Justpeace Blog

News Release
August 12, 2004

Bangsamoro people holds prayer rally on Balikatan's closing rites in North Cotabato

On August 13, as the Balikatan 04-1 in Carmen, North Cotabato formally closes, the Moro people from Maguindanao and North Cotabato will gather for a Friday prayer at the Carmen Municipal plaza to symbolize their protest against the against the US-RP joint military exercise being held in the Muslim communities.

The prayer rally is timed on the Muslim's Jamaa't prayer (Friday congregational prayer) which will start at lunchtime.

"We call for a stop to the holding of joint military exercises in conflict areas in Mindanao and the pull-oput of US troops in Muslim communities for this act could only trigger hostilities in our communities and death to our fellow residents," said Sittie Sundang, spokesperson of Suara Bangsamoro-North Cotabato.

She further added that the holding of Balance Piston in areas known as the communities of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Carmen has already brewed trouble for the people in the nearby communities despite of the downplaying of Col. Isagani Cachuela, chief of the 602nd Brigade, the AFP camp hosting Balikatan 04-1.

"Balance Piston has already claimed the life of Zaldea Calderon, an old woman who suffered from heart attack after seeing an American soldier in full battle gear manning a helicopter that hovered in their village," said Sundang.

She further added that the 63 yr old grandmother resident of Bgy. Manarapan in Carmen, like the rest of the residents there, has long suffered trauma because of the constant military operation in their area.

"Seeing a US soldier in full battle gear is enough to scare the people into thinking that war is at hand, and that the Muslim people in the communities are the so-called "terrorists" that the Balikatan exercises are after," said Sundang.

She further added that they will proceed with their protest despite stiff security measures and the no-rally no-permit policy set by Cachuela in Carmen.

"We fear that our protest against Balikatan will fall on deaf ears in the bid of President Arroyo to appease the US officials who threatened cutting ties with the Philippines as a result of the pull out of Filipino troops in Iraq to save Angelo de la Cruz's life," said Sundang.

Sundang said that a student from University of Southern Mindanao in Kabakan, North Cotabato already lost his job in the university for his participation in an anti-Balikatan rally led by an anti-Balikatan coalition in which the Suara Bangsamoro is an active member.

"We will stand firm in to present our dissent against Balikatan, and no amount of military and government suppression will stop us from rallying," said Sundang.

Dubbed as the Peoples Caravan for Peace and National Sovereignty, protesters will come from the different regions in Mindanao and from different Moro and Christian organizations. The lead organization of the protest caravan, People's Resist, a local coalition of Muslims and Christians opposed to Balikatan, expects at leat three thousand participants of the caravan.

The protesters will have a camp-in at the Kidapawan City gym on August 12 which will start from 4:00 in the afternoon, and they will then hold a caravan to Carmen on the morning of the 13th.

8/2/2004 TODAY
By KEITH BACONGCO Correspondent

KABACAN, North Cotabato - The presence of the American soldiers at the university campus in this town who are escorted by Filipino soldiers in full battle gear when they jog in the morning has been scaring teachers and students.

Nine of at least 30 American soldiers taking part in the RP-US joint military exercise "Balance Piston" are billeted at a hostel inside the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) campus here.

Although the "small-scale" military exercise is in the neighboring town of Carmen, 11 km from here, the presence of the soldiers in full battle gear has created tension among the teachers and students. The hostel is situated right across the elementary school.

Kabacan Mayor Luzviminda Tan said there was "lack of protocol" and that "there was no coordination at all."

"I was not aware at all that US troops arrived in the town last week. I only knew about it on Saturday [July 24], when a group opposed to the holding of the military exercise staged a rally at Kayaga junction leading to Carmen." But since the US troops are in the province for the military exercise, Tan said they should have coordinated with the local government unit (LGU) because their presence in the university premises has already caused tension among the students and the people around.

"Every morning the Americans jog at the USM field escorted by Filipino soldiers in full battle gear," she said. It can create bad impression on students, she said, because they might feel that it is unsafe in the campus because of the presence of the fatigue-wearing soldiers.

Tan suggested that the US troops should stay at the military camp in Carmen because they are soldiers, and not inside the school campus.

She disclosed that the Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade is paying for the board and lodging of the American soldiers.

"I thought they were not around so I checked for myself on July 24 at the hostel and I learned that there were five of them who checked in and then another arrived the following day," she said.

Tan, however, said that the USM hostel is open to the public and anybody could check in anytime.

Around 153 Filipino soldiers are involved in the military training and 50 other soldiers are in civic-action training, being held at the Division Training Unit (DTU). DTU is within the 202-hectare military reservation camp, said to be the biggest military camp in Mindanao in terms of area. The three-week training started on July 26.

Tan said that some of the American soldiers met with her on July 27 and discussed some security measures while they are staying at the USM hostel.

"We'll have a meeting with the USM administration soon to discuss about the presence of the US troops at the hostel," said Tan.

Only nine of the 30 US soldiers are billeted at the USM hostel. Several Filipino soldiers are on guard outside the hostel and prohibit anyone from checking in by saying that it is fully booked.

A caretaker of the USM hostel, however, disclosed that only nine US soldiers are staying at the hostel. She said that it has 22 air-conditioned rooms and has a capacity of 44 persons each building. Each room costs P400 a night. She said that one of the two buildings is occupied by Filipino soldiers. She refused to disclose how many Filipino soldiers there are, however.The hostel is located inside the USM campus in front of USM Annex Elementary School, about 100 meters from the women's dorm and 50 meters from the men's dorm. Like Tan, the teachers and students also feel the same way.

