Human rights violations add more reason why MILF does not want DDR

ROMY ELUSFA

MARAWI CITY—The recent "abuses" allegedly done by soldiers against Muslim civilians in war affected areas in Mindanao has given the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) more reason not to agree on the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) formula that government has set as pre-requisite for the peace process to continue.

Atty. Blo Umpar Adiong, legal counsel of the MILF and president of a local human rights group named Kabnar, told a media forum organized by civil society organizations in Lanao del Sur that the MILF has "already been demobilize during the past six years" as a result of the ceasefire agreement they agreed with the government.

The sad part of the MILF's demobilization, Adiong said is the alleged increase in the number of cases of human rights violations against their constituents.

"What we have are mounting human rights violation cases against the Bangsamoro people—injustices against our people," he said.

The Office of the Presidential Assistance on the Peace Process is currently conducting consultation meetings with civil society organizations (CSO) in Mindanao in its effort to explain why the government is pushing for DDR.

But Dr. Safrulla Dipatuan, representative of the Bangsamoro Development Agency in Lanao del Sur, said that the government has no moral ascendancy to discuss DDR because "it could not even abide by and implement" the things they have already agreed in the peace negotiations. He was referring to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain which signing was aborted by a restraining order of the Supreme Court.

"They can even dare violate or not honor the things they agreed with us now that the MILF is still armed, how much more if we have already laid down our arms," Dipatuan asked.

While government is pushing for DDR, the internally displaced persons in North Cotabato, Maguindanao and the two provinces of Lanao are asking government to stop the war against the MILF.

The call was echoed during rallies in Cotabato City and at the evacuation center in Datu Piang, Maguindanao last Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

The protesters, shouting "no to war in Mindanao," and "yes to peace in Mindanao," were asking the United Nations to "intervene" in resolving the conflict in Southern Philippines. Aside from huge streamers that bannered the call to stop the war, utility tricycles also carried a short bond paper size that carried the call.

Among the alleged human rights violations reported in the war affected areas are illegal arrest, torture, burning of houses of civilians, looting and harassment.

Datu Musa Diamla, who represented the provincial government of Lanao del Norte in the forum with CSOs here last Wednesday, reported that there were 28,437 internally displaced persons in his province as of last September 26. Excluded in the figure are 499 families in Malatag, 829 in Malugon and over 600 in Kalanugas.

The figure could be more, Diamla said while citing many Maranao evacuees who have opted to stay with their relatives. They pegged the number of evacuees at various evacuation centers at only five percent of the total number of displaced families.

Diamla also reported 19 houses burnt and estimated the damage to have cost P3.3 million.

While he claims that the government has "worked hard to assist our displaced families," he agreed that there is a humanitarian crisis in the area, citing lack of relief goods and medicines for the evacuees. ###

Air strike hits boat, kills four kids, mother in Maguindanao

BY ROMY ELUSFA, GMANews.TV

09/08/2008 | 11:11 PM

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(Update) BUTELIN, Datu Piang, Maguindanao - At least five persons, including four children, were confirmed killed while two others were reported missing during a government air strike conducted Monday in this town.

Those killed were identified as Aida Mandi, 23, and her children Bailyn, 10, Zukarudin, 7, Adtayan, 5, and Faida, 2.

Aida's husband, 25-year-old Daya Manunggal, and their other son named Keng were reported missing and are believed dead.

"Baka duon na yon ililibing," said Panalon Ugkad, referring to the missing two bodies.

GMANews.TV was able to obtain photos of the young victims who died in the bomb attack as they were laid out on the floor of a hut.

Witnesses said that around seven bangkas were on the river bearing some residents who were fleeing from the fighting when the incident occurred.

The Mandi family, they added, were on board one bangka helmed by Manunggal when a bombed allegedly dropped by an OV-10 ground attack plane exploded near the family's small boat while they were paddling at Bugok River.

The family was on its way to evacuate here from Barangay Teh, also of this town.

The bombing also left others wounded.

At the Municipal Health Center, medical personnel were seen tending to Abdullah Ibrahim, 24, who also sustained three shrapnel wounds from a bomb dropped by a plane he named "fighter plane."

The residents said it was an OV-10.

The bombing was part of the Army's pursuit operations in search of Ameril Ombra Kato, the commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) 105th Base Command who was blamed for the alleged attack against civilian communities in Cotabato Province in early August.

Col. Julieto Ando, at around 2:00 in the afternoon, said over the telephone that he had yet to receive details regarding the Datu Piang bombing.

Ando, the spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division based at Camp Siongco in Awang, Dinaig, Maguindanao, said: "I am not a field personnel. I have yet to receive reports from the field."

TV report

A separate television report said that at least six civilians died in the incident.

In a report aired by GMA News' Saksi Monday night, the six fatalities were members of the Mandi family.

Those who died were said to be the father and five of his children, including an 18-year-old who was pregnant.

The report said that a 13-year-old son and his mother survived the attack.

The family was on board a bangka when they were killed by bullets.- Romy Elusfa, GMANews.TV

Military condemned for deaths of civilians in Maguindanao

ROMY ELUSFA, GMANews.TV

09/09/2008 | 12:01 AM

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DATU PIANG, Philippines – It was a disturbing, if not pitiful, sight: A young mother lay dead with her four kids in a small dimly lit nipa hut standing two feet above the water that overflowed from a nearby river. Their bodies badly damaged, they were the latest casualties of the ongoing conflict in Central Mindanao.

