Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao News April 2015

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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.

EU extends P13.9-million help to Maguindanao war evacuees

By Recto Mercene

The European Union (EU) has provided P13.9 million to fund emergency humanitarian assistance to Maguindanao residents who were displaced from their homes following a recent escalation of violence there.

The money will enable the provision of lifesaving relief items to the most vulnerable and support the management and provision of services at evacuation and displacement sites.

The two-month emergency project will specifically focus on the most vulnerable families. It will help ensure that they have access to safe and dignified shelters, water and sanitation facilities, as well as lifesaving nonfood items, such as blankets, sleeping mats and hygiene kits.

Psychosocial support will also be provided, allowing the displaced persons to exchange with others about their traumatic experience and receive information on potential further specialized support.

Moreover, the EU is continuing its assistance to the families displaced by the fighting that took place in Zamboanga in 2013, by providing a separate P13.7-million fund on top of the assistance provided in 2013.

A year-and-a-half after the displacement took place, some 20,000 residents remain in evacuation and transitional sites, living under very difficult conditions. The EU-funded aid will also focus on the most vulnerable individuals, providing them with food, protection, livelihood support and health services until the authorities can provide a more permanent solution for the displaced.

In both cases, the assistance is being made available through the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (Echo) through its Small-Scale Response Mechanism.

The first project in Maguindanao will be implemented by a consortium composed of the International Organization for Migration and Plan International—two humanitarian actors which have a long-established presence in the Philippines.

The operation in Zamboanga will be implemented by another consortium comprising non-governmental organization Action Contre la Faim and Plan International—both already operational in the area from previous Echo funding.

The armed conflict in Central Mindanao, southern Philippines, intensified in February 2015, when fighting erupted between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the towns of Pagalungan and Pikit. The clashes further escalated when the Armed Forces of the Philippines launched an “all-out offensive” against the BIFF troops. The fighting resulted in the displacement of over 120,000 people in the provinces of Maguindanao.

In September 2013 a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front seized hostages in Zamboanga, leading to an intervention by the military. The ensuing clashes lasted for more than two weeks and left some 45 dead and over 100, 000 people displaced in Zamboanga City.

Echo’s Small-Scale Response fund is a global mechanism that allows for rapid funding of up to P13.9 million for humanitarian aid in countries affected by natural and manmade disasters.

Php70-M worth of crops damage by drought in Maguindanao

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

COTABATO CITY, April 9 (PNA) -- The drought that started in January this year has affected more than P70 million worth of agricultural crops in the province of Maguindanao, agriculture officials today said.

Based on the initial report of office of the Maguindanao provincial agriculturist, more than 8,000 farmers have been affected by the dry spell which started three months back. It also dried up more than 100 hectares of rice and corn fields in Maguindanao's 36 municipalities.

In its April 6 report, Maguindanao provincial agricultural officer Salik Panalunsong, said the most affected crops were corn which account to P46,354,700 pesos followed by palay with an estimated P8, 923,430 damages.

Damages to livestock were placed at more than a million pesos.

Panalunsong said the drought has affected more than 700 farmers.

He said the consolidated report of his office had been forwarded to the office of Maguidanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu

Panalunsong said the decision to put the province under state of calamity for the provincial government to use its calamity fund to cushion the impact of long dry spell hinges on the decision of provincial officials.

He also said that the total cost of damages could even go higher once all the reports have been submitted by the municipal agriculture officers.

Meanwhile, Panalunsong said the DA-Maguindanao will start planting vegetables that are head resistant in Maguindanao's plain areas, including Open Pollinated Variety of corn.

Like other provincial agriculture officials, Panalunsong also recommended the conduct of cloud seeding operations in the province to induce rains that will help water the plants and other high value crops.

ARMM govt agencies, Army continue extending aid to displaced families in Maguindanao

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

TALAYAN, Maguindanao, April 8 (PNA) -- Humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons continues to be provided by the government concerned agencies as well as the military.

