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Zamboanga Sibugay News January 2012

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Three policemen killed, woman hurt in separate shooting incidents

by Eugene A. Lasprilla


Three policemen were shot to death while a woman was wounded in separate shooting incidents at Poblacion, Tungawan Municipality, Zamboanga Sibugay Province (ZSP) and at Sitio Pilar, Barangay Binuangan, Isabela City, Basilan Province, over the weekend.

ZSP Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Ruben Cariaga said two policemen assigned with the Community Police Assistance Center (COMPAC) under Tungawan Municipal Police Station (MPS) were shot by four unidentified suspects believed to be belonging to the Agaw Armas group.

Cariga told Zamboanga Today that the victims, identified as Police Officers 1 Rey Romano and Radin Hasi, were having a coffee break at the vicinity of Tungawan Bus Terminal about 10:00 p.m. of Sunday when they were shot.

Two of the 4 suspects were identified by the witnesses as Monib and Jomar, both family names Aukasa, well-known members of the Agaw Armas group. Cariaga added that the group of Aukasa took the issued M16 rifle of PO1 Hasi then hurriedly fled towards unknown direction.

A hot pursuit operation is being conducted for the possible arrest of the suspects while appropriate charges were readied against them in court.

Meanwhile, Senior Police Officer 4 Renee Locson y Damas, assigned with the Police Community Relation (PCR) in Basilan Police Provincial Office (BPPO), Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was killed while his girlfriend, Mildred Agosto y Pioquinto, 19, single, of Purok 4, Menzi, Isabela City, suffered gunshot wound on her left shoulder.

Reports coming from the police provincial office disclosed that the victims were on board an XRM motorcycle heading towards Barangay Begang when fired upon by the unidentified motorcycle riding-in-tandem gunmen.

Locson suffered 3 gunshot wounds in the different parts of his body and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Local police in Isabela City believe that the motive of the incident is vengeance. Allegedly, the policeman responded to a shooting incident at Isabela Public Market where the suspect was shot to death by the former.

Further reports disclosed that the policeman was receiving death threats allegedly from the relative of the killed suspect.

Recovered from the scene of the crime were three spent shells, 2 live ammunitions and a slug of Caliber .45 Pistol.

The case is still under investigation.

Ban on deployment of maids to Jordan stays–Baldoz

by Philip C. Tubeza

Philippine Daily Inquirer


This was what Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said after meeting with a 23-year-old undocumented Filipina maid, who had allegedly been beaten for a year then finally fled her employer’s home after her face was repeatedly cut with a razor blade. Baldoz said the ban on the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) to Jordan would not be lifted if cases of abuse involving Filipinos were not addressed and the list of recruitment agencies in Jordan accredited to process Filipino maids was not purged of undesirables. “It is inhuman. We cannot lift the ban if all these cases are not attended to,” Baldoz said after meeting with the maid, whose name was withheld, and 55 other Filipinas who ran away from their employers, mostly due to unpaid wages. There were also two maids from Zamboanga Sibugay and Basilan who were victimized by a human trafficking syndicate that smuggled them out of the Philippines through the country’s southern back door. Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said that even if the ban imposed in 2008 were lifted, it could still be re-imposed if the cases of abuse did not abate. He added that recruitment agencies who deployed maids during the ban should also be blacklisted. Baldoz led a delegation here—including Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Cacdac and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Carmelita Dimzon—to sign the protocols on the deployment of HSWs which was expected to pave the way for the lifting of the ban. However, the Philippine officials expressed serious reservations, particularly about cases of abuse involving Filipino maids. The case of the undocumented 23-year-old maid from Surigao was discovered just two days before the signing of the protocols on Sunday. The woman, who had been in Jordan since September 2008, said the couple who employed her had been beating her up for a year when they were not satisfied with her work. “If I make mistakes in my work or I wake up late, they would get angry and hurt me. They would slap and kick me and even bang my face on the wall,” the maid said. “I’ve finished my contract with them but they do not want me to leave,” she said, adding that she came to Jordan not knowing that there was a deployment ban for HSWs. Then on Friday, her female employer told her to finish her work cleaning the house on time but when she failed to do it, the employer began hurting her. “She was beaten up. Her face was cut with a blade and she kicked her repeatedly even when she was already down on the floor,” said Attaché Alexander Maestrado of the Assistance to Nationals Section of the Philippine Embassy in Amman. “We have the medical report from the hospital proving that she was really badly beaten and that this is not made up,” he added. Besides the abrasions on her face, the maid also had contusions on her legs, arms, lower back, and on her head. “My lower back is still hurting because she kicked me there,” the maid said. Maestrado said the Jordanian police was already hunting down the female employer, whom the maid said was an airline cabin crew member. Maestrado said the husband was a telecoms company executive. “The police called up the household but were told that she was out of the country. But then, they checked with immigration and were told them that she’s still here,” Maestrado said. He said the embassy on average gets two cases of physical abuse cases involving Filipino maids, adding that there was also a recent rape case. Khaled Al-Husainat, the head of Jordan’s Recruiting Agents Association, said they would clean up their ranks of those who will not follow the protocols aimed at protecting Filipino maids. “We do not tolerate cases like these. I am very sad that this happened and we will do our best to help get justice,” he said. Alfredo Palmiery, head of the Federated Associations of Manpower Exporters (Fame) Inc. said the Jordanian authorities should go after the couple who beat up the maid. He added that the protocols would help prevent the deployment of illegally-recruited maids to Jordan while ensuring that legal ones were protected and properly trained to face a different culture.

