ARMM, MTRCB to hold a forum on media’s role in the Mindanao peace process

Cotabato City (June 17, 2016) – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) will hold a forum on the role of media in the Mindanao peace process.

The event, dubbed ‘Forum on Movies and Television: Can it Bridge Peace, Mindanao and the Bangsamoro?’ will be held on Monday, June 20, in Quezon City and will bring together 30 MTRCB officials, talents, production staff, as well as movie and TV writers.

The forum will discuss topics on the role of media and MTRCB in sustaining the gains of the peace process in Mindanao and the non-stereotyping of Muslim-Filipinos towards national understanding through history, arts and culture.

Forum speakers include Sittie Jehanne Mutin, chairperson of the ARMM’s Regional Commission on Bangsamoro Women; Atty. Jose Lorena, undersecretary of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process-Malacanang; and actor and peace advocate Robin ‘AbdulAzis’ Padilla.

“The ultimate goal of the forum is to strengthen Filipino nationalism and understanding,” Mutin said. “The activity will be a venue for dialogue and exchange of ideas on sustainable peace among ARMM, MTRCB and other stakeholders,” she added.

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman and MTRCB chairperson Eugenio Villareal will also sign on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would help bridge the gap between public perception on Muslim culture and way of life by correcting media’s common misconceptions.

MTRCB board members Maria Lourdes Lilia Supnet and Jay Revestir, chairperson Mutin and ARMM-Manila laiason officer Jolly Lais will witness the signing ceremony.

The MoU will commit the two parties to conduct collaborative media literacy symposia involving MTRCB, the ARMM, and media practitioners including film directors, producers and writers.

The ARMM and the MTRCB will also launch education campaigns that would increase public awareness on the role of women in nation-building and the Magna Carta of Women on film and to uphold, preserve and advance the cultural beliefs, practices and values of the Muslim community.

The MTRCB will also hold ‘Matalinong Panonood’ – a series of seminars on public information and education initiatives to correct the depiction of the Muslim community in movies and television. (Bureau of Public Information – Mindanao Expose)

ARMM island provinces soon to experience stable power supply

Cotabato City (June 16, 2016) – The island provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will soon experience stable supply of electricity after a local corporation made a commitment to improve the power situation in the three areas.

After securing a power purchase agreement from the Tawi-Tawi Electric Cooperative, Kaltimex Rural Energy Corp. – the local affiliate of an Indonesian-Indian firm known for its expertise in providing power in off-grid islands in Indonesia – has decided to make available a P400-million eight-megawatt diesel-fed power barge in Tawi-Tawi. The project will expand its capacity in the future thru co-generation with a solar power plant.

Kaltimex is also planning to put up a similar project in the province of Sulu and is now coordinating with the Sulu Electric Cooperative. Part of the company’s investment strategy is to provide services in off-grid and isolated island electric power markets, or SPUG (small power utilities group), in the Philippines including Basilan.

Lawyer Ishak Mastura, chairman and managing head of the ARMM Regional Board of Investments (RBOI-ARMM), said “Sulu archipelago suffers from perennial brownouts, or no running electricity at all, in many of its parts.” He further said “it is literally gripped in darkness because electricity coverage is sporadic. Some communities have no access at all to electric power.”

“Even if there is electricity in some parts, there is a long-running energy deficit due to lack of additional power generation capacity and dilapidated equipment. Thus, they suffer from regular brownouts with only a few hours of power in a 24-hour cycle,” he added.

Atty. Mastura said that electric power access brings many benefits to the communities and their residents such as access to a range of social, economic, and technological advances. He added that the Kaltimex project will improve the “dire situation” in the island provinces of ARMM in terms of human and economic development.

Re-elected ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman emphasized that among the primary goals in his new term is to make sure that Basilan, Sulu and Tawi Tawi will have no more brownouts through more energy investments that will in turn power industries and bring light to the islands’ communities.

In the first quarter of 2016, RBOI-ARMM registered a P1.3-billion project from Gintong Agri Corp, a company engaged in oil palm plantation development. The region already exceeded its target for 2016 of P900 million investments. In 2015, the agency registered a total of P6.5 billion, the biggest in the history of the ARMM. (Bureau of Public Information – Mindanao Expose)

Thanksgiving Celebration of Cotabateños

IN CELEBRATION --- Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani, Jr. and Vice Mayor-elect Frances Chynthia Guiani-Sayadi led the “Thanksgiving Celebration of Cotabateños” on occasion of the duo’s birthday fest last June 6 at the lobby of the People’s Palace. It was also a moment for reciprocating public support to the Guiani administration On that occasion and as part of the start of the Ramadan season, the re-elected mayor announced the grant of 100 percent salary hike for permanent employees and the release of the Livelihood Fund and Back to School Bonus. (By Zubaida P. Malawani with photo from Japal “Jojo” Guiani’s post in Mobile uploads)

Independence Day Message of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman

Today we celebrate the 118th year of our country's independence.

We are blessed to live in a time when we can speak freely about our hopes and aspirations as Filipinos, a time when we can elect our government officials in accordance with our beliefs, and a time when we can assert our rights and dignity as a people.

But this freedom did not come without a price. Many Filipinos fought and died for this.

This week, we also commemorate the Battle of Bud Bagsak, the battle that showed the Bangsamoro spirit of courage and bravery in the face of colonizers who dared to try and take away our life and liberty.

Our birthright to our identity as Bangsamoros is one that we continue to assert in the face of marginalization and the oppression of our people.

It is our hope that in a country that takes pride in being the oldest democracy in Southeast Asia, we can continously share in the lives of our fellow Filipinos without judgment and fear.

This is why today, more than any other day, is a day for us to remember the cost of our freedom.

Let us stand together as a free nation and protect and fight for this freedom against those who wish to steal it from us, against those who desire to trample and desecrate the very essence of our independence.

It is our duty to honor the memory of those who lost their lives fighting for the freedom we have today. (Bureau of Public Information – ARMM)

ARMM all set for 118th Independence Day celebrations

The Office of the Regional Governor - ARMM install flags and flaglets in Cotabato City on Friday, June 10, 2016, in preparation for the country's 118th Independence Day celebrations on Sunday, June 12, 2016. (Omar Mangorsi)

Two Leaders with the same Vision for their people

Cotabato City, June 8, 2016 - Two Leaders with the same Vision for their people-- Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and Cotabato City Mayor Japal J. Guiani, Jr.

Mayor Guiani was invited by President Duterte for a personal meeting in Davao City. The two talked about Mayor Guiani's plans on expanding the investment potentials of Cotabato City and be able to create more jobs that will be available not only to the people of Cotabato City, but of its neighboring towns and provinces as well.

Mayor Guiani said, his plans were given a thumbs up by President Duterte as the incoming Chief Executive of the country also strongly believes that peace and order will come when people have jobs to feed their families and send their children to school.

The two also talked about how to join forces in their fight against illegal drugs. The people of Cotabato City will be expecting several operations against identified drug dealers here in the coming months.

Mayor Guiani assured the President that he will be supportive of his plans and his actions as long as it is for the greater good of his people.

A couple of meetings with President Duterte is also being scheduled for further discussions on how to make Cotabato City a Special Economic Zone and put up satellite offices (e.g Food and Drugs Authority) that can help in promoting the Halal food industries here. (Halima K. Satol)