1 News Update As of June 21, 2016
(Tuesday) Philippine Daily Inquirer
Radical plan to give land for free to poor farmers
A new agrarian reform program that seeks to distribute lands for free to farmers is emerging as the centerpiece of an agreement on radical social and economic reforms that will form part of a peace pact between the incoming Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
According to at least two sources, the more revolutionary form of agrarian reform would fall under the proposed Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (Caser) that has been given the highest priority in formal talks that are to start in July.
No details of the new program have been presented. But one source said it would hew closely to the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) filed by militant lawmakers, led by incoming Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, in the House of Representatives.
While the existing Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program with Reforms (Carper) allow landowners to retain up to 7 hectares of their landholdings, GARB would provide no retention limit, which means owners of land
covered by the program would have to give up their entire property.
GARB would allow “enlightened” owners of land to keep only 5 hectares. One source, interpreting this provision, said this referred to landowners who had no record of abuses against their farmworkers and were not known to resist agrarian reform.
CARP and Carper transfer land to beneficiaries through an amortization system, but GARB seeks to distribute lands for free.
No exemption
The bill filed by Mariano seeks to place all agricultural lands under agrarian reform without exemption. CARP allowed the transfer of shares of stocks to beneficiaries instead of land.
Critics of CARP said it was a loophole that spared big landholdings, like Hacienda Luisita owned by the family of President Aquino, from the program that his mother, democracy icon Corazon Aquino, began.
Exempted from CARP are banana or oil palm plantations by multinational companies; all public agricultural lands; lands that have been reclassified as commercial, residential or industrial; all
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agricultural lands approved for conversion; all lands that form part of reservations of state colleges; all timber and mineral lands and all private and public lands that have remained idle.
The bill also provides for the confiscation of “sullied” landholdings, or those found to have been obtained illegally. It says debts that beneficiaries of earlier land reform programs still owe the government would be written off.
Mariano, who has described CARP and Carper as dismal failures, has promised that as the head of the Deparment of Agrarian Reform (DAR), one of his priorities will be to review the
implementation of CARP in Hacienda Luisita, calling it a “sham.”
Expand middle class
A glimpse into the program was offered when a back-channel team, sent by outgoing President Aquino in 2014, met with NDFP leaders, led by Communist Party founder Jose Ma. Sison, in The Netherlands.
According to a member of the team, who declined to be identified for lack of authority to talk to the media, a sweeping agrarian reform program could work as a catalyst for industrialization, too.
The source said turning farmers into landowners could create a bigger middle class that would further spur economic growth.
According to its webpage, the DAR had met 88 percent of its target to distribute some 7.8 million hectares of land covered by CARP.
From July 2010 to December 2013 under the Aquino administration, the DAR said it distributed 751,514 hectares, or 45 percent of its target.
Landlords continue to resist the program and some have filed lawsuits to prevent its implementation.
CARP has also been beset by land conversions, changes in classification of lands from
agricultural to nonagricultural and dozens of cases of beneficiaries selling or pawning farms.
End to rebellion
Critics cite the reversal by the Office of the President of CARP’s coverage of hundreds of hectares of farms in Quezon province.
The new program is envisioned to bring a peaceful end to nearly 50 years of communist rebellion in the countryside that has left more than 40,000 dead.
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One source describes the new program as the answer to the rebel demand for social justice and economic equality.
This could be best illustrated by the conditions of poor farmers, which the source saw for himself, in one town in Quezon just last year.
“The roads are cemented,” he said. “But you see the people living in cardboard houses … Then a Lamborghini (a $200,000 sports car) said to be owned by a high provincial official whizzes by on the concrete road.”
In one case also in Quezon, the source recalled how a landowner would let his cows graze “and whatever land the cows step on” becomes property of the landlord.
“You won’t wonder anymore why people are taking up arms,” the source said.
PH, Malaysia, Indonesia OK joint Sulu Sea patrols
TO BEEF up regional security and thwart criminal activities at sea, defense officials of the Philippines Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to conduct trilateral maritime and air patrols in the three countries’ maritime areas of common concern, particularly in the Sulu Sea.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin met with his two counterparts on Monday to discuss security concerns in the three nations’ common maritime borders.