FORMER FARMHAND

by TESDA Beat


Today, the former farm boy and trike driver is now earning over R45, 000 a month including his percentage share in the total income of all service shops in Mindanao.

His one-hectare rice field in Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay adds R162,000 a year to the family income. The family owns three service motorcycles and a modest home in Bulatok.

As service supervisor at DES Mindanao, he provides hundreds of training places for on-the-job (OJT) trainees from TESDA-recognized training programs in schools and training institutions. He recommends top performing trainees for employment as regular workers of the company.

To this day, Balite has never gotten a college degree. But it does not matter so much now.

“Higher education is important but it gives no guarantee of a successful and rewarding life. Perseverance, hard work, optimism, ambition, and an enduring faith in God do,” he says.

For more information on TESDA programs and services, call 887-7777, send SMS message 09174794370 (Globe) 09182738232 (Smart) or follow us in Facebook (TESDA, Sec Joel Villanueva TESDA) and Twitter (SecJOELngTESDA).





Australian kidnap victim still alive, police say

by Jeoffrey Maitem, Julie Alipala

Inquirer Mindanao


KORONADAL CITY, Philippines—A former Australian soldier kidnapped last month is alive and being held in Basilan by a group of Abbu Sayyaf gunmen that is bigger than the band that abducted him from his home in Zamboanga Sibugay, the authorities said Thursday. The police said that the kidnappers of Richard Warren Rodwell were also insisting on their demand for $2 million in ransom, which the Australian government had already rejected. Rodwell, a former soldier in the Australian army who married a Filipina, was abducted by armed men from his home in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, last December 5. A few weeks later, the kidnappers sent officials a video in which Rodwell pleaded for his life and payment of the ransom, which was relayed to the authorities for the first time through the video. “Mr. Rodwell is still alive. There’s no substantial development as to Mr. Rodwell’s case. He is still in Basilan and the negotiation is still on going,” said Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao. Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, chief of the police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said that according to the latest information they have received, Rodwell was being kept in the Sumisip area by a larger group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen under Radzmeer Ali. He said the Abu Sayyaf planned to transfer Rodwell to Talipao, Sulu, and might be handed over to the group of Radulan Sahiron, one of the most notorious Abu Sayyaf leaders in Sulu and is based in Patikul. But he did not know if the plan has been carried out Latag said the most likely reason for the transfer is that the Abu Sayyaf wants to negotiate for a higher ransom or the kidnappers simply want to evade the authorities. Unlike Sulu, Basilan is saturated with government forces, he said.

DAR holds national assessment and planning conference

by zamboangatoday.ph


The Department of Agrarian Reform Central Office will conduct National Assessment and Planning Conference on January 24-27, 2012 at Stotsenberg Hotel, Clark, Angeles City, Pampanga. This activity will be participated in by the Regional Directors, Assistant Regional Directors and the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officers. Before the conduct of the Planning Conference, an assessment of the CY 2011 Accomplishments by regions will be undertaken to set the directions for CARP in CY 2012. Also, during this activity, the performance of DAR IX officials including the provincial officials will be rated based on the performance contracts agreed with the DAR Secretary at the beginning of the year.

Each region will be assessed according to its accomplishments on Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD), Program Beneficiaries Development (PBD) and Agrarian Justice Delivery (AJD). From 1972 up to the present, DAR Region IX has distributed a total of 217,502 hectares or 86.7% of its 247,174 hectares total CARP scope. The distributed lands are benefiting a total of 116,098 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs). For the current year, a total of 8,634 hectares of land will be distributed to the identified ARBs. The region will still have a balance of 29,672 hectares to be distributed until 2014. For the PBD component, DAR IX has a total of 150 Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) launched and assisted which have 436 People’s Organizations (POs)/cooperatives with 78,767 ARBs. The region provided physical infrastructure projects like farm-to-market roads, irrigation facilities, bridges, post harvest facilities and multi-purpose centers amounting to Php 259,619 million. These projects were funded both by the local and foreign funding agencies. In the delivery of agrarian justice, the region was able to resolve a total of 1,888 cases and mediated 1,995 cases on agrarian disputes.

During the planning phase of this conference, the different regions and provinces will be grouped according to the magnitude of LAD balance. Group I is categorized as the top 38 provinces nationwide with high Land Tenure Improvement (LTI) balances. Group II category comprises the 48 provinces with medium to low LTI balance. In Region IX, Zamboanga Sibugay is one of the provinces identified as part of the top 38 provinces. To date, the province has a total balance of 7,484 hectares for distribution.

The conference will provide an avenue for DAR to discuss with other CARP implementing agencies: Land Registration Authority (LRA), Registry of Deeds (ROD), Land Management Services-Department of Environment and Natural Resources (LMS-DENR) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for the smooth implementation of the land tenure improvement component of CARP. The support services group will discuss with the Department of Agriculture (DA), Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education Skills Authority (TESDA) and LBP.

