Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao News November 2013

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Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao Archived News
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Seal of ARMM

Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs.

Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

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.

P362M infra projects up in ARMM

By Ali G. Macabalang

COTABATO CITY – Nine new infrastructure projects worth P362.8 millon are set for construction this month in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official announced Friday as he assured to finish the concreting of the entire 992-kilometer highway network in the region by next year.

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman signed here on Nov. 26 with the four construction firms that won the bidding for the nine projects which amounted P362.8 million, DPWH Regional Secretary Emil Sadain told the Bulletin.

Sadain said FFJJ Construction was awarded the concrete re-blocking of segments of the Marbel-Ala-Cotabato and Cotabato-Lanao/Davao highways (P38.7 million); concreting of a portion of Paglas-Columbio (Maguindanao-Sultan Kudarat) road (P52.1 million); and concreting of Maslabeng road in Buluan, Maguindanao (P58.2M million.

Two projects were awarded to the ESR Construction and Supplies, namely: The construction of road from Bato-Bato Port-Al-Barka-Haili Ginata-Magkawa [Phase I] and port construction along Bato-Bato, both in Basilan, (P87.3 million), he said.

The ASAP General Trading Construction and Maintenance won two projects worth a total of P53.4 million involving the construction of water system level III in Sumisip, Basilan and the concreting of one kilometer Bitayan-Basakportion segment (phase III) of portion Sumisip, Basilian circumferential road, he added.

The other projects worth P14.5 million went to the joint firms of the RAIN Construction Enterprises and Apple Construction. The project involves the construction of steel bridges along the coastal roads of Buli-Buli-Tekos, Basak-Babag, and on a barangay road, all in Sumisip, Basilan, Sadain said.

Among the five ARMM provinces, Lanao del Sur excelled in road projects implementation, the regional DPWH office said, citing the close supervision of field works by Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., who is a civil engineer by profession.

ARMM has a total of 992 kilometers of national highways. More than 750 kilometers of which have been paved and will be continued to be concreted by the end of 2014, said Sadain.

Owing to the regional DPWH office’s feats in administrative and operational reforms in last two years, the Aquino government increased ARMM’s annual infrastructure capital outlay from P1 billion in past decades to P5.2 billion for 2014, an unprecedented leap in the region’s history.

In the second half of 2012 and first semester of this year, the agency has posted close to P200 million savings in fiscal operations, notably in road maintenance and bidding processes.

Mayor leads tree-planting in Lamitan barangays

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines --- Local officials and public school pupils, mostly ethnic Yakans, planted on Thursday more than 2,000 mahogany seedlings in open fields in two barangays in Lamitan City.

The activity, led by Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay, was part of the city government’s environment protection goals and the observance by the local communities of November 2013 as the National Environmental Awareness Month.

Furigay, along with barangay leaders and hundreds of pupils from elementary schools in Barangays Bulingan and Bohe Yakan, planted the mahogany seedlings in areas that are also vulnerable to floods.

Furigay, in an emailed statement, also thanked the police and military units in Lamitan City, the capital of Basilan, for helping put up the tree-planting activity in the two barangays.

The mayor said the office of the city agriculturist provided them enough mahogany seedlings for the project.

The activity also involved members of the city council, led by Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay, and representatives of local media organizations, among them Richard Falcatan, a reporter of the Radio Mindanao Network covering the island province of Basilan.

Billion-peso halal hub to rise in Mindanao

By Genivi Factao

KUALA Lumpur —The Halal International Chamber of Commerce and Industries of the Philippines Inc. (HICCIP) has unveiled plans to put up a billion-peso halal hub in Mindanao.

Halal Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Ustadz Alexander Sultan said the chamber has joined the International Trade (Intrade) exhibition in Malaysia to source halal products and eventually set up a halal supermarket in the Philippines.

“Halal is a very clean food. Halal is a million-dollar industry in the Philippines and has potential for exports in the Asian and Middle East markets,” he said at Intrade exhibition held at Menara Matrade in Kuala Lumpur.

“The HICCIP plans to put up Halal Business Park in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao [ARMM], where we can have a halal supermarket and produce our own halal.… It’s going to be a halal zone,” he added.

