Basilan Mayors Targets of Sayyaf 'Extortion'

By Roel Pareño (Philippine Star)

Basilan province, part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is seen in this sateliite rendering from Google Earth.

Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have been recent targets of extortion activities of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group, the governor said.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman told reporters Friday that he and all 13 mayors of Basilan province signed a manifesto supporting an intensified military campaign as incidents of extortion by the extremist rebels have increased.

"All those who refused to heed payment are threatened to be bombed," Hataman said.

Even vendors and drivers were not spared from the extortion activities of Abu Sayyaf members who allegedly cite the practice of as "jakat," a Muslim term of monetary gift, as excuse, he said.

Each of the Basilan mayors has received text messages from alleged Abu Sayyaf members demanding for their monthly contribution, Hataman added.

"I was even called up the other day and identified himself as spokesman of (Abu Sayyaf leader) Isnilon Hapilon and I dropped the call. I waited if he [would] text but nothing came," Hataman said.

He said his district engineer also received messages believed to be from the group's Basilan leader, Furuji Indama, and demanded P200,000 monthly.

Hataman said the engineer's house was lobbed with bomb a week after he refused to pay the amount.

He also noted that children are the most vulnerable victims of incidents as they develop traumas from the bombing attempts.

Local officials' call for an all-out offensive launched Friday against the armed militants was meant to mobilize government units not only the military and police, Hataman said.

"Precisely, these Abu Sayyaf bandits were freely extorting because we are not running after them," he added. "That’s the proposal of the mayors because the Abu Sayyaf group committed crimes against the people and the country."

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang directed Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero and coordinated with the police in the region to secure the mayors.
Catapang anticipated the possible backlash of the support laid out by the town mayors against the Abu Sayyaf group.

From Day One After Yolanda until Today: Solid German Support for Rehabilitation Continues

Since the onset of Yolanda, Germany has been relentless in the outpour of support for those devastated by the typhoon. German humanitarian relief organizations have been among the first who reached the Philippines from abroad to help the victims of Typhoon Yolanda – through a Lufthansa plane scheduled to fly from Germany to Manila for its regular servicing, which was loaded with relief goods after early news of the typhoon’s damage hit the screens.

Until today, German relief organizations have been working non-stop in the typhoon-stricken areas, funded by massive donations of the German civil society and funds from the German Government – released within a heartbeat following news of the typhoon’s devastation.

To quantify this support: more than 176 million Euros, (Php 10.7 billion) for relief and rehabilitation efforts in the regions affected by Typhoon Yolanda came from Germany. Out of these, an outstanding 144 million Euros (Php 8.7 billion) are made up of German private donations to relief organizations actively operating in the Visayas regions. In addition to private donations, the German government contributed a total of 32 million Euros (Php 2 billion) out of which 16 million Euros were given in humanitarian aid for the immediate relief of victims of the typhoon, while 16 million Euros were allocated for reconstruction of areas destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda.

Until today, many German aid organizations are implementing reconstruction programs in the areas hit by the Typhoon. Examples are: Johanniter Unfallhilfe, Malteser International and Plan International.

Johanniter Unfallhilfe is working on the islands of Panay and Leyte. Johanniter’s main activities on Panay focus on the repair of infrastructure such as barangay halls, health and day care centers, class rooms, sea walls, rainwater catchments, foot bridges, community halls, as well as the installation of water filtration systems. This project, which is co-funded by German Bank Foundation (GBS) and Johanniter reaches 7,000 direct and 1,500 indirect beneficiaries.