The Regional Strategic Plan for CY 2012 will likewise be discussed. In addition, important matters affecting CARP implementation such as Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS) proposals and foreign-assisted projects (FAPs) data will also be tackled.

There will also be a discussion on the administrative concerns, a presentation of the Operational Directives of LTI and PBD and the Secretary’s Marching Orders for 2012.

Local coal output rose to 7.61M MT in 2011

by Amy R. Remo

Philippine Daily Inquirer


Despite being tagged as a “dirty fuel,” the country’s coal production continued to rise to 7.61 million metric tons last year from an estimated production of 6.29 million MT in 2010, due largely to a growing demand for the commodity as fuel to generate electricity. Documents from the Department of Energy (DoE) showed that of the 7.61 million MT, 7.19 million MT came from Semirara Island in Antique, followed by Zamboanga Sibugay, which produced 168,951 MT. The rest of last year’s coal production came from Cebu, Batan Island, Surigao, Negros and Albay. Coal imports last year were much higher than local production at 10.96 million MT, of which 99 percent or 10.89 million MT, came from Indonesia, while the remaining 68,169 MT came from Vietnam. These volumes helped serve the growing coal requirements in the Philippines by the power-generation sector, which consumed 10.58 million MT, while the cement industry used up 3.1 million MT. Industrial users required 550, 838 MT of coal last year. Meanwhile, publicly listed Semirara Mining Corp., the country’s biggest coal producer, was able to export 2.74 million MT last year, of which 98 percent, or 2.68 million MT, went to customers in China while the remaining 54,754 MT were sold to buyers from Thailand, DoE documents showed. It is expected that over the next 20 years, coal will remain the major fuel for power generation, prompting the government to encourage the private sector to explore and develop the country’s prospective coal blocks to find additional reserves that can be used to address growing local demand for coal. And by harnessing its own resources, the Philippine government also believes that it will be able to push for energy independence that will allow it to reduce its fuel imports as well as lessen its vulnerability to global price fluctuations. In December 2011, the DoE launched the fourth Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) for coal, in which it offered to investors 30 prospective coal blocks. These are located in Quezon, Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Bohol, Agusan del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay.

Coballes assumes Westmincom post

by Rappler.com


MANILA, Philippines – Maj Gen Noel Coballes has vowed to pursue the killers of the 19 soldiers in Basilan, as well as the lawless groups that attacked police and military units in Zamboanga Sibugay in 2011.

Coballes, who formally assumed on Saturday, January 21, the post as commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), was the commander of the Philippine Army's First Infantry Division (1st ID), when at least 19 soldiers belonging to the elite unit of the Special Forces Battalion were killed. They perished in an encounter with heavily-armed rebels in Al-Barka, Basilan in October 2011.

Coballes took over from Lt Gen Raymundo Ferrer, who is retiring from military service on January 23.

Being an Army unit, the 1st ID had operational and administrative control of the Special Forces Battalion, along with the Special Operations Command (Socom).

As Westmincom chief, Coballes will command all AFP units in the Zamboanga Pensinsula, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Among those present in the turnover ceremonies were ranking regional government, military and police officials, representatives of government agencies, and members of the US Armed Forces stationed in Western Mindanao.


“We will continue to neutralize the enemies, but with less casualties,” Coballes said during an interview after the program. “But we will also be supportive of the peace process with the MILF.”

Neutralize them

AFP Chief Gen Jessie Dellosa, who was the ceremony's guest of honor, ordered the new Westmincom chief to continue nuetralizing the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and other lawless groups operating in the region, particularly those responsible for the killing of the 19 soldiers.


The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was dragged into the blame game over the death of the troops in Basilan after the rebels admitted there was stiff resistance to soldiers sent to arrest Dan Asnawi. The latter was blamed for the beheading of 10 Marine soldiers in 2007 in the same town.

“We will continue to strengthen our ties with the community and other law enforcement agencies to carry out the all-out justice order of our Commander-In-Chief,” said Dellosa.

Peace-building

Coballes also said he will continue to implement the peace-building initiatives of his predecessor, proceed with the education of soldiers on human rights, and enhance the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Bayanihan program to respond to calamities and emergency situations. Recent disasters include Typhoon Sendong that hit Northern Mindanao in December 2011 and left about a thousand dead.

Ferrer, the former Westmincom chief, is a known staunch peace advocate in the AFP. His term was marred with controversies such as military operations resulting in a high number of casualties among the troops. This was accompanied by allegations of torture of suspected Abu Sayyaf members arrested in Basilan.

Ferrer said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family after vowing out of the military service. Being a an alumnus of the Bridging Leadership Fellows Program of the Asian Institute Management, Ferrer said he will continue to support his peace advocacy with non-government organizations.

Kidnapped Aussie back in Basilan - reports

by Roel Pareño


ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – An Australian man kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf bandits has been brought back to Basilan by his captors, according to police intelligence reports.

