More than three years after he was abducted by hooded men in front of his welding shop in Maa, Sabdurah Abdullah Ala remains missing. It took a while for his devastated family to recover from the shock and grief. But today, they honor and remember him by fulfilling his dreams and wishes. And they?re still praying for him to finally come home. Davao Today’s Grace S. Uddin reports.
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For newly elected IFI-Southern Mindanao Bishop Delfin Callao Jr., his ministry is a great cause, something that runs not only in his blood — his father, the late Bishop Delfin Callao Sr., also of the Davao diocese, loomed large in his defense of human rights and the welfare of the poor ? but in the underlying principles, rooted in nationalism and equality, that make the IFI such an enduring religious institution. Davao Today contributor Gingging Valle offers some insights into the man and his mission.
MANILA ? Muslim leaders denounced the government on Saturday for the ?exclusive implementation? of an identification system in Muslim communities in Manila, calling it discriminatory and a violation of human rights.
?The exclusive implementation of the national ID system in Muslim communities in Metro Manila is clearly an anti-Muslim policy that aims to typecast Muslims as a community of terrorists,? said Nasser Marohomsalic, head convener of the Union of Muslims for Morality and Truth (UMMAT), an alliance of Muslim professionals in Metro Manila.
The children of the striking workers of a banana plantation in Compostela Valley have endured the same hardships and abuse their parents went through. Many stopped going to school and, because nobody would care for them, were forced to join their parents at the picketline. Several were arrested and jailed. Some are no longer optimistic about their future. Davao Today staff writer Marilou M. Aguirre reports.
Related Stories: The Banana Plantations of Compostela: A History of Struggle | Banana Plantation Workers Struggle to Save Jobs | Comval Union Leader Fears for His Life | In Banana Plantations, Soldiers Bust Unions, Harass Workers | International Probers to Look Into Harassment of Workers in Davao?s Banana Plantations
Export banana plantations began in Compostela, Compostela Valley Province, in 1992. The plantations are run as growerships, in which primarily small landowners (1.5 ? 16 hectares) enter into a contract with the company to provide a certain volume of bananas for a period of 20 years. When they began, Compostela?s plantations were operated by Standard Philippine Fruit Company, or Stanfilco, the banana division of Dole in the Philippines. Packing Plants 90, 92, 95, 98, and 99 are housed in Compostela.
The first unions were built in 1992. The workers of Packing Plants 90, 92, and 95 were members of unions under the yellow federation Alliance of Labor Unions (ALU), which was replaced by the National Federation of Labor in 2000. Packing Plant 99 had an independent, management union, while the workers of Packing Plant 98 were able to establish a genuine union led by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in 1996.
