CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 16, 2010) – The Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division has opened its doors to school children, allowing them to tour the sprawling camp in Cagayan de Oro City in northern Mindanao.
Officials said it was part of a commitment to reach out to children and inspire them to become responsible citizens and at the same time educate them about the role of the military in peacekeeping efforts and as a partner in nation-building.
The children were amazed by sights of armor tanks and howitzer cannons and even posed for photos with soldiers who acted as their guides and storytellers. Troops led by Major General Victor Felix, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division, warmly welcomed and interacted and mingled with the children.
“The 4th Infantry Division personnel proved that they are not only the protectors of the land, but they are also their partners in community and nation-building and that these children and their parents can depend on them in their dream of having a better and brighter atmosphere that is viable for their growth and well-being,” said Lieutenant Colonel Triumph Bagaipo, the army spokesman.
He said through these efforts, troops are leading the way in showing their concern and commitment to the children in also helping promote a better environment and opportunity for them to live peacefully and harmoniously as the future and hope of the country.
Bagaipo said as part of the army’s commitment, it would provide support to the Batang Himsog Program, an in-school health and nutrition feeding and livelihood program and initiative of the Anak Mindanao party list group.
The program is also in partnership with the Department of Education, the local government units and the Katilingbanong Pamahandi sa Mindanaw Foundation Incorporated. It aims to help lessen and slowly eradicate malnutrition in rural villages in Misamis Oriental province.
The program aims to address the problem of malnutrition by providing daily breakfast to at least 4,000 Grade 1 pupils in 85 schools of Gingoog City, Claveria, Magsaysay and Misoret town.
“The 4th Infantry Division is optimistic in this program that could help children in the rural areas to receive proper nutrition and education so that they can become healthy and ready to take on any challenge and opportunity that they shall meet as they grow up,” Bagaipo said. (Mindanao Examiner)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
4th Infantry Division plays teacher, tour guide to children in Mindanao
Tropang Kano, pinalalayas sa Pinas!
Naglunsad ng isang protesta ngayon Huwebes, Setyembre 16, 2010 sa lungsod ng Cotabato sa Mindanao ang ibat-ibang grupo na tutol sa pananatili ng mga tropang Amerikano sa bansa. (Larawan ng Kawagib Human Rights)Pinangunahan mismo ng US Troops OUT Now! Mindanao Coalition ang nasabing protesta kaugnay ng paggunita sa pagpapasara sa mga base militar ng Estados Unidos sa bansa nuong 1991.
Ayon sa OUT Now! Coalition ang September 16 ay makasaysayang araw dahil nagpapakita lamang ito ng tagumpay ng diwa ng patriyotismo ng sambayanang Pilipino laban sa pananatili ng mga tropang Amerikano at ang panghihimasok ng gobyerno ng Estados Unidos sa pamahalaan ng bansa.
“Hindi pa natatapos ang ating laban para sa tunay na kalayaan, hanggang sa ngayon ay nananatili pa rin ang presensya ng mga tropang kano lalo na sa Mindanao at ang pagsali nila sa mga operasyong militar sa lugar na mayroong armadong tunggalian na nagreresulta sa mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao,” ani Michael Dumamba, ang convenor ng koalisyon ng ibat-ibang progresibong grupo.
Nanawagan din ang grupo na muling sariwain ang diwa ng pagiging palaban ng mga Pilipino at isulong ang pagbabasura sa Visiting Forces Agreement dahil sa maraming kaso diumano ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao at pagyurak sa pambansang soberanya ng Pilipinas.
Filipino farmers’ group asks additional flatbed dryers
ILOILO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 16, 2010) - A group of rice farmers in the town of Pavia are requesting for additional flatbed dryers to accommodate their drying needs during harvest season.
Eduardo Alcazarem, president of Palacat-tian Irrigators Association, said their lone dryer is insufficient to dry all the harvests of their members.
He said association has more than 800 hectare service area.
“We cannot dry all the produce of our members simultaneously, this is why we would like to ask for additional units of flatbed dryer. It is really a big help to us,” he said.
According to Alcazarem, the FBD gave work to the community since it started its operation in August 2008. Out-of-school youth were hired as laborers to earn additional income.
