Some things never change.The Monsoon can wreck Mindanao's rice crop,the Japanese Tsunami slash Nuclear Melt Down can reek havoc with Mindanowan exports but one industry remains immune to such vagaries.What you ask?Why of course I am talking about one of Mindanao's leading industries:KFR.KFR,or Kidnap for Ransom drives a large segment of the Central and Western Mindanowan economies.Somehow that irrefutable nugget of truth fails to comfort me.
On January 29,2011 Joel Indino Jr. was walking down Nunez Street in Zamboanga City when a green minivan pulled up along side of him.At 100PM the streets were jampacked with people and yet noone even screamed as 3 men,each holding a 45 caliber pistol got out and quickly surrounded young Mr.Indino.If the 19 year old college sophmore expected onlookers to help him he was surely disappointed.Before he could even wrap his mind around the events unfolding around him 1 of the gunmen told him in no uncertain terms that he would have to get into the van.Indino complied and the group quickly sped off.
Contacing Joel's family later that weekend the kidnappers opened negotiations by demanding P15 Million (~$320,000).When the kidnappers failed to drop the ransom quickly enough Indino's father,Joel Indino Sr.,made one of the toughest decisons of his life.As I explained in another recent KFR entry,negotiations are very fluid,with both sides knowing that the initial demand is really just a formality,sn opening gambit.Joel Sr.knew this better than most as a local politician,serving as the Barangay Chairman of Barangay Guiran in Payao,Zamboanga Sibugay Province.So,it must have been with conflicted emotions on February 7th that he phoned the Zamboamga Sibugay Provincial Police Office (PPO-Zamboanga Sibugay).The decision to do so is raising more than a few eyebrows.
KFR,as I noted at the beginning of this entry,is an unfortunately common part of life on Mindanao.As with all facts of like the authorities that be have managed to devise very specific protocols to deal with it.SOP,or Standard Operating Procedure,dictates that,just as in most any nation,the crime is centered on the point of abduction.In other words,the municipality in which the subject was kidnapped,Zamboanga City,is the municipality that serves as the investigatory focal point.If a person from Manila is kidnapped in Davao City,it is Davao City and not Manila that serves as the investigating municipality.In other words,the Zamboanga City CPO (City Police Office) is the lead agency according to SOP.
That Joel Indino Sr. called the wrong police department isn't unusual at all.Even most politicians are at a loss to name all law enforcement bodies within their own AOR (Area of Responsibility),much less understand their jurisdictional limitations and powers.Therefore,it is up to law enforcement to always follow established procedure.When Mr.Indino called PPO-Zamboanga Sibugay,its Director,Sr.Supt.Ruben D.Cariaga would normally guide the case on a parallel course to PPO-Zamboanga del Norte,the Police Provincial Office supervising the Zamboanga City CPO.His colleague at PPO-Zamboanga del Norte would then deliver it to the mayor of that municipality,Celso Lobregat.As it was,Mayor Lobregat would later offer that he was unaware that a kidnapping had even taken place.He had merely been informed that a second year student at Universidad de Zamboanga (University of Zamboanga) had gone missing.
SOP dictates that the municipality of abduction always empanels its own Task Force with the mayor automatically asssuming the role of Task Force chairman,at least on paper.In reality it is entirely dependent upon a given mayor's knowledge,ability and force of personality.As one might imagine,top tier personnel,whether in the PNP (Philippine National Police,ALL police in the Philippines are PNP) or in government are text book alpha males.Highly cpnfident to the point of arrogance and extremely territorial to boot they bristle at sublimation.Most mayors lack the neccessary qualities needed to fend off an under the table organisational coup.Once a mayor creates a task force he (or she) empanels the head of every police department within their AOR,as well as the commanding officer of the local AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) brigade (and usually the specific IB,Infantry Battalion as well).The idea of course is to launch a multi-pronged response that will block the captors movement,preventing them from taking their hostage out of the immediate area.More over,though it very rarely happens,the task force aims to interdict the captors and safely rescue the captive.This being the Philippines,it never happens.Looking back over the last decade there has only been one such attempt,involving a green SOCOM (Special Operations Command/Special Forces) element on the curious Philippine innovation known as a"Test Mission" (a unit's very first operation after training where they must make armed contact to"pass."The idea borders on the retarded since armed contact should NEVER be a goal in and of itself).The case in question involved the Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Abu Subayah and 3 of his captives:
1) American missionary slash bush pilot Martin Burnham
2) His wife,American missionary Gracia Burnham
3) Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap
Stumbling around the Zamboangan Peninsula amid reports Abu Subayah had spirited his captives across the strait from Basilan Island,the junior officer leading his newly trained men through the jungle found some recently discarded candy wrappers strewn across foot trails.In true Hansel and Gretel fashion they followed this curious trail until they heard voices.Setting up a permiter,in a torrential downpour,they waited until everybody in the small clearing was stationary and then let loose with all their considerable firepower.Among the dead guerillas,all 3 captives had been shot.Gracia Burnham alone survived with a terrible wound to the leg.Her saving grace being the initial shot that had propelled her out of her hammock and down a steep ravine.Almost all guerillas survived and escaped.
