Poster Child. Gregorio Galacio, the father of Grecil Buya, the nine-year-old New Bataan girl accused by the military of being a child combatant, talks to the press in Manila, where he and his wife Virginia Buya, right, earlier filed complaints against the soldiers who killed Grecil during a firefight with guerrillas on March 31. International human rights groups, including one from Japan, have denounced her death, calling it an atrocity that is connected to the Arroyo regime’s war on terror that have allegedly victimized civilians. (Photos courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)

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Philippines Peace Advocates Decry ‘Humanitarian Quagmire’ in Sulu

SPARE RELIEF OPERATIONS FROM ELECTION INTERESTS, CEASEFIRE NOW!

?From war zone, to economic zone? is the official slogan of the Province
of Sulu.

But it is ?back to war zone again?– that is how civil society describes
the situation in Sulu today. In this tiny, but perennially embattled
island, what is abnormal has become normal. Community life is permeated
with insecurity, suspicions and violence. And with over fifty thousand
evacuees now rendered homeless because of the renewed fighting between the
military and the Moro National Liberation Front, Sulu is embroiled in a
humanitarian quagmire.
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Continue ReadingPhilippines Peace Advocates Decry ‘Humanitarian Quagmire’ in Sulu

Failed MNLF Peace Pact Haunts Talks with MILF

The peace agreement might be up for review in a meeting organized by the Organization of Islamic Conference in July.

Related stories:
Foreign Donors Dangle Fresh Carrots to MILF
Massacres by Soldiers Provoked Latest Clash, MNLF Leader Says
Peace Advocates Decry ‘Humanitarian Quagmire’ in Sulu

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Foreign Donors Dangle Fresh Carrots to Persuade MILF to Sign Peace Pact

By Germelina Lacorte
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — World Bank-led development projects are already being carried out in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao even as the government?s stalled peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Malaysia have yet to resume.

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Continue ReadingForeign Donors Dangle Fresh Carrots to Persuade MILF to Sign Peace Pact