In military parlance, Aida Mandi, 23, and her children Bailyn, 10; Zukarudin, 7; Adtayan, 5; and Faida, 2, are called “collateral damage."

The five, along with Aida’s husband, Daya Manunggal, and son Keng were on board a banca trying to flee the site of encounter between the military and rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in this town in Maguindanao province Monday when a bomb allegedly dropped by an OV-10 fighter plane exploded near them.

Manunggal and Keng are still missing as of posting time, according to Oblate Priest Elino Isip, parish priest of the predominantly Muslim town who helped in identifying the victims.

"A lot of people are dying here. There are still two whose bodies are yet to be recovered. Times like this, we already don't know what to do," an emotional Fr. Isip said.

"Baka duon na yon ililibing," said Panalon Ugkad, a resident, referring to the missing two bodies who he believed were already dead.

At the Municipal Health Center, medical personnel were also attending to Abdullah Ibrahim, 24, who also sustained three shrapnel wounds from a bomb dropped by a plane he named "fighter plane." Residents said it was an OV-10 bomber plane.

The bombing was part of the military's pursuit operations against Ameril Umbra Kato, the leader of the MILF’s 105th Base Command that attacked civilian communities in North Cotabato early last month.

Brenda Albarico, a Bantay Ceasefire volunteer who immediately responded to help ensure the safety of evacuees, was furious at the soldiers after she saw the bodies of the civilian fatalities.

"If we earlier denounced the alleged atrocities of the MILF in Lanao del Sur, we are denouncing this killing of civilians in the strongest term. This is all the more deplorable because those who killed the civilians are supposed to be not lawless elements but are those we expect to protect the lives of the people," Albarico said in her native dialect.

The incident, she said, had all the more "strengthened" her commitment to work for peace and "help poor civilians like me who are all victims of this war that we have long demanded for government and the MILF to stop."

Albarico called on Congress, the Commission on Human Rights, and other peace and human rights organizations to conduct a “thorough and impartial investigation on this sad incident."
“Above all, we want to see justice reign in this case," she said, adding that the incident drive other residents to join the decades-old Moro rebellion in Mindanao.

The Bantay Ceasefire's condemnation was seconded by the Kawagib, a Moro human rights organization.

"We condemn in the highest term the inhumane acts and indiscriminate aerial bombing by the Armed Forces of the Philippines that killed five minors, their pregnant mother, and severely wounded another. The military should be held accountable for violating human rights and disrespecting the Muslim civilians who are fasting during this holy month of Ramadhan," said Bai Ali Indayla, the spokesperson of Kawagib.

Meanwhile, residents continue to leave their homes by the throngs.

Along the five-kilometer stretch of the highway from Butelin to the Poblacion here, hundreds of people can be seen moving to safer grounds with their belongings as Social Welfare Officer Bai Ebos and three other volunteers were trying to account the refugees.

"It is very difficult for us to monitor and account all the evacuees at this point as they are still moving," said Ebus, who at the same time was worried of where to find relief goods for the new batch of evacuees that would add to the already 13,000 refugees they had been serving since the war broke in early August.

Aside from refugees from interior villages of Datu Piang, the town is also host to hundreds of evacuees from the neighboring town of Midsayap in Cotabato Province.

At a bridge around a hundred meters from the remains of the Mandis were docking bancas loaded with evacuating civilians, mostly children, who braved the rain and the raging strong current of the river to reach safety. - GMANews.TV

Bomb dropped from the sky kills family fleeing from war

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WFP: 450,000 refugees in Mindanao need more rice

ROMY ELUSFA

DATU PIANG, Maguindanao—For a few minutes, Ibrahim Samsudin, 7, was just sitting on the pavement of a covered court here, looking at a plate of rice his mother gave him. Holding a one-year-old baby, Badria, 25, Ibrahim’s mother, took the plate and poured in about a teaspoon of brown sugar.

Without a word, the seven-year-old boy grabbed the plate from her mother, took a tin cup, poured water on the plate and started eating. In less than two minutes, the plate was emptied and Ibrahim’s three younger brothers had nothing to eat.

A meter away from the Samsudin family, three girls, aging eight, nine and 10 were also sharing rice with noodles in one plate. One of the three would only snatch a handful whenever the two others are not looking at her.

On September 2, four evacuees died in various evacuation centers here. They are one-month-old baby Montasher Sadol, Bayanon Kato, 55, Ludikay Alim, 60, and Zeny Alimodin, 100.

They are only few of the many children and elderly who comprise the 132,425 evacuees in the province of Maguindanao and a 29.43 percent of the 450,000 refugees the World Food Program has pegged for the 11 provinces of Mindanao that were affected by the war.

“Most of the evacuees here are house-based. They stay with their relatives. Those who have no relatives are in evacuation centers,” said Elsie Amil, provincial director of the Welfare office in Maguindanao.

“Only around 45 percent of the evacuees are in evacuation centers while the 65 percent are living with their relatives,” Amil said.

Norodin Muhamad, a resident of Barangay Damatulan in Midsayap, Cotabato, who was still afraid to go back to his home, said in the local dialect: “Our number one need here is rice. While we also need the plastic water container, rice is more important.”

Muhamad, an evacuee at the covered court near the town plaza here, was referring to the plastic container distributed here not by any local government unit of Maguindanao but by the government officials of North Cotabato,.

The evacuees here, who claimed they had been in this town since August 7, admitted that relief goods had been given to them by government and private organizations, but they claimed “the rations are not enough to support our need,” a reason they appealed to government and private organizations to send them “rice, mats, and mosquito nets.”

