174,000 still in Maguindanao evacuation centers (tags)
174,000 still in Maguindanao evacuation centers Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:15:00 12/22/2009 Filed Under: rebellion, Armed conflict, Evacuation(General) DATU PIANG, Maguindanao—Johana Maluba, 24, is not sure if she could be back to her home to give birth before the end of the month. The mother of four is one of the 174,370 persons or 38,874 families referred to by humanitarian agencies as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maguindanao. The IDPs are scattered around the 103 evacuation centers. They fled their homes when fighting between government soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces broke out August last year. It was not clear, however, how many evacuated following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 civilians, including 31 journalists, in Ampatuan town, allegedly led by Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. The incident led to the weeklong imposition of martial law in the province. Some of the evacuees, those who fled their homes in Shariff Aguak after the massacre, are living with relatives, while others have set up camps in nearby towns. For the evacuees, it is safer to be away from home. “I am afraid to go back to our own house because we might get caught in crossfire,” Maluba said as she waited in line for the relief goods being distributed by the Act for Peace, a humanitarian organization. Diosita Andot, chair of Act for Peace, said their main intervention for the Maguindanao evacuees remains focused on “early recovery and rehabilitation program.” She said several core shelters have been constructed for families whose houses were razed in last year’s fighting. Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Secretary Jesus Dureza, who also joined the distribution of relief assistance, tried to convince evacuees to go home. “It is now safe to go back to your own homes,” he told them. But Dureza said not all could be given a house and that the relief assistance “is just temporary and you cannot be given every day, so it’s a must that you go home and start making a living.” Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, chief of the Military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, assured the evacuees that the police and military would respect the ceasefire with the MILF. “We will work to restore your normal lives,” he said.
Mga warlord, inaruga ng mga rehimeng tuta ng Imperyalismong US (tags)
Matagal nang kilala ang angkang Ampatuan sa pagiging mababagsik na warlord. Subalit pinasahol pa ito ng naghaharing rehimeng Arroyo. Bago maganap ang madugong masaker sa Maguindanao, mahigpit na nakapailalim sa kapangyarihang pyudal-militar ng warlord na angkang Ampatuan ang prubinsyang ito at ang Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Mula pa noong dekada 1930, sa panahon ng tuwirang kolonyalismo ng US ay naghahari na sa mga bahaging iyon ng Mindanao ang angkan. Mahigpit silang nakikipagtulungan sa mga pwersang militar, paramilitar at pulisya ng sunud-sunod na papet na reaksyunaryong rehimen. Pinakabase ng pampulitikang kapangyarihan nila ang sangkatlo ng mga munisipalidad sa prubinsya ng Maguindanao.
LABANAN ANG BATAS MILITAR AT LAHAT NG PAKANA NG PASISTANG REHIMENG US-ARROYO NA PALAWIGIN (tags)
“ Nililikha naming ang krisis. Ginagawa naming ito at pinatatakbo”- Mike Arroyo. Kaisa ng mamamayang Pilipino at lahat ng demokratikong organisasyon sa Pilipinas ang Alyansa-Pilipina (AJLPP) upang kondenahin at labanan ang E.O. 1959 na nagdedeklara ng batas militar at pagsusupindi ng writ of habeas corpus sa Maguindanao. Huli na at mali pa ang hakbang ng Rehimeng pilit kunwaring nagbabangong puri sa kawalanghiyaan nito. Nais lamang ilatag ng deklarasyong ito ang planong pagpapalawak ng batas militar sa hinaharap. Inilalatag din nito ang mga maniobrang legal upang gawing legal ang pasistang paghahari ng pangkating Arroyo sa hinaharap.
Fight Violence against Women and Defenseless Civilians Dismantle Warlord Dynasties (tags)
-KAISA KA is enraged by the gruesome massacre in the boundary of Ampatuan and Shariff Aguak in Magindanao the other day that included more than 20 women among its victims. This is the first ever slaughter after Bud Bagsak and Bud Dajo massacres that killed this big number of women in just one day. The killing of defenseless civilians in their numbers, some of them did not even belong to the party that filed an opposition certificate of candidacy, their speed in burying the dead using government backhoe with the name of the governor printed on it and the inability of the military to prevent this from happening show the barbarity of the perpetrators and immense power they have at their disposal.
Filipino Workers Condemn Maguindanao Massacre (tags)
APL dares gov’t to severely punish brains, perpetrators of Maguindanao massacre
Philippines: Abduction and killings of journalists and politicians must be investigated (tags)
A group of about 45 people (latest news figure is now 57) were ambushed and abducted by about 100 armed men, according to reports. The military recovered the bodies of 13 women and eight men—some of them mutilated.
GRP sGRP Seeks new deadline in talks with MILF (tags)
News sources in Mindanao reported today that the Philippine government failed twice to meet a self-imposed deadline to submit a new proposal to break a deadlock in peace talks with the Moro islamic Liberation Front (MILF) over territory, increasing anxiety over when the talks would resume.
Maguindanao gov withdraws militiamen from 5 town (tags)
Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan has ordered militiamen involved in clashes with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels to stand down and pull out, a Malacañang official said yesterday. Jesus Dureza, national security adviser, said the order has brought back calm to Shariff Aguak and four other towns affected by the clashes that started on June 28. More than 20,000 people were displaced because of the skirmishes, which civilian officials said killed at least seven members of the Civilian Volunteers’ Organization (CVO) and three MILF rebels.
Atrocities creep into Maguindanao fighting (tags)
Pesante-USA/AJLPP prints new reports of atrocities that have begun to surface in Maguindanao as fighting between militia and rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) continued to escalate. A lone gunman killed the wife of a senior MILF leader implicated in a failed attempt to kill the provincial governor, the military said Thursday.
Stop the war, Maguindanao folk cry (tags)
Pesante-USA/AJLPP joins the people of Mindanao in their urgent call to stop the US-Arroyo Regime's war against the people. “They are suffering and they want the fighting stopped,” Ruby Sahali, social welfare secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said of the more than 4,000 families displaced by fighting between militiamen and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Maguindanao.The evacuees came from the towns of Shariff Aguak, where the hostilities started last week, and from Mamasapano, Datu Piang, Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi, Ampatuan, Sultan sa Barongis and SK Pendatun towns, where it spread.
AFP war widens into two fronts as Maguindanao battle goes on (tags)
Pesante-USA reprinted the news about the increased fighting in Mindanao. The counter-insurgecnyw ar being waged by the Arroyo goverment is escalating not only against the NPA but also against the Moro people in Maguindanao. THE Armed Forces’ war against rebels has widened into two fronts as fighting between government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces continued on Monday in Maguindanao province despite efforts of peace negotiators to end the clashes that have left dozens of people dead and wounded and displaced 3,000 families.