He said the quality of the grains dried using the FBD is much better compared to solar drying. The National Food Authority offers higher price to FBD-dried grains because of the quality and moisture content of the grains.
Likewise, the traders in the area also prefer to buy and mill FBD-dried grains because of good milling recovery, he added. “With the flatbed dryer, we can dry our harvest even at night and store it the following day,” he said.
Before the association acquired the dryer, the farmers were forced to sell their harvest at a lower price to avoid rotting, he said.
“Now, the members just bring their harvest here and they can get it the next day. The 30 pesos drying fee includes the fuel and the payment for the laborers and operator,” Alcazarem said, adding, members of the association who avail of the drying services are charged 30 pesos per sack.
According to Sharon Rose Jucaban, senior institutional development officer of the National Irrigation Administration in Region 6, the dryer operates 24 hours to serve the members of the association.
To continuously use the dryer, the association makes sure the damaged parts of the dryer are replaced immediately. Some of the improvements made by the association include the replacement of the flooring from perforated screen to bamboo slat and the extension of the shed.
The distribution of the flatbed dryers to irrigators association is part of the mechanical drying program to farm cluster of the Department of Agriculture. (Erwin S. Embuscado)
3 soldiers killed in Sayyaf ambush in southern Philippines
Police said the soldiers were patrolling the village of Bohe Lebung when the militants attacked them at around 6:15 a.m. The soldiers belong to the 32nd Infantry Battalion, it said.
It said the attackers were followers of Nur Hassan Jamiri and Long Sulayman, both had been tagged as behind the spate of ambuscades and kidnappings-for-ransom in Basilan, one of five provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region.
The fighting lasted about 30 minutes. It was not immediately known whether any of the ambushers were killed or wounded.
Army troops have been deployed in Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City, to help marine and police forces in fighting the insurgents.
Philippine authorities said the Abu Sayyaf also has links with the Indonesian terror group called Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)
Bagong armas ng militar, dumating sa Mindanao
Hindi naman nagbigay ng pahayag ang pamunuan ng militar ukol sa armada, ngunit ayon naman sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front ay dumating umano ang mga ito sakay ng Taras Oceanic Douglas kamakailan. Kabilang umano sa mga dumating na armas ay mga amphibian tanks at high-speed boats na mayroong global positioning system.
Umabot umano sa 21 amphibian tanks at 21 airboats ang ibinaba ng nasabing barko. Ang airboats ay kalimitang gamit sa mga marshlands sa ibang bansa at sa central Mindanao na kung saan naroon ang malalaking kampo ng MILF ay napapalibutan naman ng Liguasan marsh.
Hinihinalang bahagi ang armada sa tulong na ibinigay ng Australia sa pamahalaan, ayon sa MILF, at aabot umano ang halaga ng nito sa AU$3 milyon kada taon.
Nabatid pa sa MILF na dinala ang mga bagong gamit pandigma sa kampo ng 6th Infantry Division sa Maguindanao province, na sentro naman ng puwersa ng MILF, na nakikibaka upang makamtam ang karapatan ng mga Muslim sa Mindanao.
Bukod sa MILF ay patuloy pa rin ang pakikibaka ng New People’s Army para sa sarili nitong estado katulad ng bansang Tsina. (Mindanao Examiner)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
'Ampatuan gave bribe money to officials’: ABS-CBN
MANILA, Philippines - Prosecution witness Lakmudin Saliao continued on Wednesday his explosive testimony against his former boss, this time tagging the Ampatuan patriarch in a bribery spree to have criminal charges against the members of the family dropped.
During the 2nd day of trial of the Maguindanao massacre case, Saliao said former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr. ordered his spiritual adviser to transmit millions of money to several government and police officials to make life easier for his family.
On top of his list is former Presidential Adviser on Mindanao Affairs Jesus Dureza who was allegedly bribed P10 million to have a separate rebellion charge dropped.
The Ampatuans were also slapped with a rebellion case for allegedly disrupting government offices at the height of investigations. The government had implemented martial rule in some parts of Maguindanao to rein in the Ampatuans.
