Good news that draws suspicion than anticipation

That the informal peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is due to resume soon offers a reflection in our role as informal observers of the peace process that gained hold, then lost it somehow.

The MindaNews report GRP, MILF ‘informal talks’ to start ‘possibly’ by Dec. 22 didn’t quite tell there is a reason to celebrate (even if the news comes before Christmas and a fear of worsening situation on the ground).

Of course any kind of talk is always better than any form of violence. We all wish for peace, not just for Christmas but once and for all –for good.

As much as we want to get excited, we can’t just lose hold off the ground. At one point this could be a genuine press release.

But it could also be to serve the interests of some parties.

We might have a peace talks fatigue but we also cannot afford to let war just unfold.

I am nosing for enough sincerity, the one that could get them to sit in front each panel and talk, and relieve Mindanawons from the stress.

Inihanay sa:Bukidnon, Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Peace Process, Philippines

Eagles of hope

The Philippine Eagle Foundation has announced its plan to release two new eagles into the wild of Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park in January 2009.

This is despite the death of a Philippine Eagle named “Kagsabua” (unity) in July 2007, which it released just months earlier.

“What happened to Kagsabua is not a stumbling block,” a PEF official said in this report at MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Bukidnon, Environment, Eyeing Ahead, Freedom, Governance, Life in the Plateau, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Peace Process, Philippines

The Outsider

Traveling to communities have brought me to many experiences —mostly encounters of acquiantances.

You just don’t get to meet a person or group of people, you get to meet and have a chance to be in touch with their culture, their history, and their varying experiences.

The different-ness and uniqueness at the point of my contact with them result to dialogues (and sometimes when less fortunate about it, insightful frictions). It makes for wonderful insights, some of which figure in some of my writings/ reports.

Inihanay sa:Access to Information, Bukidnon, Every Day Mindanao, Governance, Human Rights in Mindanao, Life in the Plateau, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Nature and Environment in Bukidnon, Philippines

Matigsalugs revive plan to create own town

A plan in the 1990s to create another municipality for the Matigsalug tribe to be carved out of Kitaotao town is being revived, an official said.

Board member Roelito Gawilan, president of the Bukidnon Federation of the Association of Barangay Captains, confirmed they have started “at the grassroots level” in initiating the process to create a new town for the Matigasalugs.

Gawilan is President of the Federation of Matigsalug-Manobo Tribal Councils (FEMMATRICS) and also the elected barangay captain of Sinuda.

Gawilan said they are now conducting a study on the land area, population, and income of at least 15 of Kitaotao’s 35 barangays. Read full story here.

Inihanay sa:Access to Information, Bukidnon, Environment, Freedom, Governance, Human Rights in Mindanao, Indifgenous Peoples, Life in the Plateau, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Philippines

Waway Saway on videos and books on peace for children

“Iitsa, tamoka, yataki, tumbi!”  ”Iitsa, tamoka,
yataki, tumbi!”

Iitsa, tamoka, yataki, tumbi! (That’s throw, catch, step and stamp!)

I thought for a while it was a line in a Kenyan song I learned from
someplace else, but the words sounded familiar even if it was belted
out in a universal beat.

Waway Saway’s song lingered in my hearing perimeter even hours after
watching a video on it, which he posted at Youtube.com.

The song was about care for the environment in which the singer urged
the listeners to throw, catch, step and stamp on one’s fear against
caring for the environment.

The video showed Gali (“fellow” or Binukid equivalent to Cebuano’s
“Bai”) perform in an international audience with fellow Talaandig
artist Balugto Necosia in a peace concert in South Korea’s tourist
favorite Naminara Island.

Inihanay sa:Art and Culture in Mindanao, Art from Mindanao, Bukidnon, Governance, Human Rights, Human Rights in Mindanao, Indifgenous Peoples, Looking Back, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, People Power

Released Philippine eagle killed in Mt. Kitanglad

Three-year-old Philippine Eagle “Kagsabua” was killed by a local airgun shooter near the village where
he was released just four months ago inside the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park, an environment official said.

