You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?

There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!

Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!


Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!

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Showing posts with label MILF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MILF. Show all posts

Sunday, February 1, 2015

MILF Names Their Dead in Mamasapano Clash

By RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

Iqbal says it was pure, simple misencounter

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal has released the names of 18 fighters killed and 14 others wounded in the January 25 "misencounter" between the Philippine National Police - Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) and the 105th Base Command of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
The dead MILF members are:
Mahmod Saga Monib,
Salahudin Salindato,
Esmail Abid,
Abdorahim Abdila,
Daglala Kamed,
Ali Esmail,
Musib Hasim,
Omar Dagadas,
Rasul Zukarnin,
Mamarisa Omar,
Batrudin Langalen,
Gibinun Angkay,
Suweb Kemod,
Nasrudin Saptulla,
Salahudin Salindatu,
Mahmod Salah,
Kaharudin Baluno, and
Abdulrahim Abdullah.
The wounded MILF are:
Ali Surab,
Zainudin Lampak,
Salahudin Kunakon,
Zumaidi Untong,
Jomar Zailon,
Abdulgani Ramos,
Hamza Lampak,
Joel Guiman,
Abdulmaguid Pindi,
Norhak Sekak,
Saad Saya,
Ketay Muhammad,
Mustapa Pindi, and
Mahmod Lumbatan.

Iqbal released the names in a joint press conference of the MILF and Philippine government at the Palace of the Golden Horses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia following the signing of the protocol for the terms of reference of the independent decommissioning body -- the rules governing the decommissioning of the MILF.

Iqbal expressed his condolences to the families of all those fallen in Mamasapano.

He also maintained their full commitment and determination to the facilitator for the successful conclusion of the peace process with the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

"Rest assured that no amount of obstacles along the way can stop us from pursuing the path of peace in Mindanao," he said.

Iqbal appealed to the media not to fan the emotions of hatred.

"Bangsamoro have also suffered a lot as a result of several massacres. The encounter in Mamasapano wasn't intended by either side -- from side of government and MILF. It was a pure and simple misencounter," he said
.
He said the operation was intended for the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), which, he insisted, was the one coddling wanted suspected terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and Basit Usman.

'UGLY TURN'

Government chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer described the January 25 incident as an ugly turn of events, grieving as well for the nameless civilians who were also killed.

Nevertheless, Ferrer urged everyone to press on with the peace process despite questions on the sincerity of both sides.
To address the issues of confidence building, she said the independent decommissioning body, coordinating committee for the cessation of hostilities, joint normalization committee, and joint peace and security teams will prepare for the turnover of the first batch of MILF weapons under Phase 1.

She reported that last January 22, MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim personally handed over the list of 75 weapons, including the make and serial number, to the IDB head ambassador Haydar Berk.
Ferrer also reported an initial batch of 145 MILF combatants will be decommissioned, the list of which will be handed to IDB this week.

In exchange, the combatants will be given a socio-economic package in March. The actual ceremony will be in March.
Aside from the first batch to be decommissioned, both panels also agreed to a joint security assessment of the situation to address criminality and terrorism in MILF areas.

Ferrer maintained there are standing protocols. They will have a joint security assessment workshop with high-ranking officials of both sides.

Ferrer also announced that investigations into the Mamasapano incident will continue, with members of the international monitoring team on a field verification mission in the areas concerned.

"We managed to come up with concrete solutions soberly. The results will not become immediately evident. We will remain under scrutiny. We will have to regain the people's trust. Let our actions then speak louder than our words in due time," she said.

Iqbal stressed that the decommissioning is a sacrifice on the part of the MILF.
Ferrer, meanwhile, maintained confidence that lawmakers who are now having second thoughts about passing the BBL will come around.

"When the emotions go down and we go back to concrete task that will provide answer to complex situation, they certainly would respond to challenge."

Iqbal is hoping the MILF will be vindicated.

IDB Chief Ambassador Haydar Berk, one of three foreigners sitting with four local experts in the IDB, appealed for more trust in the process.

"I believe the important message is to keep peace process on track. It goes on track on basis of mutual trust. It will continue on basis of trust from both sides," Berk said.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Do you believe in Rody Duterte? (Part II)

By Jesus "Jess" Dureza, President/Chair Philippine Press Institute

MISHANDLING ----Mayor Rody Duterte had a mouthful about recent events, And he was not mincing words. For example, his readout of the Zamboanga incident was quite to the point. In so many words, he was critical at the way "those officials" mishandled the situation, starting mistakenly tagging MNLF's Nur Misuari as a "spent force". Admitting that Nur Misuari was his friend and with whom he could talk any time, he marveled at how the authorities just got it all wrong. For how could armed men, crossing over in several waves from the nearby island provinces with ammunition and combatants be unnoticed by Zamboanga and then to wake up one morning already in deep shit? "Simple! Utter failure of intelligence!" he boomed.

