Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao News March 2016

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Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao Archived News
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Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

  • Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
  • Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:
  1. The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
  2. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.

Basilan grateful for infra projects under PNoy watch

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Basilan folks will thank on Monday President Benigno Aquino III for the infrastructure projects his political protégé, Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), implemented in the island province in the past four years.

Local officials, among them Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay of Lamitan City, on Friday confirmed to The STAR that Aquino will visit on Monday Barangay Tumahubong in Sumisip town west of the island province for a dialogue with community leaders.

“We will take advantage of his visit to express our gratitude for the national government’s having poured in big grants for infrastructure projects into the province through Gov. Hataman,” Furigay said.

Furigay said in Lamitan City alone, about a billion worth of projects had been implemented jointly by Hataman, his regional public works secretary, Don Arbison Loong, and Basilan District engineer Soler Undug from 2013 until December 2015.

“Many of our vital farm-to-market roads had been concreted. There is a multi-million water system project for Lamitan City and nearby towns now being implemented. More projects for 2016 are now in the pipeline,” Furigay said.

Hataman first got to the helm of the ARMM regional government as an appointed caretaker in December 2011.

He was elected as regional governor, the eight since ARMM’s creation via a referendum in 1990, during the region’s May 13, 2013 political exercise.

The barangay chairman of Tumahubong, Lajid Kotoh, said one of the most tangible bilateral projects of Malacañang and the Hataman administration in the province is the newly-concreted Basilan circumferential road.

A matrix obtained by The STAR from ARMM’s Department of Public Works and Highways indicated that the regional government had implemented 265 various “horizontal and vertical infrastructure projects” in Basilan from 2012 until early this year.

At least P9.35 billion worth of infrastructure grants had been poured into the island province during the period, the matrix stated.

“All of these projects were implemented in close coordination with the Commission on Audit and state auditors assigned to each of the 11 municipal government units in Basilan,” Loong said.

Loong said the implementation of the projects was monitored by representatives of the media and the office of the district engineer in the province using drone technology and satellite global positioning system.

Some of the projects were designed to hasten the restoration of normalcy in conflict-devastated peasant enclaves in Basilan, he added.

Hadja Nuriya Jamaldin, assistant superintendent of public schools in Basilan, said there were big increases in the number of enrollment in academic institutions in the 11 towns of Basilan in the past two years owing to the connectivity now of remote barangays to schools in the municipal centers and along the newly-concreted Basilan circumferential road.

“Education is the best means of fostering peace in the local communities. Education, complemented with proper religious formation, will bring us progress and development. Teachers in Basilan appreciate these projects deeply,” Jamaldin said.

Jamaldin said teachers will also thank Aquino for the construction of more school buildings and renovation of old ones by the Hataman administration in the past four years.

ARMM distributes 28 cattles to help farmers cushion impact of drought

(PNA), FFC/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY (PNA) -- An agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has dispersed livestock projects to eight farmers cooperatives in Maguindanao in what officials said form part of the government's assistance to cushion the impact of dry spell, officials said yesterday.

The new ARMM agency called ARMM-HELPS (Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance Synergy) program, is the brain child of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman which primarily aims to uplift the living conditions of the people of the region.

ARMM Agriculture Secretary Alexander G. Alonto Jr. and Oskie Mohammad on behalf Director Anwar Upahm of ARMM- HELPS Project Management Office, led the turn over of farm facilities and post harvest assistance.

The beneficiary cooperatives, represented by their respective chairmen, received certificates of livestock ownership, farm equipment, and project inputs.

Hadja Susan Unggel, Regional Department of Agriculture ARMM’s (DA-ARMM) focal person on the program, said each livestock project costs PHP1 million.

The entire project covers 28 heads of cattle, cattle shed, forage and two-hectare pasture land, four rolls of hogwire, a roll of barbwire, provision of farm inputs and a training program for each cooperative.

The beneficiaries of livestock projects are as follows: Pagalungan Water Refilling Consumers Cooperative in Pagalungan; Bongo Island Livestock Development Multipurpose Cooperative in Tagudtungan, Parang; Romongaob Farmers Marketing Cooperative in South Upi; Kadtabanga sa Dalpa Producers Cooperative; Cabayuan Farmers Marketing Cooperative in Buldon; Pagkakaisa Women’s Producers Cooperative in Datu Abdullah Sangki; Tamar Kalilintad Farmers Producers Cooperative in Talayan; andBangsamoro Lapok Producers Cooperative in Shariff Aguak.

