Mindanao Examiner Newspaper

FOR SALE Toyota Innova G P595,000

Call 0917-7103642 Zamboanga City Founded 2006

mindanaoexaminer.com

FOR ADVERTISEMENTS, PLEASE CALL (062) 9925480

P10

Apr. 15-21, 2013

JV Ejercito Estrada at Janella Estrada umani ng simpatya sa publiko!

PAGADIAN CITY – Todo ang simpatya ng publiko kay United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate JV Ejercito Estrada matapos na lumutang sa mga pahayagan na diumano’y inisnab nito ang sariling pamangkin na si Janella sa isang rally ng UNA matapos na makita umano ito sa ABS-CBN. Mariing itinanggi ni JV ang lahat ng paratang sa kanya at sinabing isang demolition job ito. Sa lumabas sa telebisyon ay hindi ipinakita ang paghalik ni Janella sa pisngi ng kanyang Tito JV at sa halip ay ipinukol ng camera ang angulo na nakatingin lamang ito sa pulitiko.

“Black propaganda lang iyan dahil malakas na malakas si JV Ejercito Estrada at kahit saan siya magpunta ay sikat siya at palaging top sa mga (preelection) surveys. Pero suportado siya ng publiko, at kami nga lang ay

ARMM

talagang all-out sa kanya dito sa Pagadian,” ani Cynthia dela Cruz, isang fan ni JV Ejercito Estrada.

Ngunit sa katotohanan ay todo ang suporta ni JV kay Janella – anak ni Sen. Jinggoy Estrada - na tumatakbong konsehal sa San Juan City. Sa katotohanan ay si JV pa mismo ang nag-endorso kay Janella na mapasama sa kanyang partido dahil sa angking kagalingan nito at sinsero sa paninilbihan sa publiko kahit noon.

“First of all, the public must be informed that it was me, personally, who endorsed my niece Janella, to become part of our local party slate. Papaano yon mang-yayari na isinama ko sa aming partido tapos hindi ko kakausapin?” tanong pa ni JV. “May mga litrato at video na makakapagpatunay na tinanggap ko ng mainit ang aking pamangkin, simula sa nomination process sa loob ng

Makikita sa larwang ito ang masayang sina UNA senatorial bet JV Ejercito Estrada at Janella Estrada.

Partido Magdiwang hanggang sa kasalakuyang kampanyang halalan. I hope Janella, Senator Jinggoy's daughter, will shed light on this, because I have proof

Northern Mindanao

Davao

that I never snubbed her,” dagdag pa ng premyadong senatorial bet.

Sinabi ni JV na mataas ang Respeto nito sa mga miyembro ng Pamilyang

Manila

Estrada at kahit na anong mangyari ay iisa pa rin ang dugong nananalaytay sa kanilang mga ugat.

“At sana naman, si Senador Jinggoy, bago maniwala sa mga kathangisip ng mga political operators sa media, ay magtanong na din muna, kung hindi nya gusto na direkta sa akin, ay sa mga taong andun mismo sa proclamation rally sa San Juan tulad ng aming ama na si Pangulong Erap na andun mismo.”

“Honestly, I am getting tired of this so-called Jinggoy-JV rivalry. Naniniwala po akong walang namamagitang alitan sa pagitan namin ni Senador Jinggoy. At sana maintindihan ng lahat kung bakit hindi rin kami masyadong close na magkapatid,” sabi pa ni JV. Isang video ng rally ang nasa YouTube - http:// w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=D1_K6cW8 SYk&feature=youtu.be at

doon ay makikita na walang naganap na pangiisnab.

Makikita rin sa larawan sa itaas na masayangmasaya ang sina JV at Janella sa posing na kanilang ginawa sa naturang rally.

“Kung sino man ang pilit na gustong palabasing may problema kami ni Senador Jinggoy, na pilit na pinapalabas na palaging ako ang "kontrabida" at "pasaway" dahil sa ako ang kumakandidato sa ngayon, pasensya na po, pero hindi kayo magtatagumpay.

Naniniwala akong matalino ang mga Pilipino, na mauunawaan ang lahat ng ito.”

Si JV ang palaging nangunguna sa mga ibatibang poll surveys sa bansa at popular saan man itong magtungo kung kaya’t kaya’t kinaiingitan ito ng marami sa hanay ng Team PNoy. (Mindanao Examiner)

Zamboanga Peninsula

2

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

Blackout!

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Power consumers in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines have complained about the high electricity rates they are paying despite of long hours of blackout every day.

The Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative said it now charges P7.0881 per kilowatt hour for residential consumers and P6.6040 for commercial users. Previous rate was just a little over P6.

“I don’t know why we have to pay this much considering the long hours of blackout in Zamboanga.

We should be paying less, now who shall we blame?” asked Jeng Fernandez, a business woman.

Vic Liozo, a board member of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative, said there is a shortage of electricity not only in Zamboanga, but the whole of Mindanao due to the decreased level of water in dams used in hydro-power facilities.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has also blamed the low water level and routine maintenance in hydropower plants in Mindanao as the culprit for the lack of power supply. And with this problem, big power producers take advantage of the situation and offer alternative, but expensive solutions diesel-fed power barges and dirty coal-fired power plants to provide more electricity supply.

The Department of Energy said power consumers may have to pay more if electric cooperatives would resort to using modular generator sets and power barges in

Mindanao to help augment the much needed power supply in the region.

General Santos City is also suffering from four hours of blackout every day, and also six to eight hours in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, and also in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces.

