General Santos City News August 2011

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Pinol to PNoy on meeting Murad: Go ahead; for peace, protocol be damned

by Carolyn O. Arguillas


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/06 August) – For peace, protocol be damned. Former North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pinol, once dubbed as the “number one obstacle to the Bangsamoro peace process,” said he was “surprised but not scared” when he learned of President Aquino’s meeting Thursday night in Japan with Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim but urged the public to support the President because the search for peace “must not be hostaged by formalities and protocols.” “Let us throw to the wastebasket of Philippine history all of those formalities and diplomatic protocols which have encumbered the search for peace in the Southern Philippines. There are many ways and methods in solving a conflict and we should give President Aquino the flexibility to do things he believes should be undertaken to achieve the objective,” Pinol said in an e-mailed statement. “Let us all be comfortable with the thought that this President, however simplistic his view of governance is, possesses no insatiable desire for money, or craves for more years in power,” he said. Pinol said there are varied reactions to the President’s meeting with Murad, but while he may have violated diplomatic protocols by talking directly to a rebel leader, “the frank eyeball-to-eyeball meeting shows that President Aquino is committed to bring the conflict in the South, which has stunted the growth of the region and caused untold miseries to the people, to a peaceful end.” “Christian leaders in Mindanao, who in all modesty look up to me as their champion in defending the Christian population’s position in the negotiations, have frantically texted me asking if President Aquino, has betrayed us?” Pinol said, adding his response was, “Relax. Let’s give him an elbow room in handling this problem.” Pinol was governor of North Cotabato from 1998 to 2007 and vice governor of North Cotabato from 2007 to 2010. In 2008, he led local government units in going to the Supreme Court to stop the government peace panel from signing the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) with the MILF. The Supreme Court issued a TRO on August 4, 2008, the eve of the formal signing of the already initialed agreement. He said Aquino, was one of the key leaders of the LP then and “there are still pictures in the internet showing him seated beside former Senator Mar Roxas, Senator Franklin Drilon and myself as we waged the campaign against what he said was a “secretive” signing of the document which Pinol said “would have established a semi-independent Islamic State embracing almoost half of the Island of Mindanao.” He said President Aquino’s attitude on the peace process “is that of a Big Brother who would like to bring conflicting parties to an honest tete-a-tete, much like squabbling kids who are brought together and asked: ‘Hey, what’s your problem?’” He said this was what was lacking in the previous administration’s peace effort which was “too formal and bound by diplomatic protocols and formalities that it hardly moved forward.” But Pinol said the Aquino administration must keep in mind what he said were two important positions embraced by the majority of the Mindanawons: “No Islamic sub-state and no expansion of the autonomous area. There is no point expanding a region which is the poorest in the country and where governance is marked by massive corruption and creating a sub-state on the basis of religion could raise another Constitutional question;” and “Socio-economic solutions must be emphasized over political arrangements and accommodations. No amount of peace agreements could assure that there will be an end to the conflict in Mindanao if the Muslims continue to wallow in poverty and deprivation, if they are not able to send their children to school and if they are not given the services due them as citizens of this Republic.” Pinol said the MILF listed him as its “Most Hated Filipino Politician” and claimed that in the last elections, when he sought to regain the governorship of North Cotabato, he received Zero votes in areas controlled or influenced by the rebel group. Pinol, a member of the Nationalist Peoples Coalition, supported Aquino’s Presidential bid in 2010. He now writes a political and sports column for The Manila Times newspaper and is actively involved in Philippine professional boxing and farming. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)





Police privilege

by Joseph Jubelag


GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines — The police regional command has provided special privilege to all Muslim police officers to take a leave of absence during the observance of the Holy Month of Ramadan which started August 1.

Chief Supt. Benjardi Mantele, regional police director for Central Mindanao, said that all Muslim personnel assigned with the Police Regional Office 12 (PRO-12) are given the special leave privilege to observe the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

“It is a simple gesture of respect and consideration for this important Muslim tradition, which is the true essence of religious freedom, guaranteed by the state as a sovereign right of every peace-loving Filipino,” Mantele said.

Salmon processing facility inaugurated in General Santos City

by Aquiles Z. Zonio

Inquirer Mindanao


GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—The Philippine’s first and the Asia’s newest—if not most modern—salmon and seafood processing and smoking facility was inaugurated here on Tuesday. The P60-million facility is operated by Big Glory Bay Salmon and Seafood Company, Inc., a joint venture between Prime Foods NZ Ltd. (PFNZ) and Alliance Select Foods International, Inc. (ASFII). PFNZ is the second-largest smoked salmon processor in New Zealand while ASFII is the leading tuna canner in the Philippines. ASFII (formerly Alliance Tuna International, Inc.) operates two canning plants here supplying pre-packaged tuna products to more than 55 countries. Six out of seven tuna canneries in the Philippines are located in this southern seaport. The smoked salmon facility, which has a capacity of processing two tons of salmon daily, is located right inside the ASFII tuna canning plant in the coastal village of Tambler. This allows BGB access to existing management, engineering, maintenance facilities and staff. It is targeting Australia, Asia and Europe as markets for its products. No less than New Zealand Ambassador Andrew Matheson and General Santos Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio led the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Custodio said the entry of Big Glory Bay was timely as it will help provide impetus to the local economy, especially since the tuna industry has suffered setbacks recently in the form of low tuna catch and rising fuel costs. Custodio said the fishing industry was no longer the backbone of the local economy due to overfishing and climate change. Teresita Ladanga, executive vice president and chief operations officer of ASFII, said the city’s business-friendly environment was the main reason why this group of investors decided to come here. “This group of international businessmen from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the Philippines would not be here were it not for the business-friendly environment afforded by the city,” Ladanga said.

‘Pacman’ leads groundbreaking for Sarangani hospital

by Bong S. Sarmiento

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/01 August)—World boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao on Monday led the groundbreaking ceremony for a multi-million medical facility under the public-private partnership (PPP) initiative of President Benigno S. Aquino III. The 200-bed tertiary medical facility in Alabel town will be the first for Sarangani, and was one of Pacquiao’s campaign promises to the constituents of the 18-year-old province. Late last year, the boxer-politician disclosed that Aquino committed P200 million for the construction of a provincial hospital. The Development Bank of the Philippines is funding the hospital project under the Credit for Better Health Care Program, according to a project brief. It shall be called the Sarangani Medical Center. Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez assisted Pacquiao and Department of Health officials during the groundbreaking rites at the capitol compound. The establishment and running of the hospital will be made possible through PPP arrangements, well in keeping with a policy cornerstone of President Aquino, a statement from the Sarangani information office said. The conception and eventual construction and operation of the new hospital is the result of unparalleled initiative and cooperation at all levels of government, it said. Envisioned as a key project, the state-of-the-art hospital is expected to remain highly accessible and, by relying on private sector management expertise, will provide appropriate care efficiently to all patients-in-need. In particular, better medical management can be provided for sick children, complicated obstetric cases, and other patients with dire illnesses thereby contributing to the DOH‘s and the country’s commitment to addressing key U.N. Millennium Development Goals, the statement said. The bringing together of the concerned government and private parties, in particular, is the culmination of a series of extensive consultations made possible by the program. It is hoped that the Sarangani Medical Center will be the first of many PPP engagements that will effectively address the urgent deficiencies of the country’s health sector. The United Architects of the Philippines, which is supporting the PPP program, drafted the architectural design of the medical center. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)

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