Asked what would make them go back home, the evacuees chorused: “kalilintad” (peace).

Nashrudin Mokamad, when pressed to specify, said in Maguindanaoan dialect: “Both the Army and the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) should resolved whatever differences they have so that we civilians will no longer be suffering here.”

Mokamad said: “We are afraid to go home because soldiers are in our place. We vacated when they (soldiers) came because we anticipated armed encounters between them and the MILF.”

Kabagatan Samal, 53, offered a different answer. He said: “Independence will make our place peaceful.”

But while the guns were silent in Central Mindanao today, the evacuees demand for a ceasefire seems far from being answered with the coming in of the 46^th Infantry Battalion fresh from Leyte, Samar. The soldiers arrived in Talayan around 2:00 in the afternoon.

Last night, the government also dissolved its peace negotiating panel, sending mixed signals to the evacuees who said that the government “might have already abandoned the talks.” Others say it might reconstitute a new set of peace negotiators. ###

Evacuees to ask Manila officials to stop the war

ROMY ELUSFA

COTABATO CITY—Amid unheeded call by various religious and non-government organizations for government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to stop the war in Mindanao, no less than the communities affected by the fighting would go to Manila to ask beg from national government officials to give them chance to live a normal life by being able to return back home.

From September 8-14, 15 representatives of various communities that vacated their houses with the sporadic fighting between Army soldiers and MILF guerrillas, would knock on the doors of Malacanang, Senate, Congress and various government line agencies “to beg for peace.”

Since last week, a number of organizations that included religious congregations, have already called for the government and the MILF to stop the war, but as of September 1, armed encounters were still going on in Talitay, Maguindanao.

The evacuee-representatives would be accompanied by leaders of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus who is organizing the evacuees’ journey to Manila dubbed as “Bakwit sa Syudad-2” (evacuees to the city). MPC organized the first “Bakwit sa Syudad” in 2003 where the evacuees asked the President to stop the all-out-war in the Buliok complex.

Rahib Kudto, the deputy secretary-general of MPC who explained that “Bakwit sa Syudad” is a lobby mission, identified the President, Senate president, House Speaker, business and religious groups as among those they planned to meet in Manila.

“ We're planning to do part-2 of the Bakwit sa Syudad, which we did in April 2003 during the height of the Buliok war,” Kudto said as he emphasized that the lobby mission would try “to present the human face of the armed conflict.”

The MPC said it has thought of the organizing the mission amid polarization happening in the war-affected communities.

“With the current effort to polarize communities and the whole madness of arming civilians with 13,000 shotguns, we believe it is time to bring the Bakwits again to Manila. We hope their voices will douse water into the blazing fire. We hope their stories will remind us once again that war will not solve anything and will only victimize more and more people,” said MPC.

With the Bakwits, the MPC hopes “to put forward their calls and appeals to a wider audience, especially those who hold the power and the authority to determine our peace policy for Mindanao.”

Apparently desperate for their message of peace to be heard, the MPC said: “ if we need to talk to the devil -- we will do so just to prevent more bloodshed and save the gains of the peace talks.” ###

Marawi City poll execs looking forward to peaceful Monday polls

MARAWI CITY - Election officials in Lanao del Sur, the so-called “votes capital" in the country, are optimistic that Monday's barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth advisory council) elections would be peaceful with many candidates for barangay chair running “unopposed."

“In 28 percent of all the barangays in the province, the candidates for barangay chair are running unopposed," said a police report to the Commission on Elections here.

Lawyer Renault Macarambon, who claimed he was sent by Comelec Acting Chair Resurreccion Borra to assist Acting Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Carlito Ravelo in supervising the elections in this province, however, said: “We have yet to receive their written withdrawal [from the electoral race]."

“That is only according to the police reports, but we are yet to verify that," Macarambon said while stressing that even if there are candidates running unopposed, “the voting will still go on as scheduled because the votes of the unopposed candidates need to be counted along with those running for barangay councilors."

Macarambon, in an interview at the Ayala Resort where the Comelec holds office here “for security considerations," admitted hearing reports of mayors who were working to convince some aspirants for barangay chair to “give way to a common candidate" so that post of village chief would no longer be contested.

But lawyer Abdulaziz Mamutoc, a know election lawyer here, has different estimate of barangays where “LGU or datu-nominated candidates are running unopposed." He puts the estimate at 80 percent.

Mamutoc said that in some barangays, “the political clans decided and agreed to rotate the chairmanship of the barangays among themselves. In other areas, they agreed to divide the term of office of the supposed contending parties among themselves."

The lawyer, whose wife was among those who filed her candidacy in their barangay but later withdrew “to avoid trouble," was fully aware that the agreed sharing of term of office is not legal. He explained that the agreement stipulated that the names of barangay chairs who would serve the first half of the term “need not be changed even if the other party to the agreement would be the one running the affairs of the barangay and managing the Internal Revenue Allotment."

Salic Ibrahim, chair of Citizen Care in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a poll watch dog, and Diocesan priest Teresito Suganob, chair of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, also confirmed having received reports “that only very few barangays would essentially be having elections."

In past elections, Lanao del Sur has been known for “all sorts of irregularities during the conduct of elections."

Ibrahim, who is also provincial coordinator of the Bantay Ceasefire, which is monitoring “election-related violence that may affect the ceasefire agreement" between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said that his group “will never stop trying to make election here peaceful and orderly."