Basilan province is dependent on power barges for electricity supply.

Mindanao was hit by repeated power crises in the past and nothing has been done by the government except to promote the use of coal-fired power plants. But this too, comes with a price and that translates to huge electric bills.

Liozo said Zamboanga City’s power consumption is 85 megawatts, but it is just getting about 35 megawatts of electricity from the National Power Corporation.

The long hours of blackout are affecting both residential and commercial consumers and there is no tangible solution in sight, not until 2016 when the 100megawatt coal-fired power plant of the Alsons Power Holdings begins operations in the village of Talisayan.

But villagers are strongly opposed to the operation of the coal-fired power plant due to the pollutions and its effects to the human health and environment. A 10-megawatt solar power facility is also being built in Zamboanga to augment the 90-megawatt electricity requirements of the city.

The local power cooperative signed a contract with the Aboitiz-owned Therma Marine Inc. for an additional 18 megawatts of electricity, but despite this the city still suffers from

KISMET Cable Channel 63 Pagadian City

daily power outages from six hours to as much as ten hours.

Now the Therma Marine Inc. has to refund to the power cooperative the amount of P14, 252,557 following a decision by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

According to the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, the decision was based on the difference between the final and the provisionally approved rate starting from the implementation of provisional authority until the effective implementation of the final electricity rate for Zamboanga City.

The Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative purchased electricity in 2012 from TMI, but it paid more and the now has to be refunded based on the final electric rate decided and approved by ERC. TMI may apply the refund or a portion of it to any outstanding obligation Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative and the remaining amount over a period of 12 months.

The interveners in this case were the local government, the Industrial Group of Zamboanga, the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu Tawi-Tawi chapter) and the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. The organizations were represented by lawyers Bernardino Ferrer, Carl Andrew Rubio, Edgar Lim, and Pedro Rufo Soliven, of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. (Mindanao Examiner)

A man shows his latest electric bill from the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

President Aquino sustains trust ratings MANILA - Almost three years into his said in a statement sent to the regional term, public support for President newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

He said all these have also led to the Aquino's leadership remains at unprecaffirmation of the internaedented highs, his spokestional community in the man Edwin Lacierda said. country’s progress, adding He said both the Social the latest evidence of Weather Stations (SWS) which is the credit ratings and Pulse Asia Ulat ng upgrade from Fitch RatBayan surveys released ings, placing the PhilipMonday consistently dempines at investment grade onstrate sustained levels of for the first time in its hissatisfaction (SWS, 74), trust tory.

(Pulse, 72), and perfor"Such widespread supmance approval (Pulse, 72) port will be integral as the ratings for the President.

Aquino administration All show positive gains pushes for more reforms, from the most recent surwhich will allow us to take veys conducted by the rePres. Benigno Aquino III greater strides along the spective polling outfits, he straight path to equitable progress," said.

Lacierda said the results of the sur- Lacierda said.

"As always, these results only veys reflect the Filipino people’s abiding confidence in the President, and their strengthen our resolve as we move tosupport for the reforms that he contin- wards the next half of the term. The Filipino people remain this administration’s ues to institute throughout the country.

"Massive investments in the people strength; the mandate they entrusted us through social services, health, and edu- when we took office remains our guide. cation; strategic focusing of resources in Encouraged by the support of the public key sectors such as agriculture, tourism, and guided by the knowledge that the and infrastructure; and the establish- Philippines is beginning to reap the fruits ment of a culture of integrity in gover- of positive, meaningful change, we connance have all redounded to the renewal tinue our steady march towards the realof the people's trust in their leaders," he ization of our collective aspirations."

3

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

TVI Pacific remains confident on Philippines MANILA - Canadian miner TVI Pacific Inc. said that it remains confident in the Philippine government and the local mining industry, as the company geared toward the development of its Balabag gold-silver project in Zamboanga del Sur province.

Clifford James, TVI Pacific chairman and chief executive officer, said that the recent lifting of the two-year moratorium on new mining application sent positive signals to both local and foreign investors that the Philippine government intends not only to reorganize the industry but to also revitalize it.

“We are also confident that the government will be consistent in its implementation of the law,” James said in a statement.

He said that a testament to this is TVI’s strong corporate presence in the country through its local affiliate and its faith in the proven operational capability of its management team, which is almost entirely Filipino.

TVI Pacific, through its local operating affiliate TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc. (Tvird), has operated its Canatuan copper-zinc mine since 2004.

James said that this year, as it winds-up operations on its initial ore body, the company also realized potential discoveries—additional mineralized prospects in nearby Malusok, which can potentially extend its mine life.

The executive said that it also set to implement the development of its Balabag gold-silver project in Zamboanga del Sur, pending the government’s issuance of its environment compliance certificate and on which it projects some 50,000 gold ounces a year beginning in 2014.

“This development is fortified by a nonbinding term sheet with Metrobank for a $20 million term loan facility coupled by a $3-million letter of credit,” he said.

Joint venture projects with Mindoro Resources Ltd. and Minerals Production Sharing Agreement holder, Minimax Mineral Exploration Corp. are also expected to come on-stream beginning in the second half of the year.

“These projects are geared towards the production of direct shipping ores high iron laterite, limestone and pyrite as well as the establishment of a nickel processing plant in Agusan del Norte

by 2015,” James said.

Plant construction is valued at less than $100 million. In all of the joint venture projects, Tvird reserves the option to assume a majority 60-percent interest and will act as operator.

