Radio commentator Dodong Solis said this is the first time the mayor “mellowed down” from his tough position against US intervention because of the American government’s “arm twisting to get what they want.”
In House Resolution 302, Bayan Muna asked the committee on peace, reconciliation and unity to investigate whether or not the government terminated the tripartite review of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF, which claimed that this provoked their members to march into Zamboanga City on September 9.
Datu Serrano Mambay-an, a Matigsalug leader of purok 4b, Barangay Mangayon said military presence has something to do with the mining operation in the area saying “gigamit jud na nga kompanyaha ang mga military, gibayaran gyud na karon nga panahon sa pag operasyon sa among bukid (the firm uses the military and pays them to operate in our villages).”
Aerial bombs launched by government troops against Muslim rebels and more fires in Barangay Santa Catalina Monday worried displaced residents who said relatives and neighbors were trapped there.
Brad Adams, Asia director of HRW reacted over this report. “Government forces should not be making blanket assumptions about whether individuals are rebels based on whether they have proper documents or not. Officials can check those leaving the conflict zone, but they need to ensure that civilians have safe passage and are not put at unnecessary risk.”
Benjie Planos, a Bisaya settler living among the Manobos, and other leaders of KASAKA had been receiving death threats from the Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion and the paramilitary group Bagani. the militarization, KASAKA leaders said, is linked with the entry of New Britain Palm Oil Ltd, which is eyeing KASAKA’s ancestral domain.
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA Davao Today Zamboanga City – Evacuees who were gathered at the city’s Joaquin F. Enriquez…
There is yet no ceasefire in place, consistent with what President Benigno Aquino III said yesterday that since Day One, the government is bent on launching military operations. But he clarified later that the primary objective of the military operations is the “unnecessary loss of lives.”
Five Philippine Red Cross volunteers were injured here Friday in an exploding shell believed fired from a rifle, in a new twist in the stand-down between government security forces and armed followers of the Moro National Liberation Front.
“Our brothers wanted to mount a peaceful rally but they were not granted. Do we need to see bloodshed so that our voices are heard?” (MNLF Davao Chair) Olamit asked.