(Photo: "Yours truly" Klaus Doring & Mayor Rody Duterte)

DON'T MESS UP ----  He had his own thoughts on how he dealt with his own in Davao - something Zamboangagenos ought to have learned from. "I am a mayor of all - Muslims, Christians, rebels or criminals. MNLF or MILF or NPA's. I respect them for what they stand for and I hope they respect mine. I talk to them, I even go see them. But they understand me when I say" You don't just mess up with my city or you are dead!"

MNLF IN DAVAO ---- I recall how Nur Misuari also marshalled several months before the Zamboanga incident his forces in Davao City in a peaceful rally at Sonny Dizon's horse tracks at the Crocodile Park area in Matina, all with MNLF flags hoisted and paraded. After Nur Misuari in his usual fiery and kilometric speech anleashed his angst, they peacefully dispersed and went home. Only a massive traffic jam at the diversion road saw the worst of it.

(TO BE CONTINUED!)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

MNLF Rebels Hold Philippine Forces at Bay

Filipino rebels have held scores of hostages as human shields in a two-day standoff with government forces. Since Monday, fighting has virtually shut down a southern port city. 

Troops have surrounded 200 Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) guerrillas and their roughly 180 hostages in four coastal villages near Zamboanga since the fighting began Monday. The conflict has displaced about 1,500 residents of the mainly Muslim districts near the city, including women and children forced to spend the night sleeping on the floor of crowded gyms after fleeing. At least eight combatants have been killed and 24 wounded.

"The primary mission of the government now is clear: do everything possible to convince the armed MNLF group to free all the captive residents they are using as a 'human shield' against military and police operations," Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said. He added that government forces would now focus on "saving as many lives as possible."

The MNLF's 42-year rebellion has claimed 150,000 lives. The group signed an accord with the government in 1996, but retained its weapons and has accused officials of reneging on promises of an autonomous region for Muslims in the Mindanao region of the largely Catholic nation. Last month, the MNLF issued new threats to secede by establishing its own republic.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said government forces discovered in advance a planned attack in Zamboanga - a city of around 800,000 - and positioned themselves offensively to deter that. Navy spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Gregory Fabic said commandos had killed seven rebels as they marched into the city, though the sea battle also led to the death of one soldier.

President Benigno Aquino III said his government would make hostage safety a top priority. He has deployed top Cabinet officials and his military chief of staff to oversee the situation.

MNLF vs. MILF
 
MNLF rebels have felt excluded after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which split in 1978, successfully engaged the government in talks brokered by Malaysia. Monday's attack came as the government prepared to resume negotiations Tuesday.

"We condemn acts of violence perpetrated by spoilers out to derail the people's journey to a just and lasting peace," said presidential adviser Teresita Deles, who has helped to oversee negotiations with the MILF. "How can you demand to hoist your flag in the name of peace while brazenly bearing arms and hurting innocent civilians?" Deles added.

The MNLF rebels have given no indication as to whether they would engage in talks or what they intend to do next.

"Our forces will stay where they are," MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla told DZMM radio "They are on a defensive posture."

The 11,000-strong MILF has made substantial progress toward a new autonomy deal for Muslims in the peace talks with the government. The latest round of those talks resumed Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

mkg/ph (Reuters, AFP, AP)

Audios and videos on the topic

By: Deutsche Welle TV, Germany

Monday, August 5, 2013

Rain, rain, rain - more then enough...

... in Mindanao. Indeed, Mindanao floods worsen!

Floods caused by intermittent heavy rains and incessant atrocotoes are swelling the number of evacuees in Maguindanano, with inudation alone affected a total of almost 46,000 families.

The city goverment of Cotabato City, meanwhile, declared a state of calamity after floods swelled to almost 20 percent of barangays, while North Cotabato Governor Emylou Talino Mendoza convened her Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Managament Council to address worening floods in Tulunan, Kabacan, Pikit and Mlang, among other towns.

Other flooded towns are Shariff Saidona, Datu Salibo, Shariff Aguak, Rajah Buayan, - just to mention some among many others.

Dozens of families were displaced in villages of Matalam and Kidapawan City, but, not because of rain - due to intermittent fighting between field members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front over territoral or land control.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Peace in Mindanao? CONTRAST

Re-published Editorial from Mindanao Daily Mirror from February 12, 2013 with friendly permission of the the publisher Marietta Siongco.

The contrast could not have been starker. President Benigno Aquino's visit to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) stronghold of Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat was marked by festivities, sports events, a fluvial parade, and plenty of optimism for a future that, while still tentative, no longer looks impossible bleak.

Some 13 years ago, then-President Joseph Estrada went to the same place - then called Camp Abubakar - in a scene of destruction and waste as the military overran it in pursuance of his "all-out-war" on the MILF. The only festivities that were done by soldiers who feasted on lechon and beer -both forbidden under Islam- brought in by Estrada himself. The desecration was never forgottten and set back the peace initiatives to almost unsalvaeable levels.