“We are verifying such intelligence reports,” Senior Superintendent Alex Linesis, Basilan police provincial director said yesterday.

Linesis said police and military forces have been combing the jungles and the suspected lairs of the Abu Sayyaf to look for the kidnap victim.

Police and military authorities earlier said the Abu Sayyaf group led by Razmier Alih brought Warren Richard Rodwell from Basilan to Patikul town, Sulu last Jan. 7. Alih’s group reportedly wanted to turn over Rodwell to the Abu Sayyaf faction led by Radullan Sahiron.

However, Sahiron’s group reportedly turned down the offer amid military offensives in the area.

Rodwell, 56, a former Australian soldier who is married to a Filipino, Miraflor Gutang, was seized at his house in Green Meadows Subdivision in Upper Pangi, Ipil town, Zamboanga Sibugay province last Dec. 5. He was initially brought to Basilan. 

A video footage sent by the kidnappers to Rodwell’s wife last Dec. 22 showed the victim pleading for his life and appealing to his family to produce the $2-million ransom demanded by his captors.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo is scheduled to visit Basilan next week to assess government efforts to secure Rodwell’s release.





Zamboanga Peninsula forest boundaries marked

by JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ


AFTER more than a decade of intense work, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday said it has finally completed the delineation of forest boundaries in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Arleigh Adorable, executive director of DENR-Region 9, said that the Regional Assessment and Delineation Teams of the Land Evaluation Party (LEP) has accomplished to delineate of some 5, 590.18 kilometers of forestland boundary in five provinces.

This includes Zamboanga del Norte (1,662.37 kms); Zamboanga del Sur (1,493.28 kms); Zamboanga City (679.78 kms); Zamboanga Sibugay (1,471.32 kms); and Isabela City, Basilan (83.43 kms).

Adorable said that the team’s total output include new lines covering areas that are either proposed for conversion to alienable and disposable lands, proposed for reversion to timberlands and “hotspot areas”.

Hotspot areas refer to those areas located in the hinterlands and coastal areas which are considered impenetrable due to adverse peace and order situation.

In 2000, the government has started with country’s forestland boundary delineation in line with Sec. 4, Article XII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which mandates the Congress “to determine by law the specific limits of the public domain.”

In 2008, the DENR through an administrative order included in its delineation program the boundaries of coastal and mangrove areas of the country to enable the RADTs to propose new blocks or parcels within forest zone areas to non-conforming land uses/agricultural areas or vice versa based on secondary and primary data as well as the actual field survey.

DOLE allocates P19M for SPES in Zamboanga Peninsula

by zambotimes.com


ZAMBOANGA CITY — The national government, through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), has allocated a P19-million fund for this year's Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) in Zamboanga Peninsula. DOLE Zamboanga Peninsula Director Ponciano Ligutom said the fund will be distributed to the DOLE field offices to pay 40 percent of the SPES' salaries in their respective areas of jurisdiction. Ligutom said the allocation will be distributed as follows: Zamboanga del Norte, P5.3 million; Zamboanga del Sur, 5.3 million; Zamboanga Sibugay, P4.6 million; Zamboanga City, P3.2 million; and Isabela City, P572,640. The SPES is aimed to help deserving students from poor families to raise money by employing them during summer vacation. SPES is implemented in partnership between DOLE and the local government units (LGUs) wherein DOLE pays the 40 percent of the students' salaries and the remaining 60 percent is shouldered by the LGUs. Each student is entitled to work for a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 52 days. In Zamboanga City, some of the students are detailed in government offices for clerical jobs while the others are detailed in the barangays under the clean and green program of the local government. (PNA) scs/TPG/rsm

Philippines steps up efforts to locate kidnapped Aussie man

by Mindanao Examiner


ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 13, 2012) – Philippine authorities have stepped up efforts to locate a former Australian soldier kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants with links to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya in the restive southern region of Mindanao.

Warren Rodwell, 53, was kidnapped on December 5 by gunmen disguised as policemen from his home in the seaside town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay where he married a Filipino woman, Miraflor Gutang, 27, in June last year.

The kidnappers demanded $2 million ransom from his wife in exchange for his freedom, but the woman said they cannot afford to pay. Both the Philippines and Australia flatly rejected the ransom demand.

The governor of Zamboanga Sibugay, Rommel Jalosjos, who is negotiating with the kidnappers for Rodwell’s freedom, has imposed a news blackout and blamed the police for the leak of a video of the Australian adventurer sent by the Abu Sayyaf to his family in the province.

Military authorities said Rodwell was brought by his captors by boat to Basilan province and is being held by a notorious terrorist commander Puruji Indama, also blamed for the July 2011 kidnappings of a US woman and her son, including a Filipino nephew in Zamboanga City.

But Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses, commander of police forces in Basilan province, citing a report by Jalosjos, said Rodwell was spirited out to Sulu province by the kidnappers and is being held by another Abu Sayyaf faction.

“That’s the report we got and we are trying to verify this information that Rodwell was taken to Sulu province,” Lineses told the Mindanao Examiner.

But Sulu police commander, Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra, said there was no indication that Rodwell is in the province. “Right now, we have no reports from our operatives on the ground about the presence of Warren Rodwell in Sulu, but we are exerting efforts to also verify that information,” he said in a separate interview.

