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Mar 022015
 
 Mohagher Iqbal, Chief Negotiator INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Mohagher Iqbal, Chief Negotiator INQUIRER PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Sunday said it also wanted justice for its 18 fighters, as well as for five civilians, killed in the Mamasapano clash with members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) last Jan. 25.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, in a statement, said justice should also be served the families of the 18 MILF combatants and five civilians slain during the encounter and not only government troopers.

“Seeking justice should not be confined on the (fate of the) SAF 44, but should be extended to also include the orphans and widows of the 18 MILF fighters and five civilians killed in the Mamasapano incident,” Iqbal said.

It was not clear as to how the MILF wanted justice served, but Iqbal hinted that everything would hinge on the third party country facilitator Malaysia and which has been aided by international observer-countries in the peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF.

Culpability on the part of MILF members or of the government forces, if any, would be best determined in an international forum where the MILF would be treated as a “non-state actor,” Iqbal said.

He noted that during the third day of the Senate hearing on the Mamasapano tragedy last month, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago raised the issue of the UN International Law on Belligerency by asking Justice Secretary Leila de Lima if the law could be applied to the MILF, “as a non-state actor,” instead of the national law on insurgency.

Answering on the affirmative, De Lima added that “international laws form part of the laws of the land, your honor,” recalled Iqbal.

Iqbal said he respected Santiago “as an erudite woman and an acknowledged constitutionalist.”

Iqbal’s statement also came amid reports that an Indonesian was among those killed with the MILF in Mamasapano.

On an accusation by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano that the MILF was coddling a terrorist, Iqbal said the reality was that Indonesians have been freely traveling from Davao del Sur to Indonesia and vice versa, without visa requirement, and it would be difficult to determine who among them was a foreign terrorist.

Regional trade cooperation agreements include waiver of the visa requirement on business tourists from member-countries of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

Moreover, he said, “the Indonesians are our brothers, because they also (belong to the) Malay (race),” he said.

“We only accord them the Bangsamoro hospitality. (But) we don’t (actually monitor) their activities.”

“It has been said over again, from the time we wrote the President of the United States of America on January 20, 2003, that the MILF renounce terrorism and we have no links with the terrorist groups, like the Jemaah Islamiyah,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal stressed that the “misencounter” between the SAF and the MILF was a result of lack of proper coordination.

“What happened here (Mamasapano) was (that) there was no coordination. The last encounter between MILF and military was in 2011 in Al Barka (Basilan). Since then, there has been no encounter except until the tragic incident on Jan. 25, 2015,” Iqbal said.

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Feb 062015
 
DFA: We have yet to locate 3 OFWs abducted in Libya

popular Paulo Avelino on KC Concepcion: My ‘longtime crush’ Ex-MILF spokesman doubts Moro fighters will turn over weapons Aquino knew of Mamasapano mission; Purisima called the shots – SAF chief Replace P-Noy? Cure is worse than disease PLDT extending free Internet scheme 2 dead, 11 hurt as Taguig condo flooring collapses Aquino LP ally: Suspend BBL hearings Marwan finger cut off for DNA videos Purisima may face contempt over alleged role in Mamasapano clash -Ombudsman Plan to oust Aquino over Mamasapano carnage bared Cayetano: Mamasapano clash a terror attack, massacre Trillanes: Marwan death ‘absolves’ Aquino Fertility dance marks filing of SC petition to stop Obando landfill Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman and Assistant Secretary Charles Jose. AFP FILE PHOTO CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has yet to locate the three Filipinos abducted by still unidentified men in an oil depot in Libya on February 3. Speaking to reporters in a press briefing on Friday, DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said they have no information regarding the situation of the three abducted Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as the perpetrators were still unidentified. “We are still determining the location of the three Filipinos and their situation because we haven’t identified the group behind the abduction,” Jose said. He said the employers of the three OFWs have also not received any information regarding the abducted Filipinos. He added that no ransom has been demanded from the Philippine government and even to their employers. According to Jose, they have Read More …

Feb 062015
 
East Timor resistance hero PM offers resignation

In this Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. East Timor independence hero Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao resigned as prime minister Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, stepping down ahead of an expected restructuring of the government next week. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File) Dili, East Timor — East Timor resistance hero Xanana Gusmao has submitted his resignation as prime minister, the government said Friday, after more than a decade leading the half-island nation during the early years of its independence. The president must now decide whether to accept the resignation of the 68-year-old, who has served as either president or prime minister since East Timor became independent in 2002 following a long struggle against Indonesian occupation. The departure of the former guerrilla fighter would deprive East Timor of a unifying figure who has helped resolve numerous crises, but analysts say it is time for Gusmao to step aside to enable a transition to a new generation of leaders. Speculation had been mounting that Gusmao would step aside soon after he began talks with the president earlier this week about a major government overhaul, which is expected to be announced in the coming days. In a statement Friday, the government said that Gusmao “has sent his letter of resignation from the post of prime minister to the president”, Taur Matan Ruak. “It is now for the president of the republic to consider and respond to Read More …

Jan 302015
 
PH a ‘crying baby’ for opposing China island-building, says state media

China’s official news agency on Friday likened the Philippines to a “crying baby” for seeking international support against island-building in disputed waters by Beijing, denouncing its efforts as “pathetic”. The caustic commentary by the Xinhua news agency came two days after foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) voiced concern over Beijing’s land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea. Manila — which has challenged China’s territorial claims at a UN tribunal — had urged the 10-country grouping to take a firmer stand against Beijing on the issue. “Only one month after an arbitration farce, the Philippines is putting up another pathetic show in an attempt to lobby international sympathy and support in its territorial spat with China,” Xinhua wrote. “Manila should be fully aware that acting like a crying baby and begging for compassion from the international community would never help justify its claims in the South China Sea dispute,” it said. The dispute “should and could be properly handled only by the parties directly concerned”, it added. China says it controls almost all of the South China Sea, a claim which conflicts with those of ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as non-member Taiwan. Manila accused Beijing last year of reclamation work around isolated reefs in the Spratly islands, which could hold fortified positions or even airstrips. Beijing has repeatedly rejected Philippine protests, saying that the projects were being conducted in Chinese sovereign territory. On Wednesday, following a two-day ministers’ meeting Read More …

Dec 062014
 
Oil firms trim prices; transmission firm announces power disruptions

MANILA—True to the market buzz toward the weekend, the oil companies were to implement fuel price cuts one stroke after midnight Saturday or 12:01 a.m. Sunday, December 7. Petron and Shell said in separate announcements they would roll back prices of gasoline by P2.50 per liter, diesel by P2.25 per liter, and kerosene by P2.25 per liter. Seaoil and PTT Philippines said they were implementing similar price cuts from 12:01 a.m. PTT Philippines does not carry kerosene products. These reflect price movements in the international oil market, where demand has been weakening since the oil boom in the U.S. earlier this year. Crude oil prices have been weakening from over $100 per barrel earlier this year to just below $70 per barrel as exporting countries failed to agree to cut output during a recent meeting. Industry observers in the Philippines, meanwhile, said the timing is also right for consumers wanting to fill up their vehicles in anticipation of higher demand after Typhoon Ruby passes through the country and possibly disrupts retail services in flood-prone areas. Meanwhile, the approach of Typhoon Ruby already affected several transmission facilities in the provinces of Quezon, Northern and Eastern Samar, Iloilo and Camarines Sur, as of 3 p.m. Saturday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said in a press statement. There were outages in these areas, the scale of which depended on whether all or part of the distribution utilities networks are affected. So far, in Luzon, the affected facilities were the Pitogo-Mulanay 69-kV Read More …