by SAMIRA GUTOC, 29 July 2009
Ramadhan Countdown – 23 days to go!
I bumped into National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales at the Centennial Airport. He confirmed the backchanelling efforts of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to renew the stalled GRP-MILF peacetalks. Both parties I heard were in Malaysia to iron out certain agreements prior to peacetalks. A day later , I got an email from GRP Peace Panel Chief Negotiator on a Joint Statement signed by Seguis and Mohagher Iqbal, MILF Panel Chairman signed in the presence of DATUK OTHMAN BIN ABDUL RAZAK stating they have “re-established official contact today under the auspices of the Malaysian Third Party Facilitator, to end nearly a year of impasse in the peace negotiations, and to complete the preparation for the resumption of the Talks.”
Prayers to former President and peace symbol Corazon Aquino.
In accordance with suspension of military actions, the MILF-styled SOMA, was distributed on July 25 to radio stations for announcement. Local officials in Maguindanao have confirmed that MILF forces positioned around neighboring towns of Datu Piang, Guindolongan, Talayan and Datu Saudi towns have started repositioning away from strategic areas (Philippine Star).
Presidential Peace Adviser (OPAPP) Undersecretary Nabil Tan updated that he will join a government delegation to Norway this August on efforts to revive the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-National Democratic Front (NDF) and GRP talks. On running for politics, Tan , former ARMM Vice-Governor and brother to Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, said he ain’t interested. A shame, a few Moro good men in politics.
Analyst Julkipli Wadi on the State of the Nation Address last July 27, “It (MILF) knows that, like in the past, Malacanang is back with its old antic in using the peace process as a magnet for more foreign assistance and investment in Mindanao instead of resolving the Mindanao conflict.”
Ali Reza Kunting, Secretariat Chief of the Manila lobby group, Muslim Inter-Organizational Meeting (MIOM) , updates that the group convened Muslim leaders last Sunday at Bacolod Inasal, Viramall to strengthen the advocacy for some SEVEN Muslim-related bills filed in Senate such as the Expansion of Shariah Courts, Office on Muslim Affairs being Upgraded to a Commission, Sheik Makdhum Mosque declared a National Heritage, Eidul Adha to be declared a National Holiday (which according to some Senate staff has undergone THIRD and Final Reading).
Piracy is not only an issue in the Philippine archipelago. It is also serious for Somalia. Somali hijackers attacked more than 130 merchant ships off Somalia last year, a rise of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Center (AFP).
Mindanao State University (MSU) alumna lawyer Mylene Macumbal, the first Muslim lady bar topnotcher cites President Gloria Arroyo in the SONA, held her own in the spotlight. This was despite the many beauteous congresswomen and glittering first ladies of Senators and lady Senators , as she regaled in a Maranao-inaul woven straight maroon and blue-trimmed dress. Asked of her plans after topping the bar, she laughingly reminded her students who she teaches at MSU-Iligan to prepare for recitations.
Tsk, tsk. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is being charged anew with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five years in prison (AP).
Mindanao businessmen are converging in Marco Polo Hotel, Davao City on August 4-5, 2009 for the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)-sponsored Business Forum to be attended by DBP Senior executives and Board Members such as former Civil Service Commission Secretary Patricia Sto Tomas and DBP President Reynaldo David.
Justice Abdulhakim Wahid of Zamboanga is the lone Muslim candidate to vie for the vacant post as Supreme Court Justice among five candidates.
Iran reiterated that it had no plans to build nuclear weapons. “We are a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and it is our right to have peaceful nuclear activities. Nuclear weapons have no place in our defense structure,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said (AFP).