Abu Sayyaf militants are still holding a kidnapped Japanese man, an Indian national and two Malaysians and several Filipinos in the Sulu Archipelago.

Philippine authorities have admitted the presence of Jemaah Islamiya terrorists in Sulu province. Western Mindanao military chief, Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer said they have identified 5 Jemaah Islamiya members who are being protected by the Abu Sayyaf. The group was involved in the deadly Bali bombings in 2002 that killed more than 200 people, mostly Australian holidaymakers.

He said the terrorists – Qayim, Mauiya, Marwan, Saad and Amin Baco – are being hunted down by security forces. Mauiya was one of those who held three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross – Italian national Eugenio Vagni, Swiss Andreas Notter and Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba who were kidnapped in 2009. The trio was freed after private negotiators allegedly paid a huge ransom to the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya.

Australia warned its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines and banned all travel to Central and Western Mindanao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula and Sulu Archipelago.

The military maintained that Rodwell is still being held by Indama’s group in Basilan province. “As far as we are concerned, our operation to locate Rodwell is still concentrated in Basilan. We have no reports that Rodwell has been moved by the Abu Sayyaf to Sulu province,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.

Cabangbang said there were many unconfirmed reports from various sources about Rodwell. “There are so many reports about the kidnapped Australian and all these could be part of a diversionary plan to muddle the operation to recover Rodwell,” he said.

The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, has offered Manila to help rescue Rodwell. The Filipino government and the MILF forged an agreement in 2004 that paved the way for rebel forces through the ad-hoc joint action group to help authorities hunt down terrorists and criminal elements in areas where the rebel group is actively operating.

Lawyer Abdul Dataya, head of the MILF ad-hoc joint action group, said latest information suggests that Rodwell is still in the Zamboanga Peninsula, which comprises the province of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City.

“We have reports from our MILF forces that Rodwell is in Zamboanga Peninsula. We cannot give anymore details about it, but we have forces tracking down the kidnappers and Rodwell,” Dataya said without further elaborating.

The MILF previously warned government troops searching for Rodwell to stay away from their camps to avoid clashes. As many as 2,000 soldiers in Basilan are searching for the former Sydney man.

The MILF has in the past repeatedly ordered its 12,000-strong mujahidin to fight kidnapping-for-ransom activities in Mindanao. It previously helped in rescuing many Filipino and foreign kidnapped victims in the restive region and provided the Philippine government with a list of names of suspected Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding in Mindanao.

But police and military have linked some of its rogue commanders and members to the spate of kidnappings in the South. And authorities also implicated a senior rebel leader Barahama Ali in the kidnapping of Rodwell, an accusation strongly denied by the MILF.

Rodwell, a prolific world traveler and English teacher in China, has appealed for his safe release. “To my family please do whatever to raise the two million US dollars they are asking for my release as soon as possible. To the government, to the Filipino government especially the government of Zamboanga Sibugay, Rommel, I’m appealing to you please help me to coordinate with my family to raise to whatever money is being asked.”

“To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life and safety. Please help facilitate to give the group the demand. Yes, I was former army of my country but it is differently particularly the terrain. The only solution to ensure my safety is to go with whatever they need. If I’m given my last wish, my last wish is to please help me out of here alive please Madame Ambassador,” the distressed Rodwell said in the video sent by the kidnappers.





Sayyaf slips through military dragnet

by AL JACINTO CORRESPONDENT


ZAMBOANGA CITY: Authorities said kidnapped Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell was taken to Sulu after escaping a massive military rescue operation in Basilan province.

Rodwell, 53, kidnapped on December 5 from his seaside home in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay, is being held by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

The kidnappers demanded $2 million from his Filipino family in exchange for his freedom. Rodwell married a Filipina, Miraflor Gutang, 27, in June last year in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Ipil town after she met her through the Internet.

“We have received intelligence reports that kidnapped victim Warren Rodwell was taken by his captors in Sulu province where he is being held by another Abu Sayyaf group,” Basilan police chief Senior Superintendent Alexis Lineses said.

Filipino authorities earlier reported that Rodwell was being held by notorious terrorist commander Puruji Indama in Basilan after five gunmen disguised as policemen snatched him in Ipil.

The Abu Sayyaf has sent four photographs and a video of Rodwell appealing to Australian and Filipino government to work for his safe release.

“To my family please do whatever to raise the two million US dollars they are asking for my release as soon as possible. To the government, to the Filipino government especially the government of Zamboanga Sibugay, Rommel, I’m appealing to you please help me to coordinate with my family to raise to whatever money is being asked.”

“To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life and safety. Please help facilitate to give the group the demand. Yes, I was former army of my country but it is differently particularly the terrain. The only solution to ensure my safety is to go with whatever they need. If I’m given my last wish, my last wish is to please help me out of here alive please Madame Ambassador,” the distressed Rodwell said in the video.

Lineses said military intelligence reports also suggested that Rodwell was spirited out from Basilan’s Sumisip town by boat to Sulu over the weekend.

