By Rick R. Flores
DAVAO CITY – Peace votes from Mindanao are crucial in winning the 2010 national elections. And these votes may well account to more than 600,000, a huge number of internally displaced persons, who are keeping their collective support for a candidate who can provide a clear political platform in ending the conflict in Mindanao.
This is the gist of the Mindanao Leaders Forum with the May 2010 Presidential and Senatorial Candidates slated on March 16, 2010 to be held in this city, in time with the celebration of the 73rd Araw ng Dabaw.
Organized by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) and the Citizen’s Coalition on ARMM Electoral Reform (C-CARE), the event will bring in multi-sectoral groups, especially the bakwits (internally displaced persons) from Maguindanao and Lanao, face to face with the standard bearers of ten official political parties competing in the first-ever automated polls in the country.
Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, MPC secretary general, said the “goal of the discussion is to present the Peace Platform of the Mindanao stakeholders to the presidential candidates and elicit from each one of them his or her policy directions and programs on how Mindanaoans will be able to achieve genuine peace and development.”
“We would also be interested on how they view the situation of the IDPs, who until now, are camped in evacuation centers in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte,” Arnado said.
C-CARE chairperson Salic Ibrahim added that there will be 200 people’s organizations from all over Mindanao who will attend the forum together with 500 leaders from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and neighboring towns and provinces which are directly and indirectly affected by the armed conflict.
“This event is intended to provide a venue where leaders of civil society , peace networks, representatives of IDPs, humanitarian workers, indigenous and Bangsamoro communities, women and youth will be able to listen to the platforms for peace and development in Mindanao given the longstanding armed conflict that besieged the island for over four decades now,” Ibrahim said.
Arnado added that the participants would be interested to listen to a presidentiable’ s views on critical issues that have direct impact on the day to day survival of communities in conflict areas, war and displacement, ancestral domain, environment, mining and the peace process.
C-CARE is a poll watchdog accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) specifically in monitoring the elections in ARMM. It has been instrumental in opening formal mechanisms for people’s participation in ensuring fair and clean elections in the region.
MPC, on the other hand, is a broad movement of grassroots organizations which pioneered the Bantay Ceasefire, an independent ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the GRP-MILF talks. It recently joined the expanded International Monitoring Team (IMT) under the Civilian Protection Component (CPC).
Among those invited are Sen. Benigno Aquino II (LP), Sen. Manuel Villar (NP), Gilberto Teodoro, (Lakas), Eduardo Villanueva (BP), Richard Gordon (Bayan-VNP), Joseph Estrada (PMP), Nicanor Perlas (Ind.), and Jamby Madrigal (Ind.).
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, November 28, 2008
News: Civilians continue to suffer from AFP air strikes
By Mike G. Kulat
Four more civilians, all women were victims of indiscriminate air strikes from the Armed Forces of the Philippines' OV-10 bombers in Maguindanao areas.
In an interview conducted by members of the Tiyakap Kalilintad of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society with the victims, it was learned that Hadja Sapia Samad together with seven other members of the family were inside their house in Barangay Liyab, Mamasapano in Maguindanao Province when two OV-10 bombers started to dropped bombs in their community. The first bomb dropped a few meters away from their house but did not explode at around 2:40 PM on November 18, 2008.
The immediate reaction of the family was to vacate their house fearing that the next bomb to be dropped will already hit their house. So the whole family members ran and hide under the coconut trees thinking they will be safe. The bomber planes were able to drop and explode around eight bombs in the area and to their surprise, the next bomb exploded a couple of meters away from where they were hiding. The bombing was followed by long burst of machine gun fires from same war planes.
As a result, Hadja Sapia Samad; Fatima Kamensa, 12 year old; Hadja Zahra Zangkala, 43 year old; Sarah Samad, 23 years old and 5-month pregnant all sustained wounds in different parts of their bodies from a bomb splinters. They were immediately brought to a Rural Clinic in Poblacion Datu Piang, Maguindanao for medication. The bombing also resulted to the evacuation of all the residents of Barangay Liyab that added to the continuously increasing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in different parts of the province.
On August 19, 2008 at between 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, a group of men believed to be military men as manifested by their military uniforms arrived in the Rural Clinic and tried to convince the victims to be transferred and treated at Camp Siongco Military Hospital in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan.
