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!)

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)

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Philippines: Muslim rebels in Zamboanga conflict

By: Deutsche Welle TV, Germany

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.

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)