One police report said the kidnappers, headed by Radzmier Alih, landed on the coastal village of Lumapid in Talipao town is now being held by Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron.

Lineses said they are still verifying the reports. “We have to check the veracity of these reports carefully,” he said.

Zamboanga Sibugay Governor Rommel Jalosjos has imposed a news blackout on the kidnapping. Rodwell’s captors have at least phoned Jalosjos twice to start negotiation for the release of the former Australian soldier. But the Australian embassy in Manila wanted a professional negotiator to hold talks with the kidnappers for Rodwell’s freedom.

Manila and Canberra rejected the payment of ransom to the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners in the troubled South.

Police refuse Aussie kidnappers' demand

by Al Jacinto


MANILA, Philippines, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Philippines authorities said no ransom will be handed to the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group for the safe return of a kidnapped Australian.

The statement comes after the kidnappers released a video in which the victim, Warren Rodwell, appealed to give the rebel group whatever they ask for to ensure his freedom.

Rodwell, 53, is an English teacher from Sydney and married a 27-year-old Filipino woman in June. He was taken Dec. 5 from his home in the seaside town of Ipil, the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay province, a report in The Manila Times newspaper said.

The kidnappers took Rodwell at gunpoint and are demanding $2 million to set him free.

"The Philippine government has a strict no-ransom policy and will not negotiate with terrorists," spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, army Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, said.

Around 2,000 soldiers are helping search for Rodwell, Cabangbang said.

"Our operation is continuing and we will not stop until the hostage is recovered safely," he said.

The video shows Rodwell pleading for his life.

"To the government, to the Filipino government especially the government of Zamboanga Sibugay, Rommel, I'm appealing to you please help me to coordinate with my family to raise to whatever money is being asked," he says in the video.

"To the Australian Embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life and safety. Please help facilitate to give the group the demand."

The Australian government has said it will help Philippines authorities search for Rodwell.

Last week the U.S. State Department issued an updated travel warning to U.S. citizens visiting the Philippines. There is a heightened risk of terrorist activity in the country, the warning said.

The State Department replaced a June warning about insurgent activity in the Philippines with a warning that said terrorist attacks in parts of the country, including Manila, could be indiscriminate.

Rodwell's kidnappers are believed to be the same as those who took U.S. citizen Gerfa Lunsmann, her son Kevin Eric and a Filipino nephew in Zamboanga City in July, regional army chief, Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes said.

The kidnappers freed those hostages after the family paid a large ransom.

Zamboanga Sibugay province is on the southeastern shore of Mindanao Island, the country's area with the largest Muslim population. The federal government has been fighting disruptive Mindanao region separatist rebel groups for around 30 years.

Between 120,000-150,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the struggle.

One of the largest rebel groups, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is involved in peace talks with the government. It said it isn't responsible for Rodwell's kidnapping and would do what it could to help authorities locate him.

The most notorious of the rebel groups is Abu Sayyaf, regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines. It has been accused of masterminding some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country, including one of the worst assaults.

In February 2010, an Abu Sayyaf group killed at least 11 people, including a 1-year-old child, in an attack on a small village on Basilan Island, just off Mindanao. Up to 17 people were wounded, including four children aged 1 to 11.

The government has had some successes in tracking down Abu Sayyaf rebels. In September, government troops killed one of the group's leaders, Imram Asgari, in a clash in a village about 20 miles outside Zamboanga City.

In late December, the 52-year-old deputy mayor of a town near Ipil was killed and his wife wounded when they went to withdraw money from an ATM in a street in Ipil.

The attacker escaped on a motorcycle driven by another person, police said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

No ransom for captive, no negotiation with Sayyaf

by Al Jacinto


ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY: Authorities said they will not negotiate for ransom for the release of kidnapped Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell being held by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the province of Basilan. The kidnappers have demanded $2 million for the safe release of the 53-year old former Sydney man who was snatched from his home in the seaside town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province on December 5.

“The Philippine government has a strict no-ransom policy and will not negotiate with terrorists,” said Army Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command which is helping in the rescue of Rodwell.

Cabangbang said the rescue operation is continuing in Basilan where as many as 2,000 troops were sent to locate Rodwell.

“Our operation is continuing and we will not stop until the hostage is recovered safely,” he said.

Regional army chief, Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes said Rodwell is being held by the group of notorious terrorist commander Puruji Indama, who was also blamed for the July 2011 kidnapping of US woman Gerfa Lunsmann and her son Kevin Eric, and a Filipino nephew Romnick Jakaria in Zamboanga City.

The trio was brought to Basilan and eventually freed later last year after the family paid a huge ransom.

Rodwell, who married a Filipina Miraflor Gutang, 27, in June last year in Ipil, has appealed to the Philippine and Australian governments for his freedom in a video sent by his captors to the woman’s family.

The video, passed on to the media by security sources, was aired on a cable television network in Manila on Wednesday night.

“To my family please do whatever to raise the two million US dollars they are asking for my release as soon as possible. To the government, to the Filipino government especially the government of Zamboanga Sibugay, Rommel, I’m appealing to you please help me to coordinate with my family to raise to whatever money is being asked.”

