MANILA, Philippines - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has formed a committee that would independently look into allegations that field commanders Ameril Umbra Kato and Abdulrhaman Macapaar, alias "Bravo," caused havoc in Mindanao, a GMA News report said on Saturday. Michael Fajatin’s report aired by QTV's Balitanghali quoted an MILF official as saying the group was "serious" about holding the two commanders accountable if it is proven that they were behind last month’s ttacks in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte. Following the Philippine government's abolition of the peace panel, the MILF formed their own committee that would focus on the investigation of the two rebel leaders. "The central committee is very serious in the idea of conducting an impartial investigation dun sa mga (for the) alleged atrocities," said Ghadzali Jaafar, vice chairman for political affairs of the MILF.
At the height of the fighting in Central Mindanao last month, MILF leaders said Kato and Bravo launched the attacks without the knowledge of the rebel leadership.
As of Friday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said the rebel attacks and subsequent military assault have killed at least 58 civilians. The military says 21 soldiers and pro-government militiamen and more than 100 guerrillas have been killed in the fighting, while the rebels say they have lost only 10 fighters.
Jaafar said, however, that just like the Philippine government, the MILF has its own laws to follow in conducting the probe. Under their laws, Jaafar said that a disciplinary board would handle the cases involving their members. MILF leaders have also declared that they wouldn't surrender Kato and Bravo that easily, prompting Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno to approve the P10-million bounty on the two. "We are increasing the reward money to P10 million so that we will encourage more people to help," said Puno. He said that although their operations to capture the two have not ceased, they were "taking it easy" in respect to the celebration of Ramadan. "We're very, very careful not to disturb the religious atmosphere of Ramadan," he said.- Kimberly Jane Tan, GMANews.TV
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Army special forces encountered a big group of communist insurgents and overrun a tactical camp of the rebels in the gold-rich province of Compostela Valley, according to the military today.
The military said the troops of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion (3SFBn) recovered a wife and son of one of the rebel leaders who abandoned them following the firefight Friday at around 7 a.m. in sitio Caboley, Barangay Kapatagan, Laak town.
Earlier this week, the military deployed more troops to Davao and Central Mindanao to prevent the communist insurgents from taking advantage of the depleting number of troops due to the concentration of military offensive in Central Mindanao against the recalcitrant MILF leaders.
Names of the rebel leader's wife and son were not immediately made public for security reasons but they were immediately given medical attention, according to Maj. Gen. Jogy Leo Fojas, chief of the Army's 10th Division. -- Roel Pareno (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
NDCC: Death toll from Mindanao conflict rises to 70
MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from the conflict between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces in Mindanao went up to 70 as of Saturday, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.
In its report dated 8 a.m., the NDCC said the fatalities included 58 civilians, seven law enforcement operatives and two MILF fighters.
Of the 70, 43 were from Region 10, 19 from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and eight from Region 11.
A report posted on the NDCC Web site (www.ndcc.gov.ph) showed one of the latest fatalities, Mantil Abdullah, 65, of Dugenga in Mamasapano in Maguindanao, died from artillery fragments.
Bainot Alba, 45, of Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, died due to acute gastroenteritis while Malik Sedik Kamsa, 46, of Lintangan in Mamasapano, died due to multiple injuries.
No other details of the circumstances of their deaths were immediately available.
The NDCC report also listed at least 78 injured, 65 of them civilians.
Also, it said the damage to property amounted to P38.330 million, including P17.451 million for infrastructure and P20.878 million for agriculture.
Fighting has so far affected some 104,838 families or 501,709 people in 343 villages in 48 towns and two cities in nine provinces.
Classes remain suspended in Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte since last week, with some of the schools serving as evacuation centers.
However, classes had resumed at the central school in Pantao Ragat, Poona Piagapo and Kolambugan. - GMANews.TV
Group slams continued clashes in Mindanao at Ramadan
GMANews.TV - Saturday, September 6
MANILA, Philippines - A militant human-rights group chided the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for continuing clashes in Mindanao even during Ramadan.
Karapatan called on both camps to stop hostilities and go back to the negotiating table despite the dissolution of the government peace panel by Malacañang.
"Notwithstanding the observance of Ramadan, the month long fasting and cleansing activities of Muslims, the military operations and counterattacks continue, forcing thousands of families to evacuate their homes," it said in a statement posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Friday.
It said that the clashes have already destroyed an estimated P15 million worth in properties and livelihood. Karapatan secretary general Marie Hilao-Enriquez said the MILF must accomplish its objectives "with utmost respect for civilians."
"Attacks on civilians, especially children, are deplorable acts that will not earn the sympathy of anyone but only condemnation," she said.