“We want to help the economy through exports. We can have purely halal chicken that can be exported to other countries. We can export our halal products to the Middle East and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) because we are free from bird flu,” he added. The HICCIP’s member-companies are based in Baguio, Metro Manila, General Santos, Cebu and Marawi City.

They are looking for a 10-hectare land in the ARMM for the halal site, which entails about P1 billion in investments. HICCIP is just waiting for the approval of the National Commission on Muslim Filipino for its certification.

“Our application as halal-certifying body was approved in principle, and we hope to get the certification before the year ends,” he added.

HICCIP is promoting halal business and social service, as well as helping the country to grow tourist arrivals from Muslim countries.

“When tourists come in, they want to eat halal and, unfortunately, there’s only a few halal food in the Philippines,” he said.

Founded on March 16, 2013, HICCIP aims to promote the proliferation of halal entrepreneurship and industries through education and information campaign. The small and medium enterprises engaged in the distribution of halal products saw a growing interest of the Philippine market in Malaysia’s halal food.

Anthony B. Rivera, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. Philippines marketing manager, said several representatives from the Philippines have already been to Malaysia for the certification requirements in the development of halal food.

“The relevant parties are also working hand in hand with Jakim for the halal-certification issue for the Philippines. Once all the conditions have been met and the goods are certified, Malaysia welcomes the entry of these in the market,” he added.

Food is the fifth top export of Malaysia to the Philippines with a 21-percent share and total value of $212 million in 2012.

On the other hand, food is the third top import of Malaysia from the Philippines with a share of 4 percent and total value of $92 million last year.

Veggie gardens in ARMM schools pushed

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) and the executive branch of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) started implementing on Tuesday a joint food sufficiency program in public schools in Maguindanao.

Makmod Mending, Jr., ARMM’s regional agriculture secretary, said the program, 'Gulayan sa mga Paaralan sa Probinsiya ng Maguindanao,' also involves the office of the region’s education secretary, Jamar Kulayan.

“This project aims to address the problem of malnutrition among children in different towns in Maguindanao,” Mending said.

Mending said ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and a representative of the WFP’s office in Mindanao, Arland Bernido, signed last week a memorandum of understanding outlining the details of the project, to be implemented in 108 selected schools in Maguindanao.

Mending and Kulayan also signed on the document.

Mending said employees of the ARMM’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Department of Education are now coordinating with the 108 schools, imparting on teachers and principals the modalities of the project.

Mending said the DAF-ARMM has started providing the beneficiary schools with vegetables seeds, gardening tools and other farm implements needed in putting up gardens inside campuses.

The WFP, which has been operating in Maguindanao for several years now, will supply rice to families of school children in the 108 public schools.

Mending said his office had released the garden tools intended for the 108 schools through the two schools division offices in Maguindanao.

Foreign traders come to Maguindanao as peace talks near completion

(PNA), LAP/NYP/EOF

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Nov. 26 (PNA) -- With peace expected to soon reign in Maguindanao as a result of the ongoing peace process between the government and Moro rebels, foreign investors also started to come to the province, officials said Tuesday.

Foreign investors will start propagating Cavendish bananas in January next year in undeveloped yet natural-rich vast track of lands in Maguindanao, a few kilometers from the site of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

According to Makmod Mending, Jr., regional secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the ARMM is supporting the venture.

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Toto Mangudadatu said his invitation was welcomed and accepted by a Malaysian-Costa Rican fruit company Univex.

In Janauary, the Univex and its local partner, the Al-Mujahidon, will put up the banana plantation.

Costa Rican businessman Gonzalo Hernandez, who met with Mangudadatu and other provincial officials over the weekend, said his firm would like to help create job in the province with the belief that when people are employed and have decent livelihood, they do not commit crimes.

Muslim religious leader Abdulwahid Sumaoang and businessmen Edward Bullicer were representatives of Al-Mujahidon.

Seeing employment opportunities for Maguindanao residents and economic improvement in the ARMM, Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman has immediately directed line agencies to extend necessary assistance in the establishment of the banana plantation in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

“We appreciate the efforts of provincial leadership in Maguindanao in bringing in foreign investors and providing employment opportunities,” Mending said.

"We see more investors coming in with the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace process nearing completion," Mending said.

“We really appreciate the support of Mangudadatu administration, the local sectors and government line agencies," Bullicer said.