“To the Australian embassy here in the Philippines, this is your constituent appealing for his life and safety. Please help facilitate to give the group the demand. Yes, I was former army of my country but it is differently particularly the terrain. The only solution to ensure my safety is to go with whatever they need. If I’m given my last wish, my last wish is to please help me out of here alive please Madame Ambassador,” the distressed Rodwell said in the video.

The kidnappers also sent four photographs of Rodwell to his wife before Christmas and were also passed on by security officials to the press.

One photo showed Rodwell, clad in a faded sweat shirt over a black t-shirt and pair of black short pants, standing in a makeshift vinyl tent and a cuff on his left wrist. His right hand is wounded.

Another picture showed a middle shot of the Australian man—both his hands raised up to his chest. Two other pictures showed him wearing a sling to support his tattooed right arm. Rodwell, who is unshaven bearded and appeared frail, was apparently forced to smile by his captors.





Police mum on alleged P1M ransom for Aussie captive

by Queenie Casimiro, ABS-CBN News Zamboanga


ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – Police officials in region 9 have denied any knowledge of any ransom demand for the release of Australian captive Warren Rodwell.

Chief Superintendent Mario Yanga, officer-in-charge of the Police Regional Office-9, said they have no idea where information on the $23,000 demand came from.

Earlier, Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Police Director, Senior Superintendent Ruben Cariaga confirmed that the abductors are asking for P1 million in exchange for Rodwell's freedom.

Aside from 4 pictures of Rodwell in captivity, the kidnappers also sent a memory card containing a video clip of the victim, where he delivered his short message.

In the video, Rodwell asked the Philippine government, especially the local government of Zamboanga Sibugay, to help him.

He also called on the Australian embassy to work for his freedom the soonest possible time.

Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO-Wesmin) Director, Chief Superintendent Felicisimo Khu, Jr. said that further investigation showed that the memory card was sent to the captive's wife through a cargo forwarder based in Tagum City.

Zamboanga Sibugay Governor Rommel Jalosjos, meanwhile, said he has learned from the Presidential Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) that Rodwell's Filipina wife received two calls from the supposed kidnappers. One call was traced to have been made in Basilan and the other in Lanao.

The military in Basilan also confirmed reports that Rodwell has been brought to Basilan and is being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf Group led by Furuji Indama.

Aussie kidnapped in Zambo Sibugay seeks $2M ransom

by sunstar.com.ph


MANILA (Updated 10:19 a.m.) -- The captors of an Australian man kidnapped in Zamboanga Sibugay have released a video in which the victim urges Manila and Canberra (Australia) to help raise a $2-million ransom for his release.

The video of 53-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell had been sent to his Filipino wife in late December.

The Sydney Morning Herald posted the video online Thursday.

Military and police authorities said last month that the Australian national is already in the province of Basilan.

The whereabouts of Rodwell was established through “intelligence fusion” of the military and police in the region, 104th Infantry Brigade commander Colonel Ricardo Visaya earlier said.

Rodwell, a former university teacher in Shanghai, was taken at gunpoint by about six men on December 5 from his house in Greenmeadow Subdivision, Lower Pangi village, Ipil town.

It was the latest abduction of a foreigner in the country's volatile south where several kidnappings for ransom have been blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Rodwell married last June 2011 a Filipina, Miraflor Gutang, who is a native of Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay. His family settled last October in Ipil after they bought a house and lot at Greenmeadow Subdivision. (AP/Sunnex)

Suspected Islamist militants in Mindanao send photos of kidnapped Australian

by gmanetwork.com


Gunmen from a suspected Islamist militant group holding an Australian hostage Mindanao have sent photographs of the man to his family and demanded an unspecified ransom, the Philippine military said on Wednesday.

Warren Richard Rodwell, a retired Australian soldier, has been missing since he was taken at gunpoint from his house in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Ipil town a month ago.

The photographs were the first proof that he was still alive, Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes said. Police found bloodstains at the scene when he was taken, pointing to a struggle.

Coballes, commander of the Zamboanga region, said it was believed Abu Sayyaf, an al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group, was holding Rodwell.

"Recently, the kidnappers sent pictures, proof of life, for the Australian," Coballes told reporters in Manila. He said the pictures had been sent to Rodwell's Filipina wife through a courier service three days before Christmas.

The pictures, on a computer memory card, showed Rodwell with a wound on his right hand, Coballes said. Security officials refused to release copies of the pictures.

"Our information was correct that he was wounded in the hand when he tried to resist his captors," Coballes said.

Officials also did not say how much the group had demanded for Rodwell's release. "I cannot recall the amount, but it was in millions of pesos," he said.

Coballes said Australian authorities were also working to secure his release.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in the southern islands, where Islamist militants, rebels and bandits operate. The United States, Australia and other Western nations have issued travel bans for such areas. — Reuters





MILF rebels offer help to rescue kidnapped Aussie man in Philippines

by mindanaoexaminer


COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 3, 2012) – The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front has offered to help in rescuing kidnapped Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell who is being held by the Abu Sayyaf, a small, but the most notorious terror group in the country.