On Tuesday, volunteers from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), soldiers and civic groups jointly conducted relief operations in the Market Area of Talayan town in Maguindanao which served as temporary homes of thousands of IDPs displaced by armed conflict in Maguindanao's 13 towns.

The Army launched law enforcement operations against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters which already claimed the lives of 151 Moro armed men and 10 government forces.

Fighting has waned since March 31 when the military terminated the massive operations but vowed to continue small scale offensive to fully neutralize the BIFF.

Displaced folks are reluctant to return to their homes, worried that BIFF bandits could return and rebuild camps in their villages again.

But Capt. Joann Petinglay, speaking for the regional Army unit, said the military has established positions in all former BIFF stronghold in Maguindanao's four adjoining tows of Mamasapano, Shariff Aguak, Datu Shariff Saydona and Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Maguindanao's 13 municipalities have been placed under state of calamity to maximize the government's relief and rehabilitation efforts in conflict-wracked areas.

The latest relief operations were jointly initiated by the Anak Mindanao (Amin) Partylist, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the ARMM's Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART)..

ARMM-HEART has been spending P2 million a month for relief food supplies of about 120,000 displaced persons.

But about 25,000 evacuees have already returned home after the Army gave the go signal that it was safe for them to go back home.

Tuesday's relief operation was also assisted by the' Kaya Natin' Movement for Good Governance, a non government organization actively supporting the national government's peace process in southern Philippines.

Amin Partylist Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman lauded the military for providing relief assistance and sending in manpower to make the relief distribution easy and manageable.

Petinglay said the Army is now focused on helping IDPs as well as helping their shattered communities due to atrocities committed by the BIFF.

Military doctors also helped the Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao attend to the daily health needs of IDPs.

Dr. Kadil Sinolinding Jr, DOH-ARMM regional secretary said at least 90,000 persons remain in evacuation sites in Maguindanao, about 9,000 of whom were pregnant women.

The only child has died in evacuation center and two civilians wounded in the armed conflict.

Health Sec. Janette Garin who visited Maguindanao for three days lauded the health providers, the front liners in humanitarian dislocation in Maguindanao, for a job well done.

Evacuees in Maguindanao benefit from relief mission

By John Unson (philstar.com)

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Soldiers and volunteers from various groups on Tuesday initiated another humanitarian mission for evacuees in Talayan town as part of a continuing effort to serve thousands affected by the four-week hostilities in Maguindanao province.

Tension has waned in seven Maguindanao municipalities where the military and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have had 26 encounters from February 28 to March 29, but displaced folks are reluctant to return to their homes, worried that BIFF bandits could return and rebuild camps in their villages again.

The military-BIFF encounters had prompted Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and the provincial board, chaired by Vice Gov. Lester Sinsuat, to declare 11 of the 36 towns in the province under state of calamity to maximize the government's relief and rehabilitation efforts in conflict-wracked areas.

Tuesday’s relief intervention for evacuees was a joint initiative of the Anak Mindanao (Amin) Partylist, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team (HEART) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The HEART, operating under the supervision of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and his regional executive secretary, lawyer Laisa Alamia, has been dispersing since February 28 more than P1 million worth of food rations weekly to 125,312 villagers, mostly children and women, that got dislocated by the military-BIFF face-off.

The latest relief mission for evacuees from conflict-stricken barangays in Talayan was also assisted by the Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance, a non-government organization helping push the Mindanao peace process forward.

Amin Partylist Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman said she is thankful to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the ARMM-HEART for providing volunteers to assist in the mission.

Tuesday’s involvement of the Amin Partylist and the Kaya Natin NGO in relief operations for Maguindanao's displaced folks was the second in just two weeks.

Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the 6th ID, said soldiers are now focused on relief missions for internally-displaced folks following last week’s suspension of the military’s massive law enforcement operation against the BIFF.

