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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Go Negosyo projects for Sulu launched










Sulu provincial photos show some of the projects launched recently through "Go Negosyo" program in Sulu province in southern Philippines. 
 

SULU – A series of infrastructure projects was launched by various companies and organizations in Sulu in an effort to bring peace and development to the southern Filipino province.
Among the projects, launched through the “Go Negosyo” program, were housing units for the poor in the village of Anuling in Patikul town and in Kajatian village in the town of Indanan.
Sulu Governor Toto Tan led government officials in both ground breaking ceremonies attended by Anna Margarita "Ginggay" Hontiveros-Malvar, of Go Negosyo; former Governor Sakur Tan, Senior Superintendent Mario Buyucan, the provincial police chief, and Anuling village chieftain Gambrazer "Ging" Hayudini.
The Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Rep. Arthur Yap also donated one school building with 8 classrooms at the Sultan Jamalul Kiram Elementary School in Maimbung town. Enrique Chua, a representative of the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, flew to Sulu from Manila to lead the ground breaking ceremony.
Chua, along with Tan and the others, also inspected the facilities at the Hadji Butoh School of Arts and Trade which needs repair and new equipment for the students, especially those taking electronics and automotive, among other technical courses.
Representatives from the SM Foundation were also in Sulu to help train vegetable farmers from the provinces’ 19 municipalities. Tan thanked all those who went to Sulu and said he and his constituents will forever be grateful to them. He also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for his support and personal attention to the needs of the province.
In December last year, Duterte launched “Negosyo Para sa Kapayapaan sa Sulu: Christmas Townhall with the President” after the former governor – also called Datu Shah Bandar – who was also present in the meeting – sought Duterte’s help in August – through the assistance of Joey Concepcion, who is also the Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship; and Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, and other stakeholders.
Duterte invited business people in Malacañang for the launching of the “Save Sulu Project” and among those who committed to help Sulu were PLDT Chairman Manuel Pangilinan, who pledged to rehabilitate and put up more Smart Telecommunication cell sites, build at least 40 houses in the next 2 years, provide water and power to communities and donate hospital equipment and train doctors and grant scholarships.
San Miguel Corporation, which pledged to build a 15-megawatt coal-fired power plant, a feed mill supply chain and to help rebuild the Hajji Buto School of Arts and Trade.
The National Book Store also committed to provide school supplies for at least 100,000 students, and the other donors were Bounty Fresh Food, Inc. which will open up poultry contract growing to farmers; W. Group, which pledged to buy seaweeds from local fishermen and farmers; Gawad Kalinga founder Tony Meloto, who vowed to build at least 100 houses; taipan Lucio Tan and his son, Michael, who both committed to resume air transportation from Zamboanga City to Sulu.
And SM’s Tessie Sy-Coson, Rosalind Wee, of the Marine Resources Development Corporation – the country’s biggest producer of carrageenan; the KAPATID Agri Group which will help train farmers; and Rep. Arthur Yap and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., which will also put up classrooms; Quintin Pastrana, who pledged to put up libraries and literacy programs in Gawad Kalinga villages.
The Department of Agriculture said it will provide tractors, farm implements and agricultural training to farmers in Sulu. Secretary Ramon Lopez, of the Department of Trade and Industry, said SM, Robinsons, Double Dragon, Rustan’s and even Puregold would partner with Sulu fishermen and farmers by allocating a specific space in their malls for free.
Some P1 billion from the Office of the President’s budget will be made available for small entrepreneurs, and another P50 million for Sulu farmers and if it do well, another P50 million would be made available immediately. (Ahl-fransie Salinas)


Sayyaf frees kidnapped Zamboanga boy

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf rebels have freed an eight-year old boy who was kidnapped along with his parents in the town of Payao in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga Sibugay.
The boy, whose father and mother had been separately free last year, was released in Sulu’s Patikul town on Monday afternoon and immediately taken to Zamboanga City where his family anxiously waited for him. He was later brought to Manila and met with President Rodrigo Duterte.
The family reportedly paid an unspecified amount of ransom in exchange for the boy’s freedom.
Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped the boy and his father Elmer, and mother Nora in the village of Kulisap on August 5 and brought them to the province. The rebels freed the woman on August 22 so she can raise money to pay the ransom. Her husband was also released on November 14 in Jolo town.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command tagged Ador Abdullah and Haber Susukan as behind the kidnapping of the family.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding over two dozen Asian sailors since last year after rebels hijacked their cargo ships off Sabah in Malaysia; Tawi-Tawi and Basilan provinces in the Muslim autonomous region.
Just recently, the group beheaded a 70-year old German sailor, Jurgen Kantner, after his family failed to raise P30 million ransom demanded by the ISIS-affiliate Abu Sayyaf rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)