This is yet another reason why the families of hostages don't want the government coming near them during kidnappings.Since then as well,unwritten protocol has had the AFP lay unclosed perimeters so as to offer kidnappers an escape route so as to avoid a"fight to the finish."Knowing the score the kidnappers leave their quarry in an exchange of their captive for their own freedom,though it is a standard diversionary tactic independent of the proffered escape route.This scenario takes place fairly often.
With Joel Indino Sr. having notified the PPO in his home province of Zamboanga Sibugay,a task force was formed by PPO Director,Sr.Supt.Ruben D.Cariaga.Adding to the curious goings on,the make up consisted almost entirely of PPO personnel with just 1 exception.The sole"outsider"was a single officer from the Payao MPO (Municipal Police Office),Payao being the Indino's hometown.Why did this strange course of action take place?One can begin to understand when we learn who Chaired"Task Force Indino."Sr.Supt.Cariaga picked his right hand man,Supt.Geraldo Benjamin A.Avengoza.
Supt.Avengoza is a convicted murderer,or to be fair,a convicted accesory to murder.On June 05,1992 SPO1 Isgani Torrefranca Bayang and PO2 Diosdado Catacutan Esparagosa presented themselves at the Leon B.Postigo (the town was formerly known as Bacungan) MPO to take receipt of 1 prisoner for transport to the PPO for interrogation.The prisoner,Mamerto Victosa had been arrested that morning for theft.Unfortunately for the unsuccessful thief he had stolen a police officer's 38 caliber service revolver.In any such theft there is a serious chance of"reprecussions"should the thief be caught.Like all men in uniform the average police officer world over is overly attached to his weapon.More than that,having lost it to theft the officer faces serious consequences professionaly and of course loss of face amongst colleagues.Police everywhere,even more than soldiers,stand in solidarity with one another.Should you attack a family member of any police officer all other police will take your capture (at the very least) as a personal crusade.The same holds true for embarassing one of their colleagues,but how much more so when the revolver in question belonged to SPO1 Bayang himself,1 of the officers now picking up the suspect?
Leaving the MPO,prisoner in tow,the 2 officers joined their waiting superior for the long ride to PNP Camp Hamac in Dipolog City's Barangay Sicayab,the headquarters of the Zamboanga del Norte PPO.Sadly for Mr.Victosa they reached their destination without him.He was found the next day,his hands tied behind his back with 3 rounds in his chest.It didn't take long to point a finger at Officers Bayang and Catacutan,and not much longer to drag their superior into that clusterfuc* of a mess.The superior?None other than (now) Supt.Avengoza.Philippine Justice is at best a hit and miss affair.It took until 2000 to secure convictions in the case and only then because Officer Esparagosa testified against Bayang and Avengoza.Though Avengoza continued fighting the case through 2006 his sentence of 46 to 48 months has stood.Because he had been held longer than 4 years he was credited with time served and so the conviction didn't effect his freedom.In most nations a convicted murderer would be bounced from the force in disgrace.On Mindanao at least he is welcomed back with open arms and promoted to a position of command.
Supt.Avengoza was most like appointed Chairman of Task Force Indino so as to send a clear message to the kidnappers.From time to time rare personalities end up deployed to such areas,whether in the PNP or the AFP.The most successful commanders dealing with KFR are able to achieve positive results by coming across as just as ruthless as the kidnappers themselves,if not more.One memorable CO (Commanding Officer) of the 103rd Brigade in Marawi City vowed to kidnap 2 members of a KFR shotcaller's (leaders of KFR organisations) family for every civilian kidnapped by the man's group.KFR then reached an all time low for that AOR.What about in the case of Task Force Indino,did it work?Not really.Joel Indino Jr.wasn't released,negotiations were more affable but that was the jist of it.The original demand of P15 Million was however eventually reduced to slightly more than P1 Million (~$22,000).Finally,on April 16th,after 77 days in captivity,Joel was released in Sitio Tando Pataw,Barangay Poblacion in his hometown of Payao after a member of the Payao MPO deposited P1M (~$22,000) into an anonomyous bank account in an Ipil bank.Physically fine,the young man rejoined his family.
