Philippines: Police shoot hungry protesters (tags)
On April 1, police opened fire on indigenous and rural poor protesters who were blocking the highway into Kidapawan in the landlocked province of Cotabato on the island of Mindanao, killing three protesters and injuring at least 116.
Mindanao Bishops, MILF: pursue peace process, call for ceasefire (tags)
The Mindanao Bishops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reiterated their commitment to pursue the realm of peace, justice, solidarity and development as well as the peaceful resolution of the Mindanao conflict and Bangsamoro problem through the ongoing peace process between the government and MILF. “The MILF and the Bishops reiterate unwavering moral commitment to pursue the path to peace, solidarity, justice and development in Mindanao, and resolve and support to the continuation of the peace process between the MILF and the government until its successful conclusion is achieved,” stated in their Joint Communique’ issued after their peace dialogue held at the Archbishop’s Residence in Davao City on August 14, 2008.
Gov’t-MILF clashes go on in Cotabato (tags)
Skirmishes between government security forces and a group of Moro rebels in Libungan town in North Cotabato continued Monday, spilling over into the next town. “The fighting involving soldiers and MILF rebels had been ongoing since Sunday and now it escalated into Pigcawayan. The rebels are led by Commander Umbra Kato. The rebels are harvesting the crops of Christian settlers,” North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan said. But Eid Kabalu, MILF’s civil military affairs chief, told the Inquirer that they had not received reports that the fighting had escalated into the neighboring town.
Conversion of rice fields created rice shortage (tags)
In the Central Luzon plains, Nueva Ecija is unique. In this farming province, the biggest rice producer in this region, you see rows upon rows of rice paddies. But it had more rice lands before the phenomenon of land conversion in the late 80s. The large landowners converted their lands to non-agricultural use so these would not fall under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law enacted in 1988. Land conversion was also necessitated by population rise and the urbanization of many towns of the province.
NPA rebels warn of more attacks (tags)
Communist rebels claimed responsibility for the raid on a Swiss mining firm in the southern Philippines and have warned of more attacks in the country. Rebels raided the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) in the town of Tampakan in South Cotabato early Tuesday, torching buildings and equipment and attacking a military post nearby. Authorities said no one was injured or killed in the raid, which the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels claimed was a punishment for the giant Swiss mining firm accused of land grabbing, plunder and environmental destruction. The rebels said the raid was in response to a longstanding demand of the people to put a stop to the firm’s operations in the area.
OPLAN Mercury Rising in motion (tags)
At the rate the newspapers and TV newscasts are exposing real evidence of electoral fraud since 29 May 2007, Bantay Boto ng Bayan cannot help but feel vindicated for exposing Oplan Mercury Rising. The numerous dagdag-bawas reports accurately quoting, by the hundred thousands of vote leads for Team Unity candidates in the 13th to the 16th slots, give due credence to the Oplan. The provinces where the calumny occurred are the same provinces mentioned in the Oplan. The named Comelec officials are the same persons identified in the Oplan. 1. The delay of the Comelec en banc as the National Board of Canvassers in tallying the provincial COCs and more specifically the canvassing slowdown, particularly in the Oplan Mercury Rising provinces are indicators that this major Oplan strategy is being implemented. It has deferred canvassing in Maguindanao, Sulu, Caloocan City, Taguig-Pateros, Davao del Sur, North Cotabato, and South Cotabato for varied reasons, including allegations of massive cheating, yet no charges and complaints were filed against any Comelec and public official involve We are sending a very strong message on the eventual and probable loss of Honasan, Trillanes and Pimentel, as clearly being shown by the current events. We know that the rule of law will ultimately reign. Concerned Comelec officials must now choose whether they prefer the law of the jungle instead. Bantay Boto ng Bayan is making this statement after due consultation with the convenors of the uniformed active and retired member organizations and with the explicit support from their allied civil society groups.
MILF: Raps vs Murad imperil peace talks (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) protested yesterday the inclusion of its chieftain, Al Haj Murad, in a criminal complaint filed in connection with the recent bomb attack in Makilala, North Cotabato, warning it could endanger the already stalled peace talks. Police filed a murder complaint the other day against Murad and several suspected MILF commanders with the Kidapawan City prosecutor’s office for allegedly plotting the Oct. 10 bombing that killed six people and wounded 29 in Makilala town, government prosecutor Al Calica said.
Atrocities creep into Maguindanao fighting (tags)
Pesante-USA/AJLPP prints new reports of atrocities that have begun to surface in Maguindanao as fighting between militia and rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) continued to escalate. A lone gunman killed the wife of a senior MILF leader implicated in a failed attempt to kill the provincial governor, the military said Thursday.