ARMM-HELPS is a convergence initiative of the regional government and is regarded as the centerpiece of the Hataman administration, which has been pursuing the program’s livelihood component through the DA-ARMM and other regional line agencies.

DAF-ARMM disperse PHP15-M worth of corn farm tractors to farmers' coop

(PNA), JMC/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, March 17 (PNA) -- To make farmers in Maguindanao more productive, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DAF-ARMM) turned over post harvest equipment worth PHP15.4 million to farmers cooperative Wednesday, officials said.

Alexander Alonto, DAF-ARMM regional secretary, led the distribution of one unit of Corn Farm Tractor to Amsa-Al Multi-Purpose Cooperative from Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao.

The turnover came after DAF-ARMM handed over post-harvest facilities to other farmers cooperative in the ARMM.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Kadiguia Abdullah, head of DAF-ARMM regional agricultural and fishery information division, said more post harvest facilities are to be distributed by DAF-ARMM in other provinces despite the fact that farmers have suffered losses due to dry spell.

Once normal season comes, the farmers' cooperative can use the facilities courtesy of the government.

Witnessing in Wednesday's turn over were DAF-ARMM chief of staff Eskak Paguital and Maguindanao provincial agricultural officer Daud Lagasi. Kimpa Kalalikod, representing the cooperative, received the certificate of donation.

Earlier, DAF-ARMM turned over corn farm tractors to six farmers cooperative.

The beneficiaries were ATOS Farmers Marketing Cooperative of Datu Hoffer town; Kambayabay Farmers & Fisherfolks Marketing Coop of Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun municipality, both in Maguindanao.

Also the Matling Multi-Purpose Cooperative of Balabagan town, RBM Farmers Agricultural & Fisherfolks Producer Coop of Kapatagan town, Tuca Farmers Livelihood Producer Coop of Binidayan and Ingud Pualas Livelihood Mktng. Coop of Pualas, all in Lanao del Sur.

Abdullah said each farm tractor costs PHP2.2 million funded through DA's Agri-Pinoy Corn Program.

With the post-harvest facilities, farmers are expected to recover from losses due to drought when harvest time for corn crops come in the middle of this year, Abdullah said.

8 Maguindanao cooperatives receive livestock projects from ARMM-HELPS Program

(Bureau of Public Information)

COTABATO CITY – Livestock projects funded by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance Synergy (ARMM-HELPS) Program have been formally turned over on March 14 to eight cooperatives in Maguindanao province.

The turnover ceremony was led by ARMM’s Agriculture Secretary Alexander G. Alonto, Jr. and Oskie Mohammad on behalf Director Anwar Upahm of ARMM- HELPS Project Management Office. The beneficiary cooperatives, represented by their respective chairmen, received certificates of livestock ownership, farm equipment, and project inputs.

Hadja Susan Unggel, Regional Department of Agriculture ARMM’s (DA-ARMM) focal person on the program, said each livestock project costs P1 million. The entire project covers 28 heads of cattle, cattle shed, forage and two-hectare pasture land, four rolls of hogwire, a roll of barbwire, provision of farm inputs and a training program for each cooperative.

The beneficiaries of livestock projects are as follows:

• Pagalungan Water Refilling Consumers Cooperative in Pagalungan; • Bongo Island Livestock Development Multipurpose Cooperative in Tagudtungan, Parang; • Romongaob Farmers Marketing Cooperative in South Upi; • Kadtabanga sa Dalpa Producers Cooperative; • Cabayuan Farmers Marketing Cooperative in Buldon; • Pagkakaisa Women’s Producers Cooperative in Datu Abdullah Sangki; • Tamar Kalilintad Farmers Producers Cooperative in Talayan; and • Bangsamoro Lapok Producers Cooperative in Shariff Aguak.

ARMM-HELPS is a convergence initiative of the regional government and is regarded as the centerpiece of the Hataman administration, which has been pursuing the program’s livelihood component through the DA-ARMM and other regional line agencies.

Japan pledges $480K for ARMM dev't projects

By John Unson

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Japan has pledged $480,598 to fund humanitarian development projects in conflict-affected areas of Central Mindanao in support of the peace process in the southern Philippines.

The grant capped a visit to the city by Japanese Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa, who was here for separate meetings with Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) officials and different peace advocacy organizations.

Some of the projects are to be implemented under the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD), which focuses on the rehabilitation of conflict-affected areas.

The Japanese government has been supporting peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front since the 1990s. Japan also has civilian conflict resolution experts in the International Monitoring Team, the Malaysia-led contingent that has been helping overseeing implementation of the ceasefire between the two sides since 2004.