Medics and dentists from the 6th ID helped the Amin Partylist and the ARMM-HEART attend to the medical and dental needs of the evacuees confined in relief sites in Talayan.

The HEART, whose operation is backed by the ARMM’s health and social welfare departments, dispersed more than a hundred tons of food, drinking water and non-relief supplies to evacuees in continuing relief and rehabilitation activities that started last week of February.

Physician Kadil Sinolinding Jr., ARMM's regional health secretary, brought with him dozens of relief and rehabilitation experts that provided needed interventions to ease the plight of evacuees in Talayan during Tuesday's relief operations in the area.

DAF-ARMM distributes garden tools

(IEroy/PBChangco/PIA Cotabato City with report from RAFID ARMM)

COTABATO CITY, Apr. 6 (PIA) – The provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi all under in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) received garden tools, assorted lowland vegetables and onion bulbs packets through the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) of the region’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF).

The recipient provinces are the beneficiaries of the Gulayan sa Paaralan in ARMM.

According to DAF-HVCDP CoordinatorJalika Mangacop, this will give a great impact to the farmers/growers and to the school beneficiaries.

The assistance from the department will help the farmers to increase their productivity, income, promote a healthy lifestyle by eating vegetable and engaging in planting activities, Mangacop said.

DAF-ARMM’s Gulayan sa Paaralan Program aims to alleviate the incidence of hunger and malnutrition where most cases are found in the autonomous region.

This is in support to the regional government vision and mission through the leadership of Gov. Mujiv Hataman – that is to produce healthy minds and body, productive lands, additional income and promote organic farming.

Spearheaded by DAF-ARMM Sec. Atty. Makmod Mending Jr. and its partner agency, the Department of Education-ARMM.

The respective program coordinators of each provinces received the 100 units of hoes, 100 units of shovels, 100 units of sprinklers, 5 rolls of HDEP pipe water hose, 100 pieces of rakes , 250 packs of lowland vegetables and 150 packs onion bulbs.

Teachers file complaint vs DepEd ARMM execs for withholding pay

By Allan Nawal (Inquirer Mindanao)

DAVAO CITY – At least 19 teachers assigned in Marawi City hauled to court several officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) over the alleged non-release of their salaries since January.

Sittie Jalilala Tomawis Abdul-Jalil, one of the complaining teachers, said ARMM education officials, led by Secretary Jamar Kulayan, had refused to release their salaries without valid justification.

In her affidavit-complaint dated March 4, Abdul-Jalil, a master teacher I at the Sultan Cosain Naga Central Elementary School (SCNCES), also named DepEd-ARMM Assistant Secretary John Magno, DepEd regional cashier Rosalinda Hassan, and regional payroll in-charge for Marawi City Badjuri Tuansi, as respondents.

In her sworn statement, Abdul-Jalil said the respondents “conspired in defrauding her of salaries” amounting to P27,844 per month.

Several other teachers submitted a similar affidavit complaint.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman told the Inquirer by phone on Saturday that he was aware of the complaints the teachers had raised against regional and Marawi City DepEd officials.

But Hataman said he was siding with the DepEd officials because there was apparent failure on the part of the complaining teachers to comply with the requirements set for the release of salaries and other benefits. Among these, he said, was the submission of daily time records (DTRs).

Hataman said the fact was that there were over 100 teachers whose salaries had initially been held for because they would not submit their daily time records.

“Majority of those teachers had complied with the submission of DTRs and received their salaries already. There are only 19 who continue to refuse to comply with the requirement,” he said.

Hataman also forwarded a text message from Kulayan, which said the salaries of the remaining 19 teachers had already been downloaded to the Marawi City division and were ready to be released once they submitted their DTRs.

Kulayan also downplayed the reported complaint saying those who made it were relatives of Marawi City schools division superintendent Mona Macatanong, who was replaced in 2014.

Macatanong continues to protest her replacement.