Sayyaf sub-leader killed in Zamboanga raid

ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY – Police commandos, backed by soldiers, raided a hideout of the Abu Sayyaf before dawn Tuesday and killed its sub-leader who was tagged as behind the spate of ransom kidnappings in Zamboanga Peninsula in southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said two gunmen and a commando were also wounded in the fighting in the village called Tampalan in Zamboanga Sibugay’s Alicia town. The slain rebel leader had been identified as Imam Yasin.
Two of Yasin’s followers – Auhaie Mohammad Abdulkarim and Murad Mohammad – were shot and wounded and captured by the raiders. But a policeman, PO2 Larry Palidnang, a member of the 84th Special Action Force, was also injured and taken to hospital in nearby town of Ipil.
Officials said security forces also recovered weapons from the hideout of Yasin, who was facing a string of criminal charges in Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Norte provinces.
No other details were made available by the police and military on the operation and how it tracked down Yasin’s group. (Mindanao Examiner)


ARMM launches program that promotes human resource excellence among its agencies

COTABATO CITY - The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) launched the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM) that would help promote human resource excellence among agencies in the region.
“Isa sa pinaka-importante nating programa sa ARMM ngayon ay ang pagpapalakas ng ating mga empleyado at mga organisasyon para sa mga empleyado, pati na rin mga proseso para sa mga empleyado,” Atty. Rasol Mitmug, Jr., ARMM chief of staff, said.
The Civil Service Commission (CSC)-ARMM and the Office of the Regional Governor took the lead in launching the program on February 27. Leopoldo Roberto Valderosa, Jr., Regional Director of CSC-ARMM, said PRIME-HRM is a mechanism that supports the attainment of the CSC vision of becoming a Center of Excellence for Human Resource and Organization Development.
The PRIME-HRM assesses the agencies’ human resource management competencies, systems, and practices toward HR excellence. The program represents a more progressive system of assessment as it entails greater engagement not just of the human resource management officer but also the officials and the rank-and-file employees.
The program also aims at serving as search mechanism for best practices in HRM; serving as venue for exchange and development of expertise in the area of HRM between and among government agencies; empowering the agencies in the performance of HRM functions; and promoting and rewarding excellent HRM practices.
The program covers all national and local government agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations with original charter, state universities and colleges, as well as regional offices of agencies with human resource offices or units. (Bureau of Public Information)


Sunfish, napadpad sa dalampasigan ng Zambo

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Isang sunfish o Mola-Mola ang napadpad dito, ngunit kung anu-anong kuro-kuro naman ang bumabalot sa mga residente dahil sa kakulangan ng kaalaman ukol sa naturang isda.
Kamakalawa ay nagulantang ang mga naninirahan sa tabing pampang ng Barangay Sangali ng tumambad sa kanila ang sunfish na halos isang metro ang lapad, ngunit wala na itong buhay.
Takot naman ang umiral sa mga residente doon sa akalang ang paglutang ng sunfish ay sinyales ng paparating na lindol. Ang iba naman ay ikinakatakot na baka magkaroon ng tsunami.
Kamakailan lamang ay isa rin sunfish ang natagpuan di-kalayuan sa Zamboanga State Polytechnic College sa Zamboanga City at noong 2015 at 2013 rin.
Ngunit ayon sa mga dalubhasa ay karaniwang lumulutang ang mga sunfish upang magpainit, subali’t ang iba ay inaatake ng mga mas malalaking isda o kaya ay naaksidente sa ibabaw ng karagatan kung kaya’t humihina ang mga ito hanggang sa mapadpad sa dalampasigan.
Malimit na iniuugnay ng mga Pilipino sa mga lindol ang paglutang ng mga sunfish dahil sa pagiging ignorante ng karamihan. Lalo pa itong nagdulot ng takot sa publiko ng mapadpad ang 3 sunfish sa dalampasigan ng Butuan City, Agusan del Norte at Misamis Occidental bago niyanig ng malakas na lindol ang Surigao City nitong Pebrero 10. (Mindanao Examiner)


