MANILA — The Supreme Court ordered on Thursday the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately disclose and release the names of the nominees of party-list groups or organizations accredited to participate in the party-list elections on May 14.
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The International Crisis Group, considered as the best expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia, has released a briefing on Jemaah Islamiyah, the Indonesian terror network that has found its way to the Philippines, particularly Mindanao. The report essentially tells us what the JI has been up to, what is its present structure and whether it remains capable of more attacks in the region.
The report’s section on JI in Mindanao points out that, contrary to what the Philippine military has been saying, the “mainstream JI members” in Mindanao –about nine of them, including Dulmatin and Umar Patek –“have little to do with the ‘fugitives’ working with the Abu Sayyaf Group.”
It also says a dozen or more other “structural” JI members are under the protection of the Moro Islamic Liberation, although these members are said to be inactive and are “under strict orders not to engage in any violence and are considered integrated with MILF forces.”
In a resolution on the Philippines, adopted by 68 votes to 0 with 0 abstentions, Parliament draws attention to the number of politically motivated killings in the country, which it says has risen dramatically in recent years, as well as the general human rights situation in the country.
The local human rights organisation Karapatan has recorded 180 forced disappearances and over 800 killings, most of them by unidentified gunmen, since 2001. Most of those killed, such as opposition party members, church people, community leaders, peasants, journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, trade unionists, have been accused by the government of being front organisations for illegal armed groups and ‘terrorists’.
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DAVAO CITY — ?Uniloading? is becoming popular nowadays with almost all Filipinos having one or more cellular phones.
Nestor Dignadice, sales manager of Net Marketing Direct Corporation, said the electronic loading in the country is already about P35 billion.
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MANILA — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban B. Conejos, Jr. reiterated the Government?s standing ban on the deployment of Filipinos to Iraq as he received reports that foreign companies continue to recruit Filipinos for employment in different areas in Iraq.