The high-level dialogue between Gazmin, Malaysia’s Hishammuddin Hussein and Indonesia’s Ryamizard Ryacudu was a follow-up to last month’s meeting of Southeast Asia defense ministers.
A working group will be established to identify the operational directions of the trilateral maritime patrol among the three countries’ military forces.
In a statement, the Department of National Defense (DND) said Gazmin, Hussein and Ryacudu raised concerns over recent kidnappings and armed robberies at sea in the areas of common concern.
“(They) reaffirmed the need, commitment and collective responsibility of the countries to address such threats that undermine peace, security and prosperity in the region,” DND said.
Aside from a trilateral maritime patrol working group, each country would put up a maritime command center and would retain overall responsibility for the deployment of their military assets.
4 Common border crucial
During the three ministers’ informal meeting in Vientiane, Laos, last month, the Sulu Sea was seen as a crucial concern since it is a maritime border common to the three nations.
They agreed to step up collaborative efforts against rising criminality, piracy, kidnapping and smuggling in the sea.
The Sulu Sea is a popular route for cargo and passenger ships, with some vessels falling prey to pirates and kidnappers, while others use the route for smuggling.
Gazmin and his counterparts agreed to adopt the best practices of Malaysia and Indonesia in their joint Malacca Straits Patrol as a model for their trilateral maritime patrol.
The three officials pushed for the coordination of military activities concerning maritime security, and the establishment of joint military command posts in specific locations.
The DND said the defense ministers also approved the establishment of a transit corridor which would serve as designated sea lanes for mariners entering the maritime area of common concern.
The three countries will also set up a trilateral database sharing mechanism, as well as information and intelligence sharing pertaining to the maritime areas of common concern.
“The ministers also agreed for the military or relevant agencies of the three countries to
expedite the crafting and finalization of relevant standard operating procedures,” the DND said.
Poll exec quits over Soce deadline extension
STUNG by the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc to extend the deadline for the submission of campaign expense reports, Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim on Monday filed his irrevocable resignation as head of the poll body’s campaign finance office.
Lim said the extension of the deadline was illegal and that changing it constituted an amendment in the law by Congress.
“For the record, it’s illegal. If you look at the law, it specifies that the filing of Soce (statement of contributions and expenditures) must be within 30 days *after Election Day+,” Lim told reporters on Friday.
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“For me it is just so frustrating. Maybe, *the en banc+ wants to take a different policy, a policy shift. Then maybe they should be the ones to run the office,” he added.
Lim said he was disappointed that the groundwork they had laid out in 2011 to ensure the law would be implemented to the letter on the submission of the Soce by election candidates and political parties had been brushed off because of the decision.
“We started it in 2011, baby steps then bigger steps in 2016. Now it’s back to zero,” Lim said.
“Even in 2013, I was fighting for non-extendible rule but the en banc did not approve that’s why there was late penalty. But 2013 was just experimental and 2016 was the culmination. All our efforts went to waste,” he added.
Last week, the Comelec voted 4-3 in favor of the petition of the Liberal Party and its standard- bearer, Mar Roxas, to extend the deadline of the filing of the Soce to June 30. Roxas missed the June 8 deadline.
The commissioners who voted in favor of the extension of Soce filing were Rowena Guanzon, Arthur Lim, Al Parreño and Sheriff Abas. Those who voted against it were Lim, Comelec Chair Andres Bautista and Luie Guia.
In 2013, the Comelec also extended the filing of the Soce but imposed penalties on candidates and political parties that filed beyond the original deadline.
Also yesterday, a newly formed group, Liga ng Eksplosibong Pagbabago Inc., filed a petition urging the Comelec to strike out from its records all campaign expense reports that have been filed late.
“The wisdom behind the deadline system is noble and sincere… delays mean more
opportunities to concoct fabrications. Longer delays breed corruption resulting in reports that are too preposterous to inspire belief,” said the petition filed by the group’s representative, Myrleon Estrella Peralta.