On the other hand, James also said that TVI Pacific, through its relationship with Foyson Resources Ltd., will also pursue the development of its Papua New Guinea assets, focusing primarily on Amazon Bay as a very large potential resource, particularly mineral sands containing iron, vanadium and titanium.

TVI also has interests in copper, moly, gold porphyry and silver through its share ownership position in Foyson.

Earlier, TVI Pacific announced full-year net revenues of $77.1 million in 2012 generated through the company’s sale of copper and zinc concentrates from its Canatuan operations, of which net income before tax is $6 million. The 2012 revenue was affected by a lower average copper price of $3.60.

“After taxes, net income stands at $5.3 million, up by 53.9 percent from the previous year,” James said. (The Manila Times - James Konstantin Galvez)

(Mindanao Examiner Photo - Mark Navales)

Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting 2013 For media in the Philippines, the "Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting" aims to recognize stories and images that provide excellent insight into and responsibly depict the consequences of

armed conflict and armed violence on civilians.

Like the original contest launched in 2011, the second Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting seeks to highlight respect for human dignity

amid armed violence and to promote international humanitarian law, the rules that seeks to limit, for humanitarian reasons, the effects of armed conflict.

An initiative of the ICRC, the competition is held in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross, with the support of the International News Safety Institute (Asia-Pacific office), The Peace and Conflict Journalism Network, the Philippine Center for Photojournalism and the Rotary Club of Manila.

For inquiries, e-mail rcawardqueries@gmail.com, or contact Allison Lopez, ICRC Manila, tel: +63 2 8928901.

Mindanao Examiner Tele-Radyo is a Commentary & Opinion Show (news talk) broadcast in Mindanao Examiner TV in Pagadian City (KISMET Cable TV & Pagadian City Cable TV Channel 63).For block time, booking or guesting, advertisements and sponsorship, please call our Zamboanga Studio on telephone number (062) 9925480 and mobile number (0917) 7103642 or email us at mindanaoexaminer@gmail.com.

4

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

SUMMER FUN: Tourists flock to North Cotabato’s Bonglonanon Falls located in Magpet town and Lake Agco’s hot spring or the ‘Boiling Mud’ in Ilomavis in Kidapawan City at the foot of Mount Apo. These places are a major tourist destination in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner Photo – Geonarri Solmerano)

Jack Enrile slams apathy on Mindanao power crisis PAGADIAN CITY - UNA senatorial candidate Jack Enrile said the government has not decisively addressed the Mindanao

power crisis and that it is being under-reported.

“I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness in calling on government to

The Mindanao Examiner Media, Film and Television Productions Maritess Fernandez Publisher/Executive Producer (On Leave) Al Jacinto Editor-in-Chief/Producer (OIC) Gregorri Leaño Joanna Valerie Wee Ahmed Baldomero Graphics/Video Editor Mindanao Examiner Productions Web Master REGIONAL PARTNERS Mindanao Daily Business Week NEWS/ADVERTISING OFFICES Pilar Gina Fernando Sales Mark Navales Giovanni Solmerano Eastern Mindanao ARMM Merlyn Manos Iligan City

Geonarri Solmerano Southern Mindanao

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Asa Madale Lanao Provinces Ely Dumaboc Zamboanga Sibugay/Zamboanga del Sur/Zamboanga del Norte The Mindanao Examiner Newspaper/Business Week/Mindanao Daily is published weekly/daily in Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao, Philippines.

The Mindanao Examiner Television is broadcast in Skycable 54 in Zamboanga; Lupah Sug Cable in Sulu province and Basilan Cable in Basilan province.

Our business and editorial offices are located at Units 15, 3rd Floor, Fair Land Bldg., Nuñez St., Zamboanga City Phone & fax: +63 62 9925480 Mobile: +63 9152756606 URL: mindanaoexaminer.com E-mail: mindanaoexaminer@gmail.com

solve the regular and extended brownouts now crippling the economy of Mindanao,” Enrile said.

“But even as the brownouts have made the life of many Mindanaoans miserable, there seems to be apathy and a lack of admission that we have a very big problem,” he stressed.

Enrile had been warning even before the campaign period started that the country could be plunged into a literal “dark ages” if the shortage of power in Mindanao is to also hit Luzon and the Visayas.

He said that sources of electrical power, both short-term to address the present shortage and long-term to power economic growth, must be found.

“We cannot let the lack of power short-circuit the hard-earned economic gains that have given the Philippines an investment grade outlook from international bench markers,” said Enrile.

The senatorial aspirant backed the recent analysis that the Mindanao power crisis should be high on the agenda of those seeking a seat in the Senate in the May elections.

United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial candidate Jack Enrile thank the people of San Pablo in Nueva Ecija for the warm welcome and the support he received.

NPA rebels release captured policeman DAVAO CITY – Communist rebels freed a policeman they held for two weeks following appeals by his family and peace advocates in the southern Philippines.

New People’s Army rebels released Police Officer 3 Ruben Magno Nojapa, Jr., to Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in Compostela Valley province where the officer was captured at a checkpoint on March 18.

Duterte fetched the policeman and handed him over to the regional police.

The National Democratic Front, the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, ordered the NPA to free Nojapa.

“The release decision was based on purely humanitarian grounds in the wake of the appeal made by Nojapa's family and peace advocates that have expressed support for a negotiated settlement within the bounds of international humanitarian law,” said Rubi del Mundo, a spokesperson for the NPA. Del Mundo said the policeman was also investigated by a rebel court and found no reason to hold him.

