MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/30 November) – His alleged attackers have turned the table on a broadcaster based in Maramag, Bukidnon who claimed to have been ambushed by them near Dayo Subdivision in Valencia City Saturday. In an affidavit, Rene Saligumba and Pablito Malang said it was Randy Makiputin, an anchor at Radyo Abante in Maramag who [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 November) – Police and government anti-drug personnel in nearby Koronadal City in South Cotabato have intensified their monitoring against the possible surge of drug trafficking activities in the area during the Christmas season. Supt. Aniceto Ambay, Koronadal City police chief, said Tuesday they have deployed additional personnel in various strategic areas [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 November) – In a bid to increase participation rate and reduce the number of dropouts among students in Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao, public and private schools in the region will launch anew an early registration for incoming first year high school students and grade one pupils by June 2011. Dr. [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/30 November) – Police and Army units based in Sarangani province have launched an “all-out pursuit” against a ragtag group of bandits operating in the hinterland areas of Malungon town following its recent attacks in the area that led to the killing of a local resident. Malungon Mayor Reynaldo Constantino said Tuesday [...]

DAKBAYAN SA DABAW (Nobyembre 30) — Kapila na ko makaadto sa Thailand ug dili malikayan nga akong makomparar ang ilang kahimtang sa atong kahimtang. Sa una nakong pag-adto didto kapin napulo ka tuig na ang milabay, ang dolyar balor og 44 ka piso, samtang nagbalor kinig 43 ka baht (ang kwarta sa Thailand). Sa ato [...]

IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME IN THE CITY.  Which star, which color will I choose?  Parol (Cristmas lanterns) for sale can be found along major streets in Davao City.

(8th and last of a series) GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/28 November) —  What really is in the mind of the Aquino government? On where to start the talks: (Government peace panel chair Marvic) Leonen concurred with the MILF: “We are eager to start talks on the one substantive agenda: the comprehensive compact,” observing: “We are [...]

AMPATUAN, Maguindanao (MindaNews/30 November) – Bishop Colin Bagaforo of the Archdiocese of Cotabato  led some 300 bikers and motorcycle riders Monday, in a visit to the site of the November 23, 2009  Ampatuan Massacre, where they signed a Covenant on the creation of Spaces for Peace. Catholics, Muslims and members of Christian churches assembled at [...]

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?  Residents flock to lotto outlets in Kidapawan City for a chance to win the Grand Lotto 6/55′s top prize of  P738 million for  Monday’s draw. This scene is replicated in other cities in Mindanao and the rest of the country. Photo by Geonarri Solmerano

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/29 November) – On Saturday, he claimed to have been a victim of an ambush on the same day in Valencia City. But as far as the police are concerned, it was Randy Makiputin, a broadcaster in Maramag town in Bukidnon who shot his alleged attackers. Bukidnon police director Sr. Supt. Nerio Bermudo [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/29 November)—European Union’s top diplomat in the country bemoaned the portrayal of Mindanao as a “land of chaos” despite its economic potentials. Ambassador Alistair H. Macdonald, head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, stressed there is a lack of awareness about the general condition of Mindanao, known as [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/29 November) – Augmenting the local police force topped the list of proposals voiced out by various groups and individuals to put a stop to a rash of killings in the city the latest victim of which was a college instructor at the Bukidnon State University. This and other suggestions surfaced in a [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 November) – A party-list group has called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the killing Sunday morning of Vice Mayor Alex Tomawis of Barira, Maguindanao in his residence in Davao City. Akbayan-Mindanao also called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines leadership to relieve a newly-appointed general who was [...]

BIKE FOR PEACE. Some 400 bikers negotiate the 30 -kilometer Bike For Peace route around Davao City on November 29.  The annual bike run, organized by biking priest Fr. Amado Picardal is held during the celebration of Mindanao Peace of Week. MindaNews photo by Froilan Gallardo

LONGEST SOLAR DRYER? Farmers convert the outer lanes of a portion of the Cotabato-Bukidnon highway in Carmen, North Cotabato into a solar dryer during harvest season. The “dryer” stretches from the village near the town proper of Carmen to the boundary of Bukidnon, which is at least 20 kilometers. The local government has allowed this [...]

VALENCIA CITY (MindaNews/ 28 November) -  Have investors backed out of the proposed bioethanol plant project in Kibawe town in southern Bukdinon? The plant was supposed to have been a showcase of  Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri’s advocacy for biodiesel,  a clean, alternative fuel that comes from 100% renewable resources. Mario Marasigan, director of the Department [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/28 November) -  Vice mayor Alexander Tomawis of Barira, Maguindanao was gunned down in front of his residence here shortly before noon Sunday by two teenagers who brought documents purportedly for signing, the chief of police here said. Sr. Supt. Rene Aspera said Tomawis was “shot in the head with the use of [...]