Rodwell, 53, was kidnapped by a local gang in the seaside town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay and handed over to the Abu Sayyaf in the Muslim province of Basilan, just several nautical miles south of here.

“We have directed the MILF ad hoc joint action group to coordinate with the government counterpart so we can help in the safe recovery of Rodwell,” Mohagher Iqbal, the Front’s deputy chairman and head of the panel negotiating peace with Manila, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Manila and the MILF forged an agreement in 2004 that paved the way for rebel forces through the ad-hoc joint action group to help government hunt down terrorists and criminal elements in areas where the rebel group is actively operating.

Authorities said the former Australian soldier is being held by Puruji Indama, a notorious terrorist commander blamed for a spate of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. Some of his victims were killed after their families failed to pay ransoms.

Rodwell, a prolific world traveler and English teacher in China, married Filipina Miraflor Gutang, 27, in June this year in Ipil town after they met through the internet.

Police said the kidnappers have demanded an initial P1 million (about $22,600) ransom. It said the kidnappers sent four pictures of Rodwell to his wife as "proof of life."

Gutang appealed to the kidnappers to free Rodwell, saying he is not rich and ill, but she did not elaborate on his condition.

The MILF has in the past repeatedly ordered its 12,000-strong mujahidin to fight kidnapping-for-ransom activities in Mindanao. It previously helped in rescuing many Filipino and foreign kidnapped victims in the restive region and provided the Philippine government with a list of names of suspected Jemaah Islamiya militants hiding in Mindanao.

Iqbal said the MILF is ready and willing to help in the rescue efforts in Basilan, a known rebel stronghold in Mindanao, but Manila and Canberra have not contacted the rebel group or sought assistance to recover Rodwell from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.

“There is a mechanism to all these through the ad-hoc joint action group, but the Philippine government and even the Australian embassy have made no efforts to contact us and work together with Philippine authorities to get back Warren Rodwell,” he said.

But police and military have linked some of its rogue commanders and members to the spate of kidnappings in the South. And authorities also implicated a senior rebel leader Barahama Ali in the kidnapping of Rodwell, an accusation strongly denied by the MILF.

Police and military have blamed Indama for kidnapping US woman Gerfa Lunsmann, her son Kevin and a Filipino relative in July in Zamboanga City. The three were released separately after the woman's husband, Heiko Lunsmann, paid a huge ransom to Abu Sayyaf, which has links with the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organizations.

Zamboanga Sibugay Governor Rommel Jalosjos, who worked for years as chef in Australia, has imposed a news blackout on the kidnapping at the request of the Australian embassy which earlier formed a consular task force to deal with the Rodwell case.

The Abu Sayyaf has contacted Jalosjos twice and asked him to negotiate Rodwell’s safe release, but the Australian embassy wanted a professional police negotiator to handle talks for his freedom. The Australian Federal Police is also closely monitoring the progress of Rodwell’s negotiations.

A massive search was launched by Philippine authorities in Basilan to rescue Rodwell.

The group is still holding an Indian, two Malaysians and a Japanese man in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

PNOC-Exploration plans power plants

by Alena Mae S. Flores


State-owned PNOC-Exploration Corp. will pursue the construction of two 100-megawatt coal-fired power plants this year costing an estimated $400 million, a company official said over the weekend.

Joseph Omar Castillo, PNOC Exploration vice president, told reporters the company would select a joint venture partner for the mine-mouth power plants in Zamboanga Sibugay and Isabela provinces next year.

Castillo said the company would conduct a competitive bidding process and select the partner under the 2008 guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority.

“The power plants are at 100 MW each. It will be coal-fired from PNOC Exploration’s coal mines, the first in the country. It will reduce logistics cost of transporting coal. Isabela and Zamboanga Sibugay are underserved provinces and the plants will hopefully boost business climate and generate needed employment,” the official said.

PNOC Exploration chairman Gemiliano Lopez earlier said the company was pursuing coal and oil and gas projects and “play a decisive role in our country’s quest for energy independence and sustainability.”

“PNOC Exploration is keen to provide material support for the power plants in the province of Isabela and Zamboanga Sibugay. These power plants will improve the electricity generation in these underserved provinces,” Lopez said.

Castillo, meanwhile, PNOC Exploration would also focus next year on drilling service contract 63 (East Sabina) in partnership with Nido Petroluem Ltd. of Australia. The drilling is estimated to cost around P900 million.

“On SC 63, in partnership with Nido, we are choosing a drill prospect in the area, target time for drill is third quarter,” he said.

Castillo said the company expects first coal production from the Lumbog coal mine this year. The Lumbog area in Zamboanga Sibugay has an estimated mineable coal reserve of at least 1.4 million metric tons.

Engineering and development plans for the Lumbog area were completed in 2010 and development started last March.

Castillo said PNOC Exploration would also start the construction of compressed natural gas stations next year.

PNOC Exploration will initially construct a CNG station at the Philippine Port Authority in Batangas and refurbish the existing Shell daughter station in Mamplasan, Laguna at a cost of P100 million.

The CNG stations project aims to support deployment of 200 CNG-fed buses in Metro Manila as part of the government’s alternative fuels program.

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