“After Nojapa's capture, he was investigated by the responsible organ of the NPA custodial force and no sufficient evidence was established to warrant his prosecution for serious crimes committed against the Filipino

people and the revolutionary movement,” Del Mundo said.

“The prisoner’s order of release is an exercise of the political power and authority of the People’s Democratic Government. It is in compliance with the NDFP’s longstanding policy of lenient treatment of prisoners of war and its Declaration of Undertaking to Apply the Provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Protocol I and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.” The NPA has been fighting for decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)

Apr. 15-21, 2013

The Mindanao Examiner

5

6

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

7

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

Suspected cholera outbreak kills 2, infects dozens in Maguindanao island

An army patrol in Basilan province. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Bombing in Basilan province foiled BASILAN - Authorities said a homemade pipe bomb was discovered and safely disarmed outside a motorcycle store in the troubled Muslim province of Basilan.

The bomb, planted outside the Phil Motors Inc., was assembled from a metal pipe filled with explosives and rigged to a mobile phone and a battery. Police said the improvised explosive device was discovered by a villager and reported it to them.

No individual or

group claimed responsibility for the foiled bombing or the motive behind it, but the province is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf terror group which is being blamed by police and military as behind the string of violent attacks and kidnappings in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

The foiled attack came at the same time that the militar y launched an operation to capture a key leader of

the Abu Sayyaf in the province – Puruji Indama – who was tagged as behind the kidnapping of Australian national Warren Rodwell.

Rodwell, 54, was freed last month after his Filipino wife Miraflor Gutang, 28, said she paid P4 million ransom to the Abu Sayyaf in exchange for the foreigner’s life.

Rodwell was kidnapped in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay province on December 2011. (Mindanao Examiner)

COTABATO CITY – A cholera outbreak in the southern Philippines has killed 2 people and infected over four dozen others and health officials blamed dirty water for the epidemic.

The casualties – an elderly woman and a threeyear old girl – were among villagers, mostly children, in Tuca-maror in Bongo Island in Maguindanao province that were infected by the water-borne disease and were rushed to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center after complaining of a sharp and severe stomach pains and puking.

A local radio report quoting Parang Mayor

Ibrahim Ibay and Intergrated Provincial Health Officer Dr. Tahir Sulaik as saying that the numbers of victims could reach over 50 because many of those infected are still on the island and could not go to the hospital because of the lack of boats and huge waves at sea.

Some of the victims are in hospitals in Parang town and Cotabato City. Health officials and the local government unit are working now to assist the victims and initiated steps to prevent the spread of the disease.

Dr. Arcela Abo, whose relatives were among the victims, said they were

Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae.

(Source - http://remf.dartmouth.edu /images/bacteriaSEM/source/1.html)

alarmed after learning the sudden death of a child and old woman.

“Talagang mahirap ang tubig inumin doon, siyempre island yun, ang daming batang super dehydrated na nung dinala namin sila dito kanina sa paganutan,” Abo told the Mindanao Examiner.

Dr. Shariff Manibpel said the victims showed symptoms of cholera.

“Pwede siyang cholera kasi naka ten episodes na watery talaga pero kailangan pa naming suriin sa laboratory test like stool examination and stool culture,” he said.

Islanders suspect that their well was contaminated. Village chieftain Tamano Aragasin said the well is their source of water.

He also urged local politicians to put up a safe and convenient water system in their community.

Cholera is an infection in the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the feces of an infected person, among others.

(Ferdinandh Cabrera)

Grace Poe, patuloy na umaani ng batikos!

MANILA – Binansagang traydor ng mga supporters nina dating Pangulong Joseph “Erap” Estrada at Bise Presidente Jejomar Binay si Grace Poe na ngayon ay tumatakbong senadora matapos na kumatig sa Team PNoy.

Bagamat naging isyu laban kay Poe ang pagkalas nito sa grupo nina Erap at Binay ay maiinit pa rin sa kasalukuyang ang naturang paglipat nito sa Team PNoy ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino.

Matatandaang si

JUST SAY

NO!

Erap ang siyang matalik na kaibigan ni 'Da King' Fe rnando Poe, Jr. at hindi nag-iwanan ang dalawa hanggang sa pumanaw ang movie action star dahil sa stroke nuong 2004.

Bagama’t naiwan sa ere si Erap ay solid pa rin ang suporta sa kanya ng publiko at ngayon ay isa sa mga haligi ng United Nationalist Alliance kasama si Binay at Sen-

ate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Unang inalok nina Erap at Binay si Poe bilang guest candidate dahil na rin sa mistulang anak ang turing ng dalawa sa kanya, ngunit lahat ng ito’y gumuho ng sumanib si Poe sa Team PNoy at sumama sa mga rallies nito.

Dahil dito ay maraming mga supporters nina Erap at Binay

ang sumama ang loob kay Poe at sariling interest lamang umano ang habol nito sa pagkiling sa Team PNoy at pagiwan sa UNA. “Ano ang tawag mo sa ganoong kalseng ugali. Tinaraydor talaga ni Grace sina Pangulong Erap at Bise (Presidente) Jejomar Binay. Matapos ng lahat ng suporta sa kanya ay ito pa ang i s u s u k l i n i Po e s a

kabaitan at kagandahang-loob na ipinakita sa kanya ng lahat,” ani ng isang Erap supporter na si Benjie Subong ng tanungin ang ukol sa isyu kay Poe. Ngunit sa kabila ng lahat ay sinabi ni Erap na parang anak pa rin ang kanyang turing kay Poe, na adopted daughter ni Da King at Susan Roces. (Mindanao Examiner)

8

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

RP launches 3rd International Mount Apo Boulder Face Challenge

Makikita si Armed Forces Chief General Emmanuel Bautista, kaliwa, sa kanyang pagdating sa Zamboanga City sa larawang ito na ibinigay ng Western Mindanao Command.

