SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur  (31 July) –  “A disaster waiting to happen. That mountain’s gonna fall down on us.” That is what San Francisco resident Butch Garcia, owner of Cristina’s Restaurant here, warns will happen if gold miners continue to ignore the Cease and Desist Order (CDO) issued by Governor Adolph Edward Plaza on [...]

SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews/31 July) –  Several names have cropped up as possible successor of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair Jesus Dureza but the law creating MinDA is specific as to the qualifications the nominee for chair must possess. Section 7 of RA 9996 states that the MinDA chair “shall be appointed by the President of [...]

HAGONOY, Davao del Sur –  Two days after offering to relinquish the chairmanship of the  Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), laywer Jesus Dureza on Saturday said he has not   received any feedback from the President. Dureza, who also serves as National Programme Director of Action for Conflict Transformation for Peace Progam (ACT for Peace), added he [...]

DAVAO CITY  (MindaNews/31 July) —  Unidentified armed men fired at a group of farmers occupying a land covered by the extended Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in Maramag, Bukidnon Friday night, reports said. Oscar Maniego, leader of the Danggawan Landless Farmers Association said that shortly before midnight, unidentified gunmen fired several rounds of  shots at the [...]

MANOLO FORTICH, Bukidnon (MindaNews/31 July) — The management of Del Monte Philippines, Inc. said they immediately stopped operations in a land previously controlled by the family of a former Bukidnon governor in Kuya, Maramag town, according to a DMPI statement sent to MindaNews on July 30. “DMPI will continue to hold-off any operation or activity [...]

City of Tagum – The Mindanao’s Biggest Durian Festival celebration will kick-off on August 7 at the Rotary Park Plaza which will also be the venue for the month-long showcase of different varieties of fresh durian fruit grown in Tagum City. Durian Festival 2010 will showcase sixteen (16) culinary competitions such as: Durian Extreme Flare [...]

MANILA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed contributions from Germany and Spain of 500,000 Euros (estimated 56.7 million pesos) each to jumpstart WFP operations to support conflict-affected people in Central Mindanao. As more internally displaced people return to their homes or resettle in other communities following the ceasefire in mid-2009 and [...]

Farmers in Bukidnon are not complaining of the monsoon rains. They are busy preparing their fields to plant new crop of rice in Maramag, Bukidnon on July 29,2010. Mindanews photo by Froilan Gallardo

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/30 July) – US troops may remain in the country for as long as there is the problem of terrorism, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters here on Thursday. Gazmin, who attended a command conference at the Eastern Mindanao Command here, admitted that no fixed timeframe has been set for the stay of [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 July) – Police operatives here arrested Thursday at least 26 suspected illegal gambling bettors and seized alleged paraphernalia for an illegal numbers game in a raid at a house owned by a sister of boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao. Chief Supt. Felicisimo Khu, Region 12 police director, said Friday [...]

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/30 July) — The Department of Education (DepEd) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has released some P124 million as payment for the unpaid salaries of 2,017 school teachers in the region. The unpaid salaries date back to 2008, according to the region’s Bureau of Public Information. The teachers received their [...]

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/30 July) – Possible penalties face the winning bidder for the purchase of two trucks and three heavy equipment by the city government for reportedly failing to deliver on time three of the items. TKC Heavy Industries Inc., the supplier, was supposed to complete the delivery last May 2010. As of the deadline, [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/30 July) – Security operations in the city will continue even if the local government has decided to withdraw funding support for the military, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Thursday. But Gazmin, who told reporters the armed forces will do so by utilizing all available resources, said he believes that Mayor Sara Duterte [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 July) – Dengue claimed two more lives here since last week, bringing to three the number of confirmed deaths in the city due to the mosquito-borne disease for this month alone. A report from the City Integrated Health Services Office confirmed Friday that a senior high school student and a preschooler [...]

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/30 July) – Faculty members and students of an extension campus here of a state university want their school converted into a  polytechnic college. The move to make the University of Southern Mindanao Kidapawan City Campus (USM-KCC) in Barangay Sudapin here into an autonomous school has gained the support of Cotabato 2nd District [...]

With ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) Executive Secretary Atty. Naguib G. Sinarimbo, Mr. Tomonori Kikuchi, First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, attended the turnover ceremony of the Dr. Serapio B. Montaner Memorial Hospital and its Access Road in Malabang, Lanao del Sur Province, on July 28, 2010. The project to improve the quality [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 July) – Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin assured on Thursday that the new administration is committed to continue talking peace with rebel groups in Mindanao with a new approach — through localized peace talks. Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin answer questions from reporters at Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City on Thursday. Mindanews Photo [...]