Japan has funded socio-economic projects of the regional government through the ARMM Social Fund Project, which the World Bank also supported from the late 1990s until two years ago, when the Social Fund Project ended. Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Among the latest Japanese projects in Mindanao, implemented through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, were the study and plotting of road networks connecting all towns in ARMM’s five provinces and the distribution of road surveying equipment to the region’s Department of Public Works and Highways.

Engineer Don Arbison Loong, ARMM’s public works secretary, said the regional government is thankful to the Japanese government for its continuing peace and development initiatives in the autonomous region.

DENR-ARMM to remove political campaign materials posted on trees

(Philippines News Agency)

COTABATO CITY - Environment officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have formed a team that will remove political campaign materials posted illegally and put the environment at risk, a ranking environment and natural resources official on Sunday said.

Forester Kahal Kedtag, regional secretary of the ARMM’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said the operation dubbed as “Oplan Baklas” (Oplan Remove) will be carried out starting Monday to send a strong message stressing that his office is taking the matter seriously.

Despite repeated reminders on broadcast media, social media, and even by word of mouth that posting of campaign materials on trees is not allowed by law, propaganda materials of local and national candidates still litter trees and public places that pollute the surroundings.

”Oplan Baklas will be carried out region-wide,” Kedtag said. ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Kedtag admitted that candidates’ respective campaigners and supporters placed the campaign materials on trees and flower boxes in plazas and public places.

”But they should remind these supporters not to put propaganda materials on trees and plants because it has negative implications on their candidacies,” Kedtag explained.

Posters and propaganda materials of local and national candidates filled major highways in the region, including parks and other public places. Even public toilets had the faces of candidates.

A Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 7767 and Fair Election Act or Republic Act 9006 prohibit the display of election propaganda materials in areas outside “common poster areas” identified by the poll body.

He warned that there will be strictly no exemption in the removal of campaign materials on trees.

DOH ARMM bats for increased awareness on Zika virus

(Bureau of Public Information)

COTABATO CITY – The Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOH-ARMM) has reminded residents not to be alarmed notwithstanding reports on Zika infection cases in the country.

Christine Joy Capin, DOH-ARMM assistant program nurse coordinator on emerging and re-emerging diseases, said that instead of panicking, the public should be “ready and aware” of the virus and its possible complications.

Recently, an American woman who visited the country in January tested positive for Zika virus upon returning home. She was the country’s second laboratory-confirmed case of the mosquito-borne disease. The country had its first reported case of Zika virus infection in 2012, specifically a 15-year-old boy in Cebu.

Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the same type of mosquito that causes dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Zika infection symptoms are similar to those attributed to other mosquito-borne infections such as fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, pain behind the eyes and vomiting.

To help protect the residents especially the children, from the virus, DOH-ARMM with the region’s Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Local Government Units, and non-government organizations provided and installed insecticide-treated screens (ITS) in the region’s public elementary schools.

Capin said the screens were treated with insecticides that can keep out disease-carrying mosquitoes. These screens have to be installed on windows, or doors, of classrooms. She said the ITS’s effectivity can be as long as five years. Each roll extends 1.5 meters by 25 meters and can cover four to six classroom windows.

DOH-ARMM earlier received 120 rolls of ITS from the national government. Capin said they already distributed 70 rolls while the remaining 50 rolls were stocked in the region for emergency purposes.

The ITS rolls were distributed in the five provinces and two cities of the region. She said 20 rolls went to the province of Sulu and 10 rolls each to the other four provinces namely Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and 10 each to the cities of Lamitan and Marawi.

The Zika virus has yet to be associated with deaths among adults in the region. However, there is growing evidence that the virus can be harmful to fetuses, causing potentially fatal birth defects such as microcephaly, a birth defect wherein the size of a baby’s head is smaller than expected for his age and sex.

The virus can be sexually transmitted by a man to his sex partner. A woman could pass on the virus to her fetus during pregnancy. As of date, there are no available vaccines, or specific medicines, to prevent and treat Zika infections.

Carin said the best way to prevent Zika infection is to prevent mosquito bites through methods such as using insect repellant, using window and door screens, wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Lanao del Sur MDRRMOs train on pre-disaster risk assessment

(IBEroy/PBChangco-PIA Cotabato City with report from OCD-ARMM)

COTABATO CITY (PIA) -- Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers (MDRRMOs) of Lanao del Sur undergo a one-day orientation on Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA), Tuesday, March 8.

The Office of Civil Defense in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (OCD-ARMM) initiated the orientation at Golden Lace, Cotabato City.