The rebellion case came after the massacre of 57 civilians on November 23. The Ampatuans allegedly masterminded the killings.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77 quashed the rebellion charges early this year. A motion for reconsideration has yet to be resolved.
Saliao, who directly linked Andal’s son and namesake to the execution of the killings, said Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay and police officer Rainier Ebus were given P10 million each for them to retract earlier testimonies.
Another P20 million was also given to Maguindanao board member Mike Midtimbang to ensure the family’s welfare while under incarceration.
The Ampatuan patriarch supposedly gave the directives on March 11.
Prior to that, on February 28, Ampatuan Sr. supposedly instructed his spiritual adviser to give P200 million to Umbra Sinsuat, the Ampatuan’s then candidate for the position of Maguindanao governor.
The adviser, known only as Ustaj Sarid Agas, was also ordered to give P36 million to Omar Sayadi, the husband of a Maguindanao administrative officer.
Saliao also revealed that Ampatuan Sr., then under hospital arrest inside a military camp in Panakan, Davao City also ordered a son-in-law working with the Land Transportation Office to tweak the records of cars registered under their names.
Private prosecutors said they will ask the Anti-Money Laundering Council to track the bank records of the Ampatuans.
They will also start the filing of administrative charges against those who supposedly took part in bribing witnesses and families of the victims. – (Reports from Ces Drilon, ABS-CBN News)
Link:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/15/10/%E2%80%98ampatuan-gave-bribe-money-officials%E2%80%99
Filipino kidnappers demand ransoms for 2 Malaysian hostages
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 15, 2010) – Filipino gunmen holding two Malaysian seaweed farmers have demanded two million ringgits in exchange for their safe release, reports said.
The duo - Tsen Vui Chung, 42, and his cousin Lai Wing Chau, 33, - were seized in February from their farm in the island of Pulau Sebangkit in Sabah and were taken to Tawi-Tawi province in the southern Philippines.
Malaysian authorities initially said the kidnapping was connected to a labor dispute among workers in the seaweed farm and that the hostages are being held in Sabah.
But Malaysia’s The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday that the kidnappers have demanded ransoms to the families of the hostages.
“We are ordinary people. Where can we find such money?” The star quoted Tsen's wife, Chua Mui Ling, who confirmed the ransom demand.
The woman claimed they received a phone call just recently from Tsen who said they are okay and were not harmed by their captors. It was the second time the kidnappers contacted the family since the duo was seized.
It was unknown whether the kidnappers are members of the militant group Abu Sayyaf, which had kidnapped 21 mostly Western holidaymakers in Sabah’s resort island of Sipadan in 2001. The hostages were then ransomed off to Libya, which negotiated for their release, for millions of dollars. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Villagers decry militarization in Davao City
Villagers and church people hold a candlelight protest late Tuesday, September 14, 2010 to condemn the continued militarization of a village in Davao City in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo – Karlos Manlupig)Church people and member of the Exodus for Justice and Peace also joined the rally and urged security operators to demilitarize the Paquibato District which the military claimed is under the influence of communist rebels.
The villagers lit candles and offered prayers for two civilians – Reynaldo Labrador and Julius Tamondes in Paquibato in Davao City -allegedly killed by troops and government militias since last month.
Another civilian, Vicente Felisilda, was also murdered allegedly by the military in Mawab town in Compostela Valley Province.
The communist National Democratic Front also condemned the murders and said it occurred in less than a month since President Benigno Aquino formally took office in June.
“The National Democratic Front of the Philippines-Southern Mindanao strongly condemns the continuing policy of extra-judicial killing of civilians by the new Aquino regime. Aquino has only contradicted himself when he vouched for his armed forces' commitment to champion human rights parallel to the extension of the US-sponsored and dictated counter-insurgency Oplan Bantay Laya II,” said Rubi del Mundo, the group’s spokesman for Mindanao.
Del Mundo was referring to the government’s anti-insurgency campaign in the country.
“Aquino has only unmasked himself as no different from his predecessor, the criminal Gloria Arroyo, for destroying civilian lives and livelihood in the guise of the regime's counter-revolutionary policy,” he said, adding, “all these murders happened amid the intense fascist operations in Southern Mindanao which is considered a priority region for Oplan Bantay Laya.”