The group said extending the deadline of the filing of Soce was a violation of the Comelec’s own rules, which was tantamount to betrayal of public trust, a ground for impeachment under the Constitution.
“Those responsible and culpable for accepting late Soces are res ipsa loquitur guilty beyond any shadow of doubt of betrayal of public trust and must therefore face impeachment charges,” the group said. TVJ
Duterte offers DENR post to Gina Lopez of ABS-CBN Foundation
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DAVAO CITY—(3rd UPDATE) Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday offered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) post to ABS-CBN’s Gina Lopez.
“I offered the position of the DENR to Miss Gina Lopez,” Duterte said in a video sent to reporters.
Lopez and Duterte met at the presidential guest house here at 5:23 pm. The incoming president made the announcement at 6:15 p.m.
Lopez said she was seriously considering the post but has yet to decide on it.
“I am honored with the trust given. I will seriously, seriously consider it,” she said.
“Whether I’m in DENR or not, I will give my 100% support to this very good man,” she added.
Lopez is chair of the ABS-CBN Foundation and is known for her anti-mining advocacies.
Duterte has earlier offered the DENR post to the Left, with the name of human rights advocate and Bayan Muna representative Carlos Zarate emerging as a possible appointee.
READ: Is Bayan Muna lawmaker Zarate the next DENR secretary?
It was also earlier reported that Duterte wanted to be the Environment secretary even for just a year.
Lopez is the daughter of the late media tycoon Eugenio Lopez Jr. She was one of the vocal supporters of Duterte during the campaign period. She has been known as an active advocate for the environment. TVJ/IDL/CDG
SC asked to nullify Comelec decision to extend SOCE deadline
A petition has been filed asking the Supreme Court to nullify the Commission on Elections’
(Comelec) decision allowing the administration party to submit its Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) beyond the deadline.
In a 20-page petition for certiorari, Atty. Manuelito Luna, nominee for 1-Abilidad Pary-List, and retired soldier Justino Padiernos of the People’s Freedom Party said Comelec gravely abused its discretion when it allowed the extension for the submission of SOCE.
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Petitioners said under Republic Act 7166 particularly Section 14 specifically provided that every candidate and treasurer of the political party shall submit the SOCE within 30 days after the election.
“It *Comelec+ is constitutionally and statutorily mandated to enforce and administer all election laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum and recall,” the petition stated.
Petitioners said extending the SOCE deadline is tantamount “to an impermissible amendment of Section 14 of RA7166.”
“There is no substantive justification for the Commission (Comelec) to disregard the ‘final and non-extendible deadline’ prescribed by Sec. 14 of RA 7166,” the petitioners said.
Luna and Padiernos said as taxpayers, they have legal standing to question the Comelec’s decision.
“As civic-minded citizens and taxpayers, petitioners have a personal stake in the resolution of the controversy, and are necessarily injured or threatened to suffer injury when an agency of government honors the law in its violation than in its obedience, as in this case,” petitioners stated.
Last June 16, voting 4-3, the Comelec moved to June 30 the supposed June 8 deadline for filing SOCE.
Commissioners Arthur Lim, Al Parreño, Sheriff Abas, and Rowena Guanzon voted for the granting of extension, while Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista and Commissioners Christian Robert Lim and Luie Guia voted to deny the request. JE/rga
The Philippine Star
Malacañang inaugural for Rody
By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 21, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - It’s final: president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s inauguration will be held at Malacañang on June 30, breaking the tradition of holding presidential inaugurals at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila’s Rizal Park.
Incoming Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Martin Andanar, after meeting with outgoing PCOO Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. yesterday, confirmed that the inauguration would be held at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.
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Andanar also said that the media would not be allowed to cover inside the Palace except Duterte’s TV crew, the Radio-TV Malacañang (RTVM), which will feed the live video to TV networks.
Broadcast networks ABS-CBN 2, GMA-7, TV5, PTV-4 and IBC-13 will have to coordinate with RTVM.
Reporters from newspapers, social media and other radio stations will be given monitors where they can watch the event live.