'Apolitical tayo,' utos ni AFP chief Z A M B OA N G A C I T Y – Isang marching order umano ang inilatag ni Philippine military chief G e n e ra l Em m a n u e l Ba u t i s t a s a k a n y a n g mga commander sa Mindanao at ito ay ang pagiging "neutral o apolitical" sa darating na halalan.

Dapat rin aniyang m a s i g u ro n g m a g i g i n g malinis ang eleksyon sa Mayo upang maibalik

ang tiwala ng ng publiko s a m i l i t a r. Bi n i s i t a kamakailan ni Bautista ang mga commanders nito sa Zamboanga City at pinulong nito ang kanyang mga opisyal sa We s t e r n Mi n d a n a o Co m m a n d h e a d q u a rters.

Bi n i g y a n r i n n g briefing si Bautista ukol sa Inter nal Peace and Security Operations sa Mindanao.

Maging ang isyu sa Sabah crisis ay tinalakay rin sa closed door meeting na ipinagbawal sa media.

Hi n d i rin inilabas sa publiko ang mga napag-usapan.

Il a n g b e s e s n a r in na-eskandalo ang militar dahil sa pagkakasabit nito sa pandaraya sa halalan at sa wire-tapping operations noon. (Mindanao Examiner)

JV grateful for Marcoses' support for his Senatorial bid MANIL A – United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) San Juan City Re p. JV Ejercito Estrada welcomed the endorsement of Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos and her brother, Senator Bongbong Marcos of his candidacy.

The Ma rcoses released recently a statement declaring an allout support for Ejercito Estrada's senatorial bid and asking their allies in Ilocos region to support him in the May elections.

The leading UNA senator ial candidate

Rep. JV Ejercito Estrada said he is grateful for the tr ust given to him by

Gover nor Imee and Senator Bongbong who are like a sister and a brother to him and their allies in Ilocos region.

"Salamat sa aking mga kapatid na si Governor Imee at Senator Bongbong. Malaking tulong ang kanilang suporta upang mapalakas ang ating boto sa buong Ilocandia," said Ejercito Estrada.

The San Juan solon vowed to help Sen. Bongbong and become one of the voices of the Ilocanos if he gets elected in the Senate.

DAVAO CITY - The Department of Tourism and the Municipal Government of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur province will hold the International Mount Apo Boulder Face Challenge this month to further raise tourism activity and awareness on environmental protection for the Philippines’ highest peak.

“The protection of the environment is a major thrust of tourism. Our 21st century tourists are more discerning and tend to patronize destinations with sustainable practices. The Davao region boasts of many unique offerings and attractions - the exotic (fruit) durian, waling-waling (orchid), Philippine Eagle, and the Mount Apo. Top that with the community’s active advocacy for protection, and we will have more desirable tourists appreciating these natural assets,” Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

The third international installment of the race and

its sixth overall spans 113.3 kilometers - 47.8 kilometer of biking, 50 kilometer of trekking, 3.5 kilometer of water tubing, and 12 kilometer of road running.

Any team of three, composed of two racers and one logistics crew who are all above 18-years old, can join the race. “For regular climbers, it takes two days to climb the peak of Mount Apo and one day to descend. This competition invites participants to do a 24-hour climb of Mount Apo and back,” DOT Region 11 Director Arturo Boncato said.

He said 40 teams participated in last year’s Boulder Face Challenge with 11 foreign teams from Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. The race’s winners were brothers Corporal Cresenciano Sabal and Private First Class Gerald Sabal, of the Philippine Army, who clocked a record of 15 hours and 38 minutes. They are hoping to defend their title this year.

“One of the munici-

palities with best practices is Santa Cruz because it trains its community members to be vanguards of the forest. That is why we made this as the entry point of the competition because it is a model local government unit,” Boncato said.

Santa Cruz Municipal Councilor Fernando Ugdoracion said the organizers gave equal footing in terms of distance covered in the road running and mountain biking parts of the race. “Last year, there were only 20 kilometers required for mountain climbing and then almost 80 kilometers were allotted for trekking,” he said.

The race is also part of the municipal Pista sa Kinaiyahan (Festival for Nature), which was first organized in 2001 during a heightened call for the protection of Mount Apo. The event has been espousing environmental protection awareness through tree and mangrove growing, clean-up climbs, recycled material art exhibits, and fashion show activities.

9

The Mindanao Examiner

Apr. 15-21, 2013

Winning Peace Through Hearts And Minds

By Prof. Alon Ben-Meir (New York)

Photos released by the Philippine Information Agency in Western Mindanao show the dismantling of the barricades put up by the heirs of the Taug-Boto clans at the Pagadian City Airport after the government failed to pay them for the use of the runway.

Pagadian airport now cleared of barricades, operations resume PAGADIAN CITY – Commercial airliners have resumed its operations in Pagadian City in the southern Philippines after authorities cleared the airport of barricades put up by the land owner to force the government to pay the use of the runway.