“Similar to other extra-judicial killings, all the victims are civilians; and have been threatened earlier, and arbitrarily tagged by the military as "supporters" of the revolutionary movement - or like Tamondes, killed in an indiscriminate AFP-supported tribal vendetta to sow terror in the Davao City hinterlands,” Del Mundo said.
Del Mundo said since 2006, the military allegedly violated the rights of villagers and in many cases mauled, tortured, illegally detained and interrogated, and even threatened innocent people who were accused of supporting the rebels.
The military denied all the accusations and said troops were deployed in villages to protect them from the rebels. (With a report from Karlos Manlupig)
Children's groups protest, demand respect for human rights in Mindanao
Organizers said the military often tagged minors suspected or accused as supporters of rebel groups as “child soldiers” and worse, some of them had been arrested or killed by troops in counter-insurgency operations.
The rally was spearheaded by members of the Children's Rehabilitation Center and KABIBA Alliance for Children's Concerns in Mindanao. At least 10 children also joined the dozens of advocates during the rally.
Organizers said security forces should respect the rights of the children as the protesters condemned the tagging of children as “child soldiers.”
“We only want respect for human rights for these children who are innocent and had been dragged into this counter-insurgency operations by the military,” one protester said by phone.
Organizers said just this year, three minors, two girls from Monkayo town in Compostela Valley and a boy in Makilala town in North Cotabato province was tagged as New People’s Army child soldiers and had been subjected to mental torture and forced to admit they were rebels.
The protesters claimed that it has now become a habit of the military to tag children-victims of rights violations as “child soldier” apparently to escape from their accountability and at the same time misrepresenting them as such for their war propaganda. They said the senseless yet brutal campaign of Oplan Bantay Laya is not only targeting perceived enemies of the State, but innocent children as well.
Oplan Bantay-Laya is the codename of the military’s anti-insurgency campaign in the country.
The groups also demanded justice for Grecil Buya, the nine-year old girl, who was killed by government soldiers in an alleged clash with communist rebels in 2007 in Compostela Valley.
Buya’s family said the girl was only fetching water from a river when soldiers opened fire on her. She was shot in the head.
The rally, which was also participated by human rights groups Hustisya and Karapatan, last about two hours. (With a report from Karlos Manlupig)
Monday, September 13, 2010
MILF ready for peace talks, names negotiators
The announcement came with the MILF retaining Mohagher Iqbal, a senior rebel leader, as the head of its peace panel. The MILF also named lawyer Datu Michael Mastura, Maulana Alonto, Abdullah Camlian, Professor Abhoud Swed Linga, Datu Antonio Kinoc, as members of the peace panel.
Two prominent members, lawyers Lanang Ali and Musib Buat, were replaced due to health concerns. Both lawyers underwent heart bypasses and are deemed unfit for long travel, hectic schedules, and strenuous, prolonged, and tiring negotiations, said Mohammad Ameen, chairman of the MILF Secretariat.
Camlian, the MILF said, was a former chairman of the MILF technical committee, and at times served as alternate member of the peace panel during negotiations with the Arroyo government.
Camlian is a native of Zamboanga City and Basilan and belongs to the Sama-Bangingi-Tausug tribe. Kinoc on the other hand is a member of the indigenous B’laan tribe from Sultan Kudarat province and had served in the past in the MILF technical working group and the front’s technical committee, while Lingga is the chairman of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies.
The MILF said it also formed a board of consultants, but their names were not made public, although two of its members are women – one represents indigenous tribes and the other an Islamic theologian.
Peace talks between the Manila and the MILF, which is fighting for decades for self-determination, was temporarily suspended in June after President Gloria Arroyo, who ended her term, stepped down without new agreements that would put an end to decades of bloody fighting in the restive region of Mindanao.
But new Filipino leader Benigno Aquino III said he would resume the negotiations after the holy month of Ramadan.
The MILF chieftain, Murad Ebrahim, said the rebel group is ready to resume the peace negotiations, but stressed that Manila should honor all previous agreements signed by both sides. “The two parties have to continue from where we stopped, and following the stipulations agreed by both parties as provided for in the Declaration of Continuity for Peace Negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed in Malaysia on June 3, 2010,” Ebrahim said.