Rebuilding of homes by Malteser International (© Photo: Fulvio Zanettini/ADH)

 

In the immediate aftermath of the typhoon, Malteser International from Germany distributed food, hygiene kits, water containers and relief items to about 9,000 families. A water treatment unit provided clean drinking water to an entire village. To date, 250 houses have been repaired, 52 large tents were set up as classrooms and play areas, and 800 families received tarpaulins. Malteser International distributed school materials to almost 2,500 school children as well as tools for cleanup and farming tools to the villagers. Over the past year, Malteser International, in partnership with the Philippine Association of the Order of Malta initiated a relief and recovery program with 4 communities on Samar and Bantayan Island affected by Typhoon Yolanda. Its comprehensive program seeks to assist vulnerable families and communities to recover after the disaster, through disaster resistant and inclusive housing reconstruction, school rehabilitation, water systems repairs, targeted home improvements, youth training, and small livelihood activities. 200 shelters have been provided with 500 more to be constructed. Malteser International will also seek to strengthen local knowledge about safe construction. Young adults will receive training in carpentry and masonry as well as disaster relief actions as part of a program in cooperation with a local vocational training agency.

Plan International has received support from the German Federal Foreign Office for activities that aim to strengthen climate resiliency of the local population in the rehabilitation efforts.

Green Skills Training participants showing their output for the day (Day 2) - solar dryer and Liquid fertilizer, mouldings (© Plan International) As part of the program, communities receive trainings in green technology such as the construction and use of solar dryers that can cut the drying time for fish or other food in half, retained heat cookers, organic fertilizers and char making stoves using debris fuel instead of cutting mangroves. These sustainable green technologies utilize indigenous materials and enable a more efficient use of natural resources or debris. Energy costs are reduced and waste management is improved.

Filipino Values - that Hinder Progress in the Workplace (Part II)

By: Dr. Tomas Q. D. Andres, BLUE COLLAR, OCTOBER 1988 issue.

Many times, the three (3) T's in the work place: tanga, tamad and tarantado (stupid, lazy and crazy), kinds of workers cause the production of defective products.

When  a worker does his best and poduce a quality producngan, he becomes a victim of tsismis or gossip. They pass around groundless rumor of some trifling or petty scandal about him. A Filipino saying goes like this: "May tainga ang lupa, may pakpak ang balita" (The earth has ears, rumor has wings). The quality producer is unfairly branded by his peers as sip-sip, the same term used to refer a worker who tries to put up a co-worker in bad light in the eyes of his superiors in clandestine ways, just so he can appear to be  better (nagpapalapd ng papel).

n "Hindi ca maghilabot sa akon".

The "wala kang paki value" (mind your own business) can be adversarial in mainting quality product. In Ilokana, i.e., it is "Awan ti pakibibiangan"; in Visayas "Hindi ca maghilabot sa akon"!

The above mentioned Filipino values have positive dimensions which can be harnessed for quality assurance and control. "Gaya-gaya", for example, can serve as inspiration for works to strive to produce the best product and thus better their own standard of living. Quality controllers criticize but not condemn; show the defects but have trust in the Filipino's capacity for self-reform to produce quality workers. "It's a commitment to our customers" - can be a slogan.

Filipinos conduct their personal life and observance of law based on sanctons of shame, dishonor, ridicule or horror of improprierty. For them, it is important to consider what and how truth is said and when and who says the truth. Concealing defects in a product can be avoided if criticism is done in the right and nonhurting way. This is the positive value for filling up the gap.

Tacloban to Hold Memorial Service for Still Unidentified Victims of Yolanda

The Tacloban City government will hold a memorial service on November 1 for more than 2,000 victims of super typhoon Yolanda buried in a mass grave in Brgy. Vasper.

“We are going to do a memorial service in the mass grave in order to put closure to this, that people will know that it's time to move on,” said Tacloban City mayor Alfred Romualdez in an interview with GMA News' Saksi aired Thursday evening.

“We've given them (victims) proper burial. Now we will give them proper rites,” he added.


According to the report, there were a total of 2,273 individuals whose remains were buried at the mass grave at Holy Cross Memorial Garden in Brgy. Vasper. Majority of these individuals remain unidentified by their families though the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has already conducted DNA testing on the remains.

The city government, however, assured that the DNA test results of each body buried in the mass grave have been stored in the NBI database to help relatives in tracing and verifying the identity of the remains.

The mass grave was divided into 157 lots, with each lot measuring four meters by eight meters.

Leandro Alapoop, caretaker of the mass grave, said there were 20 bodies buried in each lot.