Suganob said that “it appears that the Maranaos here are being labelled as cheaters. But to them, this (election) is just a kind of activity that was taught to them by the national officials. Elections, for them, are being called by a local chief executive for a sumptuous meal. Before they go home, they are either given money, meat, rice, or all of the three."

The priest, who spent most of his 20 years of priesthood here, said that the “activity" has persisted because “the people know that the national officials, who taught them what election is, also pay millions to buy votes here."

“Besides, that has been proven here already. If you give money, you will surely win," he said in emphasizing that most of the people here could not even appreciate election as an essential requirement of democracy.

In the towns of Kalanugas and Malabang, for instance, Macarambon received reports that only two and four barangays, respectively, would be contested by more than one candidate for the barangay chairmanship. - Romy Elusfa

Bantay Ceasefire names 11 ‘villages to watch’

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ABS-CBN reporter, 2 camera crew reported missing in Sulu

MANILA, Philippines – ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday confirmed reports that its reporter Cecilia Victoria "Ces" Oreña-Drilon and two crew went missing in the province of Sulu.

“Three ABS-CBN journalists Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Angelo Valderama are missing in Sulu," an ABS-CBN statement released Tuesday morning said.

"All efforts are underway to find them and bring them home. Until we learn more details, ABS-CBN News requests other media to report on this matter with utmost consideration for the safety of our news team," it added.

Earlier reports said Drilon and her crew were with university professor Octavio Dinampo when armed men seized them in the village of Kulasi in the town of Maimbung.

"We received reports that the four were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf led by Albader Parad," Supt. Julasirim Kasim, Sulu's provincial police chief, said.

"There is no demand yet for ransom," Kasim said, adding that Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has already convened the Crisis Management Committee.

"Governor Sakur Tan is very worried over the safety of the victims and we are doing everything to locate them," Kasim said.

Drilon's group was staying at the Sulu State College hostel in Jolo town before they were reported missing, said police Inspector Usman Pingay.

"We don't know what really happened and why Drilon went without security to Maimbung," Pingay said.

A hotel staff said he saw Drilon leaving. "She was really in a hurry and I even asked her where they were going and Ces Drilon only replied that they would just be nearby. They never came back since Saturday," the hotel staff said.

Appeal

The Mindanao People's Caucus, which is headed by Dinampo, issued a statement Sunday calling for "moral support and prayers" for the safety of their leader.

The MPC statement said Dinampo and Drilon were on their way to Maimbung when armed men flagged them down.

"We appeal to the law enforcers and the military to exhaust all peaceful and traditional methods of negotiation in working out the release of the...victims. We also call on our religious leaders from both the Christian and Muslim faiths to extend whatever possible support," the MPC statement said.

It said Dinampo is a credible and well-respected leader from Sulu and a leading peace advocate in Mindanao. He has been in the forefront of peace advocacy, good governance and relief and rehabilitation efforts in the conflict affected areas in Mindanao.

"He has been a gracious and reliable guide of many visitors to Sulu and had consistently protected his visitors even at the risk of his own life," the statement said. - GMANews.TV, with reports from Al Jacinto and Romy Elusfa

Freed MSU prof taken by MIG-9 for 'debriefing'

MANILA, Philippines - Freed kidnap victim Octavio Dinampo, chair of the Mindanao People's Caucus (MPC) and a Mindanao State University professor, has been turned over to the Military Intelligence Group for "debriefing."

Dinampo himself reported to the MPC that he was undergoing an "ordinary debriefing."

"(I am) in the hands of a good brother. There is nothing to worry," Dinampo said around 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Before this, peace advocates belonging to the MPC and the Mindanao Peace Weavers (MPW), were worried as they were unable to reach him for around eight hours.

Fr. Angel Calvo, lead convener of MPW said that last time he talked with Dinampo over the phone was at 4 a.m.

"I've been trying to get in touch with Octa the whole morning. We tried to follow him up with the personalities but we failed to see him. He has been separated from Ces Crilon. Ces did not appear anymore after the brief remarks she had on television," Calvo said.

"I was told he is under debriefing. It's difficult to know who is responsible. Gen. Razon said you can see him and referred me to somebody else," the priest said who later learned that from the Police, the professor was turned over to the Military Intelligence Group of Region-9 for "debriefing."

"I guess after moving from place to place I think he is in La Vista del Mar, not in military camp," Calvo said as he relayed that media has been trying to reach Dinampo to follow up on the statement of Drilon who told journalists in Zamboanga City that she was "betrayed."

The groups' fears about Dinampo's whereabouts were apparently sparked by earlier reports quoting police officials who said that Dinampo was one of those suspected of having links to the group of bandits which abducted broadcast journalist Ces Drilon and her crew.

The reports were later clarified.

"She was betrayed. These were the words she used when she was in Jolo and in Zamboanga," Calvo said, referring to a quote of Drilon during a press conference in Zambaonga City.

The priest believed this could be the reason why journalists were trying to get an interview with Dinampo, to get details of the reported betrayal that Drilon failed to specify.

Calvo said he had to appear on local TV stations to tell the public that the betrayal could not have come from Dinampo.

Calvo was proven right when at around 2 p.m. in the afternoon in Manila, Drilon told ABS-CBN in an interview that "Professor Dinampo is a peace advocate. He wants peace for Sulu. He was the last to interview the ASG."

