ISTAMBAY SA MINDANAO

The Bukidnon tribe is seeking endorsement from the city government of Malaybalay for its Daraghuyan ancestral domain claim over at least 4,700 hectares inside the Mt. Kitanglad Range and Natural Park. Bae Inatlawan Adelina Tarino, head claimant, said the city government’s endorsement is the last requirement for the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to process their application.

“We hope you will help us in this requirement, which is the last document we need for the application,” Tarino’s September 23 letter to Mayor Florencio Flores, said. Tarino’s letter was written in Cebuano.

Flores endorsed the request to the city council on the same day. The legislators have calendared it for October 7, Tarino said, adding Councilor Manuel Dinlayan, the council’s committee on indigenous people’s chair, assured here it will be tackled this week.

She noted the tribe’s great difficulty in acquiring an endorsement from the barangay government in Dalwangan village, where the tribe is based.  Read full story here.

It is an inspiring thing to do and probably one that could become a worthy study of the usefulness of blogs.

BBC reported on how Burma cyber-dissidents crack censorship to report on the protests and definance of saffron-robed monks in the military ruled country.

I’m sure some of them are inside Burma right now, but those who have greater leeway are those based in other countries who have sources of both image and text reports from inside.
It is such a relief that they went past the military junta’s severe censorship. It takes a lot of courage and skills, too, to pass through all the blocks and censors.

Among the people we need to thank for the reports we get from inside Burma are the bloggers. It is such a good way to illustrate the power of the blogs, if used for purposes above self. (Photo grabbed from BBC website)

The European Union, the British and US governments, and the United Nations have initiated moves (mostly talks for now) to address the present crisis in Burma.

But what about the Association of South East Asian Nations? What plans does the regional grouping have now? Read the rest of this entry »

No other country in South East Asia interests me more than Burma. My interest is keener now with what is unfolding.

We have learned of tens of thousands of monks’ recent peaceful street protests challenging the decades old rule of the military junta. The internet brought us images and stories about the events.

Many see the development as a turning point of Burma’s history.

Is this show of monks’ power bound to follow the Philippines EDSA people power and Indonesia’s student power?

We shall see. The world is watching closely. Even from Mindanao, thousands of miles away, the view is clear. There’s going to be long, turbulent, and historic days ahead. Read the rest of this entry »