MILF opens camp to Lanao evacuees

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ILIGAN CITY—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has opened one of its controlled areas in Lanao del Sur province to evacuees from the weeklong fighting between government troops and a group of armed men known to harbor extremist views.

The arrangement to accommodate the evacuees in Barangay Sandab in Butig town was made through the peace mechanisms set up by the government and the MILF, according to a statement of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp).

Sandab village is a stronghold of the MILF’s armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), and hosts a satellite office of its peace negotiating panel.

The Opapp statement quoted Ameruddin Usman, a member of the MILF Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities, as saying the hosting of the evacuees was coordinated with the front commander in the area.

Usman said around 500 families were evacuated and secured in Barangay Sandab. He said more families stayed with their relatives in other villages away from the encounter site.

Maj. Carlos Sol Jr., head of the government contingent in the joint ceasefire committee, said Barangay Sandab has enough facilities, like school buildings, to serve as temporary shelters for evacuees.

Apart from providing sanctuary to evacuees, Sol said the continued cooperation between the government and the MILF was shown by the BIAF’s decision to reposition its troops in Butig to prevent clashing with Philippine Army troopers.

Sol said repositioning BIAF elements was also aimed at giving government forces “the freedom to pursue operations against the lawless group.”

The clashes in Butig, a town in Lanao del Sur’s border with Maguindanao province, started on the night of Feb. 20 when armed men attacked a detachment of government soldiers in Barangay Bayabao. The fighting has spilled over to the nearby village of Poktan.

The gunfights displaced about 4,000 families, military reports said. Army officials said two soldiers died from the clashes. While they claimed that at least 50 members of the armed group were killed, only two bodies were recovered from the clash sites.

On Feb. 23, armed men ambushed soldiers in an area between Tugaya and Balindong towns in what was initially believed as an attack to divert military attention from Butig.

While the military did not name the group behind the Butig attack, it said it is composed of “foreign and local terrorists.”

But in Lanao del Sur, they are called “Isis” as a reference to their harboring of extremist views of jihad similar to what is espoused by the Middle Eastern terrorist network Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

A local commander of the MILF in Lanao del Sur has denied the involvement of his troops in the recent clashes in the province.

In a 59-second video clip circulated on social media by the group called Free the Bangsamoro Movement, Abdullah Macapaar, known as Commander Bravo, said the MILF was not part of the fighting in Butig and Balindong towns.

“The MILF continues to be a party to a peace process with the government, and as such, we in the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces of the Northwestern Mindanao Front, will maintain our defensive posture,” Macapaar said.

He also brushed aside reports linking him to an extremist group in Lanao del Sur.

“I remain loyal to the MILF because its leader, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, is a faithful follower of Allah and the Prophet Mohammad,” Macapaar said.

Source : Inquirer.net

China state news agency criticizes US-Philippines base deal

BEIJING (AP) — China harshly criticized the Philippine Supreme Court's backing of a defense pact allowing American forces, warships and planes to be based temporarily in local military camps, with an editorial in state media Wednesday calling the move "stupid" and warning of consequences.

The strongly worded editorial in the official Xinhua News Agency said the agreement would "only escalate tensions and undermine peace and stability in the region."

Manila "appears to be now turning to Uncle Sam to back its ambition to counter China," the article said, employing a phrase harkening back to the Cold War.

The court's ruling Tuesday declaring the pact constitutional bolsters U.S. efforts to reassert its presence in Asia and dovetails with Philippine desires for American help in countering China's maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Washington immediately welcomed the court's decision, saying the defense pact will bolster both countries' ability to respond to disasters and strengthen the Philippines' military.

Xinhua dismissed such assertions as attempts to rationalize an ill-advised move. "Manila has to bear the negative consequences of its stupid move in the future," it said.

Nearly a century of U.S. military presence in the Philippines ended in 1992 when Filipino senators voted not to renew the leases on American bases amid a tide of nationalism.

China responded almost immediately by ramping up its presence in the South China Sea, including areas claimed by the Philippines. Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the strategically vital sea through which around $5 trillion in world trade passes each year.

Recent years have seen Manila turn to Washington as it scrambles to strengthen its military, one of the worst equipped in Asia.