I need to add that for the last 2 years the entire Zamboangan Peninsula has had a new PNP innovation with which to counter KFRs.DIPO,or Directorate of Integrated Police Operations,is especially created to overcome jurisdictional issues and problems.I disccussed this in my most recent First Quarter of 2011 KFR entry in slightly more detail.This makes Barangay Chairman Indino's decison to utilise PPO-Zamboanga Sibugay even more curious.
On April 04,2011 13 year old Saima Amontao was walking on Lumber Street in Barangay Lower Dansalan in Marawi City.Having just left a school graduation ceremony she was now on her way to perform an errand for her mother.Passing the Reclamation Site with her friend a black van sped by before quickly backing up and stopping.The van's side door quickly opened and extended arms pulled the young girl in as her terrified friend gaped in horror.Two days later in neighbouring Lanao del Norte Province a highly shaken Saima walked into Iligan City's CPO #1 in Barangay Tambo and told an incredible story.
Miss Amontao said that after being pulled inside the van by 5 men and 1 woman she was quickly driven to Cagayan del Oro City in Misamis Oriental Province.Arriving at a 3 story home near the airport (she heard frequent flights over head) she was placed in a room guarded by armed men.With her were approximately 30 other children,mostly under 10 years of age.Unbeknownst to her captors,Manaw (Maranoan) Tribesmen,she too is a Maranaw and so was able to eavesdrop on bits and pieces of their conversation.Apparently she and the others were being held by an organised ring that provides kidneys to the black market.
I think it was about 2006 when Luzon was swept with Urban Legend SMS (Text) Messages that warned against such things.Interestingly the stories progressed to the point where dead children were being found with P50,000 (~$1,100) stuffed into their body where 1 kidney had been and then sewn up in rudimentary fashion.Then the story evolved to where eyes were being sold.A little girl was found with her eyes removed and money stuffed into her empty eye sockets.The stories were all similarly ridiculous in nature,as if such degenerates were going to throw 60,000 Pesos out with a dead body to say nothing of the fact that only live kidneys are viable.
With that said,there is indeed a black market organ trade taking place in the Philippines just as in any under developed nation.However they use very willing adults and pay them up to P250,000 for a viable kidney (~$5,000).There would be little need to assume such massive risks by kidnapping a young child.To say nothing of her claim about 30 such children...Then,Saima claimed that 1 of her guards discovered that she too was Maranaw and so aided her in escaping after two days in captivity.With the money she had when kidnapped she took a jeepney (public transportation) and inadvertantly ended up in Iligan City.
The curious part though is not that she found some support from Iligan City PNP officers,but that the local NBI Office took her story seriously enough to investigate.The NBI,or National Bureau of Investigation (akin to the American FBI) is the investigatory arm of the DOJ (Department of Justice).They are usually capable and well trained.The NBI went so far as to drive the young lady to Cagayan del Oro City and cruise the neighbourhoods near the airport in an effort to locate the home in question.I don't want to be absolutely dismissive of her story knowing quite well that people who have survived incredible ordeals quite often are brushed off as attention seekers and so on.The cases of the American serial killers John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer come quickly to mind.It took many years for authorities to see that the stories were true and by then many more had died horrible deaths.Conversely,she is 13,Maranaw and disappeared for 2 days.In her culture running away with a boy can earn her a death sentence from her own family so who can say what the poor girl has experienced.
Showing posts with label Zamboanga del Norte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zamboanga del Norte. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Development Aggression for Second Quarter, 2011, Part II: More Tampakan, Aboitiz in Davao del Sur and TVI in Siocon
In Part I for the Second Quarter I devoted my entry to the recent violence and mishaps with the Tampakan Project centered in South Cotabato Province.I say"centered"because the endeavor aims to create an Open Pit gold,silver and copper mine spanning 4 provinces:
1) South Cotabato
2) Davao del Sur
3) Sarangani
4) Sultan Kudarat
In that entry I very briefly touched upon the mudslides that took place within that mining tenement but didn't offer much information.
On Saturday,April 2nd,2011 after 2 days of torrential downpour a Banlas (large scale sluice operation in local dialect) Operation was subsumed in a massive mudslide.Five B'laan Tribesmen were working inside a tunnel with an entry underneath the Banlas.Only 1 of the 5 managed to run before 2 hectares of denuded mountainside came crashing down.Of the 4 remaining miners,1 was buried up to his waist and despite internal bleeding has survived.The remaining 3 weren't nearly as fortunate.Only 2 of the men have been positively identified:
1) Ramram Payuri,of Tampakan
2) Remy Malaya,also from Tampakan
The 3rd man is still unidentified but is said to be from the town of Tupi,also in South Cotabato Province.