"I have faith in him (Dinampo) as a peace advocate. Maybe we are just both naïve. He thought that there were opportunities or openings towards negotiations with the government," Drilon said while relaying her ordeal in the hands of their abductors.

She also share her reflections, including the fact that 12-, 15- and 17-year-old armed men whom she said were supposed to be "carrying pencils and papers to school" were with the bandits.

"Alhamdullilah. Alleluia. God is so good. Magsukol (thank you) to al those who rally behind the good name of Prof. Octa. Let us all work for peace in Mindanao and Sulu. Peace is possible," Mary Ann Arnado, secretary-general of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus said when told of the the victims' release.

"I do not have anything—even my wallet and my phone were taken," Dinampo told Arnado who relayed that the professor could have escaped his abductors "but I could not leave the three (ABS-CBN crew)."

"Those days were paralyzing…we could now get back to work but we are also organizing a debriefing for the whole family of Prof. Octa and the officers of MPC," Arnado said as she relayed that Rev. Daniel Pantoja of the Mennonites has already committed to facilitate the debriefing.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Let us talk later," Dinampo told this reporter when reached through the mobile phone of Rexall Kaalim, the Bantay Ceasefire coordinator who headed the team that MPC sent to Sulu to work for the release of the professor and assist his family. - Romy Elusfa, GMANews.TV

Palace: Sulu offensives not 'all-out' war

MANILA, Philippines - Press Secretary Jesus Dureza on Friday clarified that the renewed offensives in Sulu is not an "all-out war" as projected in media.

He said that the operations are aimed against the kidnappers of television journalist Cecilia Victoria "Ces" Drilon and three others.

The remark came as some peace advocates and church groups warned government against massive government operations.

One of the groups - The Bantay Ceasefire, a grassroots ceasefire monitoring arm of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) - has called on the government and the two big Moro fronts in Mindanao to "strengthen coordination" before the conduct of any military pursuit operation against the kidnappers of Prof. Octavio Dinampo, Ces Drilon and her camera crew in Sulu.

The call was aired by Bantay Ceasefire coordinator Rexall Kaalim who emphasized that the government troops and the Moro fronts have to "ensure that the military operation against the kidnappers should not jeopardize" the peace processes with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which both claim presence in the island-province of Sulu.

But "more important than the combatants are the civilians who would become another collateral damage of the war," Kaalim said while citing the old woman, Biya Bahari, who was treated with shrapnel wounds when government troops bombarded an alleged Abu Sayyaf lair in Indanan, Sulu.

Kaalim, in a phone interview from Jolo, said that Sulu-based civil society organizations "are very worried" as they anticipated "massive displacements of civilians in any event the soldiers would fail to exercise prudence in running after kidnappers."

On Thursday, the president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines - Archbishop Angel Lagdameo - said a military offensive against the bandits will only worsen the conflict in Mindanao.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said the government should look deeper into what prompted the perpetrators to conduct the kidnapping, saying political and economic reasons may be the root causes of the incident.

On Friday, Malacañang - through Dureza - clarified that the offensives are more of a "surgical operation" focused on specific targets identified through a video footage that was made public by police Friday.

He added that based on reports, the kidnap group could be composed of around 14 to 16 people.

He also said that Malacanang is leaving it to the police to determine and prove the alleged involvement of some officials like Indanan, Sulu mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider, who were earlier charged as primary suspects in the kidnapping.

The older Alvarez was the negtiator for the release of Drilon and her crew Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo, while his son was one of the emissaries.

Dureza said the Cabinet security cluster was briefed by PNP Director General Avelino Razon on the developments on the kidnapping and shown some of the evidence against the Isnajis, including photographs the mayor holding the P5-million ransom money.

The mayor reportedly got P3 million while the P2 million had been handed to the kidnappers.

He, meanwhile, expressed doubts about the involvement of Sulu vice governor Lady Ann Sahidula whom he said he personally talked to after videos and pictures showing her with the Isnajis after the ransom had reportedly been paid for the release of the four.

He said Sahidula informed him that she had the event video taped, but was not sure if it was the same video that the police had.

He said Sahidula informed him that she left after the incident, uncomfortable with what transpired.

Dureza said pursuit operations is being conducted by authoriities including the collating of additional evidence to support the cases.

He stressed that "no one should be spared in applying the law." - Romy Elusfa, GMANews.TV

Oxfam pools resources for 3 most depressed Mindanao regions

BY ROMY ELUSFA, GMANews.TV

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - After 15 years of implementing peace and development projects in Mindanao, Oxfam Great Britain (OGB), Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) and Oxfam-Novib (ON), have pooled their resources together to implement a "one-Oxfam" project in the three most depressed regions in Southern Philippines.

To be implemented over a period of 10 years, the project will be launched on July 16 in this city.

It will focus on coastal resource management, access to basic education, peace-building, indigenous people's rights and rural livelihoods.

"In the next five to 10 years, the Joint Oxfam Mindanao programme will work with others to achieve sustainable livelihoods and greater protection for the Lumad, Bangsamoro, small asset-holders and internally-displaced men, women and children in Caraga, Central Mindanao (CM) and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Most especially, women will be free from conflict, violence and discrimination and will realize their right to a secure livelihood," the Joint Oxfam Mindanao Programme goal reads.

The decision to merge the three groups in a "one Oxfam" project was made in 2005 following a series of research activities that produced an analysis of the poverty and conflict in Mindanao and eventually, a comprehensive document recommending strategic directions for a joint Oxfam programme" which was adopted OGB, OHK and ON last October 2006.