Tensions have been especially high since Beijing transformed seven disputed reefs into islands on which it is now constructing runways and facilities that rival claimants say can be used militarily.

The Philippines accused China of using flashing lights and flares to challenge Philippine military flights over the contested Spratly Islands and protested recent test flights by China to its newly built island airstrips.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei rejected the Philippine protest at a briefing Thursday, saying China was operating completely within its rights.

"The Philippines' accusation is out of ulterior motives and is not worth a comment," Hong said.

Su Hao, an international relations expert at China Foreign Affairs University, said Washington is likely to have engineered the court's decision to uphold the pact, a claim also made by Xinhua without offering evidence. Filipino leftists opposed the decision and have said they will consider filing an appeal.

Su said China may feel compelled to respond by boosting its own military presence in the region, in which both its navy and coast guard operate constantly.

"It may lead to the direct military confrontation in the South China Sea between China and the United States, therefore having a negative impact on the current situation of the region," Su said.

Source YahooNews

DOST hands over Phl’s first microsatellite to Japan

TSUKUBA – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has turned over the Philippines’ first microsatellite to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for shipment to the US and launching into orbit by April.

Diwata-1 is designed and built by a team of nine Filipino engineers and scientists with the guidance and mentoring of aerospace experts from Tohoku University and Hokkaido University in Japan.

The handover means the successful culmination of the DOST-funded and conceptualized program aimed at building the country’s own microsatellite with which it can do imaging of the land and sea for disaster management and for monitoring of forests, marine areas and agricultural lands.

Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said the turnover also meant that the Philippine team will start working on Diwata-2, which should be completed and launched next year when Diwata-1’s orbit ends.

The program selected UP Diliman graduates to pursue post-graduate studies in Tohoku University and Hokkaido University as scholars tasked to build the microsatellite.

Yukihiro Takahashi, director of Hokkaido University’s Space Mission Center under its Creative Research Institution & Department of Cosmosciences, gave assurance that the Diwata-1 is equipped with high resolution cameras and sensors to observe Earth.

Philippine deputy chief of mission to Japan Gilberto Asuque said the project meant the country has finally joined the space age.

“These microsatellites will not only prepare local governments and communities for impending typhoons, they will also aid farmers and agriculturists in planning which type of crop should be planted in specific areas and seasons,” Asuque added.

The DOST said Diwata-1 was named after Filipino mythological character Diwata or fairy. Although it only weighs 50 kilograms, its benefits are expected to be “heavyweight.”

The data to be generated by Diwata will also enable the weather bureau to predict extreme weather systems like El Niño that can dramatically affect agricultural productivity, crop yield and threaten food security.

Source: Philippine Star

‘No Filipino center bombed near Yemen border’

RIYADH: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) based in Najran near the Saudi-Yemeni border have caused concern among their families back home after a Manila-based daily reported that a Filipino Center in the area was hit by a bomb on Tuesday.

The report caused panicked reactions from the families of some 5,000 Filipinos based in the border region, which prompted community leader Ronald De la Cruz to appear on social media urging the newspaper to correct the unverified news report.

Quoting Blas Ople Center, the Manila Times online reported on Friday that a certain ‘OFW center in Saudi Arabia was bombed.’

De la Cruz debunked the claim saying, “There was no Philippine Community Office or OFW Center hit by bomb on Jan. 5th,” adding: “We are sitting here in Najran and have not seen such an incident."
However, he said that the the Filipino community in the area had been requesting a safe shelter against the bombings and have demanded a service vehicle from the Philippine Consulate in case of an emergency, but these were not granted to them.

Meanwhile, the Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) group in Riyadh has urged the Philippine mission to verify the report: “It is really difficult for the embassy and consulate composite team to go near the area due to the sporadic bombings and missile attacks in Najran and along the Saudi-Yemen border, but it would be prudent on the part of the Philippine officials in Saudi Arabia to confirm the report about the OFW Community Center hit by a bomb,” said John Monterona, the group coordinator in the country.

According to him there are 5,000 OFWs, mostly household service workers and construction workers, in that area of Najran.

Source: ArabNews