The victims highly doubted on the intention to transfer them into a military hospital and so they refused the offer. On this, accordingly the military instead instructed the victims that when they are asked about their plight they should deny that they were hit by bombs instead claim to be victims of crossfire.
Tiyakap Kalilintad members who conducted the interviews also asked several residents if there were encounters occurred in the area on that date or the previous days but they denied any otherwise they could have vacated the area.
Four more civilians, all women were victims of indiscriminate air strikes from the Armed Forces of the Philippines' OV-10 bombers in Maguindanao areas.
In an interview conducted by members of the Tiyakap Kalilintad of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society with the victims, it was learned that Hadja Sapia Samad together with seven other members of the family were inside their house in Barangay Liyab, Mamasapano in Maguindanao Province when two OV-10 bombers started to dropped bombs in their community. The first bomb dropped a few meters away from their house but did not explode at around 2:40 PM on November 18, 2008.
The immediate reaction of the family was to vacate their house fearing that the next bomb to be dropped will already hit their house. So the whole family members ran and hide under the coconut trees thinking they will be safe. The bomber planes were able to drop and explode around eight bombs in the area and to their surprise, the next bomb exploded a couple of meters away from where they were hiding. The bombing was followed by long burst of machine gun fires from same war planes.
As a result, Hadja Sapia Samad; Fatima Kamensa, 12 year old; Hadja Zahra Zangkala, 43 year old; Sarah Samad, 23 years old and 5-month pregnant all sustained wounds in different parts of their bodies from a bomb splinters. They were immediately brought to a Rural Clinic in Poblacion Datu Piang, Maguindanao for medication. The bombing also resulted to the evacuation of all the residents of Barangay Liyab that added to the continuously increasing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in different parts of the province.
On August 19, 2008 at between 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, a group of men believed to be military men as manifested by their military uniforms arrived in the Rural Clinic and tried to convince the victims to be transferred and treated at Camp Siongco Military Hospital in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan.
The victims highly doubted on the intention to transfer them into a military hospital and so they refused the offer. On this, accordingly the military instead instructed the victims that when they are asked about their plight they should deny that they were hit by bombs instead claim to be victims of crossfire.
Tiyakap Kalilintad members who conducted the interviews also asked several residents if there were encounters occurred in the area on that date or the previous days but they denied any otherwise they could have vacated the area.
Monday, November 17, 2008
News: Villar out, Enrile in, as Philippine Senate President
By Taher G. Solaiman
Senator Manuel Villar has resigned today from his post as President of the Philippine Senate.
Villar said he resigned from his post when learned that he no longer had the support of majority of his fellow senators.
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile replaced Villar as Senate President.
Villar lost the confidence of his fellow senators after he was implicated in the controversial C-5 road extension in Manila.
Senator Manuel Villar has resigned today from his post as President of the Philippine Senate.
Villar said he resigned from his post when learned that he no longer had the support of majority of his fellow senators.
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile replaced Villar as Senate President.
Villar lost the confidence of his fellow senators after he was implicated in the controversial C-5 road extension in Manila.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
News: MILF welcomes OIC call, insists MOA-AD signing first before peace talks
By Taher G. Solaiman
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told reporters today that the call of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) for the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to immediately return to the negotiating table was a “welcome development because the MILF has been for the negotiated political settlement of the problem in Mindanao.”
Iqbal, however, insisted that the MILF will not return to the negotiating table unless the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) is signed and that the government guarantees it will comply with the agreed negotiation process and all agreements between the two parties.
The MILF chief peace negotiator expressed pessimism that the peace negotiation will resume soon. This is because, according to him, Philippine government “has destroyed the procedure, the agenda of the talks.”
He also accused the Philippine government as “more responsible for the collapse of the peace talks.”
The MOA-AD was supposed to have been signed by the peace negotiating panels in Kuala Lumpur last August 5 but the signing was aborted by issuance of Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) by the Supreme Court granting the petition of the local government units of Cotabato Province and Zamboanga City which feared inclusion in a proposed Bangsamoro territory.
Then, the Supreme Court declared last October 14 the MOA-AD as “contrary to law and the Constitution.”