The landslide came only days after another deadly mudslide in the municipality of T'boli in that same province. On Wednesday March 30 in that town's Barangay Kematu another Banlas Operation came crashing down hill and covered yet another Tunnel Operation.Just as in the latter incident there were 5 men,all T'boli Tribesmen.Two were critically injured,three died but T'boli officials aren't releasing the names.Ironically it was in the municipality of T'boli that Banlas Mining first took hold in Central Mindanao.Just as the new century began small scale miners from Luzon imported the devastating method.Denuding surrounding forests to build giant sluices they set up next to rivers and directly pump enormous volumes of water over the denuded mountain slope,forcing the mud into the sluice and then into huge piles of tailings.The runoff,often containing fun stuff like mercury and cyanide,not to mention enormous amounts of sediment then flow directly into the rivers which not only irrigate the entire region but provide its drinking water as well.This isn't even touching upon the estuaries,mangroves and coral reefs which are absolutely devastated.
The deaths in Barangay Kematu were the first for the year there but death is not unusual.The last fatal incident took place in late 2010 when 2 brothers,both T'boli Tribesmen,were working a Tunnel Mine and lost their oxygen supply due to a generator cut off.Both suffocated.
With the Tampakan mudslide an aggravated provincial government,already very much anti-mining turned up the heat. South Cotabato's PEMO (Provincial Environmental Management Office) promptly recommended that Governor Arthur Pingoy Jr. issue an Emeregency Stop Work Order for at least the Tampakan tenement to try and address the proliferation of illegal small scale mining on the tract.Ideally the tenement holder,in this case SMI (Sagittarius Mines Inc.) Would ensure that its tenement remained free of such dangerous activities.Of course in this case SMI is happy to let the Governor deal with the headache since the province has banned Open Pit Mining,an issue I addressed in that previous entry,"Second Quarter 2011,Part II."
Governor Pingoy very quickly signed the order,and had the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) deploy 2 composite detachments to ensure that the Tampakam tenement stays closed for the interm. The government aims to undertake surveys via 2 agencies.The agencies,PMRB. (Provincial Mining Regulatory Board) and MGB's (Mining and Geosciences Bureau) Regional Office will inspect the tenement,then create and implement safety mechanism and regulations before the governor finally rescinds his order.Naturally this doesn't make local miners too happy.They are well aware that should the Tampakan Project eventually circumvent the Open Pit Mining Ban their operations will be promptly shut down.Every day that they aren't operating is another day in which they stand to lose their entire investment.
Complicating things are the paramilitaries that always accompany the proliferation of illegal mining on Mindanao. That particular site has 2 separate B'laan Tribal Paramilitaries operating.In fact,they are the impetus behind Governor Pingoy's decison yesterday,April 18th,to undertake an aerial survey instead of entering the tenement on the ground.Unfortunately for the governor,the skies were much too cloudy and so the 2 seater prop lent out by Japanese-owned Sumifro,a commercial banana operation in that province,touched down not long after takeoff.Nothing was accomplished.
A bit to the south,in Davao City,in neighboring Davao del Sur Province the Aboitiz Project moves even closer to realisation.For those unfamiliar with the issue,Aboitiz Power Corporation ("ABC") is aiming to build a 350 megawatt Coal Fired Power Plant in that city's outlying Toril District.To be built in Barangay Binugao,on the border of the adjoining municipality of Santa Cruz (actually partially in that municipality),in Barangay Inawayan. Despite the island being desperate to diversify its power production due to an over-reliance on hydro-power that left the island-literally-high and dry this past summer,coal fired energy naturally has more than a modicum of opposition.
The project was initially opposed by local warlord,Vice Mayor Rodrigo"Roddy"Duterte has had smoothe sailing since buying him off,ooops,silly me,I meant to say,"since convincing him with intellectualy stimulating ideation."Duterte claims his turn around came about after visiting the Aboitiz-Steag joint venture Coal Fired plant in Misamis Occidental Province in late 2010.That would be the very same plant that 2 different groups of Davao City Councillors visited after New Years.That junket has stirred up a bit of controversy in the city when it was revealed that aside from airline tickets,hotel rooms and a healthy per diem all paid for by Aboitiz,the councillors ALSO received several thousand pesos each to "buy souveiners." I mean, doesn't that make perfect sense to you? It's completely natural to visit a coal belching behemoth that blights an entire region,causing asthma and possibly even emphysema and the first thing on everybody's mind will naturally be...a souvneneir.
In any event,April 2nd saw ABC making a big deal out of its self-contrived media event,the doling out of Royalty Checks to local government officials in the town of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur Province.Its subsidiary,Hedcor Sibulan Inc.,operates a 42.5 megawatt Hydro-Electric Power Plant in that town's Barangays of Sibulan and Darong. The Department of Energy mandates a royalty of 1 centavo per kilowatt/hour sold.ABC entered into a voluntary arrangement above and beyond this mandate with both the municipality AND those 2 barangays.Barangay Sibulan received a cheque for P1,107,552.57 (roughly 25,000 US).Barangay Darong received P563,761.28 (roughly 12,000 US).The town received P1,582,567.20 (roughly 34,000 US).