According to NDRRMC Chief and Civil Defense Administrator, Alexander Pama, said the PDRA is significant so it would be clear to everyone how they respond to the calamities.

Pama said, disaster managers most especially those in local government, will be headlining pre-disaster risk assessments in pursuit to design appropriate responses based to their needs.

Meanwhile, OCD-ARMM-OIC Myrna Angot, said the activity is important for disaster managers most especially at the local level so they would analyze and understand the risk factors in their areas and would have possibly translate this into proper responses.

“There is still a need for more effort to make the public understand disaster warnings and explain it in vernacular most especially to those who are from the countryside and as well understand the impact of disasters on their lives,” Angot added.

Other government line agencies present during the activity are Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Regional Planning and Development Office, Department of Environment and Natural Resources all under in the ARMM, PAGASA and PHIVOLCS Cotabato, and the ARMM-HEART (Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team).

ARMM businessmen cite region’s good governance during meeting with Swiss envoy

(Bureau of Public Information)

COTABATO CITY – Business leaders in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have cited good governance as among the major reasons for increased investments in the region during a meeting with Switzerland’s ambassador to the Philippines Andrea Reichlin.

The main subject of the meeting, hosted recently by the Regional Board of Investments (RBOI), was on inclusive peace and development in ARMM. The business leaders noted their active participation, as well as that of other civil society groups, in consultations and monitoring of the regional government’s projects and policies has been effective in promoting peace and development under the administration of Governor Mujiv Hataman.

The group further expressed confidence that the climate for investments in the ARMM would remain positive this year. Last year, RBOI posted P6.5 billion in fresh capital infusion, the best year ever in terms of investments in the 25-year history of the ARMM.

In January, RBOI chairman Ishak Mastura said, the region already exceeded its investment target of P700 million for 2016 with the registration of the P1.3 million oil-palm plantation project of Gintong Agri, Inc. in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

The business group comprises officials of the Promotion of Investment Sustainability Organization (PISO), the Metro Cotabato Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kutawato, the Bangsamoro Business Club, and big business investors in the region, such as Lamsan Corn Starch factory, Agumil Oil Palm Milling, Unifrutti Banana Plantation and Matling Cassava Starch Milling.

PISO is the organization of all RBOI-registered firms co-convened with RBOI by Edgardo Bullecer of the Unifrutti Group, one of the biggest foreign investors in the ARMM with its P3.7 billion Cavendish banana project in Maguindanao.

Also at hand to welcome Ambassador Reichlin was Cotabato City Administrator Dr. Danda Juanday, former Bangsamoro Development Agency chairman, an active civil society and business leader and proponent of peace and development in the region.

It was the Swiss ambassador’s first visit to the region. She was accompanied by the Swiss embassy’s Human Security advisor and First Secretary Martina Schmidt.

RBOI chairman Mastura said the ARMM regional government and the Bangsamoro people are grateful to the government of Switzerland for its active support to peace and development, particularly in sponsoring the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission, a body established in the peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Based on latest government data, there are an estimated 60 Swiss companies operating in the Philippines employing around 12,000 people. The biggest and most well-known among the Swiss brands in the country is food conglomerate, Nestle, which has been operating in the Philippines since 1911.

Relations with the Philippines were established in 1862, when Switzerland opened its consulate in Manila. Bilateral trade in 2014 stood at an estimated US$557 million. The two governments concluded on March 3 their 7th political consultations in Berne, the capital of Switzerland, in preparation for the 2nd Session of the Philippines-Switzerland Joint Economic Commission, which will take place in April this year.


ARMM mango producers get equipment assistance from gov't

(PNA), JMC/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, March 10 (PNA) –- Mango chips producers in the autonomous region are expected to produce more and earn more profits after the government awarded them with PHP2 million worth of mango chips dryers Wednesday, officials said today.

Alexander Alonto, regional secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), personally handed over the mango chips dryer during simple ceremonies here to four identified farmers’ cooperatives in Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

“This is your government working for you,” Alonto told the farmers’ cooperative representatives present during the activity held at ARMM grounds.

Hadja Jalika Mangacop, DAF-ARMM High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) regional program coordinator, said each unit costing PHP500 was funded under the DA-HVCDP.

One unit was awarded each to the following cooperatives, namely Golden Valley Multi-Purpose Cooperative of Parang, Maguindanao; Masaganang Kabuhayan Producer Cooperative of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao; Rural Improvement Club of Jolo, Sulu; and Lupah Pula Farmers and Fisherfolks Marketing Cooperative of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.

