Mindanao becoming dumpsite of RP’s “bad cops”

It was a routine surf for news from places where I used to live. The order is always from the latest city, then backwards. So it was from Davao, then Quezon City-Antipolo, Iloilo, and then Cagayan de Oro.

But I was stuck in cyber Iloilo, particularly at Sun Star Iloilo’s website.

The headline reads like this as of 9:55p.m. of September 17: Police prepare transfer of ‘bad’ cops to Mindanao.

Bad cops to Mindanao? Our Mindanao is the country’s dump site?

Inihanay sa:ARMM, Crime, Governance, Human Rights, Human Rights in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Justice, Local Governance, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Peace Process, Philippines, Politics, Reporting Mindanao, Safety, Security

Corruption inside bus No. 2075

Inside the crowded air-conditioned bus from Davao, the faces of the passengers looked weary and their eyes looked tired. At least 15 new passengers embarked from the busy, old Valencia City terminal. 

For a moment the vehicle looked like a wet public market, and then sounded like one.

The passengers settled in the vacant seats at the rear end of the bus, and then almost simultaneously released sighs of relief. 

It was probably the last air-con bus to leave for Cagayan de Oro before dinner.

It was not quite relieving, however, for others who have to stand as all seats were taken. Some others were left waiting eternally at the messy terminal.

Shortly after, the bus rolled off.

Still tired, most of the passengers were silent for a moment, and another. 

At the front portion of the bus, the conductor, a stocky middle-aged man with a rounded face, called on the passengers bound for Cagayan de Oro for tickets.

“Kinsa pa’y wala’y ticket diri?” he asked a column of “standing” passengers.

Inihanay sa:Bukidnon, Business, Davao, Economy, Every Day Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Life in the Plateau, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Philippines, Travel and Transportation

Kalilang in a hotel under renovation, and identity in Mindanao

It was a bit awkward for me and Omar, a reserved Maguindanaoan who tried to be informative, as we took a peek at the wedding of a couple from two big Maguindanaoan families in Cotabato City.

We were looking through the window from our side of the conference hall— we looked like kids wanting to gate crash or something. Everybody in the training was doing just that as we waited for our morning session to start.

We were holding grassroots documentation and reporting training next door and the arrival of wedding guests drew our attention —especially when traditional wedding songs and hymns began to play.

Inihanay sa:ARMM, Agriculture, Art and Culture in Mindanao, Entertainment, Every Day Mindanao, Feasts in Mindanao, Food in Mindanao, Freedom, Indifgenous Peoples, Jobs in Mindanao, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Philippines

Surviving in the Mindanao “island village”

I couldn’t help but be depressed listening to stories of conflict that continue to afflict our people.  The images and sounds are chilling.

Sometimes I shut my senses out in order to avoid the hassle. But, normally that isn’t possible.

Maybe its the same surge of terror that pushed me to post this piece even if I had been plagued with a mysterious strain of “blog silence”. Mute, but not muted.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Bukidnon, Jobs in Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Peace Process, Philippines, Reflections, Reporting Mindanao

Echoing dissent on mining

Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio told Mindanao lawyers to help prevent foreigners from further exploiting the country’s mineral resources at the expense of the environment, the government and the Filipino people.

In his keynote speech before participants of the Mindanao regional convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines here from Nov. 21 to 23, Carpio said lawyers of the past have failed to protect the forests from logging companies, so the present crop of lawyers should not make the same mistake when it comes to mining.

Carpio voiced out the dissenting opinion in the 2005 Supreme Court decision on La Bugal-B’laan v. Ramos case that declared with finality the constitutionality of the 1995 Philippine Mining Act. Read the rest of the reporton MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Bukidnon, Business, Davao, Economy, Environment, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Lumads and Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Mining in Mindanao, Philippines, Safety

US software expert in town for free workshop

A world renowned US programmer would be in town next week for a free workshop on Java Script, an important program on developing website and accessing objects embedded in other Internet applications.

Thom Parker, touted as one of the top three world experts on JavaScript, would offer a free workshop at Felis Seminar Resort on Friday November 16 at 3:00 pm.

His talk would cover many areas of JavaScript programming and he would show examples of results one can achieve using JavaScript, according to a press release. The Davao Acrobat and Adobe User Group and Felis Seminar Resort have sponsored the workshop “as part of a series to help boost the so-called Silicon Gulf Coast of Davao”. Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Business, Davao, Education, Investments in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Local Governance, Mindanao, Technology, The World from Davao

Grade schooler’s suicide draws attention to urban poverty

A mixture of her difficulty in coping with poverty, emotional problems, and her youthful innocence killed the 12-year-old grade schooler, a social worker said.