Maguindanao is not new to Cavendish banana venture. About a decade ago, the first foreign investment on banana came to Datu Paglas, Maguindanao pioneered by Arab, Italian and Israeli traders in partnership.

ARMM relief teams aid Muslim affected families in Tacloban

(PNA), CTB/PTR/NYP/EOF

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Nov. 25 (PNA) -- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) relief arm has served about 50 Muslim families affected by typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City, ARMM officials said.

The Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Relief Team (HEART)of the ARMM has provided medical and rehabilitation support to the displaced Muslim families, mostly from ARMM provinces.

They were among thousands of people in Tacloban that HEART had served during its relief mission in Tacloban City and nearby municipalities in Leyte.

Beneficiaries received food packs comprised of rice, canned sardines, instant noodles, and assorted medicines for various ailments.

Aside from food packs, the team also shared non-relief goods such as sleeping mats, and other provisions to the dislocated Muslim families.

About 30 truckloads of relief supplies were distributed by ARMM to Leyte and Tacloban City in response to President Aquino's call for humanitarian missions in affected areas.

Ahsmha Sulayman, who hails from Lanao del Sur, lauded the ARMM relief team because the presence of ARMM workers and volunteers made them felt they were home.

ARMM to showcase unity and culture in its 24th anniversary

By Ayunan G. Gunting

Unity and culture will take center stage in this year’s celebration of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) 24th founding anniversary.

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said various cultural shows will be conducted during the month-long celebration of the ARMM’s 24th founding anniversary to depict the unique cultural identities of the region’s Moro and non-Muslim indigenous groups.

Hataman stressed the importance of these cultural shows during their festivities as they will highlight the peculiarities of the region’s local communities, which despite having different traditions and cultures, are bound by Islam as a common religion.

“The region’s non-Muslim indigenous groups are also related to us. There is no separation, except for religious identities. We are one because we only have one community before the dawn of Islam in this part of the country. One people, one voice, one direction—unity, peace and prosperity,” Hataman said.

The month-long celebration has already kicked off last November 7 with a parade of traditional attires made from hand-woven fabrics, Float and Cultural parade. The Lanao Del Sur float won with its concept of the Sultanate in a Torogan.

The Sultan and his Radiamoda surrounded by their Bai a Labi and Moro Warriors, wearing authentic Maranao costumes. The Basilan float placed second.

Gov. Hataman wore traditional Yakan clothes, and his deputy, Vice-Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman, Jr. led the employees of different regional departments in Thursday’s kickoff ceremony for the anniversary feast.

Hataman hails from Sumisip town in Basilan, while Lucman is an ethnic Maranaw who belongs to the Lucman clan of Bayang, Lanao del Sur.

The event served as an initial highlight of the celebration of the region’s 24th founding anniversary which will last until December 19, when local residents commemorate the Shariff Kabunsuan Day.

The Kabunsuan Day is a non-working regional holiday observed yearly to honor Shariff Mohammad Kabunsuan, a Muslim missionary from Johore, now an island state in Malaysia, who arrived in the 14th century in what is now Cotabato City to preach Islam.

The start of the celebration of the ARMM’s 24th founding anniversary, meanwhile, coincided with Thursday’s Sheik Karimul Makdum Day.

The Makdum Day is also a yearly regional holiday being observed throughout the autonomous region in commemoration of the arrival 633 years ago in Simunul, now an island town in Tawi-Tawi, of Arab preacher Makdum from the Middle East.

Makdum was the first ever Muslim cleric to set foot in Mindanao to spread Islam.

Relatives of Maguindanao massacre victims mark 4th year anniversary with 'cry for justice'

(PNA), CTB/NYP/EOF

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Nov 23 (PNA) -- Relatives of the victims of Maguindanao massacre will commemorate the fourth year anniversary of the carnage with a visit at the crime site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguidnanao.

Police Officer 3 Elliver Cablitas, husband of masascre victim Marites Cablitas, said a mass and a fun run will highlight Saturday's commemoration of the country's worst election related violence.

Cablitas said justice remain elusive for 58 people, 30 of whom were journalists, who were mercilessly killed on November 23, 2009.

He said a mass will be held at the Forest Lake Cemetery where 12 of the journalists who perished in the carnage were buried.

The other day, some journalists from various parts of the country visited the massacre site where they offered prayers and lighted candles to remember their loved ones and co-workers.

