JTF Central, support agencies strengthen coop vs. illegal drugs

CAMP SIONGCO, Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao --- The Joint Task Force (JTF)  Central met here last June 5 with other government agencies and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (MILF-CCCH) here to discuss matters on the campaign against illegal drugs in Central Mindanao.

JTF Central Commander Brig. Gen. Cirilito E. Sobejana convened and presided over the meeting attended by officials from the Police Regional Office in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, PRO-12, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-ARMM, National Bureau of Investigation-ARMM, brigade and battalion commanders under the JTF Central, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process with the presence of the MILF-CCCH.

The conferees reviewed and revisited the respective mandates of the concerned agencies in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs; discussed issues concerning coordination’s and actual conduct of anti-drugs operations; and came out with measures to eliminate loopholes in actual operations with proper inter-agency coordination. 

The meeting also highlighted the need for coordination with the MILF-CCCH when there is a conduct of operation in all recognized MILF camps. 

MILF-CCCH Chairman Butch Malang assured that the MILF would give their full cooperation about the campaign of the government as he also stressed that the MILF leadership does not tolerate the use of illegal drugs as this is generally forbidden in Islam.

“We are the guards of the gates of change and we have to start the change within us,” Sobejana said as he stressed that the military is doing its internal cleansing through drug test.

Brig. Gen. Sobejana also said that there is a need for inter-agency coordination, collaboration, and cooperation with the PNP and PDEA as the lead agencies in all drug operations with the look-out of the unit commanders to address capability gaps to accomplish the mission without casualties as much as possible. (ODPA, 6th ID/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

VICE-FREE

VICE-FREE --- Newly elected chairwoman Putri Alyssa Ramla M. Angas of Barangay Angkayamat in Sultan Sa Barongis submits her urine sample  to IPHO medical technologist Norhaya Jane Baguindali for drug test along with other barangay officials. (Anne Acosta/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

SSB barangay officials submit to drug testing

 SULTAN SA BARONGIS, Maguindanao --- The newly elected barangay  and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials of this town submitted themselves last June 5 for drug testing as mandated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The process was held at the  municipal gymnasium of this town.

The activity was spearheaded by the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) – Maguindanao led by medical technologist Norhaya Jane Baguindali.

Elected chairwoman Putri Alyssa Ramla M. Angas, eldest daughter  of town Mayor Ramdatu M. Angas, of  Barangay Angkayamat was first to submit herself for drug testing. Outgoing  chairwoman Salamon M. Angas also assisted in the mandatory testing.

The main objective of the activity is to ascertain that the barangay governments and their duly elected officials are free from the use of  illegal drugs, which is now number one enemy of the Philippine government since the Duterte administration took over.

The IPHO personnel administered the drug tests through urine samples. (Anne Acosta/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

ARMM guv urges constituents to keep support for BBL

COTABATO CITY ---  Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman urged his constituents last June 4 to continuously support the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) pending before Congress.

A bicameral conference is set to reconcile the two versions of the proposed law following its passage by both the Senate and the House of Representatives the other week.

“There is no final BBL yet as of now because of the impending bicameral conference of both chambers of Congress. We should just be glad as the President has earlier certified the bill as urgent,” Hataman told regional office workers at the Shariff Kabunsuan Complex here.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said he will immediately sign the bill into law once it lands on his desk.

Hataman has repeatedly expressed his willingness to step down once the BBL becomes a law to give way to the new Bangsamoro political entity that would replace the old ARMM makeup.

“I am glad to inform you that the past seven years that I took over the helm of the ARMM, we have managed to hurdle what many deemed as impossible,” he said.

The governor said the ARMM’s limitations made efforts to develop the region “extra challenging.”

He noted, however, that the accomplishments of the regional government are a shared effort of everyone.“Who could imagine that we could turn the region’s economy from negative to a positive standing? On the aspect of education, for example, we have spun the -.4 percent to 7.3 percent,” he said.

In addition, the governor also noted that more than 1,000 roads across the region have been concreted in the past seven years. “Maybe it’s safe to say that we have done the impossible,” he said.

Hataman called for unity among his constituents, urging them to raise the level of discourse on the issues confronting the ARMM.

“For heavy social media users, maybe it’s time to make negative criticisms of the ARMM into constructive ones,” he said.