Maguindanao gov't vows to implement infra projects in Mamasapano

By John Unson (philstar.com)

Hadji Emil Sadain, public works secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao briefs Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch’ Abad (center), ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman (left) and Mayor Benzar Ampatuan on the ARMM government's infrastructure projects in Mamasapano town. John Unson

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - The Maguindanao provincial government on Thursday assured to help implement the infrastructure projects launched last week in Mamasapano town where presence of Moro bandits had caused socio-economic retrogression in the local communities.

In separate statements, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and the league of mayors in the province also both thanked the executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for embarking on the school building, mosque and footbridge projects in the surroundings of Mamasapano.

The P60 million worth of projects, to include water systems in eight selected schools and new school buildings, will be jointly funded by the ARMM government and the Department of Education.

“We shall do our best to help ensure the completion of these projects according to specific programs of work. We will also help ensure the safety of the workers tasked to implement these projects,” Mangudadatu said in his emailed statement.

The president of the Maguindanao mayor’s league, Mayor Freddie Mangudadatu of Mangudadatu town in south of the province, said the new projects in conflict-stricken barangays in Mamasapano will improve the productivity of poor Moro peasants and, at the same time, help address illiteracy constraints plaguing the local folks.

The impoverished Mamasapano town became popular after the January 25 deadly clash in the area between police Special Action Force commandos and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Nation ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

At least 44 SAF operatives, 17 MILF rebels, and five innocent civilians were killed in the encounters in Mamasapano's adjoining Barangays Pidsandawan, Tukanalipao and Inog-og, known hotbeds of Islamic militancy.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and his regional public works secretary, Hadji Emil Sadain, Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang launched last week the “peace projects” in Mamasapano.

The event was capped off with the symbolic start of the construction of a P10 million worth footbridge over a river near the scene of the violent January 25 SAF-MILF firefights that lasted for 10 hours.

The incident shook the nation to its core and challenged the Mindanao peace process.

Gov. Mangudadatu, chair of the provincial peace and order council, said he was elated with the presence in the launching of the projects of two representatives of the MILF’s central committee, Von Al-Haq and Toks Ebrahim.

“That was enough proof that the government-MILF peace process is still strong and that the `Mamasapano incident' will not destroy the cooperation of both sides in propagating peace in Moro areas,” he said.

Sadain said the projects will be implemented in utmost transparency.

Sadain said the money to be spent for the projects will be open to scrutiny by interested media outfits and any organization observing their implementation.

Sadain and Hataman both said the ARMM government will coordinate the implementation of the projects with Rashid Ladiasan and Brig. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. of the MILF and the government’s ceasefire committees, respectively.

Galvez was also present in last week’s launching of the projects in Mamasapano.

Galvez said he is certain the projects will improve the cordiality between the local Moro communities and the government.

ARMM and Bangsamoro underfunded, says Ferrer

(OPAPP)

MANILA – The government is not ‘over-financing’ the proposed Bangsamoro regional government or even the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), especially if we compare the projected Bangsamoro budget with the funds received by other regions from the national government.

Government peace panel chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, in a press conference in Malacanang, said that the P35 billion that the government proposes to give the Bangsamoro in its first year is only half of what is being spent by the government in the National Capital Region.

“Today, the ARMM gets about P15,000 per capita subsidy from the national government. Compare that to the P34,000 per capita that Metro Manilans get from the national budget,” Ferrer pointed out. “It's 'imperial Manila' that gets the biggest share, if you want to put it that way." The per capita subsidy is the average amount that goes to each resident in the region. It is computed by adding all the national funds that go to the region and dividing the sum by the population.

Other regions which receive higher per capita income than the ARMM are the Cordillera, CARAGA and Regions 4-B and 8, according to estimates of the Department of Budget. Per capita in the Cordillera Administrative Region is at P20,500 while the three other regions' per capita subsidy ranges from P16,000 to P17,000.