On the other hand, she appealed to government troops to allow peace, relief and fact-finding missions to conduct their humanitarian work unhampered.
Women and children
Militant children's groups Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concern and the Children Rehabilitation Center (CRC) said women and children are the most affected by the fighting.
CRC executive director Ma. Esmeralda Macaspac said that as of Aug. 22, at least 20,000 children had already been affected, and the number appears to be increasing.
"These are just from the towns of Pikit, Tulunan and Aleosan, all in the province of North Cotabato," she said.
She also said that the children survivors are now suffering from psychosocial disturbances due to the conflict.
"On their innocent faces, you can see fear and anxiety. They cannot sleep nor eat because of the trauma that they are suffering. And during our psychosocial therapy workshop in Barangay Batulawan, Pikit, North Cotabato, we are moved when they (the children) ask us when the war will stop for most of them still remember the atrocities during the 2003 war outbreak in Mindanao," Macaspac said.
She said government troops must stop aerial bombing operations for it endangers the civilians more than it gets into the targets, which are the MILF camps.
Alphonse Rivera of Salinlahi said there were not enough food, water and medicine supplies in the evacuation centers.
"Children are getting hungry and most of them are getting sick and there were not enough food, clean water to drink and medicine in the refugee camps," Rivera said.
He added that because the government is not ready for this kind of situation, they are not also ready to accommodate thousands of evacuees who need tons of food, lots of water to drink, and medicines to get well whenever they catch sickness.
Salinlahi, CRC and other children's groups are asking other sectors who can help, especially the influential Roman Catholic Church, to extend help for the victims of the war in Mindanao. - GMANews.TV
JAKARTA (MindaNews) – The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) is seriously looking at the growing trade and tourism exchanges in the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) as a vital component of its ongoing efforts to integrate the economies of the region's 10 member-states.
Dr. Termsak Chalermpalanupap, special assistant to the ASEAN Secretary-General, said the ASEAN Secretariat is currently exploring possible linkages with the BIMP-EAGA stakeholders to help accelerate the sub-region's cooperation and integration activities.
"Theoretically, [BIMP-EAGA] should be our building block. Hopefully we can help them move faster," he said at a briefing with visiting Southeast Asian reporters here.
During the last two years, Termsak said the ASEAN Secretariat has recognized BIMP-EAGA's initiatives as part of ASEAN's activities.
He said ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan has been attending BIMP-EAGA meetings and other official activities since he assumed office last January.
In June 2006, the ASEAN Secretariat initially opened consultations with the BIMP-EAGA, which identified the strengthening of linkages and coordination mechanism with the ASEAN as a component of its four-year development roadmap that will end in 2010.
A briefer released by the ASEAN Secretariat said the consultations covered discussions on ASEAN's institutional set-up and operational and management practices; the feasibility of pilot-testing ASEAN's agreements in the BIMP-EAGA; the coordination mechanism in fostering closer partnership between public and private sector; ASEAN's practices and procedures in the implementation mechanism and monitoring and evaluation system; high-profiling of BIMP-EAGA's development agenda into the ASEAN framework and the promotion of BIMP-EAGA's activities and documents through ASEANWeb.
Termsak said the ASEAN Secretariat is currently planning to hold more consultations and formal collaborations with the BIMP-EAGA, specifically on economic integration efforts.
"The ASEAN and BIMP-EAGA have a lot of positive experiences to share with each other in the area of trade, tourism and investments," he said.
Termsak said among the positive developments in the BIMP-EAGA that ASEAN may look into are its strong tie-up with the sub-region's private sector, specifically the business community, and the implementation of a policy waiving travel tax payments for travels within the sub-region.
Quang Anh Le, assistant director for ASEAN's Bureau of Economic Integration and Finance, said they are currently studying BIMP-EAGA's integration of its customs, immigration, quarantine and security (CIQS) system, which they are planning to be integrated in the future with the ASEAN Single Window project.
The BIMP-EAGA is currently trying to unify its CIQS policies to help speed up the movement of products and open up more sea and air linkages within the sub-region.
The ASEAN Single Window, which is one of the focal areas of ASEAN's economic integration efforts, focuses on the modernization of customs procedures and systems of ASEAN's 10 member-states and their integration into a single ASEAN portal beginning late next year to facilitate trading in the region.
"We're considering adopting the CIQS system of BIMP-EAGA as a component of the ASEAN Single Window," he said in a separate briefing.
The BIMP-EAGA, which was launched in 1994, comprises the entire sultanate of Brunei Darrussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and West Papua in Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines.
The area, which is home to at least 60 million people, covers 1.57 million square kilometers and accounts for a gross domestic product of about US$65 billion. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
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