DAVAO CITY  (MindaNews/29 July) —  Lawyer Jesus Dureza has offered to relinquish his chairmanship of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to give President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino “a free hand and full opportunity” to choose the chair who will carry out the mandate of  the office under his administration. Mindanao Development Authority Chair Jesus Dureza. [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 July) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines is now recommending the lifting of the state of emergency in Maguindanao, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David told reporters at the Eastern Mindanao Command here today. Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David and Defense Secretary Voltaire [...]

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Eastern Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer salute the colors at EastMinCom grounds in Davao City. Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 July) – Alarmed by the year-round threat of dengue, the head of the City Council Committee on Health is proposing to enact an ordinance aimed at reducing the number of cases in the coming years. Councilor Bernard Al-ag believes that the creation of Dengue Prevention Ordinance will address the year-round threat of [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 July) — Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will go on leave to travel in five different countries to forge sisterhood agreements in key cities. Speaking at the “Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa” program, Duterte announced that he will visit Saipan, South Korea, China, Turkey and Palau to strengthen relations between these nations [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/29 July) – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has raised its annual tax collection goal for the Soccsksargen Region to P3.8 billion in a bid to cope with the national government’s funding requirements for this year. Lawyer Marcelinda Omila-Yap, BIR Revenue Region No. 18 director, said they received a directive from [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/29 July) — Telecommunications giant Globe Telecom will be adding 100 sites for its 3G and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) service in Mindanao. Norma Z. Ribo, Globe Telecom South Mindanao regional head, said half of the planned sites will be for Southwestern Mindanao. Globe announced its plan at the start [...]

KIDAPAWAN CITY [July 29/Thursday] – The tax collectors in the city conducted on Tuesday a tax collection outreach in a village here as part of the city government’s campaign to increase local revenues. The employees of the City Treasury collected some P6 thousand from at least 30 small convenient stores in Barangay Perez, one of [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/29 July) – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has raised some P1.9 million in additional revenues from the ongoing implementation of its flagship “Oplan Kandado” program in this city and in neighboring areas. Lawyer Marcelinda Omila-Yap, BIR Revenue Region No. 18 director, said the additional collection mainly came from the accumulated [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/29 July) – Former president Gloria M. Arroyo, ever the spoiler, rendered an anti-climax to what could have been a theatrical exposé of her unlamented administration’s penchant for profligacy and highly irregular fiscal transactions that left her successor with practically nothing to spend for the remaining months of 2010. Using her equally scandal-prone [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/28 July) — The privatization of the Agus and Pulangi power complexes by 2011 as  provided by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, will complicate the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Dr. Melchie Ambalong, president of the Lanao Power Consumers Federation or Lapocof, said. Ambalong [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/28 July) — The local government of Maitum has filed a complaint against at least 20 persons who were arrested by a joint team from the Philippine National Police and the Army’s 73rd IB for  mining in Sitio Kaffugan, Barangay New La Union, without the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) of the [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/28 July) — Organizers of the Mindanao Trade Expo (MTE) are going green this year. MTE chair Ann Pamintuan said exhibitors from different parts of Mindanao are expected to promote eco-friendly products and tourist destinations. Pamintuan, a world-renowned designer who hails from this city, said  this year’s MTE, dubbed “Mindanao Trade Expo…Eco-ing Traditions,” [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/28 July) — The potentials of the country’s halal industry were given focus  Wednesday during the opening of the regional celebration of the science and technology week. Dr. Zenaida P Laidan, regional director of the Department of Science and Technology, noted that science and technology are essential in developing credible Philippine halal [...]

An employee of the National Power Corporation monitors operations at the Agus VI hydroelectric power plant at the foot of Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City. File photo by Bobby Timonera / MindaNews

Lantapan, Bukidnon – Close to a hundred Indigenous Peoples representatives from Luzon and Mindanao gathered at the Apu Agbibilin Community Center in Brgy. Songco yesterday agreed to craft a common platform for action which will serve as basis for their engagement with the new administration and guide for their collective pursuit of their right to [...]