The ARMM comprises the cities of Lamitan and Marawi and the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Basilan, and Lanao del Sur. (Noel Punzalan, PNA - Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

Subsidies for 191K poorests in R-12

GENERAL SANTOS CITY --- Some 191,243 poor households in Region-12 or Soccsksargen are set to receive additional cash subsidy under the national government’s unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program.

Bai Zorahayda Taha, Department of Social Welfare and Development-12  director said last June 4 that they have already endorsed the processing of the assistance for the beneficiaries, who have been identified based on a region-wide validation conducted by the agency.

Taha said the validation was based on the agency’s database for the Listahanan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, an information management system that properly documents the poor households nationwide.

She said they completed the updating and encoding of the validated beneficiaries as targeted last May 31.

North Cotabato topped the list with 73,894 households, followed by Sultan Kudarat with 42,806, South Cotabato with 40,097, Sarangani with 26,613, and Cotabato City with 7,833.

The national government launched the subsidy program to assist poor households cope with the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or Train Law.

Beneficiaries will receive monthly subsidies in the next three years, starting with P200 or a total of P2,400 in 2018 and P300 or P3,600 annually in 2019 and in 2020.

Taha said they hired some 657 validators and 46 administrative aides for the house-to-house validation from April 2 to May 5.

She said they employed 37 encoders and two encoding supervisors for the updating of the Listahanan database.

The agency implemented two work shifts from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. to fast track the encoding and updating process, she said.

Taha said the regional office’s National Household Targeting Unit will also lead the hiring of field personnel and validation of prospective beneficiaries for the UCT in the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (PNA/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

RESCUE OPERATION

RESCUE OPERATION --- Using rubber boats, members of a rescue unit from  the ARMM Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (HEART)  rushed to Barangay Tariken, Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao to  bring flooded victims to safer grounds after the area was hit by severe flash floods following continuous heavy rains and subsequent swollen rivers. Hundreds of animals, including cattle, had been drowned by emerging deep waters. It’s saving lives. (Photo by ARMM-HEART/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

MILF: ‘No BBL, no troop decommissioning’

Bangsamoro Transition Commission Chairman Ghazali Jaafar

(Photo file MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

MANILA ---  A Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader on Thursday (June 7) warned that his group would not decommission its forces if no Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is passed.

MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar called on Congress to ensure that the BBL would comply with the 2014 peace accord between the rebels and the government.

"When there is no BBL, there is no decommissiong for us," he told a Makati forum, referring to the last stage of the peace process.

Jaafar cautioned against a "useless" BBL, which could end up rejected in a plebiscite.

Such a version will also fail to convince groups such as the Maute and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters to support the peace process, he said.

"How can we convince them if the BBL passed in Congress is inutile?" he said, courting a negative reaction from Tawi-tawi Rep. Ruby Sahali, who helped steer the bill in the House of Representatives.

"Please don’t call the BBL inutile because we worked hard for it," she said, noting that the House retained some 95 percent of the version drafted by the Jaafar-led Bangsamoro Transition Commission.

End game

Senators and House members are set to sit down from July 9 to 13 to reconcile their respective BBL versions.

One major point of departure is the Senate’s removal of the delineation of exclusive, concurrent, and reserved powers between the national government and the Bangsamoro.

The Senate versions also included what Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III described as "paramenters" for the use of a multi-billion-peso block grant for the Bangsamoro.

These include the condition that the money won’t be used to purchase firearms and ammunition.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s peace adviser Jesus Dureza called on groups to "manage their anxiety" over the current status of the BBL.

"Difficult provisions," he said, could eventually be accommodated under a federal constitution.

"I’m not saying that let’s just take it easy now because federalism will be the end game," he said.

"Let’s move forward and work hard towards getting something very close to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro, but we have a stop gap." (Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News / Google News PH)

Whatever may come out of BiCam Conference can still be mended into progressive law-Jaafar

Bangsamoro Transition Commission (Photo file MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

COTABATO CITY --- In an interview by Manila Bulletin last June 1, Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) Chairman Ghazali Jaafar has appealed for more patience among stakeholders of the just-passed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) versions.

Jaafar said that whatever will be the outcome of the Senate-House bicameral conference can still be mended into “progressive” law.