Even with the P8-11 billion new money that will go to the Bangsamoro if it is established in 2016, per capita in the Bangsamoro would increase to only about P18,000, said Coronel-Ferrer.

The other regions are expected to similarly enjoy increases as well, if a new appropriations law is passed this year.

Referring to the estimated P35 to P36 billion budget that the Bangsamoro will get in its first year of operation, it's not really big," according to Senen Bacani, former agriculture secretary and panel member. "National funds allocated to the ARMM regional government today is already P25 billion."

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, who was also present at the press briefing, affirmed that the Bangsamoro will only receive P36.8 billion, contrary to previous allegations that it will receive P75 billion on its first year.

The DBM's estimated P36.8 billion that would be received by the Bangsamoro in 2016 include the estimated P2 billion share of the Bangsamoro region from national taxes collected from the region which will be retained in the region.

“Ito ang nasa batas, eh (This is what the law says),” Abad stressed. “So kailangan lang nila pag-aralan yung batas at ito yung nakasaad doon sa batas, itong P36.8 billion (They just have to study the proposed law, and the law says it’s only P36.8 billion).”

The proposed budget includes P1 billion for the transition of the ARMM regional government to the Bangsamoro government; P7 billion special development fund for the first year, with P2 billion every year in the next five years earmarked for infrastructure development and social services; and P26.8 billion estimated annual block grant in 2016 which will be used for the salaries of teachers and health workers, all educational and health services, and economic development.

During the press briefing, Ferrer also clarified that the powers and authorities of constitutional bodies like the Commission on Audit (COA), Commission on Elections (Comelec), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and Civil Service Commission (CSC) will not be diminished.

These agencies will operate like regional offices or as supplementary offices in the Bangsamoro that would help strengthen the system of checks and balances in the region.

Ferrer also reiterated that the proposed BBL does not provide for automatic integration of armed fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, but they could apply and need to go through the rigorous standard hiring processes applied by the AFP and the PNP.

“Our biggest problem has been the misrepresentation of the actual provisions that you would find in the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law),” Ferrer admitted. “[But] we have been consistent with what we’ve been saying as to what exactly are written in the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.”

Tukanalipao HS grads get P5000 each from regional gov’t

By Ferdinandh B. Cabrera (MindaNews)

MAMASAPANO, Maguindanao (MindaNews/31 March) – Graduates of a public high school in this town received an unexpected cash bonus of P5,000 each from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on their commencement program Monday.

The 49 graduates of Hadhi Salik Kalaing National High School in Barangay Tukanalipao, site of the bloody encounter on Jan. 25 between government forces and various Moro armed groups, received the amount from ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, their guest speaker.

“This amount is for your enrolment in college because I believe your education must continue through college,” Hataman said in his speech.

All the graduates and their families were among the roughly 120,000 individuals who were displaced when government forces launched an “all-out offensive” against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The offensive terminated Monday as announced by Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang.

Aside from the P5,000 cash, the top 10 honor students became scholars of the ARMM regional government.

In her valedictory address, Norambai Utto became emotional and cried for peace.

“We want peace, give us peace, we want peace in our land not only for us but the generations to come,” she said in between sobs.

“Do not lose hope. Peace will finally prevail in your communities. Help in your own little way, so peace will reign in our land,” Hataman said in Filipino.

“We ought to thank the Philippine military for taking care of the civilians, ensuring they are safe before offensives were launched against lawless elements,” he said.

The governor said the people of Maguindanao should be happy they have an Army division commander, Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, who did not order indiscriminate offensives that could have killed innocent civilians.

“We should thank him because he is for peace.Tthe military supports the Mindanao peace process, thus in the recent operations against lawless elements, no civilians were hurt or killed as a result of Army offensives,” Hataman said.

He also urged the parents and the graduates as well as the people of Mamasapano not to be carried by their emotions but consider the recent events as a challenge for the future of Maguindanao.

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