The Joint Oxfam Mindanao programme set the following as its five to 10-year objectives:

1) To secure access of men and women to productive assets, markets and economic resources for food security and improved income.

2) To increase resilience of men, women and children to conflict and disasters and restore inter-ethnic trust and confidence.

3) To make duty-bearers, especially state actors, accountable in conflict and disaster prevention and protection.

4) To increase the participation and capacity of women in leadership and decision-making and be free from discrimination and violence.


Felipe "Ipe" Ramiro Jr., Joint Oxfam Mindanao programme coordinator, could not, however, present a figure on how much will the entire project cost, saying the financial requirement is "variable, depending on the strategic fit, the needs of the poor regions, the capacity of the partners and the strategic goal of each of the three Oxfams."

While the project will be implemented in Caraga, Central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region, its Program Management Unit will be based in this city where "policy engagements with government, the private sector, donors and Mindanao-wide civil society organizations" would be done.

In Caraga, the project will be implemented in the provinces of Provinces of Agusan Norte, Agusan Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao Sur and Surigao Norte, Cities of Surigao and Butuan.

In ARMM, the provinces that will be served are Maguindanao and Lanao Sur, Marawi City, while Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato, and the cities of Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato will be the beneficiaries for the Central Mindanao Region.

A salient feature of the Joint Oxfam Program is its conscious effort to "mainstream gender justice and active citizenship in all its partnerships."

Ramiro said that they would "give attention to building enterprise development interventions in Caraga" by way of leveraging funds and technical expertise to assist organized groups of farmers and fishers so they "gain control over resources and access to supply chains and markets."

In Central Mindanao and in ARMM, the Joint Oxfam Program will continue to work with partners in the area of conflict, disaster prevention and humanitarian protection and encourage CSOs to collaborate with government, traditional leaders and other groups in peace-building, in protecting rights of the internally-displaced and in reducing risks to livelihoods resulting from disasters, he said. - Romy Elusfa, GMANews.TV

Military reopens Davao-Cotabato highway

MANILA, Philippines – The military reopened at 1:30 p.m. on Monday the national highway linking Cotabato and Davao Cities after gunfire exchanges have temporarily ceased between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

According to Romy Elusfa of GMA News, the road, which was closed from 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, was reopened at 6 a.m. Monday but closed again at 6:30 a.m.

"It had to be closed again as alleged rebels of the MILF have positioned themselves along the highway in the village of Dalingawen and engaged Civilian Volunteer Organization members in a brief exchange of gunfire,” Elusfa said.

Elusfa added that an estimated 22,000 evacuees from Pikit and Aleosan were also rushed to safer grounds to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the warring troops.

The evacuees were accommodated at the gymnasium of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Pikit and a warehouse in Buisan, while some of them took refuge in relatives' houses as many others were just along the roads under the cow-pulled carts loaded with their belongings.

Of the 22,000 evacuees, 5,000 are from neighboring Barangays Tapudok and Langayen of Aleosan. The rest came from Silik, Pamalian, Bualan, Kulambog, Katilacan Pagangan, Manaulanan, Lagundi, Nalapaan, Dalingawen and Kalakakan of this municipality, according to Elsufan.

Rexall Kaalim, coordinator of the Bantay Ceasefire, whose group had been facilitating the safe evacuation of civilians, called up the Parish of Pikit and the Local Government Unit at around 10 a.m. to send vehicles to ferry the evacuees from the Takepan Elementary School to any of the evacuation centers at the town center of Pikit.

"We will not leave the civilians until they are already safe," Kaaliim said. "It is difficult to allow them to stay here (Takepan Elementary School) because the bullets are reaching the school building." -

Govt, MILF agree to extend IMT tour of duty

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—The peace panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed to extend to another three months the tour of duty of the International Monitoring Team (IMT).

The tour of duty of the IMT was supposed to end Sunday.

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said in an interview upon his arrival from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he met government chief negotiator Ret. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, that the peace negotiators did not amend any provision of the Terms of Reference for the stay of the IMT in Mindanao.

"We just agreed to extend their tour of duty for another three months," he said in an interview.

The past three sets of IMT contingents in Mindanao all had a year of ceasefire monitoring work defined in their TOR.

Iqbal said that the Malaysian government agreed to only a three-month extension, as they are yet to reportedly observe the recent developments.

Government forces and rogue MILF guerrillas have been fighting in the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte since early August. The skirmishes displaced thousands of people. The fierce armed encounters happened after the aborted signing of the MOA-AD on August 5.

Iqbal said that the extension was decided during a meeting on August 27 and 28 when he and Garcia went to Malaysia to convince the Malaysian government to agree on extending the tour of duty of the remaining 26 IMT members here.

Aside from the remaining 26 here, Iqbal said that the Malaysian government has agreed to send back the other team members who were ordered to return home earlier. "Not all those sent home will be sent back here," he said.

The Malaysian government reportedly asked both the government and the MILF to stop the ongoing fighting in Mindanao as requisite for the continued presence of peace monitors in the country.