Rowena Paraan, national chairperson of National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, said NUJP will continue to cry for justice and closely watch the prosecution of those responsible in the murders.

Employees of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also offered prayers and lighted candles for the massacre victims.

Malacanang said the slain journalists and others were at the wrong time and at the wrong place will always be remembered.

Secretary Sonny Coloma said President Aquino has reiterated his desire to bring the perpetrators before the bar of justice.

While everyone wanted justice done quickly, Coloma said the government is patiently waiting for justice to take its course.

Arrested and facing multiple murder charges were 104 persons, including what the government prosecutors believed were the masterminds, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr, his namesake Andal Jr who was mayor of Datu Unsay municipality when he allegedly led the suspects, former ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and nine other Ampatuans.

WFP, ARMM works on Gulayan sa Paaralan program

(PNA), FFC/NYP/WILNARD L. BACELONIA-OJT/

COTABATO CITY, Nov. 22 (PNA) -- The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and Department of Education (DepEd) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would jointly work on a program with the United Nations - funded World Food Program (WFP) aimed at improving food security in the region.

The program, dubbed as “Gulayan sa Paaralan, targets some 500 public elementary schools across the region as beneficiaries.

On Wednesday, lawyers Jamal Kulayan and Macmod Mending Jr., secretaries of ARMM’s DepEd and DAF offices respectively, inked a memorandum of understanding with WFP representatives advocating backyard vegetable gardening in public schools to help meet the nutritional requirements of school children in the rural communities.

The program targets 100 public schools per province or a total of 500 per year in which each school beneficiary is given five packs of seven-sachet assorted vegetable seeds and garden tools such as two sprinklers, shovel, hoes, bolos, rakes, tarpaulin and information materials.

“A total of 3,500 assorted vegetable seeds and 1,000 sets of garden tools would be handed to the schools for this year's program execution,” Mending said.

The ARMM comprises the cities of Marawi and Lamitan and the provinces Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Local government units are directed to provide assistance, resources and incentives as support to the program.

DAF, DepEd partner with UN-WFP to improve food security in ARMM

(Arman C.Trabucon/OJT-Bureau of Public Information/APB/PIA-10)

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Nov. 21 (PIA) --- The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will work jointly with the United Nations–World Food Program (UN-WFP) to improve food security in the region.

The three agencies signed on Tuesday, November 19, an agreement that establishes their collaboration in the strengthening of the “Gulayan sa Paaralan,” a project that brings together the school and the community in putting up a vegetable garden within the school compound.

Macmod Mending, DAF-ARMM secretary, said the project aims to improve food security and the health of school children in the region and also lessen incidents of malnutrition.

DepEd-ARMM will help identify an area of at least 1,000 square meters in every participating school where the “gulayan” or garden can be put up and encourage 20 farmer-parents and pupils to engage in the project.

The UN-WFP will support the project through the provision of food support, monitoring the progress of the engagements and facilitating meetings of stakeholders, according to the agreement.

Meanwhile, DAF-ARMM will provide agricultural inputs and organize a Project Management Team (PMT) at the provincial levels to ensure proper coordination among stakeholders.

The agency vowed to ensure the sustainability of the program and conduct a harvest festival as an indicator of its progress.

Mujiv S. Hataman, regional governor of ARMM, lauded the efforts and partnership of the three agencies.

He said it is also important to recognize the school beneficiaries who will successfully attain their target for the harvest festival.


GPH, MILF peace panels show solidarity with typhoon victims

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Peace brokers of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were elated with the outpouring of support from Moro communities for typhoon victims in the Visayas.

The two panels, in a joint statement, also expressed solidarity with communities affected by the deadly typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) onslaught.

“Disasters often result to the disruption of peace, the destruction of property, and the breakdown of law and order,” the GPH and MILF panels said in a communique emailed by the Mindanao Press Bureau of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

The two panels said man-made disasters, such as armed violence, also cause devastation and loss of lives.

“It is, thus, a moral responsibility for all to give maximum importance to protection of life and the right to live in a peaceful and humane society,” the two panels stated in their joint statement of sympathy with typhoon victims in the Visayas.