Because the tract sits within the Ancestral Domain (akin to the American Reservation allocation for Native Americans though with substantial differences) of a Lumad Tribe ("Lumad"being the local term for the non-Negrito Animist Hill Tribes).On April 2nd the Tagabawa Bagobo Tribe was given their payout in a separate ceremony.The cheque was for exactly P1 Million (roughly 22,000 US).On April 11th,Davao del Sur Province will get its share to the tune of P1.6 Million (roughly 33,000 US).
The company is also going to award a full university scholarship to 5 students from Barangay Sibulan and 1 from Barangay Darong.The students will be given full tuition,room,board and a stipend with the choice of 2 institutions, University of Mindanao at Digos City,located in that same province of Davao del Sur or CorJesu College, a local Catholic private college.
On April 5th the town of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte Province was gifted a new 1.4km Farm to Market Road for its Barangay Siay.Siay,sitting at the foot of Mount Canatuan had been having trouble with its dirt road for years with the Monsoon making it impassable,hampering the barangay's rice farmers in trying to move their harvests into towns. Who was this generous benefactor?Why am I listing this positive accomplishment under"Development Aggression"?
The road was constructed and paid for by TVIRDP.TVIRDP is the Makati-based subsidiary of TVI's Hong Kong subsidiary. TVI, or"Toronto Ventures Inc."is a Canadian-based multi-national mining corporation that happens to hold the most land of any single mining company in the Philippines.Most of their well over 1 million hectares of land is concentrated on the very narrow Zamboanga Peninsula where virtually every community has heavily opposed the company. Mount Canatuan is home to TVIRP's flagship mine,the Canatuan Gold,Silver and Copper Mine.A 51 hectare Open-Pit operation the mine has seen much bloodshed with the last incident taking place in March when an SCAA (Special Civilian Active Auxiliries,a Force Multiplication entity funded by private businesses but armed,trained and loosely supervised by the AFP) shot a protestor to death at the entrance to the mine.I will be discussing that particular incident and the mine in depth in an entry I am simultaneously working on.
Barangay Captain/Chairman Hamulod Lambana of Barangay Siay approached TVIRDP on getting that new farm to market road in early December of 2010.Badly needing some good PR the company passed the request on to its CREDO (Community Relations and Development Office) whose superintendent Joel Alasco immediately implemented the project via TVIRDP's Social Development and Management Programme.It took the company less than 12 days to fill and grade the road using materiel not as susceptible to the heavy rains that accompany Monsoon.A big advantage is that an additional 800 hectares of rice paddy can now be mechanically harvested now that the machinery won't be bogged down on the road. Of course almost all that riceland is owned by ...Barangay Captain/Chairman Hamulod Lambana but I won't tell if you won't...
1) South Cotabato
2) Davao del Sur
3) Sarangani
4) Sultan Kudarat
In that entry I very briefly touched upon the mudslides that took place within that mining tenement but didn't offer much information.
On Saturday,April 2nd,2011 after 2 days of torrential downpour a Banlas (large scale sluice operation in local dialect) Operation was subsumed in a massive mudslide.Five B'laan Tribesmen were working inside a tunnel with an entry underneath the Banlas.Only 1 of the 5 managed to run before 2 hectares of denuded mountainside came crashing down.Of the 4 remaining miners,1 was buried up to his waist and despite internal bleeding has survived.The remaining 3 weren't nearly as fortunate.Only 2 of the men have been positively identified:
1) Ramram Payuri,of Tampakan
2) Remy Malaya,also from Tampakan
The 3rd man is still unidentified but is said to be from the town of Tupi,also in South Cotabato Province.
The landslide came only days after another deadly mudslide in the municipality of T'boli in that same province. On Wednesday March 30 in that town's Barangay Kematu another Banlas Operation came crashing down hill and covered yet another Tunnel Operation.Just as in the latter incident there were 5 men,all T'boli Tribesmen.Two were critically injured,three died but T'boli officials aren't releasing the names.Ironically it was in the municipality of T'boli that Banlas Mining first took hold in Central Mindanao.Just as the new century began small scale miners from Luzon imported the devastating method.Denuding surrounding forests to build giant sluices they set up next to rivers and directly pump enormous volumes of water over the denuded mountain slope,forcing the mud into the sluice and then into huge piles of tailings.The runoff,often containing fun stuff like mercury and cyanide,not to mention enormous amounts of sediment then flow directly into the rivers which not only irrigate the entire region but provide its drinking water as well.This isn't even touching upon the estuaries,mangroves and coral reefs which are absolutely devastated.