Many netizens have criticized and reacted to some amendments introduced in the Senate BBL version (SB 1717), most particularly the amendments made by Senators Franklin Drilon and Ralph Recto.

       

“I share that optimism from the context of the process being followed in Congress… The process has not yet ended (with the passage of the BBL the other  week). Of course everybody understand that the process started, in our case, as we (in BTC) wrote BBL --- the proposed (enabling) law of the

Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (forged by MILF and the government in 2014, ” Jaafar told Manila Bulletin during the interview.

Twenty-eight legislators, 18 from the House and 10 from the Senate, will form the Bicameral Conference Committee (BCC) tasked to refine the final version of the BBL that both chambers passed the other week. Half of the bicameral “conferees” come from Mindanao, among them seven Moro representatives.

The task of the BCC is to “settle, reconcile, or thresh out differences or disagreements on any provision of the bill.”

For his part, MILF Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim has acknowledged several substantive provisions have been deleted or amended in the BBL versions and is hoping the BCC could “correct” these.

“The struggle is not yet over. We are still hoping to correct those substantial issues either amended or deleted by both houses. We are still hoping improvements could still be done during the bicam (Bicameral Conference Committee deliberations),” the MindaNews online news network quoted Murad as saying last June on Thursday.

In the same article by Manila Bulletin, Jaafar urged critics against the BBL to refrain from further confusing the public and instead propose ideas that can make it beneficial to all stakeholders.

Whatever is the final outcome of the BBL in the BCC, it can still be refined into “progressive” law in an environment of “progressive” ideas and actions, Jaafar said as quoted by the Manila Bulletin. (Al Iskandar, Luwaran … Source: Manila Bulletin/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

5 SAF troopers get commendation medals

GENERAL SANTOS CITY ---  Five police Special Action Force (SAF) personnel assigned at the Police Regional Office-12 (PRO-12) have received commendation medals for spearheading counter-insurgency operations last month in Glan town, Sarangani province.

Superintendent  Aldrin Gonzales, PRO-12 public information officer, said last June 5 that the SAF troopers helped avert plots to disrupt the conduct of the 2018 Sarangani Bay (SarBay) Festival from May 24 to 27 in the coastal villages of Glan.

Gonzales said the five police officers specifically conducted extended counter-insurgency operations along the boundaries of Barangays Calabanit, Gumasa, and Cablalan.  

“These operations led to the peaceful holding of the Sarangani Bay Festival,” he said in a statement.

Gonzales said the SAF personnel formally received the Medalya ng Papuri or the Philippine National Police (PNP) Commendation Medal in a ceremony held at the PRO-12 headquarters in Barangay Tambler here last June 4.

The awardees were Senior Inspector Marx Deo Aperocho, Senior Police Officer (SPO) 1 Jofrine Maldecir, PO3 Melvin Mamburam, PO1 Bryant Robert Baldesco, and PO1 Godofredo Reputola. They are all assigned under the 42nd Special Action Company, 4th Special Action Battalion of the PNP-SAF.

Gonzales said the SAF unit is mainly tapped by PRO-12 in securing various events and in conducting counter-terrorism operations. It also serves as standby force for search and rescue operations during calamities as well as for civil disturbance management operations and address, he said.

The SarBay festival, considered as the biggest beach event in Mindanao, drew more than 100,000 visitors this year to the white sand beaches of Barangay Gumasa in Glan.

The festivity made a comeback this year after its 2017 edition was cancelled by the provincial government due to the siege of Marawi City and declaration of martial law in Mindanao. (PNA - Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

DepEd-12 hires 3K more teachers

GENERAL SANTOS CITY --- The Department of Education (DepEd) in Region-12 hired some 3,000 additional teachers to address the needs of the area’s public schools for this school year.

Dr. Arturo Bayocot, DepEd Region-12 director, said the newly-hired teachers have been deployed in their assigned schools in parts of Soccsksargen in time for the formal opening of classes last June 4. The region has nine school divisions.

The DepEd-12 targeted an enrollment of around 1.4 million students this year from elementary to senior high school levels. 

Bayocot said the deployment of the additional teachers is part of the agency’s continuing efforts to cope with its planning standards in terms of teacher-student ratio.