Mangacop said the Mango Chips Dryer has food grade stainless steel double. It is capable to dry 75 kilograms of wet mango pulp efficiently from 45-60 minutes due to a force draft fan rotating the temperature evenly.

Alonto said the post-harvest equipment is expected to make mango growers/producers hasten the drying capacity of mango chips and improve its quality.

Mango is among the major products of high value in ARMM.

Alonto said other cooperatives in the region will also receive their own post-harvest equipment depending on the agricultural products they produce.

Mango from the region, fresh and processed, are exported to major urban centers in the country along with other major products of the region composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

OCD-ARMM orients local disaster managers on PDRA

(PNA), JBP/NYP/EOF

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao, March 9 (PNA) -- To prepare disaster response at the local level, the Office of Civil Defense in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (OCD-ARMM) has conducted Tuesday a day-long orientation Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA) for Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers (MDRRMOs) of Lanao del Sur.

Myrna J. Angot, OCD-ARMM regional director, said the activity was vital to disaster managers, especially at the local level so they would analyze and understand the risk factors in their areas and would have possibly translate this into proper responses.

“Since PDRA is very significant in government action, it must be clear to everyone so they can come up with appropriate and timely action during emergencies,” according to NDRRMC Chief and Civil Defense Administrator Alexander P. Pama.

Pama, in a statement during the orientation, stressed that disaster managers in local government units must undergo pre-disaster risk assessments to come up with a design appropriate to their local needs.

Equally important, according to Angot, is the need for more efforts to make the public understand disaster warnings so they too can react accordingly.

OCD-ARMM is mulling to translate emergency signs in the vernacular for people in the countryside so they can easily understand the impact of disasters in their lives.

ARMM eyes free internet access

(PNA), JBP/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, March 8 (PNA) -- Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said the regional government will provide free internet connection to public places to improve residents’ access to opportunities.

The first of its kind in the region and probably in Mindanao, the free internet access will be funded by the ARMM’s Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-ARMM.

According to Abdenul Campong, chief of information and communications technology of the ARMM governor's office, PAMANA will initially provide internet connection to public places in five identified local government units -- one site in each province under the ARMM.

This project has long been the desire of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman who consider the internet as agent of change the region is badly needed.

It aims at providing connectivity and free internet access and an avenue for service delivery mechanism enhancement in the areas of education, health, and disaster preparedness.

“The focus is to establish connectivity in government service agencies or offices to improve government services,” Campong said.

Initially, the connectivity is for use of the PAMANA communities availing government services such as online registration for birth certificate, marriage certificate, and National Bureau of Investigation clearance, among others.

But generally, all people who "wanted to connect" can avail of it.

Campong said the project’s Technical Working Group conducted a series of site validation during the first two months of 2016 to find strategic places for the connections and the presence of internet service providers in the areas.

He said the target local government units are Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao, Marawi City in Lanao del Sur, Bongao in Tawi-Tawi, Jolo in Sulu, and Lamitan City in Basilan. A total of PHP50 million was allocated for the entire year under the 2016 PAMANA ARMM Fund.

PAMANA is the national government’s peace and development framework that caters specifically to peace and development issues of conflict-affected communities.

Meanwhile, the DOST-ARMM will also embark on internet connection to more than 80 identified sites across the region.

The project, dubbed ‘Juan Konek’, will install free internet connectivity to public places such as plazas, parks, schools and health facilities.

“This project aims at accelerating the government’s efforts in enhancing internet accessibility for Filipinos to accelerate economic, social and educational opportunities,” said DOST-ARMM Secretary Myrah Mangcabung.

She said it is the national government’s initiative directly in line with the “Internet For All” thrust identified in the Philippine Digital Strategy 2011-2016.

The project, launched in July 2015, received P3 billion in total funding. The free internet can be accessed through 7,118 sites nationwide across 967 towns.

Hataman eyes all towns in the region should have internet connections in the next three years.

18 million ballots for OAV, ARMM have been printed

By Leslie Ann Aquino

More than 18 million ballots for the May, 2016 polls have already been printed less than a month since printers started rolling at the National Printing Office in Quezon City.

Atty. Genevieve Guevarra, head of the Commission on Elections Printing Committee, said as of 11 a.m. Saturday (March 5), the number of ballots already printed is at 18,102,545.

“We are done printing the ballots for overseas absentee voting (OAV) and for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” she said in a text message.

What are being printed now at the NPO, Guevarra said, are mostly the ballots for the other provinces in Mindanao.