He said if the Philippine leader is sincere in pursuing the peace talks with the MILF, Aquino can resolve the Moro problem in Mindanao within his 6 years in office.
“The greatest challenge to the peace process is whether this time the President has the political will to surmount all obstacles and oppositions including well-entrenched spoilers once the peace talks start or when an agreement will be signed. Running parallel is whether the peace process is truly a problem-solving endeavor or just an exercise to manage the conflict, as what previous presidents, deliberately or otherwise, did. We wish to tell you that whether in negotiation or in the normal course of our Islamic revolutionary struggle, the political aspirations of our people remain the same and constant – we want genuine governance for our people. We want our people to decide for themselves.”
“It is our hope that the Moro question and armed conflict in Mindanao will be settled in our lifetime, otherwise, this struggle of our people for freedom and right to self-determination will drag on for generation after generation. To ensure this, we are preparing the young generations to carry on the great task of liberating our people from the yoke of oppression and thralldom,” Ebrahim said.
MILF chief peace negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal said Manila previously offered the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao instead of what was previously agreed upon in the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and the negotiations nearly collapsed seven years later after both sides failed to sign any agreement on the most contentious issue — ancestral domain – which refers to the rebel demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.
The failed agreement triggered deadly rebel attacks in 2007 in Mindanao after the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
Politicians and lawmakers, many of them wealthy landowners in Mindanao, opposed the ancestral domain deal and filed their petitions to the High Court and asked Manila to make public the rest of the agreement. They claimed the accord was made without public consultations.
The MILF said it will not renegotiate the ancestral domain agreement. "It is already a done deal; we have already initialed the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain. We will not revisit or renegotiate the agreement," Iqbal said.
But despite the ancestral domain deal, there is still a need to amend the Constitution to allow plebiscite on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and give Muslims their own homeland.
Ancestral domain is the single most important issue in the peace negotiations before the rebel group can reach a political settlement with the Philippine government.
It covers the whole of the Muslim autonomous region – Sulu, Tawi-Tawi-, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao, including Marawi City. And some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And also Palawan Island, off Mindanao.
Last year, Tawi-Tawi Representative Nur Jaafar filed House Bill 4963 and Arroyo, now a member of the Philippine Congress, also filed a similar bill, proposing to divide the Muslim autonomous region into two – the South Western Autonomous Region and the Central Mindanao Autonomous Region – and that a plebiscite will be held in every village in the provinces of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and the cities of Isabela, Pagadian, Dipolog, Dapitan and Zamboanga. And also in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani and the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, Iligan, Kidapawan, General Santos, Koronadal and Tacurong. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Zambo, ibang bahagi ng Mindanao, balot na naman ng blackout!
Ilan sa mga himpilan ng radio naman ay nagsabing nasira ang kanilang mga computers dahil sa blackout. Maging ang boltahe ng kuryente ay madalas bumaba sa 220 volts kung kaya’t lalong nadagdagan ang hinaing ng publiko dahil sa naapektuhang mga appliances.
Isang tanggapan naman ang nagsabi sa Abante na nasira ang baterya ng kanilang UPS o universal power supply dahil sa eratik na blackout at mababang kuryente mula sa Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative.
Sa ibang bahagi ng Mindanao ay 9 na oras naman ng blackout ang inanunsyo ng National Grid Corporation of the Philippines upang maayos diumano ang daloy ng kuryente sa kahabaan ng Maramag-Kibawa 138-kilovolt transmission sa lalawigan ng Bukidnon.
Saklaw nito ang buong lalawigan ng Cotabato, Davao, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat at katabing mga lugar.
Nitong taon lamang ay napeste ng ilang buwan ang malaking bahagi ng Mindanao, kasama ang Zamboanga City sa 9 na oras na rotational blackout dahil sa kakulangan ng kuryente sa rehiyon. (Mindanao Examiner)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sulu holds peaceful Hari Raya celebration
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)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Ex-mayor killed in ambush, 4 others wounded in Lanao 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)
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
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)