He said that from the previous 1:45, the ideal class ratio was set by the DepEd at 1:30, especially in the elementary level, adding that  the move is aimed at further improving the quality of teaching and learning in public schools.

Bayocot said the agency already started addressing the problem during the past several years through its massive classroom construction program.

He said the construction of additional classrooms, which is undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways, is continuing in various public schools within the region.

“Right now, we still have ongoing projects under the 2017 program and we’re expecting more for 2018,” he said.

Because of this, Bayocot said there are no schools in the region that are still holding classes in makeshift classrooms and other venues.

With some of the classroom projects still ongoing, he said there are schools in populated areas that are facing some problems but have been addressed through the temporary implementation of double class shifts. (PNA - Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

FUN RUN 2018

FUN RUN 2018 --- Over 200 employees of the ARMM participated in an evening fun run last June 4 inside the ORG Compound in Cotabato City as a show of support to the Mindanao peace process. On May 30, the House of Representatives and the Senate have approved separate versions of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, a major milestone in the peace process between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and considered a significant step for the attainment of a just and lasting peace in southern Philippines. (Bureau of Public Information – ARMM/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

Maguindanao cops arrest ‘fake policeman’

COTABATO CITY --- Local police in Parang, Maguindanao, filed last June 4 usurpation of authority and illegal possession of firearm charges against a man who posed as a police officer.

Superintendent Ibrahim Jambiran, Parang police chief, identified the suspect as Jaded Ibrahim Mangodacan, who went around town as “Police Officer 2 Mangondacan.”

Police seized from Mangondacan a 9mm Glock pistol, ammunition, police uniform, various police identification cards, and patches.

Jambiran said the town police received a tip from a concerned citizen about a man in police uniform suspiciously roaming around the town's public market.

Jambiran said the tipster, who personally knew Mangondacan, a native of Lanao del Sur, told police the suspect was not a law enforcer.

The suspect did not resist arrest when police accosted him.

Jambiran said Mangondacan was charged with violation of Republic Act 10591 for gun possession, usurpation of authority and falsification of public documents. (Edwin Fernandez, PNA - Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

Army foils bomb plot in Maguindanao

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao --- More checkpoints are being set up along the Maguindanao highway here following a week-end (June 2) foiled roadside bombing attempt by lawless elements in Ampatuan town, the military said.

Last June 2,  the military said troopers from the Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion pre-empted a bomb attack after  concerned civilians reported around 10:00 a.m. the discovery of an improvised explosive device (IED) along the section of the highway at Barangay Saniag in Ampatuan.

Traffic along the highway was temporarily halted for an hour as soldiers cordoned off the area for the safety of motorists.

Members of the Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team of the Army conducted safety procedure that resulted in the recovery of an IED fashioned from an unexploded 105mm cannon projectile, wires, a timing device, and one 9-volt battery as trigger mechanism.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, who personally supervised the safety procedure, said that the primary goal of the bombing attempt is to instill fear to communities in the area.

Sobejana expressed appreciation to the civilians who reported the bomb discovery, encouraging them to cooperate closely with military authorities.

“We should work together for a just and lasting peace without the use of arms and violence,” he said.

Sobejana also commended the troops in the field for a job well done, reminding them to always do the best they can to protect the communities from harm. (Noel Punzalan, PNA-Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

DRUG-STATUS REVIEW

DRUG-STATUS REVIEW --- The Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs of the PDEA-ARMM conducts an emergency meeting in Datu Saudi Ampatuan under Mayor Bai Anida A. Dimaukom and Vice Mayor Bailon Dimaukom and with co-operators regarding developments in the drive against illegal drugs as the body reviews the drug status of the barangays. (Anne Acosta/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

CABINET MEETING

CABINET MEETING --- ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman (2nd from right) convened members of the regional government in a meeting last June 4 at the region's seat in Cotabato City. The meeting discussed comparisons between the Bangsamoro Basic Law drafted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the BBL version passed by the House of Representatives last week.

"We in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao continue to push for a Bangsamoro Basic Law that is compliant with the previousoy signed Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro," Hataman said.