The Comelec earlier explained that the ballots for OAV, ARMM and far-flung areas will be printed first as these will be shipped first.

The total number of ballots verified, on the other hand, is at 8,494, 989.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista earlier revealed that due to the fast printing, the ballot verification process is lagging behind.

During the verification process, each ballot is being fed into the vote counting machine to see if it will not be rejected.

“I told you before that the printing was going to be quicker because of the shorter ballot…but because of this, the verification process has a difficult time to catch up,” said Bautista.

The poll body is printing 56.7 million ballots for the May, 2016 polls, which include those that will be used for local and overseas absentee voting, and the training ballots for the final testing and sealing, and Preliminary Logic and Accuracy Test.

This does not include the ballots that will be used for manual elections for local and overseas absentee voting totaling to 223,611. The printing of these were already completed last February 12.

Printing of the official ballot was postponed thrice before it finally started last February 18.

ARMM authorities eye measures to shield women from election violence

By Charlie C. Señase (SFM, Inquirer Mindanao)

COTABATO CITY – Local government units and security forces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on Saturday vowed to protect women from threats and intimidation during the campaign period toward the May 9 elections.

In a forum organized by the Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women (RCBW) and endorsed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), close to a thousand participants with police and military escorts filled the Sharif Kabunsuan Cultural Center and the surrounding ARMM Regional Complex with their vehicles that looked like a “Miting de Avance” of political parties.

It was a tightly secured event, said ARMM compound security chief, retired police general Marcelo Pintac, considering the presence of Comelec commissioners, provincial governors, town mayors, and other VIPs from various sector organizations.

Dubbed as “Gender and Election-Related Violence,” the gathering was the first-ever conceived by the RCBW that the Comelec would like to be duplicated in other parts of the country.

“This is a commitment to peaceful, orderly, and credible elections as embodied in the Fair Elections Act, that promotes gender equality,” said Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon.

Guanzon said women running for elective positions “need equal protection as they are more vulnerable to election-related violence.” Sittie Jehanne Mutin, RCBW chair, noted that the low participation rate of women in politics could be attributed to threats and intimidation. The forum held for the police, military and local authorities in the male-dominated political arena has been in line with the goal of transforming the country’s political environment into a fair and just playing field for all, Guanzon said.

She said that in the 2013 mid-term elections, only 18 percent of women candidates got elected into office.

In the 2010 national polls, 391 cases of election-related violence were reported and that number declined to only 196 in 2013, police records showed.

“This is a good indication, but we still have to ensure that the welfare of women candidates is advanced, and those manning polling precincts during elections are provided ample security,” said ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, who led incumbent LGUs in the tightly guarded forum.

ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Masuhud-Alamia said the regional awareness program of the RCBW has been meant to enhance security for women involved in politics and election-related processes and the disadvantaged, and guard against voter disenfranchisement due to technical or illiteracy problems.

“The problem of illiteracy in the ARMM involves at least one-third of voters in the region,” said human rights advocate Amina Rasul-Bernardo, founding member of Women in International Security-Philippines, and lead convener of Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy.

ARMM candidates sign peace pact for peaceful elections

(PNA), JBP/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, March 5 (PNA) -- Candidates from regional down to municipal elective positions on Friday signed a peace covenant aimed at ensuring a peaceful and orderly elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, standard bearer of Liberal Party in the regional polls and Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu, also of LP, both led the signing of peace covenant for peaceful ARMM elections, witnessed by poll, military, police and election watchdog officials at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center here.

Maguidnanao 1st district Rep. Bai Sandra Sema and 2nd district Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu, both of LP and reelectionists, also affixed their signatures to help in the campaign for peaceful balloting.

Laisa Alamia, ARMM executive secretary, earlier said the signing was the highlight of a public forum on "Gender related election violence" organized by the Commission on Elections and the Bangsamoro Commission on Women.

"Women are the most disadvantage sector during elections and they usually become victims of election related violence (ERVs) before, during and after elections," Alamia told DXMS Radyo Bida's "Aksyon ARMM" program.

"Most if not all the members of the board of election inspectors are teachers who are women," Alamia added. "What they have learned form the forum will help them cope with the threats and intimidation that usually accompany elections in the ARMM," she added.

The forum, Alamia said, provided women workers during elections how to defend themselves and what to do when dangers come.

Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th Infantry Division commander, led the military in signing the peace covenant aimed at saving lives during elections.

The four ARMM provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are traditionally hot spot areas during local, regional and national elections.