The deaths in Barangay Kematu were the first for the year there but death is not unusual.The last fatal incident took place in late 2010 when 2 brothers,both T'boli Tribesmen,were working a Tunnel Mine and lost their oxygen supply due to a generator cut off.Both suffocated.
With the Tampakan mudslide an aggravated provincial government,already very much anti-mining turned up the heat. South Cotabato's PEMO (Provincial Environmental Management Office) promptly recommended that Governor Arthur Pingoy Jr. issue an Emeregency Stop Work Order for at least the Tampakan tenement to try and address the proliferation of illegal small scale mining on the tract.Ideally the tenement holder,in this case SMI (Sagittarius Mines Inc.) Would ensure that its tenement remained free of such dangerous activities.Of course in this case SMI is happy to let the Governor deal with the headache since the province has banned Open Pit Mining,an issue I addressed in that previous entry,"Second Quarter 2011,Part II."
Governor Pingoy very quickly signed the order,and had the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) deploy 2 composite detachments to ensure that the Tampakam tenement stays closed for the interm. The government aims to undertake surveys via 2 agencies.The agencies,PMRB. (Provincial Mining Regulatory Board) and MGB's (Mining and Geosciences Bureau) Regional Office will inspect the tenement,then create and implement safety mechanism and regulations before the governor finally rescinds his order.Naturally this doesn't make local miners too happy.They are well aware that should the Tampakan Project eventually circumvent the Open Pit Mining Ban their operations will be promptly shut down.Every day that they aren't operating is another day in which they stand to lose their entire investment.
Complicating things are the paramilitaries that always accompany the proliferation of illegal mining on Mindanao. That particular site has 2 separate B'laan Tribal Paramilitaries operating.In fact,they are the impetus behind Governor Pingoy's decison yesterday,April 18th,to undertake an aerial survey instead of entering the tenement on the ground.Unfortunately for the governor,the skies were much too cloudy and so the 2 seater prop lent out by Japanese-owned Sumifro,a commercial banana operation in that province,touched down not long after takeoff.Nothing was accomplished.
A bit to the south,in Davao City,in neighboring Davao del Sur Province the Aboitiz Project moves even closer to realisation.For those unfamiliar with the issue,Aboitiz Power Corporation ("ABC") is aiming to build a 350 megawatt Coal Fired Power Plant in that city's outlying Toril District.To be built in Barangay Binugao,on the border of the adjoining municipality of Santa Cruz (actually partially in that municipality),in Barangay Inawayan. Despite the island being desperate to diversify its power production due to an over-reliance on hydro-power that left the island-literally-high and dry this past summer,coal fired energy naturally has more than a modicum of opposition.
The project was initially opposed by local warlord,Vice Mayor Rodrigo"Roddy"Duterte has had smoothe sailing since buying him off,ooops,silly me,I meant to say,"since convincing him with intellectualy stimulating ideation."Duterte claims his turn around came about after visiting the Aboitiz-Steag joint venture Coal Fired plant in Misamis Occidental Province in late 2010.That would be the very same plant that 2 different groups of Davao City Councillors visited after New Years.That junket has stirred up a bit of controversy in the city when it was revealed that aside from airline tickets,hotel rooms and a healthy per diem all paid for by Aboitiz,the councillors ALSO received several thousand pesos each to "buy souveiners." I mean, doesn't that make perfect sense to you? It's completely natural to visit a coal belching behemoth that blights an entire region,causing asthma and possibly even emphysema and the first thing on everybody's mind will naturally be...a souvneneir.
In any event,April 2nd saw ABC making a big deal out of its self-contrived media event,the doling out of Royalty Checks to local government officials in the town of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur Province.Its subsidiary,Hedcor Sibulan Inc.,operates a 42.5 megawatt Hydro-Electric Power Plant in that town's Barangays of Sibulan and Darong. The Department of Energy mandates a royalty of 1 centavo per kilowatt/hour sold.ABC entered into a voluntary arrangement above and beyond this mandate with both the municipality AND those 2 barangays.Barangay Sibulan received a cheque for P1,107,552.57 (roughly 25,000 US).Barangay Darong received P563,761.28 (roughly 12,000 US).The town received P1,582,567.20 (roughly 34,000 US).
Because the tract sits within the Ancestral Domain (akin to the American Reservation allocation for Native Americans though with substantial differences) of a Lumad Tribe ("Lumad"being the local term for the non-Negrito Animist Hill Tribes).On April 2nd the Tagabawa Bagobo Tribe was given their payout in a separate ceremony.The cheque was for exactly P1 Million (roughly 22,000 US).On April 11th,Davao del Sur Province will get its share to the tune of P1.6 Million (roughly 33,000 US).