“Oo, magkakatabi. Bale nakasalansan lang isa-isa. Hindi naman nag-aabot 'yung katawan. Maganda ang pagkalagay namin,” recounted Alapoop on how they buried the remains being examined by the NBI since December last year.

He said families of the victims may request to recover the remains and transfer them to another cemetery as long as they can prove the identity of a particular body.

The report said that as early as Wednesday, some residents of Tacloban started arriving at the Holy Cross mass grave to light candles and bring flowers despite not knowing if their departed loved ones were really buried in the area.

For Eric Cidro, the least he can do to ease the pain of losing his wife, two children, parents and some other relatives when Yolanda hit the city in November last year, was to pray for them at the mass grave.

Cidro was left with only a sole photograph of his wife.

Though he was not able to see the remains of any member of his family, Cidro said he will offer flowers and candles at the mass grave and pray for the repose of the souls of his loved ones nonetheless.

“Wala talaga. May nakakita daw pero hindi na maituro kung nasaan,” Cidro said.

On November 8 last year, Yolanda ripped through central Philippines, claiming over 6,000 lives and leaving P39-billion worth of damages.  

—Elizabeth Marcelo/KG, GMA News

Davao Police Chief Sued by 'abused' Wife

by Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News

The wife of Davao City Police chief Sr. Supt. Vicente Danao Jr., Susie Danao, filed a complaint for violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 9262, also known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act, against her husband.

Mrs. Danao, an overseas Filipino worker, in a 12-page complaint-affidavit filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday, alleged that she and her children "had been physically and verbally abused" by her husband in several instances from 2002 up to 2013

Mrs. Danao accused the Davao police chief of "psychological, economic, and physical abuse," and expressed fears that if she did not file a case against him, he might continue his abuse and "marital infidelity" to the detriment of their children.

Last August, a video of the police officer physically and verbally abusing his wife surfaced. His wife reportedly revealed his abuses in several police blotters during occasions she sought help.

Mrs. Danao was accompanied by Gabriela Party-List Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, who said in a statement that "it is doubly alarming that the perpetrator is one who is supposedly expected to uphold the law."

"How can he be expected to perform his functions in protecting women and children from violence when he himself is a perpetrator and insists on reducing cases of violence as trivial domestic concerns?" Ilagan said, in a press statement.

The criminal complaint is on top of an administrative complaint against Sr. Supt. Danao before the Philippine National Police Regional Internal Affairs Service. Danao was administratively relieved from his post for a month due to the administrative complaint. He was reinstated to his post early this month.

Bureau of Immigration Keeps Sueselbeck in The Philipines to Face Deportation Case

Laude fiance Marc Sueselbeck stopped from leaving PHL. Marc Sueselbeck, fiance of slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude, is seen here at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, for his flight home to Germany. However, the Bureau of Immigration barred Sueselbeck from leaving the country after it filed a charge of 'undesirability' against him. Danny Pata

The Bureau of Immigration prevented Marc Sueselbeck, German fiance of slain transgender woman Jeffrey (Jennifer) Laude, from leaving the country on Sunday because of a pending deportation case against him.

Immigration Commissioner Siegfried Mison said in a text message that Sueselbeck had to defer his departure because of an undesirability case against him.

"A copy of the Charge Sheet was provided to him," Mison also said, adding Sueselbeck has been told to report to the BI's legal division on Monday.
 
On Oct. 22,  Sueselbeck and Laude's sister Marilou climbed a perimeter fence inside Camp Aguinaldo to get inside the Mutual Defense Board – Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) facility, a restricted area, where US Marines Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, the suspect in Laude's death, was brought earlier in the day.

 

Sueselbeck has repeatedly apologized for the incident, saying he did not mean to disrespect Philippine authorities.

In a statement to the media, Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman,

said the AFP is "happy that the BI has done its job professionally and took swift action" in preventing Sueselbeck from leaving.

 

"The AFP has accepted his apology but remains committed to pursue the move to have him declared as an undesirable alien," he also said.

 

(C) 2014 by GMA News