Alamia said it was the first of its kind in the ARMM and in the country where women's safety is assured during a forum participated also by officials of the poll body.

ARMM distributes Android tablets to LGUs to promote efficient health info

By Noel Y. Punzalan [(PNA), FFC/NYP]

COTABATO CITY, March 3 (PNA) -- In its desire to serve its clients more effectively and improve efficiency and transparency of health information, the Department of Science and Technology in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOST-ARMM) has been distributing Android tablets with “eHATID” application to local government units (LGUs).

It is a software application for Android tablets offering real-time access to health information among LGUs and medical doctors.

According to Mon-Em Abangad, DOST-ARMM information officer, the provision of the tablet falls under the agency’s eHATID LGU project (eHealth TABLET for Informed Decision-Making of LGUs).

“The DOST-ARMM provides two Android tablets for each LGU, one of which will be used by the Local Rural Health Units. The project is free of charge and we initially targeted a total of 70 LGUs in ARMM as beneficiaries,” Abangad said in a statement.

As of Thursday, a total of 61 LGUs in the region already benefited from the project.

Abangad encouraged other LGUs to avail of the project the first step of which, is to submit a letter of intent to the agency.

“Once the LGU has submitted its letter of intent duly signed by the local chief executive, DOST-ARMM will assess the (LGU’s application) based on selection criteria,” said Abangad.

Abangad advised LGU officials to comply the following:

• local chief executive support for innovations;

• presence of development-oriented projects in the LGU;

• responsive health sector; and

• internet connectivity and technical readiness.

The project provides health information system support through an online and offline Electronic Medical Record that generates particular health reports for the Department of Health and Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Abangad explained that the project aims to improve efficiency and transparency among stakeholders using an enhanced health information system model that promotes health information convergence and informed decision-making.

The eHATID LGU data are synced to a central database via cloud facilities of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of DOST.

The DOST-ARMM spokesperson said the system has security protocols that are strictly implemented to comply with the policies and program requirements for data security, privacy and confidentiality.

ARMM women's agency to host forum on gender and election related violence

(PNA), LAP/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, March 3 (PNA) -- To encourage greater participation of women in the coming national and local elections and help reduce election-related violence in the region, the Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RCBW-ARMM) will conduct a forum on Gender and Election Related Violence (ERV) on Friday, March 4.

Sittie Jehanne Mutin, chairperson of the RCBW-ARMM, said the forum aims to discuss the connection between gender and election related violence (ERV) cases in the country, and "to gather recommendations and best practices to combat ERVs, especially against women.”

She admitted that women’s political participation remains low in the Philippines.

According to the RCBW-ARMM, only 19 percent of the candidates seeking elective posts in the national, local and regional level in the upcoming May 2016 elections are women.

Data provided by the RCBW-ARMM showed that in the 2013 mid-term elections, 18 percent of the candidates who got elected to office were women.

"Adding to the challenges on the stereotypes on the roles of women and lack of encouragement and support for women's active participation in election, is the vulnerability of women as easy targets for ERVs," Mutin added.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) considers all violence that has connection with the election as ERVs. It refers to "acts or threats of coercion, intimidation or physical harm committed to affect an electoral process."

In the 2010 polls, the police recorded a total of 391 incidents of ERVs, and 196 ERVs in the 2013 midterm balloting.

Mutin said the activity is a joint project with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC-ARMM) to be conducted at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex (SKCC) inside the ARMM Compound.

About 700 participants are expected to attend the day-long activity, including stakeholders from the House of Representatives Committee on Women and Gender Equality, Directors of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), representatives from political parties, national, regional and local candidates, the academe and women's and religious groups.

Mutin said her office will seek the commitment and support of participants in promoting better political participation for women and in ensuring a peaceful and violence-free election in the ARMM.

ARMM, composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, has been traditionally considered a "hot spot" area during national, regional or local elections.

MILF, MNLF jointly call on Bangsamoro for unity and solidarity

(PNA), SCS/PR-PEACE PROCESS MEDIA BUREAU/EDS

COTABATO CITY, March 2 (PNA) -- As most Filipinos celebrated the 30th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution last Feb. 25, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) addressed in a joint assembly the Bangsamoro issue and called for unity and solidarity amidst the uncertainty brought by the non-passage of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

“The joint effort of the two Moro revolutionary fronts to assemble and unite is reflective of MNLF’s commitment to the agreed convergence of the two peace tracks of the MNLF and MILF into a single roadmap," said MNLF Chairman Muslimin Sema, adding that the event was also part of the MILF’s program of unification and reconciliation for Moro leaders.