However, upon his arrival, Iqbal said he was met with reports that 12 houses of Muslim civilians were allegedly burned by soldiers around 11:30 a.m. on August 30 at Elian village, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. Romy Elusfa

Colonel to civilians: "we will die securing you;" 60-year old Babu: "I'm afraid of the soldiers"

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Romy B. Elusfa/Bantay Ceasefire
Wednesday, 07 March 2007 13:02
Special to MindaNews

MUDSENG, Midsayap, North Cotabato (MIndaNews/06 March) -- “Hindi namin i-tolerate ang allegation ng pagnanakaw. (We will not tolerate allegations about looting). I am very strict. The burden of proof (that Army soldiers were behind alleged looting and arson) is on the evacuees. Hindi kami magnanakaw kay (We are not robbers) we are covered under military court and the Geneva conventions,” said Col. Jeyvee Resurreccion, commander of the Army’s 7th Infrantry Battalion, in response to allegations of the evacuees during a dialogue here last Sunday (March 4).
Resurreccion stressed their presence in the area is to protect the civilians and that they “will die securing you the civilians.” He said all the complaints raised by the civilians during the dialogue among Army and local government officials, non-government organizations and the internally displaced people, were part of a “gimmickry intended to tarnish the good image of the soldiers.”

“Hindi ninyo nakikita ang pagkakamali ng lawless elements,” (You don’t see the fault of the lawless elements) he said, adding they would not withdraw from the area despite the demand of civilians, until the “seven to eight lawless elements brandishing firearms” leave.

Who is to blame?

Babu Mai Mona Guabalay, 60, wept as she stared at the ashes of what was once her house. “I really do not know who burned my house because nobody among us has seen the burning. But it happened at a time when no one else was here but the soldiers,” she said Sunday.

In Maguindanaon language, she added, “Please, get me out of here. I’m afraid of the soldiers.”

Earlier, the soldiers held the group, claiming they do not allow people in the area of the burned houses because “baka matinik kayo.” Initially Babu’s group thought it was a warning about booby traps or landmines.

The group was allowed to proceed only after it agreed that soldiers first go ahead of them.

Some two meters away from Babu’s, the remnants of what used to be Subiya Kumayog’s house also greeted her.



Kumayog, an elderly woman, was living with her three children in the house that had been reduced to rubble.

Babu’s five children and four grandchildren are with Subiya’s family at the evacuation center some eight kilometers away.

Unlike Babu and Kumayog, Mama Sagan, 40, knew that his house, located some 200 meters from Babu’s and Subiya’s, was burned on February 16.

Aside from the 850 families here, there are 788 other families seeking refuge in the nearby town of Datu Piang in Maguindanao province some 30 kilometers away. Among the barangays affected are Duaminangan, Payugantong, Damatulan, Lower Kadigasan, Lumupog, Sambulawan, Alunganan, Masigay and Buayan, Nes, Mudseng

Resurreccion said there are four Army battalions in the area - his command, the 7th IB, 38th IB, 40th IB and 48th IB. Resurreccion’s 7th IB and the 40th IB under the command of Col. Diosdado Carreon, have been here since late in January. The 38th and 48th IBs, said the civilians, were deployed in the area only last week.

Villagers said they were told by soldiers that the recent troop augmentation by the Army was part of their plan to secure the “Balikatan” RP-US joint military exercise.

Last March 9, residents of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province, which is around 30 kilometers from here, saw “around 40 U.S. soldiers” participating in a medical and dental mission in the municipality.

Musib Uy Tan, executive assistant of Datu Piang Mayor Sameer Uy, said there were indeed residents of the municipality who asked about the US military presence.

But Tan reportedly told them: “As far as we are concerned, they (US troops) are here for the medical and dental mission. Anyone of you may avail of their services. If there was anything else beyond what I know, that is beyond my authority to question,” he said. (Romy B. Elusfa/Bantay Ceasefire)

IMT wants fewer soldiers deployed to Mindanao

Romy Elusfa/Special to MindaNews

Thursday, 04 October 2007 10:39

ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/03 October) -- The Deputy Head of Mission of the 64-person Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT-4) does not want to see more soldiers sent to Mindanao because “the sight of armed law enforcers is a manifestation of un-peace.” The IMT, which monitors the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), wants to see more development workers in Mindanao rather than military contingents, said First Admiral Dato Pahlawan Amzah Solaiman, deputy head of mission of IMT-4. While acknowledging that the peace process between the government and the MILF has been slow, it “is on the right track,” Solaiman said. He noted the challenges that have to be confronted for peace to reign in the Southern Philippines: the presence of New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in some Moro-populated areas in Mindanao, difficulty to sustain peace, and the never-ending cases of rido (family feuds). Solaiman explained that the “NPA movement creates trouble is some areas where we have peace.” He stressed that there are a number of communities where there have been relative peace already but this could not be sustained because “you wouldn’t know that conflict would all of a sudden erupt in other areas.” The conflicts are caused by “lawless groups and criminal elements” as well as “rido,” which he said has “never stopped and is all over” the Moro communities in Mindanao. Solaiman also said the problem has been compounded by the continued “displacement of people” and the “lack of socio-economic development” projects in Mindanao. peaking in front of 40 Bantay Ceasefire volunteers from Basilan, who were gathered here to participate in a Basic Documentation Training, Solaiman said his country’s Ministry of Defense has given them three months within which to assess their performance based on the following: 1) the government and MILF support to the peace process, 2) the government and the MILF adherence to the ceasefire agreement, and, 3) the safety of IMT personnel. (Romy Elusfa/Special to MindaNews)