Air liners suspended operations after the owner of the land – the Taug-Boto clans - straddling the runway put up a tent to force the government to pay them some P8 million for the use of their ancestral domain.

Commercial operation at the airport started on April 27, 2010 and many of its passengers come from the Zamboanga Peninsula and in nearby Lanao prov-

inces.

The lifting of the barricade came following a successful negotiation between Suminal Taug and other Boto heirs and the government. Taug’s group met with Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co and other officials and they agreed to remove all barricades at the runway to allow safe resumption of all commercial flights from Manila and Cebu province.

The Philippine Information Agency, in a situational report, quoted Co and Pagadian Airport Area Manager Jose Bodiongan as saying that commercial flights will resume Wednesday as a result of the negotiation with Boto heirs.

“Airport lot heirs re-

moved the runway barricade at 2:50 p.m. on Tuesday following the successful negotiations with concerned government agencies and city officials,” it said.

Among those who negotiated with the TaugBoto heirs were local police chief Julius Muñez and local legislator Arnold Gavenia, who is the current chairman of the City Council’s Transportation Committee.

The airport suspended operations since April 4 due to barricades put up by heirs of Datu Lucas Taug Boto. Airliners Cebu Pacific and Air Phil Express ply the Pagadian-CebuManila routes. (Mindanao Examiner)

3 ‘blackmailer’ nasilo sa entrapment ng pulisya ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY – Tatlong katao ang dinakip ng pulisya dahil sa umano’y pangba-blackmail nito sa isang negosyante ng agri-veterinary supply sa bayan ng Bugg sa Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Ayon kay Insp. Ariel Huesca, ang spokesman ng pulisya sa Western Mindanao, ay nahuli umano sa isang entrapment sina Maricris Juyod, 29; Eden Puengan, 32; at Hermie Canillo, 43, sa sentro mismo ng Buug na

An old man sits atop an ironing board which he sells along the side of the road in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo)

kung saan ay nabawi sa kanila ang marked money na nagkakahalaga ng P350,000.

Hiningi umano ng tatlo ang salapi mula kay Francis Gumansing ma-tapos itong takutin na ilalabas sa publiko ang mga larawan ng umano’y paghahalo ng mga ibat-ibang fertilizers sa bodega at pagbebenta nito sa kanyang tindahan sa Buug.

Lingid sa tatlong suspek ay agad naman humingi ng tuklong si Gumansing sa pulisya at nagsagawa naman ng entrapment operation ang awtoridad sa pangu-nguna ni Insp. Jerwin Cagurin, ang hepe ng pulisya sa nasabing bayan.

Nahaharap sa kasong kriminal ang tatlo dahil sa reklamo mismo ni Gumansing, ngunit hindi naman mabatid kung totoo ang bintang laban sa negosyante. (Mindanao Examiner)

MUCH HAS BEEN SAID about President Obama’s journey to the Middle East but little about the substance and the implications the visit might have. I believe that if the President was set to win the hearts and minds of the Israelis, he certainly made considerable strides toward that end.

Unfortunately, most Palestinian commentators misread the implications of the visit to Israel and to the Palestinians in particular. They failed to understand that even the President of the United States cannot exact the necessary concessions from the Israelis to advance the peace process unless he earns their trust and makes them feel confident that the US will always remain committed to their national security.

The many Palestinians who criticized President Obama for showering the Israelis with lavish praise and for his unfettered commitment to Israel’s security seem to miss the central point that he wanted to convey and expected to achieve.

To suggest the President “spent three days in Israel and almost as many hours in [the West Bank]” to presumably explain where the President stands and what are his priorities, as was observed by the Economist’s N.P. under the title “A fleeting visit,” is simplistic and completely out of touch. That Obama’s visit “was an insult to the Palestinian people on every count,” was another cynical assessment by Ghada Karmi of Al Jazeera.

The trip does not have a diminishing return, as Osama Al Sharif observed in his Arab News comments, or that “it did significant damage to America’s ability to play the role of honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians if negotiations ever begin,” as was proclaimed by MJ Rosenberg (not a Palestinian) in his Huffington Post column.

The truth of the matter is that even without the observation from Ismail Mahmoud Rabah that Obama’s visit had “crucial implications for the approaching end of the Israeli Occupation,” criticism of the trip was almost entirely misperceived, and here is why.

Regardless of the fact that the Obama administration has provided Israel with more financial and military aid and political support while extending unprecedented cooperation on countless levels than any of its predecessors, the Israelis generally distrusted President Obama.

They recalled his speech in Cairo in June 2009, which they interpreted as being onesided in favor of the Palestinians, and they recollected with dismay that he traveled three times overseas during his first term, visiting two Arab and two Muslim states while skipping Israel.

In addition, they resented the fact that he placed undue pressure on Israel to freeze settlement construction without demanding specific counter-measures from the Palestinians.

His critics are dead wrong in their assessments of the President’s intentions and the approach he took toward the Israelis during his visit to Israel, Palestine and Jordan.

His expressed purpose was to win the hearts and minds of the Israelis because he knows that any concessions he can secure on behalf of the Palestinians depends on how much the Israelis trust him and how confident they feel that the US will watch Israel’s back in a moment of real need.

The President also knows only too well that he must engage the Israeli public in the search for peace and make them understand the hazards of continuing occupation – that time is dangerously running out and they can no longer remain complacent.

For this reason he went over the head of Prime Minister Netanyahu and appealed directly to the Israeli public, especially the young, to take the lead, emphasizing that “governments respond to the popular will” and they must now make their voice heard.