The contrast between the two leaders' handling of the MILF can be jarring, and both have their share of supporters and critics. Even now, as President Aquino makes inroads to peace by visiting Camp Darapanan, some sectors are saying he is making the wrong move, and that sooner or later conflict will once again erupt in Mindanao. But it is to his credit that the President has apparently taken things personally in the island: he is thus far the only president to have visited an MILF stronghold in peace. The message he is trying to convince has obviously reached his audience: peace is not just a matter of taking to the negotiating table but also in actually meeting each other, shaking hands, even feasting and playing together. 

Time will tell if all this work, but at least for now, there is a reason to be optimistic. For the first time, peace in Mindanao is not an abstract concept discussed in Metro Manila or Malaysia but an actual event, in one which Mindanaoans themselves are participants.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Compact For Peace Formed

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have forged an agreement to mutually cooperate in addressing local peace and security issues in Southern Philippines.

Lawyer Anwar Malang, ARMM chief of staff and currently Interior and Local Governments Secretary, met with Lawyer Randolp Parcasio, legal adviser of Nur Misuari, chair of a faction of the MNLF, in a Makati hotel last Friday.

The MNLF move came as a total turn around from Misuari's earlier provocative statements undermining the Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro signed by the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

ARMM is composed of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi areas covered by the September 2, 1996 GOH-MNLF peace agreement.

Parcasio and Malang signed the ARMM-MNLF Peace and Development Compact.

Under the Compact, the group of Misuari is encouraged to cooperate with the ARMM leadership in addressing peace and order problems that have been causing poverty and underdevelopment in Muslim region. 

Misuari had been publicly rejecting the Framework Agreement calling it a product of conspiracy between the Malaysian government, Aquino government and the MILF.

Under the Compact, both the MNLF and ARMM leadership will cooperate "to protect life, liberty and poverty of all the people of ARMM. Both the ARMM and the MNLF also vowed to jointly resolve family feud and clan wars in the autonomous region. (PNA)

Friday, November 2, 2012

Peace Be With Us!

Repost of my column in MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR (IN MY OPINION) from Friday, October 19, 2012 with friendly permission of publisher Marietta F. Siongco.

Peace means "calm". Peace means "freedom from war, disturbance or hostilities". Peace means "being free from tumults".

All of us, individuals, groups or nations, as well as societies, have to survive in a life full of uncertain, dangerous and unsure elements. Nobody and on politics on earth, where ever we are living can guarantee a total safety on this existential level. Nevertheless, it's a fundamental task and duty to state politics to flag danger and unsureness in humans living together. The modern state is therefore responsible for inner safety thru a functional legislation and police, for social safety thru organization and formulations of law. External safety by means of military and bilateral diplomacy is imperative. External safety means the threat of national territory and peace-and-order coming from other states.

International relations developed within the last centuries. Safety politics become more and more part of national politics.
...

Globalization has enormously changed national and international safety politics. During the Cold War, the number of conscientious objectors increased dramatically. After the Cold War, state symbols and ceremonies lost their military character. The Europeans are still living now in a so-called "post-heroism" in which the doctrine "to kill other people because of defense through military actions" fades more and more.

...

Talking about peace: One historical example is this: Chief peace negotiators of the Philippine government and the MILF on Monday (October 15, 2012) signed the framework agreement which lays down the groundwork or the final and enduring peace in Mindanao. "In full view of the Filipino people ... we commit to peace. A peace that will be sustained to democratic ideals," President Aquino said.

When I stepped on Mindanao soil for the first time in 1976, I experienced a lot of fearing adventures. I came back in 1982. Then 1983.

I hope and pray, that Mindanao is now free from disturbances and tumults. I stay here for good. I love to live in Mindanao, especially in Davao City. Peace be with us all!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Mindanao leaders set peace ‘summit’


Church, government and civil leaders in the south plan to meet on July 15, 2011 to support the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Read more in an "ucannews-report" here:


Mindanao leaders set peace ‘summit’

 PEACE FOR MINDANAO AND THE WHOLE PHILIPPINES!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

600 Bikers For Peace in Mindanao


I love biking since my childhood. Several health circumstances held me back to such events, I am writing about here and now.

More than 600 bikers pushed their way uphill as the first "Bike for Peace" sponsored by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process outside of Metro Manila.

Participants from local government sectors along with other peace advocats, biking enthusiasts and media guests trekked the mountainous terrain staring from the People Park in Cotabato City (city hall), where I have been staying in 1989 during an interview with during that time acting mayor Mr. Badoy, to North Upi in Maguindanao.

Beyond the physical activity, this event also mirror (hopefully!) the Philippine goverment's goal in reaching a final peace agreement with the MILF, which has been going in for years niow.

"Bike for Peace" is usually held in Manila. Peace for Mindanao! Is it really such a never ending story???

Friday, May 20, 2011

MILF Flags Possible Peace Deal

 (MILF panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal)

The Philippine government peace panel's target to strike a comprehensive agreement with Muslim rebels within one year "is very possible"... .

Check out more here:


MILF flags possible peace deal