Heads of agencies were also urged to comply with the reports and documents needed for the ARMM's smooth transition to a new government entity, pending the passage of the BBL. (Bureau of Public Information – ARMM/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

Draft federal charter nears its finalization

CHARTER DRAFTERS --- Members of the Consultative Committee at work as the body wants the public to be empowered to amend the charter or amend a law. (Photo by CNN Philippines/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

MANILA --- President Rodrigo R. Duterte will receive the draft federal Constitution before he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23.

Duterte’s Consultative Committee (Concom) to review the 1987 Constitution disclosed this last June 7, noting that the body will have the draft charter submitted to him on July 9.

“ConCom is on track to submit the adopted draft on July 9 in time for the SONA (on July 23),” Concom Senior Technical Assistant and Spokesperson Ding Generoso said in a press conference at the Philippine International Convention Center.

According to Generoso, the completed Articles are now being refined, edited for style and proofread for consistency.

There are only three remaining Articles to be finalized between now and June 14 namely: Federated Regions, Transitory Provisions, and Amendments.

The entire draft Constitution will be voted on in one en banc session tentatively on June 14 before Eid'l Fitr or the end of Ramadan, he added.

Regional consultations

Before finalizing the draft charter, regional presentations and consultations are also expected to take place this month.

The Concom schedule shows that regional consultations will kick off in Dumaguete City from June 17 to 19 and will follow in Butuan and Legaspi City from June 21 to 23, and Baguio and Tacloban City from June 25 to 27.

Generoso said that the Concom will be working with the Presidential Management Staff-Office of Regional Concerns, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Presidential Communications Operations Office-Philippine Information Agency in holding the consultations.

Once the Concom has adopted the complete draft, Generoso said that the Technical Working Group and Secretariat will review and proofread the draft charter to ensure accuracy and consistency.

It will also include side-by-side comparison with the 1987 Constitution to ensure that provisions not intended to be amended, revised or deleted remain consistent. It will also finalize the annotations consolidate all supporting research data, studies, and other documents that will form part of the report to the President.

The Concom will again meet en banc to have one final look at the adopted draft Constitution and review the annotations during the first week of July. (Azer Parrocha, PNA/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

‘Bloody’ BBL bicam debates seen: More differences than similarities

BEFORE Congress resumes sessions on July 23, contingents from the Senate and the House of Representatives will sit in a bicameral conference to iron out differences between their respective bills on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and craft a unified version, likely with help from the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), which drafted the original bill that was certified urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte. 

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, however, expects tumultuous debates before the unified version is crafted to finally legislate self-rule for Muslim Filipinos, which was part of the 2014 peace accord between the Philippine government and the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“It’s going to be bloody,” Zubiri said of the deliberations.

        So how do the House and Senate versions of the BBL compare with each other?

Where they meet, diverge

Both agreed on holding only one plebiscite to determine which areas in Mindanao would join the envisioned Bangsamoro political entity. They had scrapped BTC’s planned multiple plebiscites — one every five years for 25 years.

The areas that could vote to join the region include the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the cities of Cotabato and Isabela, six municipalities in Lanao del Norte (Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan, and Tangkal), 39 barangays in six municipalities in Cotabato province (Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pigkawayan ,and Pikit), and adjacent areas.

Both bills do not have an “opt-out” provision for local government units (LGUs) that may want to leave the Bangsamoro region.

Both agreed to reduce the annual block grant, or the development fund automatically appropriated for the Bangsamoro region annually, from the proposed six percent to five percent of the central government’s revenue.

The House, however, inserted a provision stating that “the block grant shall be released based on development plans and programs and performance-based criteria” prescribed by a fiscal policy board.

To be sure, there are similarities but there are more differences between the two versions of the proposed BBL.

Wealth-sharing scheme

One major difference is on the wealth-sharing arrangement between the Bangsamoro government and the central government.

The House kept the BTC proposal — 75-25 of locally generated revenue in favor of the Bangsamoro. The Senate had set it at 50-50.

The Senate version stated explicitly that the Bangsamoro people were “citizens of the Republic of the Philippines” under the Constitution. This does not appear in the House version.

The Senate deleted mention of Palawan as belonging to the historical range of the Bangsamoro.

The House identified 20 reserved powers of the central government, including those covering the financial and banking system, the Armed Forces, the National Police, jail management, fire protection, the Coast Guard, and elections.