Only 500 guests are invited to the inauguration, 190 of them Duterte’s “personal guests” while the rest will be members of his Cabinet, the diplomatic corps and Congress.
Duterte’s former wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, said she was invited and would attend along with her children.
“I would not attend if I was not invited. I have been invited so I will attend,” she said.
Andanar bared that Duterte told the members of his Cabinet and other officials he would appoint not to bring their wives/spouses and other members of their families because of limited seats.
The content of Duterte’s inaugural speech is still a work in progress, including the language he will use. Andanar said the presidential communications office might be able to finalize it tomorrow.
Andanar also said the current government portal, or the Official Gazette, will be retained.
“We will build on the success of the Official Gazette online,” Andanar said, giving credit to outgoing Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III.
Coloma said the website has a “hard copy edition,” which the National Printing Office has produced. This has always been “co-existent” with the online edition “required by law.”
Labor groups to march to Palace
Meanwhile, labor groups plan to troop to Malacañang on Duterte’s inauguration day to remind him of his promises to improve the working condition of lowly paid workers.
Allan Bagas of trade group PAMANTIK said as Duterte takes his oath, militant workers will gather in Mendiola and call on the incoming administration to implement genuine reforms.
“Along with other people’s organizations and militant groups, we will troop to Duterte’s oath- taking ceremony and remind the new head of state of his promises to bring about change,” he added.
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The labor groups also intend to present to the Duterte government a list of alternative policies and solutions to the problems besetting workers nationwide.
“He wanted people to present doable solutions to the problems that they are facing. We’ll be giving him such then,” Bagas said.
Bagas noted that for the past six years under President Aquino, workers have suffered much, as many of them are mere contractual workers receiving measly salaries and no employment benefits.
“More and more contractual workers are enslaved in increasingly precarious and low-reward work, which shows that businesses use workers as a means to profit and not a co-stakeholder from the fruits of their labor,” he added.
Based on data from trade unions in Calabarzon, almost nine out of 10 workers employed in the region are contractual workers whose basic wages are low.
Many contractual workers are also often assigned in dangerous work arrangements, without any compensation for any injuries incurred at work.
Meanwhile, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) is set to stage a “walk of shame” in Mendiola today to present to the people the sins committed under the Aquino government.
The participants will walk from Morayta to Mendiola and show to the public various issues, including the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program, Mamasapano massacre,
neglect of victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda and poor service of the problematic MRT and mass transport in the country.
The group will also press for the prosecution and imprisonment of President Aquino once he steps down from power. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Edith Regalado
SWS: Satisfaction with Aquino administration drops
By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 21, 2016 - 12:00am
Malacañang was unfazed by the drop in the satisfaction and trust ratings of President Aquino, saying he is still the most popular Chief Executive for the entire duration of his six-year term.
Philstar.com/File Photo
MANILA, Philippines - Public satisfaction with the performance of the Aquino administration dipped by four percentage points but remained “good,” according to a latest survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) three months before President Aquino’s term ends on June 30.
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Malacañang was unfazed by the drop in the satisfaction and trust ratings of Aquino, saying he is still the most popular Chief Executive for the entire duration of his six-year term.
“The Aquino administration did its best to transform Philippine society on a platform of good governance,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
told journalists yesterday.
Six in 10 or 60 percent of the respondents were satisfied, while 26 percent were dissatisfied with the administration’s general performance, yielding a net satisfaction rating of +35 from +39 in December last year.
Both ratings are classified by SWS as good.
The remaining 14 percent of respondents were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, the pollster said.
The survey, published yesterday in BusinessWorld, was conducted from March 30 to April 2 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.
It has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages, and plus or minus six percentage points each for the Metro Manila, Luzon areas outside NCR, the Visayas and Mindanao.
SWS noted that the biggest drop was recorded in NCR, from December’s good +36 to a moderate +17.
Net satisfaction in the rest of Luzon fell five points to +30 from December’s +35, though both were classified as good.
It also slipped three points in Mindanao to a good +33 from +36 previously.