Typhoon Yolanda “is a reminder,” a call for unity among all people, irrespective of cultural identities and political convictions, to face boldly these hardships and work together to mitigate, if not prevent, future disasters, the two peace panels pointed out. Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Residents of Marawi City, meanwhile, have positively been responding to a local 'piso-piso' collection campaign by cause-oriented groups and peace advocacy outfits, said Samira Gutoc, a former sectoral representative to the 24-seat Regional Legislative Assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Marawi City is a component area of ARMM, which also covers all of the city’s neighbouring towns in Lanao del Sur.

“We have been seeing Maranaws from all walks of life shell out money to help sustain the rehabilitation of typhoon-ravaged communities in the Visayas,” said Gutoc, now a full-time peace advocate involved in various humanitarian projects.

Civil society organizations in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur, local officials and peace-advocacy groups jointly launched early this week the 'Oplan Tabang Visayas' in a bid to pool their relief efforts together.

The inter-agency, multi-sectoral initiative has a makeshift monetary collection center inside the campus of the Mindanao State University in Marawi City.

The administration of the university, which is Mindanao’s biggest state-run school, has also been helping push the objectives of the relief campaign forward.

Gutoc said different Moro organizations have also been collecting 'malong,' a traditional protective outfit resembling a sack with open hemlines, also used as a blanket, from Meranaw families, to be donated to displaced residents of Visayas.

Gutoc said Meranaw folks in Marawi City and Lanao del Sur are grateful to the local Catholic community, led by Fr. Chito Suganob, and the Christian members of local police units, and public school teachers, for helping in the relief efforts.

ARMM Vice Governor leads tree planting activity in Lanao del Sur

(MNMElias/APB/PIA-10)

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Nov. 19 (PIA) – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Vice Governor Haroun Alrashid A. Lucman, Jr led a tree planting activity in Mindanao State University (MSU) Main campus, Saturday, November 16.

Around 300 seedlings consisting of tanglin, igyo, white lawaan, upang, and mab’lo (fruit berry) were planted by Lucman and representatives from Lanao del Sur Police Office, 103rd Infantry Brigade, students, and youth groups in the one-hectare Demo Farm of MSU College of Forestry and Environmental Science.

Melvin U. Disomimba, faculty of the MSU College of Forestry and Environmental Science, expressed appreciation to the regional vice governor for choosing the demo farm as the area of the tree planting activity.

“Only few were able to conduct this kind of activity here but with the initiative of the regional vice governor, we realized now that we have partners in the advocacy of promoting and protecting the environment,” he said.

The tree planting activity was part of the ECOWATCH program of the vice governor launched recently here to promote awareness on the protection of Lake Lanao and the environment.

Volunteers from Kidapawan collect garbage for 'Yolanda' victims

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Combined Moro and Christian medics and rehabilitation experts from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have treated 2,457 injured typhoon victims in Tolosa, Leyte in the continuing relief missions that started Saturday.

Physician Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., ARMM’s regional health secretary, said the patients they have treated initially were among thousands injured when super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) ravaged Eastern Visayas almost two weeks ago.

“They are in a very pitiful situation. Some of them have already been given food rations and are still asking for more. They are very hungry,” said Sinolinding, one of the Moro physicians dispatched last week to Leyte by the ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Relief Team (HEART).

Sinolinding said the patients suffered cuts, bruises and fractures due to the wrath of the super typhoon.

The HEART, which is operating under the joint ministerial control of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and Regional Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia, had also shipped to Leyte last week thousands of food packs comprised of canned sardines, instant noodles, and rice, and some 10 tons of non-food relief supplies.

HEART volunteers from different agencies under Hataman’s office have still been packing relief supplies -- to be shipped to the Visayas this week -- in a makeshift supply depot at the 32-hectare ARMM compound in Cotabato City.

Another team of predominantly Moro relief workers, the Maguindanao provincial government’s “Bangon Visayas Team,” has also been extending relief support since Saturday to residents of Tacloban City and Leyte’s adjoining Basey and Guiawan towns.

ARMM Assemblyman Khadafeh Mangudadatu, younger sibling of Maguindanao’s governor, Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, said they have distributed seven tons of frozen Tilapia to the typhoon victims, harvested by Moro fishermen from Lake Buluan in the province.

Mangudadatu said the medical personnel from Maguindanao also brought with them P8.4 million worth of medicine for various ailments supplied by the provincial governor’s office.

