Malacanang assured today the Saudi Arabian government that Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari shall be provided with unarmed security personnel during his trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to attend the three-party peace talks among representatives of the Philippines, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the MILF.
OZAMIZ CITY ? Noting the importance of major infrastructure projects in the realization of the Mindanao Super Region as the country?s agri-business center in Southern Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pursued her visit here today, ignoring the threat of an incoming typhoon that is expected to hit the province of Misamis Occidental.
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been fighting for a separate Islamic state for Filipino Muslims in the south the past three decades, said the violence could have been avoided had the military coordinated with them the troops' entry to Tipo-tipo, which the rebels consider as part of their territory. ?We have all the mechanism in the ceasefire that allows coordination and to prevent this kind of unfortunate incident,? said a front spokesman.
Five people were killed in a landslide in the gold-rush site Diwalwal, in Compostela Valley, police said Tuesday. One of the fatalities was a pregnant women; three other people were injured. The landslide occurred late Monday after a week of heavy rains, damaging three shanties and burying four small-scale miners and a miner's wife who was five months pregnant, the Associated Press reported.
Students staged a rally in front of the University of Mindanao campus on Bolton Street to protest the implementation of the Human Security Act, which, they said, would impinge on democratic rights. The law, which will take effect on July 15, allows the formation of an "inter-school coordinating body" that, according to the students, would suppress student councils and student publications. (davaotoday.com photo by Tyrone A. Velez)