2006 June- Davao Today

‘A Horrible Absence of Peace’...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Rights, Latest Posts, Photographs, Religion on 06 28th, 2006 | No Comments

Religious leaders held a rally on Tuesday to mourn the loss of many of their “co-workers in Christ” to death squads now hounding church workers, political activists, human-rights advocates and labor leaders in the country. The ecumenical Promotion of Church People�s Response orgtanized the...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts on 06 28th, 2006 | No Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — Representatives of 30 associations of Tricycle drivers in Davao City massed up in front of the City Hall on Tuesday to press for their demand of the tariff, a document they need to start charging an additional one-peso fare. The group, called Integrated...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, Politics on 06 28th, 2006 | No Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — A councilor has raised alarm about the safety of the City Council building, noting the danger it now poses because of the tremors that have been regularly occurring in the past days. Councilo Nilo Abellera, in Tuesday�s session, suggested that they hold...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Crime & Public Safety, Latest Posts, Military, Terrorism on 06 26th, 2006 | No Comments

DAVAO CITY � The authorities said today that they are verifying the reported existence of a new terror group that calls itself “Tanzim Qaidat Al Jihad.” Jose Maria Cuerpo II, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Southern Mindanao, said in an interview by ABS-CBN here that they...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Rights, Latest Posts, Religion on 06 26th, 2006 | No Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — As President Gloria Arroyo met with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican today, several members of the religious sector in this city were busy preparing for a prayer rally tomorrow, Tuesday, to demand justice for the victims of the continuing killings,...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Latest Posts on 06 26th, 2006 | No Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — Bayantel has announced that it is expanding its newest phone service project in the city. Bayantel executives presented the company�s wireless landline service called Span� to local officials led by Vice Mayor Luis Bonguyan at the City Hall last...

UM Students Decry Police Harassment...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Education, Latest Posts on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

Students were protesting increase in UM school fees, the absence of a student council and the continuing closure of the campus paper ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, Politics on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — “Peace and prosperity” are the focus of the US government’s efforts in Mindanao, US ambassador Kristie A. Kenney said during her visit to Davao City this week. “We continue to work,� Kenney replied to a question regarding...

�Mega-Region� Concept Excites Execs...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Latest Posts, Politics on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

TAGUM CITY � Clustering provinces into a �mega-region� enables one to support the other and could prove beneficial to Mindanao, officials said this week. Davao del Norte Vice Governor Antonio Rafael �Anthony� del Rosario praised the plan of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to lump provinces and regions...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Insurgency, Latest Posts, Military on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

DAVAO CITY � The alleged extortion by the New People�s Army (NPAs) must be stopped by increasing pressure and keeping them on the run, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Generoso Senga saidon Friday. Senga said the operations against insurgents need to be intensified to carry out the...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Latest Posts on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

When I was a child, I knew my father to be a very strict man. He would gather us, his first four children, on weekends — and punish us for our mistakes that week. He used to spank us with his belt or with bamboo sticks. I was always scared of him. But there were times when he would save us from Mama�s...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Latest Posts on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano Institute for Migration and Development Issues MAKATI CITY � What do we want to do with international migration? That question posed by outgoing Labor secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas before businesspeople recently was a Miss Universe type of question. But the disparity of answers...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Crime & Public Safety, Human Rights, Insurgency, Latest Posts on 06 24th, 2006 | 2 Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — The New People’s Army (NPA) in Southern Mindanao has denied the accusation made by the police that it was behind the murders this week of George and Maricel Vigo, development workers and former journalists in Kidapawan City. Instead, the NPA...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Crime & Public Safety, Human Rights, Latest Posts on 06 24th, 2006 | 1 Comment

By Grace S. Uddin davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY � This city�s notoriety as the �salvage� capital of the Philippines did not prevent the Southern Mindanao region, where other cities also emulate Davao in dealing with suspected criminals, from getting the award for the �Best in Regional Peace and Order Council�...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Crime & Public Safety, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Latest Posts on 06 24th, 2006 | No Comments

By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — A bomb exploded in Shariff Aguak, a town in Maguindanao, yesterday, June 23, the day President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was supposed to set foot on Mindanao. The president was scheduled to arrive in this city and travel to some parts of the Southern...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | 1 Comment

By Carlos H. Conde davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — This seems like a no-brainer but it�s worth mentioning: When you travel cross-country make sure to bring an ice-filled cooler, even the ordinary Styrofoam ice chest fish vendors use. You�ll regret not bringing one, trust me. It�s not because you can�t...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Commentary, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Latest Posts, Politics on 06 22nd, 2006 | No Comments

MANILA — Despite the president�s claims that education is a priority of her administration, the 2006 proposed budget, which is still being deliberated at the bicameral committee, allocates more than double for debt payment of interest than for social services. For 2006, the Arroyo administration has...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Commentary, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | No Comments

The problem with GMA�s Charter change agenda is that it cannot prove that a more liberalized, restrictions-less, 100%-tariff free and 100% foreign-owned and dominated economy would usher in more progress and make lives better for the country�s poor majority. By Ren Jalaluddin Ropeta Moro-Christian Peoples�...

The Anatomy of Timor Leste’s Crisi...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | 3 Comments

By Tony M. Manaytay Initiative for International Dialogue PRESIDENT Xanana Gusmao may have prophesied when he told fellow East Timorese four years ago that �raising our flag will not mean that malaria will suddenly disappear, or that domestic violence will suddenly end, or that we all will have enough food,...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Rights, Insurgency, Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | No Comments

The Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP) issued a statement today, June 22, to say that President Arroyo�s all-out war initiative against the Communist insurgency will affect the country�s tribes the most. Meanwhile, AnakPawis congressman Crispin Beltran, who is still under arrest for...

PGMA wages war vs NPA’s revolution...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Rights, Insurgency, Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | No Comments

Business firms should not be too easily swayed to pay extortion fees to the New People�s Army (NPA) but we also understand that oftentimes they are under threat to do so. One of the objectives of our renewed and revitalized campaign against the CPP-NPA is for the Armed Forces to stand in the way of these...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Human Rights, Insurgency, Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | No Comments

From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran Lisa C. Ito, Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006 NEWS RELEASE June 22, 2006 Channel P1 billion AFP fund to schools, medicines, and peace talks, Ka Bel challenges GMA ‘Socio-economic development’ component of AFP’s...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Human Rights, Latest Posts on 06 22nd, 2006 | No Comments

Indigenous people communities raised alarm over the Arroyo government�s heightened counter-insurgency operations saying these will lead to the escalation of human rights violations from among their ranks. �Indigenous peoples� communities have always been the military�s theatre of war; hence, indigenous...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Rights, Insurgency, Latest Posts, Military on 06 21st, 2006 | 1 Comment

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison NDFP Chief Political Consultant The Arroyo regime is making it appear that it is unleashing all-out war against the revolutionary forces and the people only in recent days.� But in fact, Oplan Bantay Laya, aimed at the destruction of the revolutionary movement,� has been launched...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Rights, Insurgency, Latest Posts on 06 21st, 2006 | No Comments

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo�s order to release P1-billion for anti-insurgency operations only illustrates her administration�s misplaced priorities of political survival over the people�s welfare, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation. Ibon research director Antonio Tujan said that...