President Benigno Aquino III yesterday (July 26) delivered his inaugural State-of-the-Nation (SONA) address before the joint session of Congress and millions of Filipinos, including 8 million Muslim citizens. The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) lauds the straightforward manner by which our new President exposed anomalies newly discovered by his team. It sends a [...]

When it was thought to be a SONA of truths and a start of great changes for the nation, less was heard than a “tell-all” of old stories. It was not uplifting to hear again enumerations of corruption by the past administration for what could inspire people to do more and not just dream again [...]

SIPA 2010. Indigenous peoples (IPs) perform ritual during the opening of the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA) in Lantapan, Bukidnon on Monday. Contributed Photo /  LRC-KsK Friends of the Earth Philippines

SONGCO, Lantapan, Bukidnon (MindaNews/27 July) – President Benigno Aquino III must fulfill  his commitment in his first State of the Nation Address to include the lumads in the Mindanao peace process by allowing a third panel representing the lumads, said Datu Migketay Victorino Saway of Panagtagbo Mindanao. Saway welcomed Aquino’s commitment to the peace process [...]

SONGCO, Lantapan, Bukidnon (MindaNews/27 July) – President Benigno Simeon Aquino III’s first State of the Nation Address was silent on his program for the indigenous peoples, Lumad leaders said. “Where is his policy for the assertion of the rights of indigenous peoples? None!” said a number of participants of the State of the Indigenous Peoples [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/27 July) – Reactions to President Aquino’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) were generally positive but the President was expected to say more. The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) in a press statement said they “greatly appreciate the pronouncement from the President that the peace talks would start after [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/27 July) – After nine years of listening every last Monday of July to a taray of a State of a Nation Address, it was a relief listening to one of something else last Monday. I’m referring to taray in Ilonggo, meaning rambling or directionless. Strictly speaking from the viewpoint of composition [...]

As an indication of its active pursuit of sustaining justice and peace in the province, Maguindanao has recently mobilized 24 new Barangay Justice Advocates or BJAs in the Municipality of Datu Abdullah Sangki. BJAs are community volunteers trained in mediation and counselling who help in the resolution of petty conflicts that could possibly escalate into [...]

Mr. Tomonori Kikuchi, Embassy of Japan’s First Secretary, will attend the turnover ceremony of “The Project for the Upgrading of the Rural Health Unit in the Municipality of Libungan, North Cotabato” on July 27, 2010. This project is funded through the Embassy of Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) with a grant [...]

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) welcomes the call of President Benigno Aquino III for media to police its own ranks, help clarify issues, raise the level of public discourse and apply fairness and truthfulness in reporting. The NUJP and the overwhelming majority of media organizations and journalists in the country have [...]

TAKING OVER.  Landless farmers occupy the 100-hectare Ocaya farm in Barangay Kuya, Maramag town in Bukidnon, Monday morning,  July 26. Photo by John Louie Dela Victoria/Task Force Mapalad

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/26 July) –   Lasting peace can be achieved only through “honest dialogue,” President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino said in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) today where he expressed hopes that peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will begin after Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Ramadan this year [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/26 July) – President Aquino appealed to the media in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) today to  “police your own ranks” and “give new meaning to the principles of your vocation.” Aquino said now is the time for sacrifice and that sacrifice will “pave the way for a better future.” “With [...]

DAVAO CITY  (MindaNews/26 July) – Some one hundred farmers have pitched tents and occupied portions of the Ocaya Ranch in Barangay Kuya, Maramag town in Bukidnon to protest its being leased to a giant agribusiness firm instead of distributed to them, reports said. Oscar Manego, leader of the Danggawan Landless Farmers Association, said they will [...]

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/26 July)—Commercial production of the T’boli gold and silver project might start this year with the anticipated issuance of the permit to operate after the filing in the next few days of its declaration of mining feasibility study, an official of the proponent firm said over the weekend. “We’re confident we’ll be given [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/26 July) — Twenty-four new barangay justice advocates from a town in Maguindanao last week finished a basic certification course in mediating petty conflicts to prevent the occurrence of violence and lessen the number of court cases, the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies said. The new BJAs, all coming from Datu Abdullah Sangki town, [...]

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/26 July) — A municipal councilor of Pikit, North Cotabato was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-riding men along the town’s highway, past 8 a.m. today. Insp. Elias Dandan, police chief of Pikit, identified the victim as Councilor Husain ‘Boy’ Alba, a resident of Barangay Batulawan. Dandan said the victim was driving his [...]