The company is also going to award a full university scholarship to 5 students from Barangay Sibulan and 1 from Barangay Darong.The students will be given full tuition,room,board and a stipend with the choice of 2 institutions, University of Mindanao at Digos City,located in that same province of Davao del Sur or CorJesu College, a local Catholic private college.
On April 5th the town of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte Province was gifted a new 1.4km Farm to Market Road for its Barangay Siay.Siay,sitting at the foot of Mount Canatuan had been having trouble with its dirt road for years with the Monsoon making it impassable,hampering the barangay's rice farmers in trying to move their harvests into towns. Who was this generous benefactor?Why am I listing this positive accomplishment under"Development Aggression"?
The road was constructed and paid for by TVIRDP.TVIRDP is the Makati-based subsidiary of TVI's Hong Kong subsidiary. TVI, or"Toronto Ventures Inc."is a Canadian-based multi-national mining corporation that happens to hold the most land of any single mining company in the Philippines.Most of their well over 1 million hectares of land is concentrated on the very narrow Zamboanga Peninsula where virtually every community has heavily opposed the company. Mount Canatuan is home to TVIRP's flagship mine,the Canatuan Gold,Silver and Copper Mine.A 51 hectare Open-Pit operation the mine has seen much bloodshed with the last incident taking place in March when an SCAA (Special Civilian Active Auxiliries,a Force Multiplication entity funded by private businesses but armed,trained and loosely supervised by the AFP) shot a protestor to death at the entrance to the mine.I will be discussing that particular incident and the mine in depth in an entry I am simultaneously working on.
Barangay Captain/Chairman Hamulod Lambana of Barangay Siay approached TVIRDP on getting that new farm to market road in early December of 2010.Badly needing some good PR the company passed the request on to its CREDO (Community Relations and Development Office) whose superintendent Joel Alasco immediately implemented the project via TVIRDP's Social Development and Management Programme.It took the company less than 12 days to fill and grade the road using materiel not as susceptible to the heavy rains that accompany Monsoon.A big advantage is that an additional 800 hectares of rice paddy can now be mechanically harvested now that the machinery won't be bogged down on the road. Of course almost all that riceland is owned by ...Barangay Captain/Chairman Hamulod Lambana but I won't tell if you won't...
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Kidnap For Ransom,First Quarter 2011,Part II: Ceekim Gomonit and Olivia Angeles Barredo
Another victim from late 2010 has finally found his way home. The tragic story of 10 year old Ceekim Gomonit began on October 30, 2010. That evening Ceekim and his grandmother Nenia "Babet" Candil Gomonit were enjoying a relaxing couple of hours in front of the television in their Pagadian City home in Zamboanga del Sur Province. Early in the evening a group from the MILF's 113th Base Command kicked in their front door and dragged both family members into oblivion. Initially, as I alluded to in a prior entry on this case, authorities were stymied because unlike the 113th Base Command's usual modus operandi this group were all Cebuano (Bisaya) speakers and included a woman. The 113th Base Command are ethnic Maranaw (Maranao) and Iranun Tribesmen. To boot, Bisaya speakers are non-Muslims. This led some, including myself, to believe that the case may have been Rido (Clan Feud) based.
Unfortunately this was disproved by the discovery of the grandmother's corpse buried in a very shallow grave in the jungle just outside of the municipality of Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte Province. The town, which sits just over the border from Zamboanga is the main base of the 113th Base Command. The group exerts total control over the municipality and more over Mrs. Gomonit was buried according to Islamic Law (Shari'a). Her remains were discovered in November after her son, Ceekim's father, received an SMS (text message) from the kidnappers earlier that week. They had included an MMS (video text message) of Ceekim as Proof of Life during the on going ransom negotiations. Sadly the messages also included co-ordinates for the body.
Immediately after digging up the cadaver, the son who was there on site turned to the media and offered that this wasn't going to change his decision NOT to pay ransom. I won't presume to judge anyone under a clear state of duress but it takes a unique type of individual to take that stance as his own mother's rotting corpse lays beside him. Knowing that his own 10 year old son was STILL being held, probably in a bamboo cage, can only make one wonder what goes through such a man's head. He closed out that media soundbite by telling the reporter that he was merely doing what his mother would have wanted him to do.
Fast forward to Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 8AM. 10 year old Ceekim was blindfolded, transported to Cotabato City and released in an empty lot in Barangay Mother. Having been given money and written instructions he made his way bravely to the city's Jeepney Terminal and took a passenger van directly to Pagadian City, arriving at that city's Jeepney Terminal at 230PM. He then made his way via triksiad (ubiqitous form of public transport here in the Philippines) to his extended family's home in Sunrise Village, a subdivision within the municipality's Barangay Tiguma.
