More troopers sent to Basilan

Malaya

Victor Reyes 11/23/11

THE Armed Forces will be sending an additional Army battalion to Basilan, site of last month’s killing of 19 Special Forces soldiers by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf bandit group.

The deployment, which is expected before the year ends, is part of the military’s renewed campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and other lawless elements, said Col. Ricardo Visaya, concurrent commander of the 104th Brigade and the newly formed Joint Task Force Basilan.

“We would like to defeat once and for all the threat of Abu Sayyaf in the area and other lawless elements. That’s the reason why we have additional forces coming in…It’s being worked out by GHQ (general headquarters),” said Visaya.

He said the deployment was…read more

2 Islamic rebels killed in Sultan Kudarat clash

PhilStar.com

November 22, 2011

MANILA (Xinhua) — Two members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were killed on Monday in a clash between two groups of MILF rebels in Lambayong town, Sultan Kudarat province.

Col. Leo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 601st Brigade, said Tuesday that a long-standing land dispute triggered the fighting between members of the MILF’s 106th and 108th Base Command.

The gunfight lasted for four hours. Sampulna Baumol, commander of the 108th Base Command and one of his men were killed during the clash….read more

Kidnappers of mayor’s relative demand P2M

SUN STAR

November 20, 2011

NORTH COTABATO — Suspected Moro rebels reportedly asked for P2 million in exchange for the release of a 23-year-old nephew of Mayor Loreto Cabaya of Aleosan town.

The kidnappers, who are believed to be members of a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, abducted Saturday dawn Romy Cabaya, 23, third year student of the Southern Christian College in Midsayap, North Cotabato.

The military said the kidnappers, who are followers of Ameril Umra Kato, founding leader of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, thought the victim was Mayor Cabaya’s son.

The mayor appealed to the kidnappers to free the victim unharmed…read more

Abu Sayyaf now recruiting children: military

By Zaff Solmerin, Business Mirror

11/21/2011

Two commanders of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group operating in Basilan have been using force and intimidation against parents who refuse to let their children join the bandits.

The military said the bandits use the child warriors as human shield from pursuing government troops.

“Boys are being recruited by the bandits either by force and intimidation or promises of easy money,” said Maj. Harold Cabunoc, spokesman for the Army.

Earlier Col. Ricardo Visaya, commander of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade, confirmed the recruitmentof child warriors in Basilan and said Army authorities were already coordinating with local officials, parents and the provincial office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the launching of a joint action to stop the bandits from recruiting child warriors.

He identified the two bandit commanders responsible for the recruitment of children as Furuji Indama and Nurhassan Jamiri.

Indama and his group figured in the October 18 killing of 19 Army Special Forces troops in Al-Barka town. Six of the fatalities were mutilated….read more

Stipend of Madrasah teachers hiked

Mb.com

By TONY PE. RIMANDO

November 20, 2011

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines – Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Armin A. Luistro has ordered the increase to P5,000 each the monthly allowance of teachers of Madrasah (Islamic institutions of learning) deployed in various areas of Mindanao, and other Muslim-populated regions of the country.

Luistro said the Madrasah mentors (known as Asatidz) – who handle the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) subjects in public elementary schools – were previously paid a monthly allowance of P3,000 on top of the honorarium granted to them by concerned local government units (LGUs) where they are assigned.

The DepEd chief explained through Dr. Manaros Boransing, DepEd consultant for Muslim Education, that close to 2,500 Asatidz who passed the initial Arabic Qualifying Examination prior to their completion of the 23-day Pre-Service Training on Language Enhancement and Pedagogy, have been teaching ALIVE subjects for the past five years in various public elementary schools with substantial number of Muslim pupils.

Boransing said these Muslim pupil-populated elementary schools are located mostly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur, even as other regions in the Southern Philippines as well as Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon, and the Visayas where many Muslim families, largely due to their innate trading business, have virtu-ally transferred residence… read more

Rebel leader killed in Maguindanao rido

GMA NEWS

11/20/2011

A commander of the breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was killed Saturday in an encounter with his former comrades in Maguindanao province, a military spokesman said.

“[The] two warring factions of the Moro rebel groups clashed due to unsettled difference,” said acting Army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc of the clash, which occurred in Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

He said the clash was triggered by a long-standing rido or clan war.

The MILF rebels were led by one Commander Fahad, reportedly of the group’s 118th Base Command, while the other group, called the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), was led by one Commander Mutin.

“Sporadic gun fires were heard until in the evening. Commander Mutin was reported killed in the fighting,” said Cabunoc… read more

Maguindanao massacre victims’ kin bare alleged P25-M offer

ABSCBN News

by Inday Espina-Varona, BMPM

10/11/2011

MANILA, Philippines – Kin of 32 journalists who were killed in the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre have alleged that intermediaries of the Ampatuan family — the principal suspects in the murders — have approached each family with a P25-million offer.

Grace Morales, who lost her husband Rossell and sister Marites Cablitas, said the offers increased as the arraignment of 92 suspects moved at a snail’s pace.

“Nilapitan ang kamag-anak ko… Lahat nilapitan,” she said. “Tumataas, P25 million na last month.”

Morales said the emissaries offered to finalize arrangements in return for a P5-million cut from each family.

Morales and Reynafe Momay, daughter of photojournalist Reynaldo, whose remains yet have to be found,…read more

Curfew in Zamboanga Sibugay lifted

by Jewel Reyes, ABS-CBN News Zamboanga

11/18/2011

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Zamboanga Sibugay Governor Rommel Jalosjos announced that the curfew imposed in his province, following skirmishes in different towns, has been lifted.

Jalosjos said the peace and order situation in the area has been restored, although some displaced families remain in evacuation centers.

The governor admitted that action needs to be undertaken to improve the “tarnished” image of Zamboanga Sibugay following reports that the province is a war zone.

He said the local government is reviewing plans of rehabilitation and tourism programs for areas that have great potential, such as Payao municipality, where a lair of notorious lawless leader Waning Abdusalam was captured by authorities 2 weeks ago.

Jalosjos said the bounty of P500,000 for the arrest and capture of Abdusalam … read more

DND acts to hike ammo production

Malaya

11/18/11

THE Government Arsenal has signed a contract with a Canadian firm for the acquisition of P335.8 million worth of equipment that will significantly increase the agency’s production of ammunition for use of government troops, the defense department said yesterday.

GA director Maj. Gen. (ret.) Jonathan Martir signed the contract with Andre Nazarian, president of Waterbury Farell, a division of Magnum Integrated Technologies Inc., on Wednesday in Camp Aguinaldo.

To be delivered by the foreign firm within18 months are a multi-station bullet assembly machine, a case manufacturing equipment, and cartridge assembly equipment….read more

‘Rido’ between Moro clans resolved

Tempo

Nov 17th, 2011

Manila, Philippines – “Rido” or war of clans and families among Moros is another destructive face of violence in Mindanao, particularly in poverty-stricken Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), thus residents welcomed the resolution by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of the feud between the Badal and Felmin families in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao,

A study commissioned by The Asia Foundation (TAF) and published in 2007 revealed that “rido” (also called ‘ubusan ng lahi’) affects the peace process and the security situation in Mindanao.

“Rido is considered one of the major problems in Mindanao. Rido has wider implications for conflict in Mindanao primarily because of the tendency for it to interact in unfortunate ways with separatist conflict and other forms of armed violence,” the TAF study said in a book called “Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management in Mindanao” published in 2007. It was edited by Wilfredo Magno Torres III.

Von Al-Haq, MILF spokesman for Military Affairs, said … read more