“The 18,000 food packs we brought to Leyte have been distributed to the calamity-stricken barangays assigned to us by the national government,” the regional lawmaker said.

He described the situation now of the typhoon victims as “so miserable.” He urged Mindanao's Muslim and Christian folks to continue providing support needed to hasten the recovery of the displaced residents of Leyte and surrounding provinces.

“Since we in Mindanao have already started helping them, let us continue with our charitable efforts as long as we can,” said Mangudadatu, now in his third term as representative of the second district of Maguindanao to the ARMM’s 24-seat Regional Legislative Assembly, touted as “Little Congress” of the autonomous region.

Wastes turned into typhoon aid

A group of residents in Kidapawan City have been collecting since last week recyclable wastes from the 40 barangays in the area to be sold to buyers as a unique way of raising money needed to help sustain relief works for displaced communities in the Visayas.

Joey Recimilla of the Dekada ’80, a group of graduates from the Catholic-run Notre Dame of Kidapawan for Boys and Girls, said they have been collecting scrap metals, bottles, newspapers and recyclable plastics, which they will sell in bulk.

“It’s easier to raise money this way. The local communities have willingly been helping us push this campaign forward,” he said.

The Dekada ’80 already raised more than P10,000 from the initial proceeds of the project, according to Recimilla.

“We believe it’s not the volume of relief supplies or amount of money that can be extended to the typhoon victims that will matter most. It’s the sincerity of the gesture that will count. We are doing this in the spirit of cooperation and Filipino `bayanihan' spirit," Recimilla said.

The North Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco), the power utility serving all North Cotabato's 17 towns and Kidapawan City, dispatched on Monday a team of engineers and electricians to help restore supply of electricity to Eastern Samar and Tacloban City.

The spokesman of Cotelco, Vincent Baguio, said their ten-member team had left for the Visayas bringing with them tools and basic portable machinery they need for their operation.

“This is our support to the relief efforts of the Philippine Electric Cooperatives, under the auspices of the National Electrification Administration,” Baguio said.

Freed Indian trader vows to help police identify captors, stop kidnapping for ransom

By Edwin O. Fernandez [(PNA), CTB/NYP/EOF]

COTABATO CITY, Nov 17 (PNA) -- Freed Indian trader vowed Sunday to help authorities in identifying his abductors and help contain kidnapping cases in the city and its environs.

Speaking to reporters two days after his release Friday, Mike Khemani, owner of a chain of department stores here and in North Cotabato, said he is more than willing to extend vital information that would lead to the identification, arrest and prosecution of kidnap for ransom gangs.

Khemani was seized in front of Sugni Superstore which he owns and brought to a Maguindanao marshland on October 29. His 17-day captivity ended when he was left by his captors in a remote village in Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

He told reporters that his refusal to eat may have forced his captors to abandon him afraid they will be held accountable if he dies.

"I refuse to eat with them, I only took plenty of water when I get hungry," Khemani, a vegetarian told reporters.

Khemani, 59, was freed at the swampy border of Maguindanao’s adjoining Datu Piang and Kabuntalan towns.

He recalled that there were 10 to 15 armed men surrounding him all the time and they move from one place to another every two hours.

"I heard they call each other by their first names but I can't remember them. If ever I can see them again, I can recognize them," Khemani, a civic leader and Rotarian, said.

He said he knew the places where he was kept by his captors but vowed to reveal other details before police investigators. But he was quick to add that his captors treated him well and even supplied him with medicine for his diabetes and arthritis.

Despite the kidnapping, Khemani said he will not leave Cotabato City and will continue his business operations.

Khemani stressed that no ransom was paid to his captors who earlier demanded P15 million ransom.

Another Indian businessman remained in the hands of kidnappers.

Krishan Singh Arora, 54, manager of Eversun plywood factory in Barangay Sarmiento in Parang, Maguindanao, was managing the firm when gunmen, posing as soldiers, snatched him last week.

No ransom has been raised for the release of Arora.

Cheif Supt. Noel Delos Reyes, police director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said investigators have leads that will hopefully solved the twin kidnapping cases.

MSU student to represent ARMM in Nat'l Statistics Quiz

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – A first year chemical engineering student of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City will represent the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to the National Statistical Quiz to be held in Manila on December 5.