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told reporters today that the call of Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) for the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to immediately return to the negotiating table was a “welcome development because the MILF has been for the negotiated political settlement of the problem in Mindanao.”
Iqbal, however, insisted that the MILF will not return to the negotiating table unless the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) is signed and that the government guarantees it will comply with the agreed negotiation process and all agreements between the two parties.
The MILF chief peace negotiator expressed pessimism that the peace negotiation will resume soon. This is because, according to him, Philippine government “has destroyed the procedure, the agenda of the talks.”
He also accused the Philippine government as “more responsible for the collapse of the peace talks.”
The MOA-AD was supposed to have been signed by the peace negotiating panels in Kuala Lumpur last August 5 but the signing was aborted by issuance of Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) by the Supreme Court granting the petition of the local government units of Cotabato Province and Zamboanga City which feared inclusion in a proposed Bangsamoro territory.
Then, the Supreme Court declared last October 14 the MOA-AD as “contrary to law and the Constitution.”
News: OIC urges GRP, MILF to resume peace talks soon
By Taher G. Solaiman
Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in a statement released last November 10, warned that the deteriorating situation in Mindanao “empowers undisciplined elements who seek to abort the peace process and fuel extremist feelings” even as he urged “the government of the Philippines and President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to rapidly return to the negotiating table in order to work out creative solutions matching agreements with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the requirements of the Supreme Constitutional Court, while continuing to work in the same positive spirit that led to the accomplishments made so far through negotiations and build upon these achievements in a bid to reach the just and durable peace desired by all.“
Ihsanoglu also expressed his deep concern about “the increasing deterioration of the situation in the southern Philippines due to continued military operations, severely affecting civilians.”
He also said that “the uninterrupted military operations have resulted in the displacement of more than half a million civilians who live in shelters in dire conditions” and that he “would deploy efforts to mobilize resources from the OIC affiliated institutions and organs to alleviate the suffering of the displaced population.”
Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in a statement released last November 10, warned that the deteriorating situation in Mindanao “empowers undisciplined elements who seek to abort the peace process and fuel extremist feelings” even as he urged “the government of the Philippines and President Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to rapidly return to the negotiating table in order to work out creative solutions matching agreements with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the requirements of the Supreme Constitutional Court, while continuing to work in the same positive spirit that led to the accomplishments made so far through negotiations and build upon these achievements in a bid to reach the just and durable peace desired by all.“
Ihsanoglu also expressed his deep concern about “the increasing deterioration of the situation in the southern Philippines due to continued military operations, severely affecting civilians.”
He also said that “the uninterrupted military operations have resulted in the displacement of more than half a million civilians who live in shelters in dire conditions” and that he “would deploy efforts to mobilize resources from the OIC affiliated institutions and organs to alleviate the suffering of the displaced population.”
Saturday, November 8, 2008
NEWS: Peace advocates ask GMA, MILF to stop war
Peace advocates appeal to government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to stop the armed hostilities in Mindanao after the Supreme Court junked the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) for being unconstitutional.
Alarmed over the gravity of humanitarian crisis and the deteriorating condition of these war-ravaged areas, members of the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW) wrote President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim to stop the armed conflict of both parties and return to the negotiating table.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were affected after the Arroyo government ordered the Philippine armed forces for punitive actions against so-called rogue elements of the MILF. Their appeal letter wrote: "there are now more than half a million internally displaced persons who are bearing the brunt of the ongoing armed conflict."
The advocates further wrote that the staggering figure does not count yet the casualties on both sides of the combatants. Also, this excludes the hidden and long-term effects of the violence on women, children and the youth.
Signatories of the letter asked President Arroyo what happened to her own declaration on the primacy of the peace process as contained in her Executive Order 2003. They appealed for her to immediately declare a suspension of military operations (SOMO) to sober up the situation and allow the mechanisms on the ceasefire agreement with the MILF to work again.
They likewise appealed to Chairman Murad to demonstrate his firm resolve and commitment to peaceful settlement of the Mindanao conflict by reining in all his forces and constituents and in finding a just resolution on alleged violations of the so-called
rogue elements.