The assembly, held in Carmen, North Cotabato, was headed by the MNLF’s Bukidnon State Revolutionary Committee and the MILF’s Kapalawan Provincial Committee.

During the 5th Ministerial Level Meeting of the Tripartite Review Process (TRP) of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) between the Philippine government and the MNLF, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Iyad bin Amin Madani highlighted their intention and understanding to combine the two peace processes of the MNLF and MILF into a single roadmap.

Madani said at that time that "there was a need for the two Moro fronts to find a common understanding since they share the same political clamor and aspirations as expressed in the [BBL]."

The review process that concluded last Jan. 25 maintained that the MNLF would participate in the 60-member Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) -- the transition government that would have bridged the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the proposed Bangsamoro parliamentary government as determined in the 2014 Comprehensive Agreementon the Bangsamoro (CAB) -- together with the leadership of the MILF and other stakeholders which would operationalize the convergence efforts of the MILF and the MNLF through a political exercise.

However, the BTA didn’t come into fruition due to the 16th Congress’ collective failure to pass the BBL.

“The division among the Bangsamoro people into different groups may have triggered the non-passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law in the House of Representatives,” commented MILF Vice Chairman for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jafaar.

Jafaar, noting that the Bangsamoro people have been engaged in the peace talks for over 30 years going back to the leadership of MNLF, commented that they “will continue a peaceful peace process until Mindanao achieves an equally lasting peace.”

In a separate statement, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Undersecretary Atty. Jose Lorena said that with the completion of the TRP and in the incorporation of the MNLF agenda with the CAB under a single framework, “the CAB and correspondingly the BBL will become the inclusive framework for all the Bangsamoro in addressing the legitimate and validated Bangsamoro aspiration for genuine political autonomy and the right to self-determination. It is now clear that there will be a single framework through the BBL which will preserve the gains of the 1996 FPA and the CAB."

Bangsamoro youth key to unity, self-determination

In an earlier event held in Davao City, Jaafar commented that the Bangsamoro youth would be instrumental in realizing the Bangsamoro aspiration for genuine autonomy and self-determination as enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. “The goal of the Bangsamoro youth now should be to unite and to be at the forefront in realizing the aspiration of the Bangsamoro people to self-determination.”

Speaking directly to the youth, the MILF vice chairman said that they “should exhaust all means of diplomacy in fighting for the Bangsamoro struggle before thinking of engaging ideas of war.”

The MILF leadership had earlier confirmed the inclination of some Bangsamoro youth toward extremism as well as the ongoing recruitment of young people in organizations that have declared allegiance with global terror group ISIS operating within the ARMM, especially in the cities of Cotabato and Marawi.

Nevertheless, Jaafar expressed “high hopes for the Bangsamoro youth to serve their people someday and to become good Bangsamoro leaders.”

ARMM uses modern technology, GPS to determine extent of drought damages

(PNA), BNB/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, March 1 (PNA) -- With the use of modern technology and the global positioning system, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DAF-ARRM), through its Agricultural Research Center (ARC) and Philippine Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is assessing drought damages to crops in Maguindanao, officials said Tuesday.

Saudi Mangindra, senior researcher of ARMM Integrated Agricultural Research Center (ARMMIARC), said under the Philippine Rice Information System Management (PRISM) program, researchers gather exact information as to crop damages using satellite imaging, global positioning system (GPS) and actual field imaging using smart phones.

"Using a tool for precision agriculture, we gather accurate data on the effect of dry spell to crops and the extent of pest infestation,” Mangindra told reporters.

Mangindra explained that using the GPS, actual damages are recorded. Data gathered are then processed by PRISM personnel.

“Accurate data on the extent of damages will help our policy makers and leaders determine what assistance the government can extend to affected farmers,” Mangindra said.

On the other hand, Bryn Arap, PRISM-ARMM focal person, said agriculture technical experts go to the fields, assess the situation and using smart phones gather data that could determine what kind of insects and pests have destroyed agricultural crops.

According to Johny Maloom, PhilRice researcher, the system is using satellite images to come up with drought map.

“What we are doing now is to pinpoint affected areas and come up with data that will help determine the extent of damages,” Maloom said.

Through PRISM, the DAF-ARMM could monitor the damages brought by calamities like floods and infestation using the technology.

This year's drought was the worst to hit rice and corn producing province of Maguindanao in recent history.

Most of the affected farmers rely on government subsidy to survive the dry spell.

And the government is acting by providing interventions from agricultural assistance to monetary aid so affected farmers could move on.

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