He implored the young Israelis to put themselves in the Palestinians’ shoes, who have been stripped of their dignity, and “look at the world through their eyes.” “It is not right to prevent Palestinian from farming their lands,” he emphatically stated, “or to displace Palestinian families from their home. Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer.”

Those who criticized the President for his presumed lack of evenhandedness in addressing the Israelis and Palestinians do not seem to grasp that the President did not need to convince the Palestinians that continued

occupation is unacceptable. He did not need to remind the Palestinians of their plight and suffering. These words were directed to the Israelis who can do something about it.

He passionately stated that “Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank.”

This is what the Israelis need to hear, provided it is said in the context of the United States’ uncontestable commitment to guard Israel from outside threats, especially from Iran, and their trust in him. The Palestinians must remember that the President could hardly wring one meaningful concession from the Israelis during his first term as long as he was perceived as an antagonist and unsympathetic to their concerns.

Just as Obama sought to change the Israelis’ perception of himself and successfully touched the hearts and minds of the Israeli multitude, his administration must now focus on its renewed peace efforts to which he committed.

Other than insisting on the resumption of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials, he must exert equal pressure, though quietly, on both sides to begin changing their public narrative on the conflicting issues that separate them.

Two critical conflicting issues, the ‘right of return’ of the Palestinian refugees and the continuing expansion and building new settlements, should top the agenda to provide mutually acceptable solutions which require a drastic change in the Israelis’ and Palestinians’ respective public perception.

The PA President Mahmoud Abbas cannot possibly speak about a real prospect of a two-state solution while he continues to preach the gospel of the “Right of Return,” which is utterly unacceptable to the Israelis as it will wipe out Israel’s national Jewish identity overnight.

This issue cannot be resolved only at the negotiating table without first preparing the Palestinian public to accept that the right of return can be exercised only through resettlement of the refugees in their own homeland–the West Bank and Gaza, or compensate those who elect to remain in their current country of residence.

Prime Minister Netanyahu too cannot be serious about a two-state solution as long as he continues to insist on the expansion of old and the building of new settlements in the name of national security, which “violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace.”

If President Obama believes, as I do, that governments listen to the will of the people, then Israeli and Palestinian public perceptions must first change on these fundamental conflicting issues and about each other.

This is a moment in time that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians can afford to squander because the passage of time will acutely undermine their ultimate national interests and make the conflict ever more intractable and increasingly perilous.

No one, however, should expect current officials of either side to change voluntarily their narrative in order to induce a change in their respective public perceptions. On the contrary, Israeli and Palestinian governments alike have used the prospect of a twostate solution for public consumption only while continuing to pursue policies that torpedo any possibility of such an outcome.

Here is where the US’ role becomes crucial. As much as Obama needs to press Israeli and Palestinian officials to resume formal peace talks, he must simultaneously exert tremendous pressure to change their public narrative and stop misleading their publics about the requisites for peace based on a two state solution that he so ardently advocated.

If President Obama did not privately counsel Netanyahu and Abbas during his visit to do just that, he should do so now.

Without public support, peace negotiations will go nowhere and an Israeli-Palestinian peace will remain a pathetically self-consuming illusion. (Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies. alon@alonbenmeir.com)

This space is for you.

Call us now!

(062) 9925480 Founded 2006

mindanaoexaminer.com

FOR ADVERTISEMENTS, PLEASE CALL (062) 9925480

P10

Apr. 15-21, 2013

WARREN RODWELL: WHO REALLY PAID THE RANSOM? Kilalang relihiyoso at debotong Katoliko si UNA senatorial candidate JV Ejercito Estrada kung todo rin ang suporta sa kanya ng Simbahang Katoliko at iba pang mga kilala religious organizations.

‘Demolition job, black propaganda’ sinalag ni JV Ejercito Estrada The house of freed Abu Sayyaf hostage Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell,left, in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga Sibugay. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

D

id she lie to co ver up whocov er had paid the rransom ansom to ever ev fr ee kidnapped A ustr alian free Austr ustralian adv entur er Warr en R odw ell adventur enturer arren Rodw odwell fr om the hands of the Abu S ayyaf in from Sayyaf the P hilippines?

Philippines?

This now is the question being raised by authorities after Rodwell’s Filipino wife Miraflor Gutang, 29, claimed she sold their house and other properties, and sought help from relatives to raise $94,000 to pay the Abu Sayyaf.

Rodwell, a former soldier in the Australian army, was kidnapped by gunmen who posed as policemen on December 2011 from his seaside house in Ipil town in Zamboanga del Sur province, and freed on March 2 after his Filipino wife paid the ransom to the Abu Sayyaf, which originally demanded $2 million.

Gutang’s fantastic claim of herself raising the ransom was far from her previous statement following Rodwell’s kidnapping in which she said in a radio interview that “whoever had kidnapped my husband, he is not rich. Return him to us and please don’t hurt him. My husband is ill.”

General Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said the ransom received by the Abu Sayyaf would further threaten peace and security in the Muslim province, saying the terrorist group would likely to use the money to purchase illegal weapons and fund kidnappings and terrorism in Basilan and probably other parts of Mindanao.

“We are worried about this situation now because the Abu Sayyaf may use the ransom to fund terror activities and kidnappings and endangering civilian lives,” he said.