The MPW told both Arroyo and Murad that violence committed by any parties in conflict cannot be resolved by another, if not increased form of violence and that such is a never-ending cycle that will only bring the country to the brink of destruction.
Hopeful of Arroyo's recent overtures for the resumption of the peace talks, the MPW said that unless this is accompanied by positive gestures of peace such as the immediate declaration of SOMO, they will be compelled to appeal for United Nations intervention to avert a worst humanitarian crisis in Mindanao.
For Murad, they proposed that MILF gives its share in creating an atmosphere for dialogue and the conditions to tread the tedious path to peace.
"War is not an option. As peace advocates we take it upon ourselves to face up to the challenge of building and uniting for peace, especially in light of the surfacing of biases and prejudices among and between peoples of Mindanao and the rest of the citizenry, following the MOA-AD debacle," the letter concluded.
MPW represents a network of peace constituency coming from non-government organizations, academe, religious, human rights groups, peoples organizations and grassroots communities which work for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Mindanao. Among its members are the AGONG Network, Mindanao Peoples Caucus, Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, Mindanao Peace Advocates Conference, Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement, Mindanao Solidarity Network and Peace Advocates Zamboanga, Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), Saligan-Mindanaw and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
Alarmed over the gravity of humanitarian crisis and the deteriorating condition of these war-ravaged areas, members of the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW) wrote President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim to stop the armed conflict of both parties and return to the negotiating table.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were affected after the Arroyo government ordered the Philippine armed forces for punitive actions against so-called rogue elements of the MILF. Their appeal letter wrote: "there are now more than half a million internally displaced persons who are bearing the brunt of the ongoing armed conflict."
The advocates further wrote that the staggering figure does not count yet the casualties on both sides of the combatants. Also, this excludes the hidden and long-term effects of the violence on women, children and the youth.
Signatories of the letter asked President Arroyo what happened to her own declaration on the primacy of the peace process as contained in her Executive Order 2003. They appealed for her to immediately declare a suspension of military operations (SOMO) to sober up the situation and allow the mechanisms on the ceasefire agreement with the MILF to work again.
They likewise appealed to Chairman Murad to demonstrate his firm resolve and commitment to peaceful settlement of the Mindanao conflict by reining in all his forces and constituents and in finding a just resolution on alleged violations of the so-called
rogue elements.
The MPW told both Arroyo and Murad that violence committed by any parties in conflict cannot be resolved by another, if not increased form of violence and that such is a never-ending cycle that will only bring the country to the brink of destruction.
Hopeful of Arroyo's recent overtures for the resumption of the peace talks, the MPW said that unless this is accompanied by positive gestures of peace such as the immediate declaration of SOMO, they will be compelled to appeal for United Nations intervention to avert a worst humanitarian crisis in Mindanao.
For Murad, they proposed that MILF gives its share in creating an atmosphere for dialogue and the conditions to tread the tedious path to peace.
"War is not an option. As peace advocates we take it upon ourselves to face up to the challenge of building and uniting for peace, especially in light of the surfacing of biases and prejudices among and between peoples of Mindanao and the rest of the citizenry, following the MOA-AD debacle," the letter concluded.
MPW represents a network of peace constituency coming from non-government organizations, academe, religious, human rights groups, peoples organizations and grassroots communities which work for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Mindanao. Among its members are the AGONG Network, Mindanao Peoples Caucus, Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, Mindanao Peace Advocates Conference, Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement, Mindanao Solidarity Network and Peace Advocates Zamboanga, Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), Saligan-Mindanaw and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
NEWS: Army soldier injured in armed clash with NPA in Cotabato
By Taher G. Solaiman
An army soldier identified as Private First Class Ramil T. Flores was wounded in an armed encounter with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels last Sunday evening in Sitio (sub-village) Talahek, Barangay (village) Bacong, Tulunan, Cotabato, a military officer said today.
The soldiers from the 57th Infantry Battalion were conducting patrol when they chanced upon about 30 NPA rebels, said Army Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command.
Cabangbang said that the wounded soldier was already brought to an undisclosed hospital.
Then, the military conducted air strikes and mortar shelling, Cabangbang also said.
An army soldier identified as Private First Class Ramil T. Flores was wounded in an armed encounter with New People’s Army (NPA) rebels last Sunday evening in Sitio (sub-village) Talahek, Barangay (village) Bacong, Tulunan, Cotabato, a military officer said today.