DAVAO CITY  (MindaNews/28 November) – An anchor of an entertainment program in a radio station in  Maramag, southern Bukidnon survived an ambush on his way home in neighboring Valencia City shortly after 7 p.m. Friday. Citing police reports, the November 27 alert from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Randy Makiputin [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/27 November) — Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation have arrested a suspect of the slaying of Bukidnon State University instructor Jay Jaspher Santonińo, the chief of police here said. Police S/Supt. Erwin Bayani Meneses said Michael Abellanosa, 19, was captured “somewhere in Impalutao,”  a barangay in Impasug-ong town, on November 26, [...]

2nd PRIZE. The contingent from Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat is the second prize winner of this year’s MunaTo street dancing open competition Saturday in Alabel, Sarangani,  on the 18th anniversary of Sarangani province and the 8th MunaTo Festival. (Cocoy Sexcion/Sarangani Information Office)

Feedback from Malaysia is clear: The facilitation issue hurts. Yet, as a good neighbor, Malaysia is determined to keep its facilitation role which has obviously become a self-imposed commitment – in the “we are more concerned than thou” tone — for the sake of peace in Mindanao. Expect some anti-Malaysia critics to react: “Really!… for the sake of peace in Mindanao or of its national interest?”

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/27 November) – Speaking at the national congress of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Wednesday (November 24) in Quezon City, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima conveyed President Aquino’s reluctance to do away with former president Arroyo’s Executive Order 546 which practically legalized the existence of private armies of politicians. [...]

CHAMPION. The contingent from Surallah, South Cotabato is the champion of this year’s MunaTo street dancing open competition Saturday in Alabel, Sarangani,  on the 18th anniversary of Sarangani province and the 8th MunaTo Festival. (Cocoy Sexcion/Sarangani Information Office) 

MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon (MindaNews/27 November) —   Line personnel from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) worked overnight to investigate and make subsequent repairs on the transmission lines as the greater part of Bukidnon plunged into darkness at 6:57 p.m. Friday. Beth Ladaga, NGCP Information Officer, told Mindanews that the cause of the 15-hour [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/26 November) —  Whatever happened to the promises made by government officials immediately after the massacre of 58 persons in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on November 23, 2009, that government was going to go after the assets of the Ampatuans and investigate alleged use of government funds for their mansions, cars, guns and their private [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/27 November) – The provincial government of Maguindanao has recommended the lifting of the  year-long state of emergency over Maguindanao but it was decided in a meeting last week that it be done after December instead, Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto”Mangudadatu  said. Then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation 1946 to “prevent and suppress the [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/26 November) —  The neighbors have gotten used to the silence. The armed men are gone and ice drop peddlers now pass freely on the street where the Ampatuans used to live. Until a year ago, members of the ruling political clan of  Maguindanao, the country’s third poorest province, moved around the subdivision’s [...]

QUIET. An ice drop peddler passes by one side of the mansion of detained ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan in Juna Subdivision, Matina, Davao City. The mansion’s occupants are gone; only caretakers are left behind. The governor hosted a party during the birthday of one of his children, a few days before the November 23, 2009 [...]

Prof. Kamarulzaman Askandar of Universitii Sains Malaysia, writing in MindaNews of November 21 [Transforming the Facilitation in the Mindanao Peace Process], has an “uncomfortable” revelation. Engaged in research and conflict studies in Southeast Asia, his report — evidently of unquestionable reliability — should be taken seriously; he has visited Mindanao several times and has written extensively on the GRP-MILF peace process.

A farmer harvests sugar cane at a plantation in Quezon, Bukidnon. Sugar cane is one of the  sources of bioethanols, which is used as   blending ingredient for gasoline and high-octane fuels. Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco

VALENCIA CITY (MindaNews/26 November) – Government should defer the implementation of the 10-percent ethanol content in fuels owing to a shortage in sugarcane, a major source of ethanol, most participants to the public consultation Wednesday held here by the National Biofuels Board said. Republic Act 8479 or the Biofuels Act presently requires gas stations to [...]

MANILA (MindaNews/26 November)—Failure to resolve the Ampatuan Massacre and deliver justice to the victims will worsen the culture of impunity that has come to characterize the killings of journalists in the country, a press freedom advocate yesterday told participants to the national congress of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) here. Prof. [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/26 November) -The Filipino-Chinese business community here and in nearby South Cotabato province lauded local government officials, police and Army units based in the area for the swift recovery of a kidnapped Filipino-Chinese businessman in the city earlier this month. In a resolution, the South Cotabato Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (SCFFCCCI) [...]