"Akyat GMA" plan succeeds in handing over statement to Pres. Arroyo

Romy B. Elusfa/Special to MindaNews

Thursday, 01 May 2008 10:56

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/01 May) – How do you break through a security cordon of the Presidential Security Group to hand over a statement to President Arroyo? Some 200 peace advocates here succeeded in handing to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo their statement calling on Malacanang to request the Malaysian government to "extend the tour of duty" of the International Monitoring Team (IMT), on Wednesdsay afternoon, April 30. But handing over the paper to the President succeeded only after two failed attempts by the group earlier prevented by truncheon-yielding policemen to get nearer the Marco Polo Hotel where Ms Arroyo was meeting officers of the Bishops-Ulama Conference. At the Freedom Park around 250 meters across the hotel, peace advocates waved their streamers and placards hoping an aide of the President would see their demands and relay them to Arroyo. Before they assembled at the Freedom Park, a group of four representatives composed of a lawyer, a religious leader and two other community leaders managed to reach the mezzanine floor of the Hotel where the President was, but failed to hand their manifesto to the President as they were not allowed inside the function room. As the four joined their group back at the Freedom Park, they hatched a plan "Akyat GMA," which identified four women who should go back to the hotel to hand the manifesto to the President. The plan was for them to mix with a multisectoral group of journalists and government employees who were waiting for the President to come out of the function room. At the Freedom Park, the agreement was for the peace advocates to raise their placards and streamers as high as they could for the President's convoy to notice them on their way from the hotel to the airport. Each of the four women -- Atty. Mary Ann Arnado, secretary-general of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus, her companions Lou Gecosala, Jan Francis Lozano and Shari Palabrica of the Initiatives for International Dialogue and Mindanao Peaceweavers, had their respective copies of the manifesto so that anyone who could chance on getting near Arroyo should be ready to hand over the paper. As the President finally got out of the function room, Gecosala first got near and talked to one of the BUC leaders, like she were part of the team following Arroyo out of the room. Within the President’s hearing distance, Geocosala said, “Madam President, I am from the Bantay Ceasefire and we are here to hand you this position paper of the war victims. This paper supports your administration's policy which upholds the primacy of the peace process.” "Thank you," said the President as she received the document that told the President that her administration's decision to simply respect and accept the decision of the Malaysian government to pull-out from the IMT was "sort of a betrayal to the Arroyo administration's pronouncement on the primacy of the peace process." The Bantay Ceasefire is a volunteer group of 600-strong independent grassroots-based ceasefire monitors recognized both by the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front and acknowledged by the IMT. Rexall Kaalim, coordinator of the Bantay Ceasefire, said that they would not stop appealing for Malacanang to heed their pleas. "From now on, we shall, on a daily basis, do everything we can to follow up our request for the President to ensure the IMT stays in Mindanao, otherwise we may all be bracing for a deadly, horrifying and damaging war," Kaalim told MindaNews. He said they were also requesting all Filipinos, especially the business groups, to send position letters, resolutions, letters of appeal, email or call the President in support to the Bantay Ceasefire's demands. "The businessmen should make their voices be heard because during the war they were the ones greatly affected. Our hotels in Davao had zero occupancy during the wars in 2000 and 2003," said Arnado. (Romy B. Elusfa/Special to MindaNews)

Mindanao legislator joins call to extend IMT's tour of duty

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Manila NGOs join call for IMT to stay

Romy B. Elusfa/special to MindaNews

Wednesday, 07 May 2008 11:03

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/6 May) -- Manila-based non-government organizations have joined their counterparts in Mindanao in appealing for government to request the Malaysian government to extend the tour of duty of its contingent to the International Monitoring Team. Led by the Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN), they said in a press statement that they "echo the sentiments of [their] Mindanao partners appealing for the IMT to stay and continue to support the ceasefire between the GRP and MILF." The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict-Philippines (GPPAC-Philippines), a civil society movement promoting conflict prevention, also said in a statement that it views "the IMT as an effective conflict prevention and early warning mechanism that facilitates and supports the resolution of the centuries-old Mindanao conflict." Among other Manila-based organizations that joined the MNS statement are the United Youth for Peace and Development (UNYPAD), Generation Peace, and Anak Mindanao. They said they were "concerned over the reported downsizing and eventual pull-out" of the IMT. The presence of IMT in Mindanao, they said, "is a vital component of the peace negotiations" between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The group cited that the 40-man Malaysian contingent in the IMT played a "significant role in the overall peace process in Mindanao. Its leading role has effectively maintained a situation conducive to peace negotiations and prevented armed hostilities between the conflicting parties in Mindanao." Meanwhile, the Generation Peace, which is a national youth peace network, and the UNYPAD, a national Moro youth network for peace and development, have started gathering digital photos as "a form of petition signing for the IMT to remain in its crucial role." The statement said that "these peace networks are appealing to the Malaysian government to reconsider its decision" while urging the government "to ensure definite progress in the peace process and demonstrate to Malaysia, and the rest of the international community and more especially to the Bangsa Moro People its resolve to conclude the peace negotiations and implement a peace agreement with the MILF." On Monday, a lady-legislator from the first congressional district of Cotabato province also joined the peace advocates’ call for IMT to stay. Rep. Emylou "Lala" Talino-Mendoza said she would also persuade her fellow Mindanao legislators to join her in calling for government to ask the Malaysian government to reconsider its decision. This developed as Fr. Bert Layson, OMI, co-chair of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus, said that forums are also being conducted in communities affected by the war where people discuss how they could help persuade the government to stop the Malaysian government from abandoning the IMT. While the Malaysian government is gradually pulling out their men from the IMT, it said it will continue to host the peace talks between the government and the MILF. (Romy Elusfa/special to MindaNews)

16 Moro youth groups to pursue struggle for independence

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