The 17-year old Traodio Acuemo II is now ARMM’s official contender to the quiz after emerging champion in the November 14 regional-level contest in Cotabato City.

The regional and national statistical quizzes are activities of the National Statistical Office (NSO).

Suod Barodi, regional director of NSO for ARMM, said Acuemo’s having topped the regional contest is the basis for him to participate, as ARMM’s entry, to the December 5 national statistical contest in Metro Manila.

Acuemo defeated seven regional finalists from different ARMM provinces in the regional contest held at the D & M Resto here.

The ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan and Marawi.

Barodi said the nationwide contest is an annual activity of the NSO, which aims to encourage college students to become mathematicians.

Jane Rachel Martin of the Upi Agricultural School in North Upi town in Maguindanao, and Jehan Abas, also from the state-run MSU in Marawi City, bagged the second and third places, respectively, during Thursday’s regional quiz here.

The travel of Acuemo and his coach to Manila for the national contest next month will be sponsored by the NSO, according to Barodi.

He said the five top winners in the national statistical contest will receive trophies and cash prizes.

Individuals, groups in ARMM collect relief supplies for Visayas

By John Unson (philstar.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Soldiers, policemen, nurses, construction workers, gun enthusiasts, students and media organizations have joined local groups in gathering relief support for victims of the deadly Typhoon Yolanda.

Even ethnic Teduray residents of North Upi, a hinterland town in Maguindanao, voluntarily shelled out part of their earnings from their farms Thursday when they saw students of an Episcopalian school go around to collect donations.

A Moro broadcaster, Kakah Alih Anso, of station dxUP in North Upi, tearfully told The Star he was deeply touched when students of the St. Francis School provided him with a written summary of their more than P60,000 cash collections.

“They are innocent children yet they managed to collect that much in just one day and even wanted to have their collections announced by our station to ensure transparency in their humanitarian efforts,” an emotional Anso said.

The broadcast outfits of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation, which has five radio stations scattered across Central Mindanao, has also launched a massive relief collection drive for the victims of the super typhoon that slammed Visayas and other parts of the country last week.

An OMI missionary, Eduardo Vasquez, director of the I-Watch Productions, which documents various issues to promote unity among Muslims and Christians in Mindanao, is now in Tacloban City, establishing linkages with local communities.

The Team Cotabato, a group of gun owners involved in gun safety and responsible firearm ownership advocacy, had initially collected towels, bottled water, medicines for common ailments, which were promptly turned over to the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Relief Team (HEART) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Muslim and Christian members of Team Cotabato are still collecting relief supplies from prospective donors, according to a senior official of the group, lawyer Kirby Abdullah, who is also assistant solicitor-general of ARMM.

Employees of the ARMM’s Social Fund Project also donated biscuits, sardines and other non-food relief supplies for the Visayas typhoon victims via the HEART, which operates under the joint supervision of Gov. Mujiv Hataman and Regional Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza, whose office has also been gathering relief support for residents of typhoon-stricken areas, said the donations they have collected will be transported to Leyte on Sunday.

“It's heart warming to see residents of North Cotabato voluntarily give support to the people of Visayas in a manner so depictive of their oneness with the typhoon victims,” Mendoza said.

The shipment of supplies from North Cotabato will be accompanied by a 100-member medical and relief team organized by Mendoza and officials of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Representatives of the Maguindanao provincial government, led by Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, have departed for Tacloban City at exactly 8:30 a.m. Friday, bringing with them relief supplies and two truckloads of frozen Tilapia harvested from Lake Buluan by Moro fishermen.

Part of the relief convoy from Maguindanao is the provincial government’s 10-ton fully air-conditioned “hospital bus,” which has modern medical equipment needed for surgeries.

Maguindanao’s relief mission to Leyte aims to disperse thousands of food packs containing rice, canned sardines, candles, matches, and assorted medicines to typhoon victims, according to Lynette Estandarte, chief provincial budget officer.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said their trained rescue and life-saving experts have been dispatched to Visayas, bringing with them relief supplies donated by soldiers.

The mayor of Kidapawan City, Joseph Evangelista, opened on Thursday the city’s public gymnasium as collection depot for relief supplies donated by local residents, among them members of ethnic highland groups.

The city government’s relief collection campaign, launched early this week, will last until next month, according to Evangelista.

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