March 03, 2011, just hours after Maricris Quatrocruz was released by the MILF's 113th Base Command, another victim was snatched into incognito. 36 year old Olivia Angeles Barrero, like Maricris, is a resident of Zamboanga City. At 615PM,having just left the pharmacy run by her family in the city's Barangay Labuan, Mrs. Barredo was with her husband next to their SUV when she was approached by 2 men riding tandem on a single Honda motorcycle. Stopping to answer a question she and her husband were quickly boxed in by several gunmen who quickly drove up in 2 SUVs. As Olivia screamed at startled bystanders she was dragged into 1 of the sports utility vehicles which then sped off towards the shoreline. Her husband, who had bravely tried to save her was unscathed by the 3 rounds fired at him by the fleeing kidnappers. At the shoreline, as she was being carried from the SUV to an idling pump boat (small motorised craft) her screaming drew the attention of a Barangay Tanod (an armed guard employed by the barangay). The Tanod, accompanied by a large group of residents rushed to aid her. Although the boat had already shoved off the mob did manage to capture 2 of the kidnappers, both MILF guerillas, who were turned over to Zamboanga City PNP (Philippine National Police) after having been beaten severely.
The pump boat was soon joined by 2 other pump boats and all 3 were seen heading towards the municipality of Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte Province. As of posting Mrs. Barrero is still being held although ransom negotiations are on going. The 2 captured guerillas, Abdulsalih Esmsail Mindoon and Zaldy Daing Mindoon were both found with 45 caliber pistols and are being held in Zamboanga City Jail.
Unfortunately this was disproved by the discovery of the grandmother's corpse buried in a very shallow grave in the jungle just outside of the municipality of Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte Province. The town, which sits just over the border from Zamboanga is the main base of the 113th Base Command. The group exerts total control over the municipality and more over Mrs. Gomonit was buried according to Islamic Law (Shari'a). Her remains were discovered in November after her son, Ceekim's father, received an SMS (text message) from the kidnappers earlier that week. They had included an MMS (video text message) of Ceekim as Proof of Life during the on going ransom negotiations. Sadly the messages also included co-ordinates for the body.
Immediately after digging up the cadaver, the son who was there on site turned to the media and offered that this wasn't going to change his decision NOT to pay ransom. I won't presume to judge anyone under a clear state of duress but it takes a unique type of individual to take that stance as his own mother's rotting corpse lays beside him. Knowing that his own 10 year old son was STILL being held, probably in a bamboo cage, can only make one wonder what goes through such a man's head. He closed out that media soundbite by telling the reporter that he was merely doing what his mother would have wanted him to do.
Fast forward to Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 8AM. 10 year old Ceekim was blindfolded, transported to Cotabato City and released in an empty lot in Barangay Mother. Having been given money and written instructions he made his way bravely to the city's Jeepney Terminal and took a passenger van directly to Pagadian City, arriving at that city's Jeepney Terminal at 230PM. He then made his way via triksiad (ubiqitous form of public transport here in the Philippines) to his extended family's home in Sunrise Village, a subdivision within the municipality's Barangay Tiguma.
March 03, 2011, just hours after Maricris Quatrocruz was released by the MILF's 113th Base Command, another victim was snatched into incognito. 36 year old Olivia Angeles Barrero, like Maricris, is a resident of Zamboanga City. At 615PM,having just left the pharmacy run by her family in the city's Barangay Labuan, Mrs. Barredo was with her husband next to their SUV when she was approached by 2 men riding tandem on a single Honda motorcycle. Stopping to answer a question she and her husband were quickly boxed in by several gunmen who quickly drove up in 2 SUVs. As Olivia screamed at startled bystanders she was dragged into 1 of the sports utility vehicles which then sped off towards the shoreline. Her husband, who had bravely tried to save her was unscathed by the 3 rounds fired at him by the fleeing kidnappers. At the shoreline, as she was being carried from the SUV to an idling pump boat (small motorised craft) her screaming drew the attention of a Barangay Tanod (an armed guard employed by the barangay). The Tanod, accompanied by a large group of residents rushed to aid her. Although the boat had already shoved off the mob did manage to capture 2 of the kidnappers, both MILF guerillas, who were turned over to Zamboanga City PNP (Philippine National Police) after having been beaten severely.
The pump boat was soon joined by 2 other pump boats and all 3 were seen heading towards the municipality of Sibuco in Zamboanga del Norte Province. As of posting Mrs. Barrero is still being held although ransom negotiations are on going. The 2 captured guerillas, Abdulsalih Esmsail Mindoon and Zaldy Daing Mindoon were both found with 45 caliber pistols and are being held in Zamboanga City Jail.
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