Before daybreak, without warning, government forces as planned took over and occupied the ARMM facilities in Cotabato City including other buildings and premises in Maguindanao province. Armed elements loyal to the Ampatuans were taken by surprise and gave up their firearms without resistance.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/November 25) — What really could be the truth behind the perceived biased facilitation of Othman, ergo: Malaysia, in favor of the MILF? While the best light should come from the GRP peace teams, some sources deemed reliable can shed light to see the two sides of the issue. GRP on the [...]

SISTER ACT. A girl combines gathering seashells and attending to her younger brother in this familiar scene during low tide in Lianga, Surigao del Sur. The sea is a major source of livelihood for local folk. MindaNews photo by H. Marcos C. Morden

MANILA (MindaNews/25 November) – Despite calls to disband private armies, President Aquino has hinted he is not keen on abolishing Executive Order 546, which allowed their use as “force multipliers”‘ in the government’s long running war against insurgents. ”The President is not yet prepared to really heed the call for the scrapping of EO 546,” [...]

ALABEL, Sarangani (MindaNews/25 November) — Eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao arrived in his adopted province amid a rousing welcome and several bonuses to boot for his fellow Sarangans. In a message during the opening of the Munato Festival to mark the 18th Founding Anniversary of Sarangani, Pacquiao announced he was able to get a [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 November) –  ”Responsive and responsible governance: Key to peace, development and sustainability” is the theme of this year’s Mindanao Week of Peace (MWOP). The annual Mindanao Week of Peace (MWOP), the 12th since 1999,  is held from the last Thursday of November to the first Wednesday of December. This year it is celebrated [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/25 November)— Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are not practical in Mindanao to plug the supply shortfall expected to hit the island in the next few years, an official of a firm engaged in power generation said. Joseph C. Nocos, vice president of Conal Holdings Corp., issued the statement [...]

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/25 November) — Invoking the Philippine National Police Law, Mayor Vicente Y. Emano ordered Wednesday the 20-day suspension of PO3 Lonie J. Rementizo who has been ordered arrested by the court for alleged multiple child abuse and rape cases. “I have already issued a suspension order beginning Monday. Ang gitugot sa [...]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (November 24) — That from the start Malaysian officials, from the prime minister down to the designated facilitator, exhorted the MILF not to negotiate for independence was a pitch for the Philippines, not the MILF. Since Santos’ paper covered only the period until 2003 — the year Datok Othman became director-general of [...]

I visited a funeral parlor in Marbel. Some bodies were not identified yet. I talked with the relatives, many parlor-hopping, visiting every funeral parlor and looking at mangled bodies hoping to identify missing loved ones. I motored back to the 601st Army brigade headquarters. We were frantic for some sworn statements so the legal process could start. It was the

CHILDREN’S DELIGHT. A delivery boy keeps his balance on the bike on a street in Davao City while holding several party balloons. Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco

On the Deadly Trail:  the Ampatuan Massacre Last of three parts Part 3: Retrieving the core values of journalism by Germelina A. Lacorte/MindaNews DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 November) — In a three-part series published in January 2010, MindaNews columnist Patricio Diaz had asked why there were too many journalists in the “routine coverage” of the political [...]

Privilege Speech Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan 24 November 2010 Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a question of personal and collective privilege on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of All forms of Violence Against Women. I would like to call attention to the alarming increase in the incidence [...]

MASSACRE SITE, Ampatuan, Maguindanao (MindaNews/24 November) — Government is looking for witnesses who could shed light on where the 58th victim, Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, a photographer of Midland Courier, could have been buried, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said. De Lima told reporters Tuesday after delivering her remarks at the first anniversary of the Ampatuan [...]

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/24 November)—The clean development mechanism or CDM set up by the Kyoto Protocol has failed to bring down the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere, groups concerned about climate change said. Joseph Purugganan, research associate of the Focus on the Global South-Philippine Programme, said that despite the implementation of CDM [...]

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/24 November) — Journalists in Bukidnon yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre with an exhortation to learn from the lessons of a carnage that left 58 people dead, 32 of them media workers. “They may have killed the messengers but they cannot kill the truth,” Fr. Jonathan Tianero, station manager [...]

A YEAR AFTER. A relative of one of the 32 journalists killed along with 26 other people in the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre weeps as she and other family members light candles and bring flowers at the site in Sitio Masalay, Ampatuan town in Maguindanao where the victims were executed . MindaNews photo by [...]