The soldiers from the 57th Infantry Battalion were conducting patrol when they chanced upon about 30 NPA rebels, said Army Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command.
Cabangbang said that the wounded soldier was already brought to an undisclosed hospital.
Then, the military conducted air strikes and mortar shelling, Cabangbang also said.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
NEWS: International guarantee first before peace talks resumption -- MILF
By Taher G. Solaiman
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is willing to return to the negotiating table when there is "an international guarantee.”
This was the statement given to the media early this week by Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair on political affairs.
“Any bilateral agreement between the government and the MILF should be made binding before the international community and should not be unilaterally disowned by one party,” Jaafar said referring to the aborted signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) on August 5, 2008 that led to series of heavy fightings between government troops and MILF guerrillas in various parts of Mindanao.
Jaafar also expressed the willingness of the MILF to sign and honor a document stating that the MILF will not secede from the Philippines even as he asserted that the government should honor its commitment to give the Bangsamoro people their homeland as stipulated in the MOA-AD.
He identified the European Union (EU) as a possible guarantor in the resumption of the peace talks between the GRP and the MILF.
He also could not help but expressed his pessimism that the MILF cannot get domestic relief from this government.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is willing to return to the negotiating table when there is "an international guarantee.”
This was the statement given to the media early this week by Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair on political affairs.
“Any bilateral agreement between the government and the MILF should be made binding before the international community and should not be unilaterally disowned by one party,” Jaafar said referring to the aborted signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) on August 5, 2008 that led to series of heavy fightings between government troops and MILF guerrillas in various parts of Mindanao.
Jaafar also expressed the willingness of the MILF to sign and honor a document stating that the MILF will not secede from the Philippines even as he asserted that the government should honor its commitment to give the Bangsamoro people their homeland as stipulated in the MOA-AD.
He identified the European Union (EU) as a possible guarantor in the resumption of the peace talks between the GRP and the MILF.
He also could not help but expressed his pessimism that the MILF cannot get domestic relief from this government.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
NEWS: Moro groups lobby the UN Secretary General for Right to Self-Determination
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Friday, December 7, 2007
Road mishap kills former ARMM vice governor
Former Vice Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Mahid Mutilan was killed in a vehicular accident about 5 a.m. Thursday in Sitio Anibongan, Matangkad village in Gitagum, Misamis Oriental.
Reports that reached Taher G. Solaiman On Line said Mutilan, also a former Lanao del Sur provincial governor, was en route from Marawi City to Cagayan de Oro City airport when the driver of his Ford Ranger pickup lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash. The governor was rushing to catch the first plane flight from Cagayan de Oro City to Manila to meet his wife who was set to leave for a pilgrimage to Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mutilan’s driver, together with another companion and three persons aboard a tricycle were also injured in the incident.
The victims aboard the vehicle of Mutilan were brought to the Cagayan de Oro Medical Center while those aboard the tricycle were rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City for treatment. But the former governor was pronounced “dead on arrival” at the hospital while his driver was in a serious condition.
Mutilan, until his death, was the head of the Ulama League of the Philippines and co-convenor of Bishop-Ulama Conference of the Philippines.
Gitagum town is about an hour by land travel from Cagayan de Oro City.
Reports that reached Taher G. Solaiman On Line said Mutilan, also a former Lanao del Sur provincial governor, was en route from Marawi City to Cagayan de Oro City airport when the driver of his Ford Ranger pickup lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash. The governor was rushing to catch the first plane flight from Cagayan de Oro City to Manila to meet his wife who was set to leave for a pilgrimage to Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mutilan’s driver, together with another companion and three persons aboard a tricycle were also injured in the incident.
The victims aboard the vehicle of Mutilan were brought to the Cagayan de Oro Medical Center while those aboard the tricycle were rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City for treatment. But the former governor was pronounced “dead on arrival” at the hospital while his driver was in a serious condition.
Mutilan, until his death, was the head of the Ulama League of the Philippines and co-convenor of Bishop-Ulama Conference of the Philippines.
Gitagum town is about an hour by land travel from Cagayan de Oro City.
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