Gutang - who previously complained to the police that she was beaten up by Rodwell - abandoned her husband days before he was kidnapped. Rodwell, a prolific world trav-

ARMM

eller, married Gutang in June 2011 in Ipil town after the two met through the Internet and bought a house in October of the same year in Pangi village in Ipil.

Inspector Edwin Verzon, then the police chief of Zamboanga Sibugay’s Ipil town, confirmed this and said the woman had filed two abuse complaints against Rodwell since the marriage. The woman’s family also said that Rodwell maltreated his wife.

“She filed two complaints with us and she was also planning to bring it to the attention of the Australian embassy in Manila, but we don't know if she pursued it,” Verzon said.

Days after Rodwell was kidnapped, Gutang had told the media that they cannot afford to pay any ransom because they are poor. Her 66-year old father, Loreto, works in the farm and her mother, Salvadora, 61, stays only at home in their ancestral house in Naga town.

The Rodwell’s house in Ipil town has not been sold contrary to Gutang’s claim, but is now being rented by a Filipino family for P2,000 a month, although her brother is said to be transferring to the house.

“I know the story of this house and about Rodwell and we are renting this house from Miraflor for two thousand pesos and we’ve just moved in a couple of weeks ago,” tenant Jeffrey Mabago, whose wife works in Singapore, told Fairfax Media.

He said they may transfer to another house after Gutang told them that her brother is moving in. “That’s what she told us. Her brother is moving in and that she will refund us our deposits,” he said, adding the Rodwells still owned the house. “As far as I know this house still belongs to them and was never sold.” Rodwell’s room is still locked and the door reinforced with iron grills, just as how it was when the gunmen barged

Southern Mindanao

into the house and dragged the foreigner to the bushes outside that leads to sea 15 months ago.

The barbed wires that once surrounded the two-room house were gone, but a torn yellow strip of tape used by the police to secure the compound is still hanging by the wooden gate, a harrowing reminder of the past.

Rodwell’s sister Denise and his brotherWayne, who flew to Manila from Australia to be reunited with the freed adventurer, did not meet with Gutang.

President Benigno Aquino has ordered an investigation into the payment of ransom to the terrorist group, saying, he has not seen any reports on the Rodwell case. “I haven’t seen a report from the concerned (authorities, the) PNP anti-kidnapping group and others,” he said.

Aquino said the government has a strict no-ransom policy. “We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” he said.

There were suspicion the ransom money either came from Rodwell’s family in Australia or from the Australian government and only used Gutang as a cover to justify the payment to the terrorist group, blamed for many kidnappings and bombings in the southern Philippines.

Rodwell has signed his affidavit of abduction with the Department of Justice in Manila, but State Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes said the Sydney man has no plans of filing charges against the alQaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

“The purpose of the affidavit is for the processing of the investigation of the case...so far, Rodwell has not decided whether to press charges (against his abductors), but (his sworn) statement can be used by the PNP (Philippine National Police) to pursue a complaint,” Reyes said.

Rodwell has evaded the Philippine press and would not talk to journalists since his release. (Mindanao Examiner)

Davao

Manila

MANILA – Dinipensahan ni United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial candidate JV Ejercito Estrada ang sarili sa ulat na inilabas ng Philippine Center for Investigative Reporting ukol sa alegasyon na mayroon itong overseas account sa British Virgin Island.

Sinabi ni JV Ejercito Estrada na deklarado ang lahat ng kanyang assets, liabilities at net worth sa kanyang SALN (statement of assets, liability and net worth) at wala umano itong dapat itago sa publiko.

“To the best of my knowledge, I have truthfully and accurately declared all my assets, liabilities, and net worth in my SALN. The timing of this so-called expose is highly suspicious considering I am one of the UNA candidates consistently in the winning list of monthly surveys by different polling organizations and recently barged in to the top 3 in SWS Survey,” ani JV Ejercito Estrada.

Ayon sa ulat ng PCIJ ay isa umanong director si JV Ejercito ng kumpanyang Ice Bell Properties Limited na binuo noon pang July 8, 1999.

Sinabi naman ni JV Ejercito Estrada na kaduda-duda ang paglabas ng balita ilang ulit na umano itong naging isyu noon. “It is highly suspicious considering the ongoing electoral campaign of which I am one of the leading contenders among the UNA senatorial candidates,” ani JV Ejercito Estrada. “I have heretofore

held high respect to the PCIJ. I hope that they are not falling to the manipulation of desperate people in dirty politics.”

Matatandaang may lumabas rin na black propaganda noon 2001 sa mga pahayagan at sinabing may mansion si JV Ejercito Estrada sa loob ng Forbes Park, ngunit pagaari pala ito ng mga kaanak ng Sultan of Brunei.

“Since my detractors cannot find anything anomalous, onerous or irregular in any contract or transactions during my stint as Mayor and as Congressman, hence there is a need to dig into the past.

Timing is really suspicious because I was a public official for 12 years, and it is only now the issues are being brought out since I am a leading candidate of the opposition. They first started the week by making up a story on my supposed snob of my niece to destroy my character, now it’s the accounts and businesses. Didn't they do these already in the past?” tanong pa ni JV Ejercito Estrada.

Sinabi nitong bahagi ng isang demolition job at black propaganda ang mga naglalabasang balita laban sa kanya dahil sa palagi itong nangunguna sa mga ibat-ibang preelections surveys mula ng magsimula ang campaign period.

“Same old style, same people, same intention.

Character assassination and demolition job,” dagdag pa nito.

(Mindanao Examiner)

Zamboanga Peninsula