Public satisfaction with the government, however, improved by six points in the Visayas to +58 from +52, staying at very good.
Among the socio-economic classes, the net satisfaction stayed moderate for the ABC group at +17 (down six points) and good both for class D or the masa (down seven points) to +39.
SWS saw a marginal two-point improvement among class E at +46.
Rated against 16 issues, the government scored “good” in three areas, including helping the poor, foreign relations and promoting the welfare of overseas workers. – With Delon Porcalla
11 Duterte aims to pluck 9 M Pinoys from poverty
By Prinz Magtulis and Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 21, 2016 - 12:00am
The Duterte administration is aiming to pull nine million Filipinos out of poverty and keep the country in the growth path by strengthening the agriculture and manufacturing industries. File Photo
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – With greater focus on countryside development, the Duterte
administration is aiming to pull nine million Filipinos out of poverty and keep the country in the growth path by strengthening the agriculture and manufacturing industries.
In a dialogue-workshop with the business community here yesterday, Duterte’s officials discussed in greater detail the incoming administration’s thrust of spreading out development efforts, which they said were concentrated in Metro Manila for a long time now.
“We are targeting to reduce poverty rate between 1.25 and 1.5 percentage points a year. That will make a combination of around nine percentage points,” incoming finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting with more than 300 businessmen called “Sulong Pilipinas (Move forward, Philippines)” at the SMX convention center here.
“This dialogue, I assure you, will help us refine the reforms the new administration proposes.
From the onset, let me assure you that the new administration will be guided by what is best for the nation,” Dominguez said.
“We seek your counsel as stakeholders in this nation’s progress, as we will the counsel of other stakeholders: those who own nothing in their name but whose capacity for hope rests
precariously on the opportunities public policy is able to create,” he told the gathering of executives and business leaders.
As of first semester last year, 26.3 percent or roughly 26 million of the 100 million Filipinos were living below the poverty line, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
On government finances, incoming budget secretary Benjamin Diokno said bigger budget would be allocated to rural areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.
He said agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure would have more funds. As early as next year, up to P1 trillion may be earmarked for infrastructure from just P595 billion this year.
“We would like to make sure that (agencies) will not ask for a budget that they cannot
implement... We also plan to have the budget approved before the start of fiscal year,” Diokno said in a briefing.
Incoming transportation head Arturo Tugade, for his part, gave assurance that all past contracts would be “honored.”
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Furthermore, existing public-private partnership (PPP) projects would be accelerated, and new ones would be undertaken, mostly in rural areas.
“I was really amazed that 80 percent of projects proposed are in Metro Manila. You’re just going to further congest Manila with that,” Dominguez said.
Food security
Food security under the next administration would also be prioritized, with Emmanuel Piñol of the Department of Agriculture planning free irrigation and more support for farmers and exporters.
Incoming trade secretary Ramon Lopez said they would seek to establish connection between micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and local governments with large companies.
“The strong partnership will help build inclusive business models. We want the big businesses to include MSMEs in their value chain to provide them a sustainable market,” Lopez said in the forum.
Doing business with the government would also be streamlined, Tugade said, as he aims to cut business transaction time in his department by 50 percent over the next year.
Dominguez said shortening PPP bidding process to between 18 and 20 months from the current average of 29 months would also be pursued.
“This consultation is a step in the right direction. We welcome this recognition of business as an important partner sector and we vow to make giant steps to make this happen,” said George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Vicente Lao, chairman of the Mindanao Business Council, said: “There really needs to be a paradigm shift on how the government works and this is a good start.”
Cebu Pacific chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei called the dialogue “good, and very participative.”
Philexport chairman Paterno Dizon said he was happy several Cabinet members of the incoming Duterte government were on hand to answer questions from the participants on various issues of governance, especially the economy.
“People here will provide the inputs, the recommendation on the thrusts of this government. It is very good,” Dizon said.
“What is good is that all the secretaries were open and were candid with regard to their responses and how they will act on certain issues,” he added.
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Philippine Airlines president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told The STAR the dialogue was a good start for the Duterte administration.