Monday, February 27, 2017

Abu Sayyaf beheads German hostage, releases video of grisly murder

ZAMBOANGA CITY – An elderly German national, who was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in November off Tawi-Tawi, a province in the troubled Muslim autonomous region in the Philippines, had been killed and the notorious ISIS-affiliate group even posted a video clip of the execution.
The SITE Intelligence Group - which monitored the Abu Sayyaf activities - reposted on Monday the grisly murder of the 70-year old Jurgen Kantner, who was believed executed on February 26 – the deadline set by his captors for his family to pay the P30 million ransom demand.
In another report by Al Jazeera, the television network said the video showed an elderly captive slumped on a grassy lot and a man holding a knife to his neck.  “Now they'll kill me,” Kantner said before he was brutally killed.
Kantner’s wife, Sabine Merz, 56, was also killed by rebels during the kidnapping. The woman’s naked was found by soldiers on the boat. A shotgun was also recovered near her body, according to the Western Mindanao Command.
The military tagged Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Muamar Askali as behind the kidnapping. Askali originally demanded P500 million ransom for Kantner’s safe release, but lowered this to P30 million, however, Manila also rejected the demand although it said it would not stop the German’s family to pay the ransom.
The Abu Sayyaf demand was contained in a video released on February 14 on Telegram Messenger where it showed Kantner pleading to his government to save his life. The military has not release any statement following reports of Kantner’s execution.
In April 2014, Askali’s group also kidnapped two German yachters - Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and Henrike Diesen, 55, while heading to Sabah from a holiday in the Philippines and demanded P250 million in ransoms in exchange for their lives.
Askali originally demanded from Germany – on top of the ransoms - to cease all support to U.S. coalition campaign against Islamic State which is fighting for a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. The duo was freed six months later after the German government paid the ransoms delivered by Filipino security officials. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding about two dozen Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese sailors kidnapped since last year in Sabah and Basilan province.
The Abu Sayyaf group, formed by Ustadz Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani in 1992 in Basilan, continues to recruit members to fight the government in their attempt to set up a strict Islamic caliphate in Mindanao. Janjalani was killed in a gun battle with the police in Basilan in 1998.
Since then, the group now has hundreds of members in the Muslim autonomous region and the military had miserably failed to stop the growing influence and violent campaigns of the rebel group because it did not sustain the combat operations needed to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf in the restive region. (Mindanao Examiner)


Troops clash with Sayyafs in Basilan province

BASILAN – Government forces clashed Monday with Abu Sayyaf rebels on the troubled province of Basilan, a known stronghold of the notorious group tied to the Islamic State.
The fighting, which started before sunrise, broke out in the town of Al-Barka, also a known lair of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front which is currently holding peace talks with Manila.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command confirmed the fighting, but there were no immediate reports of casualties from both sides. Details of the clashes were also limited, but other reports said troops were pursuing the group of a senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Nurhasan Jamiri, tagged as behind numerous ransom kidnappings in Basilan and Zamboanga Peninsula.
It was unknown whether the military operation was connected to unconfirmed reports that the rebel group has executed German yachter Jurgen Kantner, who was kidnapped at sea off Tawi-Tawi province – also in the autonomous region - in November.
His wife, Sabine Merz, 56, was killed by rebels. The woman’s naked was found by soldiers on the boat. A shotgun was also recovered near her body, according to the Western Mindanao Command. The military tagged Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Muamar Askali as behind the kidnapping and originally demanded P500 million ransom for Kantner’s safe release.
The Abu Sayyaf demand was contained in a video released on February 14 on Telegram Messenger where it showed Kantner pleading to his government to save his life. The military said it also received reports of Kantner’s beheading, but officials would not confirm this unless his body is found.
In April 2014, Askali’s group also kidnapped two German yachters - Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and Henrike Diesen, 55, while heading to Sabah from a holiday in the Philippines and demanded P250 million in ransoms in exchange for their lives.
Askali originally demanded from Germany – on top of the ransoms - to cease all support to U.S. coalition campaign against Islamic State which is fighting for a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. The duo was freed six months later after the German government paid the ransoms delivered by Filipino security officials. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding about two dozen Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese sailors kidnapped since last year in Sabah and Basilan province.
The Abu Sayyaf group, formed by Ustadz Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani in 1992 in Basilan, continues to recruit members to fight the government in their attempt to set up a strict Islamic caliphate in Mindanao. Janjalani was killed in a gun battle with the police in Basilan in 1998.
Since then, the group now has hundreds of members in the Muslim autonomous region and the military had miserably failed to stop the growing influence and violent campaigns of the rebel group because it did not sustain the combat operations needed to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf in the restive region. (Mindanao Examiner)