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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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Davao?s Anakpawis Blasts ?Pro-Landlord? DAR


Still Landless After All These Years. A peasant picketing the DAR office in Davao last year.

DAVAO CITY — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has been challenged by Anakpawis, the partylist organization, to prove that the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) is effective. The group also criticized the department for its proposal to extend the program for 10 more years.

The DAR in Southern Mindanao recently boasted that it has surpassed its 2006 target in land acquisition and distribution, claiming that it has distributed a total of 7, 242 hectares of agricultural lands to 6,238 farm-beneficiaries.

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An Invitation to Murder

What started as an invitation to lunch by a persistent former colleague in the activist movement turned into an attempt on the life of the secretary-general for Southern Mindanao of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

Related item: ‘Killing of Bayan Muna Misamis Oriental Leader Part of Arroyo Election Plan’


Marked for Death. Tatay Mancio narrates how he was nearly killed by assassins in Tagum City. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

By Grace S. Uddin
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — It all started with a visit by a woman named Nene at around noon on Jan. 22. She invited Amancio Carmelo to lunch so they could catch up on old times.

Tatay Mancio, as Carmelo is known among friends and colleagues, told Nene that they were busy preparing for an anti-government demonstration in Tagum City that day in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre and that, given how busy they were preparing for the rally, going out for lunch was out of the question.

But the woman, whom Tatay Mancio recalled as having used the nickname Len in the past, was persistent. It?s been a while since they talked, she told him. Tatay Mancio had known Nene as a fellow organizer for a Lumad group in Montevista town, Davao del Norte, years back. He finally relented and agreed to meet with Nene after the rally.

Later that day, after having dinner with Nene at a restaurant, two men on a motorcycle tried to kill Tatay Mancio. The assassins missed, and the old man scampered away to safety. The woman disappeared. Tatay Mancio, in an interview with davaotoday.com, was convinced that the woman set him up.

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Davao?s Ilagan to Push Mindanao Women?s Agenda in Congress


Women’s Champion. Ilagan, Gabriela’s second nominee to Congress, at an anti-Arroyo rally last year. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

DAVAO CITY ? When she was a councilor of this city, Luz Ilagan championed the causes of women. More than any other women legislator in the city, she was instrumental in bringing to the ublicp’s attention the various issues and concerns that confront women in Davao City.

Last week, when she was elected as the second nominee by the Gabriela Women’s Party for the upcoming midterm elections, Ilagan vowed to continue these advocacies, this time on a national level but with a particular emphasis on bringing the voice of Mindanao women to the male- and elite-dominated House of Representatives.

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