“The new administration is laying out their plans and they are transparent about it. You can see their sincerity. You can see how the Cabinet reacts. It’s fast,” Bautista said.
The PAL executive also praised Tugade’s appointment, saying he is an action man and an efficient businessman who knows what he is doing.
BDO president Nestor Tan said what impressed him was the fact that such dialogue was held for the first time outside Metro Manila.
“This is a very good start. Rather than do it in the media, they are doing it through dialogue,”
Tan said,
“So far, we like what we are hearing. They involved us and the issues raised are answered,” he said.
Bankers Association of the Philippines executive director Cesar Virtusio said the dialogue was an encouraging start for the Duterte administration.
“What we have heard today, how they would address issues, they give encouraging answers to the questions,” Virtusio told The STAR.
“The fact that they brought us all down here in Davao, obviously, it is a very good start,”
Virtusio added.
Lower but realistic
While it intends to boost development, the Duterte administration may lower this year’s growth target as it expects China’s slowdown and investors’ wait-and-see attitude to affect the Philippine economy.
Incoming socioeconomic planning secretary Ernesto Pernia said a 6.5 to seven percent goal is more attainable than the current target of 6.8 percent to 7.8 percent, as the next
administration may experience “birth pains” while dealing with the impact of China’s economic slump.
“Perhaps 6.5 (percent) is more achievable. (A growth target of) 6.5 to seven (percent) is more feasible. The lower end of the target is more feasible maybe this year,” Pernia said in a chance interview Sunday night here. “China, I think, is continuing to decelerate.”
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Asked why he prefers a more conservative full-year target, Pernia said: “We’re setting up. We’ll probably be feeling our way through and maybe the Cabinet (is just starting to work) as a cohesive team. Birth pains, start-up pains.”
Pernia said the 6.9 percent economic expansion in the first quarter would make the 6.5 to seven percent goal doable.
A seven to 7.5 percent growth may be achieved next year if the country attracts enough investors and makes some headway in rural development, agriculture, manufacturing and government spending, he added.
According to Pernia, relaxing ownership restrictions in the Constitution and reducing crime and corruption – the centerpiece of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s election campaign – would help the Philippines lure foreign investments. – With Alexis Romero, Jess Diaz, Czeriza Valencia
Only one communications group for Duterte
By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 21, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) will be the office in charge of the Chief Executive’s entire media assets, according to communications secretary-designate Martin Andanar.
He also said that the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office previously under Ricky Carandang would be disbanded.
“My suggestion is that it should now be called PCO,” he said.
Under the current setup, the Presidential Communications Operations Office supervises all state media, along with its adjuncts – notably the Philippine News Agency, Philippine
Information Agency, etc. – while PCDSPO handles the speechwriting for President Aquino, along with managing the government portal.
Presently handling the PCDSPO is Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III after Carandang resigned in December 2013.
The Presidential Communications Office has been known as the Office of the Press Secretary from the time of the late president Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s up to June 2010, spanning four presidents until Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
As soon as he assumed office, Aquino issued Executive Order 4, renaming OPS to PCOO and adding one more co-equal yet independent office with fewer staff.
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Andanar said the PCDSPO will be under his PCO when he takes over on June 30.
“It will now be a simple division and will serve as a strategic communications division of the PCO,” he said.
“Our setup will no longer be confusing,” he said in Filipino. “Only one will report to the President: the PCO secretary and his spokesman.
Incoming DILG chief backs martial law in Sulu
By Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 21, 2016 - 12:00am
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The designated interior secretary of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte is in favor of declaring martial law in Sulu to put an end to the security threat posed by Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Incoming interior secretary Ismael Sueño said Sulu is plagued with lawlessness that allows the bandits to operate freely.
“Our problem in the Sulu area is there seems to be no government. It seems lawless and there is impunity,” Sueño told The STAR yesterday.
“There is no more law and order, no local governance and it appears that way,” he added.
Sueño said people from the justice department and the Office of the Solicitor General were the ones who proposed the imposition of martial law.
He believes Duterte, whose campaign centered on a promise to launch a bloody anti-crime purge, is “addressing the matter personally.”