The House said “primary responsibility over public order and safety” over the region would be a national government function.

The Senate version removed the entire provision, stating that all powers not granted to the Bangsamoro shall be vested in the central government.

The House identified 21 “concurrent powers” shared by the central government and the Bangsamoro, including those over energy, natural resources, public utility operations, budgeting, education, and health.

Islamic banking, justice

For the House, the power over Islamic banking and the Shariah justice system has to be shared with the national government in recognition of the functions of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Supreme Court.

The Senate, however, removed this section on “concurrent powers” altogether as it may cause confusion.

It also removed the term “exclusive” from the section on the Bangsamoro’s exclusive powers, saying its government shall just “exercise authority” over certain identified sectors. The House retained the word.

The Senate added a prohibition on political dynasty, which does not appear in the original BTC or House versions.

The Senate explicitly stated that the rights of indigenous peoples (IPs) granted by the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (Ipra) shall be preserved and not diminished.

The House did not mention the Ipra, stating only that the Bangsamoro government shall recognize and promote the rights of non-Moro IPs “within the framework of the Constitution and existing laws.”

Duterte assured

House members wary of constitutionality retained the national government’s power over the law enforcement agencies, the administration of justice, and the functions of the constitutional commissions.

Congress leaders have assured President Duterte that the unified version of House Bill No. 6475 and Senate Bill No. 1717 would be ready for signing into law on July 23, the day he delivers his third State of the Nation Address.

Zubiri said one contentious provision was allowing five towns in Lanao del Norte and 39 barangays in North Cotabato to join the Bangsamoro region through a majority vote of its residents in a plebiscite.

These LGUs had voted for inclusion into the ARMM in 2001, but remained in their predominantly Christian mother provinces or towns that had opted out of the autonomous region.

The House added a qualifier to its version: The LGUs may only join the Bangsamoro region if their mother province or town votes for inclusion.

Zubiri repeatedly warned his colleagues during the deliberation that such a provision might trigger bloodshed in those areas, which were considered hotbeds of conflict because the MILF had encampments there. (DJ Yap & Vince F. Nonato, inquirer.net / Google News PH

The Senate retained the BTC proposal upon the appeal of the peace negotiators. (DJ Yap & Vince F. Nonato, Inquirer.net / Google News PH/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

Editorial

Of all the trash & garbage

It’s saddening and regrettable that the Philippines is one of the countries among five (is it in the ASEAN region?) that contribute to pollution in the seas because of plastic trash/garbage that are thrown into the ocean. Even Boracay beach is polluted because of wastes thrown into the waters that prompted the government to close the holidays there. Are the stretches of Kusiong beach at Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao that environmentally clean? One could get itch in taking  a swim in Talomo beach in Davao City.

One thing is obvious. Many Filipinos, including commercial/industrial firms, have not yet developed the culture of environmental care in the surroundings… except perhaps at our vey homes. Go around our city and we see litters on the side streets and in canals with all those plastic bottles and food wrappers. Worst we see a stray animals that discharge their urine and feces in the open, thus, can cause diseases carried by flood waters.

       

Yes, we see street sweepers on the street and main thoroughfares in our barangays, but after the sweeping, the areas are dirtied again because of wanton and discriminating littering by unconscientious people. Yes, we have anti-littering ordinances but how are these strictly enforced? Yes, we have floodings because our geographical setting is a catch basin of flood waters, and partly because canals are being clogged by trash and garbage.

       

When do we develop the culture of cleanliness or environmental care? When do we imbibe the movement: “Tapat ng bahay ay linis ko.” Is it a heavy burden to dispose trash and garbage properly? Are the open fields or streets the proper discharge of litters?

       

There is the saying that “cleanliness is next to godliness.” How good are we at this? When canals overflow because of clogging, then we call on the government to clean up the mess when in fact people contribute to this mess. Remember that pollution is man-made and not the work of nature… nature could clean its own mess if it does.

Let us learn our lessons for if not we become the victims of our own mess. Put your trash, garbage, and dirts into the proper places or you become a trash in yourself. Polllution kills the environment from where we gather the resources for survival. So, what’s gonna be this time? Let us be ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE.

       

We pray that those irresponsible will transform themselves into RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS --- to clean their own dirt.