“War,” said former President Fidel Ramos, a retired general, “is never an option.” But in the post-Ramos era, whenever a negotiated peace between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is almost within grasp, war is not far behind.

pusan

19widows JUSTICE NOW. Widows of some media victims of the Nov. 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao sign their affidavit of complaint against Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton who was relieved as 6th Infantry Division and Col. Medardo Geslani, who was also relieved as 601st Infantry Battalion chief, at the office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao [...]

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao (MindaNews/18 January) — The Civilian Protection Component (CPC) of the International Monitoring Team should meet to agree on an “internal terms of reference” which will be presented to the peace panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) in [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/18 January) — Relatives of the media victims in the November 23 Ampatuan Massacre will troop to the Office of the Deputy Ombdusman for Mindanao at 1 p.m. Tuesday to file an administrative complaint against Major General Alfredo Cayton, the 6th Infantry Division commander who was relieved from his post days later and [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/19 January) — The number of media workers killed in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on November 23, is 32 with the addition of Jepon Cadagdagon, who was not included in the media list before. Rowena Carranza-Paraan, director of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Cadagdagon’s mother, Jepon, informed her her son [...]

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/19 January) – Even before an actual drug test could be done on him, a policeman in Kabacan, North Cotabato reportedly admitted he had been using drugs, the provincial police office said. But police provincial director Senior Supt. Norberto Batislaong refused to identify the policeman, addng an actual test is needed before criminal [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/19 January) — Finally, after a long wait of 50 years, the Senate and the House of Representatives approved during a bicameral meeting today the creation of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) that will “focus on the economic development of Mindanao, as well as on the social, political and cultural aspects of development [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/16 January) — Organizers created a new committee in its preparations for the staging of the Kaamulan Festival this year: the “field operations committee” to focus on security, traffic management and other concerns in the Kaamulan grounds, where most of the activities will be held, the province’s tourism officer May Flor Intong said. [...]

PENANG, Malaysia (MindaNews/17 January) — Mindanao’s University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato is teaming up with Malaysia’s best, the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Mindanao’s Dr. Antonio Dereje, USM President, handed over a letter of undertaking to Malaysia’s Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, USM Vice Chancellor (equivalent here to President), at the [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews) – The Davao City-based lead lawyer of the Ampatuans wants former Defense Secretary, now the ruling party’s Presidential bet, Gilbert Teodoro, charged for rebellion like the Ampatuans for the Department of National Defense’s alleged involvement in proving the firearms dug in Shariff Aguak. Philip Pantojan told a press conference at the Grand [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/09 January) – Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., has been staying in the seaside Camp Panacan Station Hospital of the Eastern Mindanao Command here for exactly a month as of January 7, for various ailments that are manageable and do not necessarily require hospital confinement, among them tension headache, obesity and hemorrhoids. Ampatuan Sr., [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / January – Yes, I admire Mayor Duterte of Davao City for having such political will to make Davao free from noise of ‘Christmas explosives’. In vernacular, we call that as pabuto. I admire the strength of that will so with the result of that will!

DAVAO CITY — On the first working day of the year, I sat down in front of the computer and started to write my dissertation. I was several hours into it and was just beginning to get bleary-eyed when Carol Arguillas called to ask if I was in town. She said she had Ed Lingao [...]

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/7 Jan) – The city government here opened Thursday a four-day grand celebration as homage to the city’s founding 70 years ago and its continuing development as one of the fast-growing economic and cultural hub in the country’s southern corridor. Koronadal City Mayor Fernando Miguel said this year’s celebration mainly focuses on the [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/7 Jan) – Election and police officials in Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao are not keen on granting any exemption to the ban on the carrying of firearms during the upcoming election period reportedly due to volatile security condition in the region.

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/05 January) — When Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. announced his plan to rejoin the Liberal Party, his political vehicle in 1987 as candidate for the province’s third congressional district, he was just being consistent with his reputation as an astute politician. It did not matter that just a couple of [...]