“There is no final action yet. He (Duterte) is still studying the proposal (to declare martial law),”
he told reporters in a separate interview.
Sueño, a former governor of South Cotabato, confirmed that the Duterte camp is seeking the help of local governments and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to ensure the safety of the remaining hostages being held by the Abu Sayyaf.
He is optimistic that authorities would be able to save Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipina Maritess Flor from their abductors.
“Our president Duterte is now concentrating and focusing on this and we can do something about this,” Sueño said.
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He said for now, military action is the “appropriate action” to deal with the problem.
The MNLF vowed to support the incoming Duterte administration’s campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, saying the local terrorist group should be dismantled for committing “crimes against humanity.”
MNLF chairman Abul Khayr Alonto said it’s about time to end what he called the “kidnap for ransom industry” and to give justice to the victims of the extremist group.
“We have to dismantle this ASG (Abu Sayyaf group) as they call it, this kidnap for ransom industry,” Alonto said in a press briefing Sunday night here.
“We will participate and we want to participate. And our people on the field will participate in putting an end to this drug trafficking and this kidnap for ransom,” he added.
There are no specifics yet as to how the MNLF intends to help fight the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, who beheaded a second Canadian kidnap victim recently after their ransom demands were not met.
Alonto said local governments should also help in the drive against terrorism.
Earlier, incoming justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the security officials of the Duterte administration are working to prevent another beheading by the Abu Sayyaf.
Sekkingstad, Flor and Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall were seized by the Abu Sayyaf at the Ocean View Resort in Samal Island off Davao Oriental on Sept. 21, 2015.
The local terrorists have threatened to behead Sekkingstad if their ransom demands are not met. Officials, however, insisted that they would adhere to the government’s no ransom policy.
Early this week, President Aquino revealed that he considered placing Sulu under martial law to contain the Abu Sayyaf but decided not to do so as it might enable the bandits to gain more sympathy.
The Abu Sayyaf has about 400 members based on recent military estimates.
Incoming Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya urged Mayor Hussin Amin of Jolo, Sulu to shut up if he could not substantiate his allegations that several soldiers have conspired with the kidnapping for ransom activities of the Abu Sayyaf.
Visaya, who also supports the declaration of martial law in Sulu and Basilan, described Amin’s accusations as very serious and dared him to come up with solid proof to back his allegations. – With Jaime Laude
17 Manila Bulletin
Moro convention in the offing to draft revised Bangsamoro law by Yas D. Ocampo
June 20, 2016 (updated)
Davao City – Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) interim chairman Datu Abul Khayr Alonto said that a coalition of the Bangsamoro comprising both the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will hold a Moro convention to draft a revised Bangsamoro bill.
Alonto, in an interview Sunday night at the Elena Hotel here, said that talks were already underway for the initial plans on the convention.
According to the MNLF official, the outgoing Aquino administration’s Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is already dead in Congress.
It will be programmed to gather the thoughts of academics and other thought leaders and experts on a revised bill for the Bangsamoro.
The Moro convention would help draft the revision of the BBL.
Alonto said that the output for the convention would be submitted to President-elect Rodrigo R.
Duterte, who will study it presumably for certification of urgency.
However, Alonto said it was too early to give out details on the revised bill.
“Let’s leave it to the convention *to identify the salient points,+” the MNLF official said.
Alonto added that from the start, the BBL was already betrayed with Aquino not certifying the bill as urgent from the executive branch.
“Aquino betrayed the hopes and aspirations of the people,” he said.
It will be programmed to gather the thoughts of academics and other thought leaders and experts on a revised bill for the Bangsamoro.
But Alonto clarified that the move was alongside the implementation of signed laws such as the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the GPH and the MILF peace panel and the Tripoli Agreement.
These laws were practically treaties, as these were witnessed by the international community.
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Meanwhile, Alonto claimed that the MNLF would be speaking as one organization, despite charges being filed against MNLF chairman Nur Misuari.
He said that Misuari was likely to speak up after incoming president Rodrigo R. Duterte assumes power after June 30.
