Arroyo ought not take part in the InterFaith Dialogue as she is partly responsible for human rights abuses.

Speaking to Scoop Media, Maga said: “I called my family because it was my sons 1st birthday. Then my father came on the line and told me that it is not safe to return.”

Maga was told by his father that a family member working for the ministry of immigration had told them that there are orders for Maga's arrest when he arrives back in the country.

His father also told Maga that their house had been under surveillance by the police.

Maga spent last week touring New Zealand, speaking on political repression in the Philippines, and then travelled to Waitangi to protest with human rights groups about the involvement of Arroyo in the dialogues.

The Interfaith dialogues are aimed at increasing understanding between different faiths in order to reduce religious “radicalization” and terrorism.

Maga said the union movement in the Philippines had tried to find out what his status is from the Philippines government and the Bureau of Immigration. But Philippines officials refuse to deny or confirm plans for his arrest.

Arroyo, while attending the InterFaith Dialogue Forum in Waitangi, was asked to explain her position on political killings. In reply, she said her government has been trying to stop the violence.

“We share the values of human rights and democracy same as New Zealand,”Arroyo said. “We are in a fight to turn around our history of political violence andretribution. We are slowly breaking down the cycle of violence.”

Recent reports by both the United Nations and Amnesty International havedocumented killings in the Philippines including the murders of political activists, journalists and politicians. Both reports attribute many of the killings to the Philippine military.

The United Nations report released earlier this year showed how people responsible for the killings acted with “virtual impunity” and many of the deaths were “convincingly attributed” to the Philippines military.

A researcher for the Amnesty International report Tim Parritt found that many of the senior military officials were openly talking about “neutralizing” left-wing groups.

"No-one deserves to die for their political affiliation,” Parritt said.

Contemplating his return home, Maga explained there are two things that could happen: one will see him arrested and charged with rebellion. Or two: he could be taken away and killed. (With reports from Selwyn Manning and Joseph Barratt, www.scoop.co.nz)

Pinoy Remittance Goes High Tech

MANILA - Maxis Communications Berhad and Globe Telecom launched what company executives say is the world's first international mobile to mobile money transfer service between Malaysia and the Philippines.

Having acquired approval from Bank Negara, Maxis is now authorized to offer mobile international remittance service in Malaysia through M-money.

The mobile international remittance service is a simple SMS-menu based service that enables Maxis customers to instantly transfer money up to the value of RM500/P6,500 (per transaction) to friends and family in the Philippines using their mobile phones.

Customers can request to remit M-money in Ringgit value to Globe's GCash customers in the Philippines, which will be converted into Pesos on the fly and immediately deposited into the recipients' GCash wallet. GCash customers can cash out the money at any of the 6,000 Globe partner outlets in the Philippines.

They also have the easy option of transferring the money via SMS to other friends and family in the Philippines or to pay bills directly such as electricity, school fees and etc.

Maxis M-money service offers a convenient and affordable alternative to international remittance services provided by banks and licensed remittance providers that charge a service fee that varies between RM10-20 per transaction to the Philippines.

The service removes the need for senders to arrange for money in small amounts to be sent home via banks and financial institutions, which requires several days to clear between banks before the beneficiary can receive the funds.

M-money is meant to complement local remittances channels and to make transferring money internationally significantly more convenient and affordable for consumers.

“We believe M-money will revolutionise money transfer as it takes full advantage of the pervasiveness of mobile phones in this country, providing immense benefits to foreign workers across Malaysia and their families overseas through its reach, ease of use and lower transaction costs,” Maxis Chief Executive Officer Sandip Das said in a statement.

He said international money remittance is a substantial business, with the two largest outbound remittance corridors from Malaysia being Indonesia and Philippines, estimated at USD$4.3 billion annual transaction volume according to industry statistics.

It is estimated there are several hundred thousand Filipinos residing in Malaysia and the total transaction value of money transfers from Philippines to Malaysia sits approximately at US$1.2 billion per annum.

Globe's Head of Consumer Business Ferdz De la Cruz said: “The realization of our vision for the mobile international remittance system signifies a breakthrough in cross-border financial services.”

“We are proud to unveil another global first, a milestone in our continuing quest to pioneer relevant, consumer-responsive mobile technologies" Utiba Pte Ltd is the technology provider appointed by Maxis and Globe for the M-money and GCash services respectively.

Utiba’s Justin Ho said: “It is really exciting to be able to provide our international remittance service to two of our premier mCommerce customers. This service is the first step towards addressing the global challenge of providing affordable and instant micro-remittance to the un-banked population that needs it most. This service has the potential to change lives.”

To get started on Mobile International Remittance, Maxis customers can instantly cash in to their M-money account via selected Maxis centers or DropZone outlets and Maxis Partner Banks in Malaysia. Customers can also register for M-money service for free by sending Mmoney to 27007.

Charges for the Mobile International Remittance services are RM5 per remittance to Globe GCash customers in the Philippines and RM0.15 SMS fee per transaction. No additional fees will be levied on the remittance to the beneficiary in Philippines, Maxis said.