Author: DAVAO TODAY

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A Hope for Mindanao’s Moros

Zaynab Ampatuan, 27, hardly looks like one who has experienced being driven from home by bombs and bullets courtesy of the military. But she has ? and more than twice. Her experiences with the oppression of Muslims in the Philippines led her to become an advocate for the Moro cause.


Zaynab’s Cause. Suara Bangsamoro Party’s party-list nominee Zaynab Ampatuan speaks at a campaign rally in Manila, Feb. 13.(Bulatlat photo)

By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat

MANILA — Petite and slim Zaynab Ampatuan, 27, deputy secretary-general and one of the party-list nominees of the Suara Bangsamoro (Voice of the Moro People) Party for this year?s elections, hardly looks like one who has experienced being driven from home by bombs and bullets courtesy of the military. But she has ? and more than twice.

In 2000, then President Joseph Estrada declared ?all-out war? against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The ?all-out war? took a heavy toll mostly on civilians in Mindanao. Military offensives in areas claimed by authorities as MILF strongholds have sporadically taken place under the Arroyo regime, even as the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) is engaged in peace negotiations with the group.

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Davao Councilor Decries ‘Threats’ of Terror Law


Terrorized. Councilor Angela Librado-Trinidad delivering a privilege speech at the City Council today denouncing the anti-terrorism bill that President Arroyo promised to sign. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

In a privilege speech at the City Council today, Davao City Councilor Angging Librado expressed the fear that the recently passed Anti-Terrorism Bill might be used against local officials. “Deceptively titled the ‘Human Security Act of 2007,’ there is nothing more perilous than this draconian measure which is certain to curtail the rights of critics of the present administration, the rights of ordinary folks, and even the rights and privileges of local public officials like us,” the activist councilor told her colleagues.

Related item: Congress — A Hall of Injustice

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Congress: A Hall of Injustice

The senators who voted for the anti-terrorism bill have nothing to say against the constitutional anomaly that while the measure gives the chief executive and the military vast authoritarian powers it is silent on Congress? lack of power as a ?check and balance mechanism? to executive abuse.

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Sulu Standoff Provoked by Peace Pact Violations

The ?detention? by Moro rebels of a military group led by Muslim convert Brig. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino last week stemmed from the repeated postponement of a proposed tripartite meeting with the government and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The proposed tripartite meeting was to tackle issues related to the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the GRP and the MNLF.

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