Felix Mirasol, community environment and natural resource officer, confirmed to MindaNews Wednesday that witnesses have identified the culprit described as a young man who failed to attend information
drive on the Philippine Eagle (pithecophaga jefferyi).

Mirasol is the Mt. Kitanglad Protected Area superintendent.

Kagsabua was last sighted on July 7 and was known to be missing between July 8 and 10, Mirasol said. He said a search operation was immediately launched.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Bukidnon, Crime, Environment, Every Day Mindanao, Governance, Indifgenous Peoples, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Philippines, Reporting Mindanao, Safety, Tourism

Love in the time of insurgency

That Bukidnon is a peaceful province is now a myth.

One cannot play blind to the kind of stories we hear from both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New Peoples Army about gaining strength against each other.

Both camps, even with disproportionate advantages, have brought the battlefield from the mountains to the media.

The news room has become a fierce war zone of propaganda.

Inihanay sa:Bukidnon, Business, Economy, Every Day Mindanao, Governance, Human Rights, Indifgenous Peoples, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Mindanao, Peace Process, Philippines, Security

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

Rehab sought on Bukidnon’s Mt. Kitanglad

 The provincial board of Bukidnon has approved a resolution seeking more funds for the rehabilitation and reforestation of the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park. Read full report here.

In a resolution approved on January 30, the provincial board “significantly and zealously” requested Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr., Second district Rep. Teofisto Guingona III and First district Rep. Candido Pancrudo, Jr. for additional funding for the park.
The four officials were asked to allocate at least P1 million each for reforestation and rehabilitation of the mountain, which was declared a protected area in 2000 by Republic Act 8978.

The resolution did not specify, however, how the allocation would be allocated.

As a protected area, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was supposed to get annual budget from the national government to maintain, conserve and rehabilitate the mountain, a source from a non-government agency working in the area, said.

This was confirmed by an environment official. “Very minimal allocation is downloaded to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) from the General Appropriations Act every year so we rely on the local government,” said Agustin Lilangan, a desk officer at the Protected Area Superintendent office.

This should be a priority indeed as the whole of Bukidnon is considered a watershed.

I used this as an update this month considering the concern’s urgency. Please come back for more entries.

Inihanay sa:Agriculture, Bukidnon, Environment, Food in Mindanao, Governance, Indifgenous Peoples, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Nature and Environment in Bukidnon, Philippines

Mindanao Week of Peace starts today

For the ninth time this year, the Bishops-Ulama Conference has held on to the ground by leading the celebrations for the Mindanao Week of Peace (MWOP).

The BUC adopted Zamboanga City’s Peace Week and made it Mindanao-wide in 1999.

For almost a decade, the peace weeks have been opportunities for “peace weavers” to reflect on the need for peace in Mindanao, every stakeholder’s role and what has been done to attain lasting peace.

Inihanay sa:Business, Education, Environment, Governance, Human Rights, Investments in Mindanao, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Peace Process, Philippines, Reflections, Religious

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

Selling mining with two sides now

Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau regional chief Edilberto Arreza says they now tell investors about possible opposition to mining projects from the Lumads (indigenous people) unlike in the past when they were silent about this.Arreza’s presentation to businessmen attending various meetings for the East Asean Growth Area two weeks ago showed potential areas for mining, legal framework and other information for investment promotions but was silent on the issues brought up by those opposing mining.  

Arreza earlier told MindaNews they didn’t want to mention it as it might scare off the investors.  But he told MindaNews Monday that the “silence” was his own lapse. Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.

Inihanay sa:Access to Information, BIMP - EAGA, Bukidnon, Business, Davao, Economy, Environment, Governance, Indifgenous Peoples, Investments in Mindanao, Local Governance, Lumads and Mindanao, Malaybalay City, Mindanao, Mindanao's communities, Mining in Mindanao, Philippines, Safety