Grade 6 pupil Marianeth Amper, who committed suicide in the afternoon of All Souls’ Day in a room of their house in the sloping hills in Maa, has caught the national limelight as she was reportedly pushed to kill herself because of her family’s hunger and poverty.

Dalmin Faith Igaña, of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) who interviewed the family on Nov. 7, said Marianeth had reached a stage when she could no longer cope with the poverty around her. This was further exacerbated, the social worker noted, by the fact that the girl had nobody to whom she can express her feelings. Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Davao, Education, Food/Health Related, Governance, Health, Jobs in Mindanao, Justice, Local Governance, Mindanao, Social Security

Direct international bonds, new funding source for LGUs?

Local governments need not worry about where to source funding for income-generating projects, an official of the Mindanao Business Council said in a press conference marking the end of the two-day BIMP-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) investment conference Tuesday.

Vicente Lao, MinBC chair, announced an emerging scheme how local government units, who play a crucial role in helping improve the business climate, could access funds.

“You will be surprised how international financing works and what available sources of funds local government could access,” he said.

Lao was referring to the floating of municipal bonds to international financing organizations, which he said is now available to LGUs without jeopardizing their internal revenue allotment (IRA). Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:BIMP - EAGA, Business, Davao, Economy, Financing in Mindanao, Governance, Investments in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Local Governance, Mindanao, Philippines

BizTalk: Shaping up to cut cost

I haven’t covered the Mindanao Shippers’ Conference in June but in the sidelines I heard one of the organizers talk about the high cost of freight as among the bigger concerns there.

I was reminded of this when I interviewed Maritine Industry Authority officer in charge Virgillio Armonia last week.

He said small shippers should pool their cargo to minimize freight cost as shipping lines charge by container van.

Armonia stressed that the practice for now is costly because most of the shippers are not organized, as this report on MindaNews.com presents.

What’s the significance of this? The small shippers referred to are mostly growers and marketers of fruits and vegetableproducts. Many of them consolidate ouput from small to medium scale farmers in countryside communities.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Bukidnon, Business, Davao, Economy, Food in Mindanao, Governance, Jobs in Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Philippines, Technology, Travel and Transportation

Spray planes grounded

Airplanes used by banana firms to spray chemicals over plantations were grounded following the Davao City Regional Trial Court’s decision to uphold the constitutionality of the city’s aerial spray ban ordinance.

The judicial clearance left no more blocks to execute the ordinance passed since six months ago.

Banana growers have alerted the media of an appeal at the Court of Appeals citing they have prepared for the worst.

Earlier, they have warned that the implementation of the ban would cause serious implications to the banana export industry.

Read the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Business, Davao, Economy, Environment, Food in Mindanao, Food/Health Related, Governance, Health, Jobs in Mindanao, Local Governance, Mindanao, Philippines

Legal battle over spray ban goes to higher court

The verdict is out: the court has upheld as valid and constitutional the city ordinance banning aerial spraying in plantations. In a decision dated September 22, Judge Renato Fuentes of Regional Trial Court Branch-17 junked the petition of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) questioning the constitutionality of the ordinance, the Interface for Development Initiatives Inc. said. Read the rest of the story on MindaNews.com.

But the banana growers, standing in a legal defeat after being favored with a preliminary injuntion three months ago, will appeal the case in the Court of Appeals Branch in Cagayan de Oro City, insisting the ordinance is unreasonable and invalid.

PBGEA said they have prepared for the worst and have rallyied lawyers to prepare for the appeal as soon as possible. Read the rest of the story on MindaNews.com.

Other sectors hailed the decision, read reaction here.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Bukidnon, Davao, Economy, Environment, Food in Mindanao, Food/Health Related, Governance, Health, Investments in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Justice, Local Governance, Mindanao, Mindanao Sports, Mindanao's communities, News, Safety

Mining and Mindanao: what fate awaits communities?

A friend Penelope Sanz, an anthropologist and a part-time journalist, has gone deep into both probing mining communities and met with mining firms.

I think she has an extensive and intensive field work on mining in Mindanao. I have always wanted to cover communities as there are both interesting and shocking stories to tell from the mouths of people there.

She has written on how the mining industry has affected human rights and the lives in general of the indigenous peoples. But most newspapers were not able to publish it for some reasons.

So when I found some of her articles from old files I decided to post them here.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, BIMP - EAGA, Business, Economy, Environment, Food in Mindanao, Governance, Health, Human Rights, Human Rights in Mindanao, Jobs in Mindanao, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Mining in Mindanao, Philippines, Safety, Security