Magsaysay Subang, principal of USM Annex Elementary School, said he is worried of the teachers' and the students' security.

"We were surprised to see the Americans and the Filipino soldiers in full battle gear at the hostel starting last Monday [July 19]," he said. While he admitted that he was expecting US soldiers to take part in the military exercise in Carmen, he never expected them to be billeted at the university hostel.

"We are worried because there might be some people who will launch attacks or sabotage the presence of the Americans, especially during daytime, and that the children might be hit in the crossfire," he lamented.

Professor John Aries Tabora, of the USM's College of Arts and Sciences, also expressed the same apprehension. "They are supposed to stay in the military camps," Tabora said.

Jeffrey Olivo, press information officer of the university student council, said that they are worried of the safety of the students.

"We all know that they [American soldiers] are targets of terrorists these days. They are hot targets," he stressed.

He echoed the lack of coordination, and said that the council was not consulted about it.

Abdulsani Kalingalan, USM vice president for academic affairs, said he has yet to convene the university officials and staff to discuss the matter.

Notes on National Situation

Ecology

USS Russell discharges wastes - The USS Russell was caught discharging wastes at the Alava Pier, Subic Bay Freeport, which after investigation turned out to be human wastes.

The wastes were found floating in six square meters of Subic Bay Waters. Jerome Martinez an official of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) reported that some US Navy personnel accosted his investigators taking pictures of the wastes and confiscated their digital camera�s diskette.

Amethya de la Llana, SBMA ecology department head, ordered the vessel�s official to explain why they confiscated the disk containing a photo-documentation showing the extent of sewage discharge. Her office also ordered the immediate clean up of the bay.

She fined the vessel $10,000 (P559,500) for the violation. The penalty was the second imposed against US vessel in three months. In April, the USS Coronado was fined $5,000 (P279,750) for spilling oil in Subic Waters.

�It does not matter where this happened, in fact if this had happened in Japan, the penalties would have been more severe,� said de la Llana.

UN Team to probe Tampakan Mining � General Santos City � A leader of church group said a team from the United Nations is set to arrive next month for a consultation with people in areas affected by mining..

Oblate nun Theresa Rose Salazar, coordinator of the Justice and Peace Desk of the Diocese of Marbel said that UN representatives would visit the towns of Colombio and Tampakan, two of three municipalities, the other is Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, where mining firm Sagittarius Mines, Inc. is currently exploring for copper and gold deposits.

Economy

Philippine Public Debt is P5.2 trillion pesos
Philippine Budget Deficit is P200 billion pesos
Five (5) million Filipinos are jobless
Seven (7) million Filipinos are underemployed
Philippine inflation is up at 5.1%

Notes on Moro Situation

Economic aspect

Japan grants ARMM P65M � The Japanese government has extended P65 million worth of peace and development programs in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)as of the first of this year. Romeo Diocolano, Office of Development Assistance �ARMM program development specialist, said the programs form part of the $400M Mindanao Support Package for peace and stability that Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signed in December 2002. The Japanese government was among the foreign countries who vowed support to the 1996 government and Moro National Liberation Front formal peace accord.

Political aspect

US settles case on victim of war exercise - An American soldier accidentally shot and wounded a 21-year old guy in a military exercises in Basilan last June 21, 2004. The victim was confined at Camo Narciso General Hospital inside the Armed Forces Southern Command in Zamboanga City. He was taken by Filipino and American medical personnel to the hospital for treatment. Arsid Sabaron, the victim, was released from confinement on July 19, 2004.

It was reported that an initial P10,000 pesos was given by military to keep Arsid family silent. An additional P10,000 in medical bills was paid by the Philippine Military. Ten American lawyers were reportedly arrived to the South Philippines to interview the victim. Aside from the first initial payment, it was reported that Arsid family received about P40,000 to P50,000 pesos to settle or resolve the case pertaining to the shooting.

Moro groups ask PGMA on agenda for Mindanao Various Moro groups in Mindanao assailed Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo�s failure to lay down an agenda for Mindanao�s peace and development during her State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 26, 2004.

The Moro people have high expectation on SONA of PGMA particularly on peace negotiations, development, relief and rehabilitation, health and charter change that affects the provision on Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. But the Moro people did not heard any program for the Moro people.

Early deployment of peace monitors in Mindanao sought � The Malaysian government urged the Philippines to fast track the drafting of the terms of reference for the deployment of international monitors for its peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)

Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the peace talks between the government and the MILF should not be stalled and the international monitoring team should be fielded to Mindanao immediately.

The formal talks between the government and the MILF have been stalled since two months ago while the arrival of international monitoring team was delayed since December last year.

Apart from Malaysia, monitors will be fielded from Bahrain, Brunei and Indonesia.

Asked to Comment on the rechanneling of the $30 million earmarked by Washington for projects in MILF strongholds, Albar said it should not be treated as a big issue nor it should affect the negotiations.

The US pulls out $30 M grant citing lack of sincere peace processes in Mindanao. The grant which expires on September 30 will instead be rechanelled to other areas in Mindanao where there is no MILF presence. The withdrawal of $30 M grant happened before the Philippine troops pulled out of Iraq.

�Before we talk about money we have to talk about peace first.
There are many countries willing to help southern Philippines but we have to work on a peace agreement first,� said Albar.