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MANILA, Dec. 5 — A lawmaker on Saturday said the decision of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare martial law in Maguindanao province due to the mass killing of close to 60 people, including at least two dozen journalists, was not a knee-jerking reaction.
 A soldier pulls out a body from a backhoe which also unearthed several vehicles, including a UNTV van, from a hillside grave in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. AP Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Christian, Muslim, Democrats) spokesman and Nueva Ecija Rep. Antonio Alvarez said that the President “should have declared it a long time ago as signs point to lawlessness in the area.”
“But the delay proves that it was a well-thought-of move, not precipitate, and carefully calculated,” he said.
Alvarez also allayed fears that the province would be a no-man’s land as what critics of the government are saying.
“Human rights groups have nothing to fear as this pocket martial law has an expiry date, that it will be lifted once the situation normalizes which, given the unchallenged presence of government forces in the area, would come soon,” he said.
Critics said that President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao in the wake of the massacre last November 23, which allegedly involved a powerful clan in the area, sets a “most dangerous precedent” for the nation.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said that while it wants justice for the victims of the massacre, it cannot support a measure that is “both dangerous and questionable.”
On the other hand, the Black and White Movement also questioned the declaration of martial law, saying that it does not believe the massacre warrants its imposition.
“Is the government so weak that it cannot enforce the arrest of those implicated without it (martial law)?,” it said.
President Arroyo on Friday night declared martial law in Maguindanao.
In a media briefing at the New Executive Building in Malacanang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on Saturday morning said the President also suspended the writ of habeas corpus as contained in Proclamation 1959 signed on Friday night.
“Condition of peace and order in Maguindanao has deteriorated to the extent that government mechanisms are not functioning, thus endangering public safety,” Ermita told the media briefing.
He added the Palace will immediately inform Congress about the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao within 48 hours justifying Proclamation 1959.
Atty. Jose Manuel Diokno of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and a human rights lawyer, said there should be charges of rebellion as grounds for declaration of martial law.
The Constitution states that “within 48 hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress.”
“The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least a majority of all its members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the same manner, extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by the Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it,” it added.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera, in a television interview, said the DOJ “noticed and observed there was a rebellion in the offing” in Maguindanao.
“The local governments in the whole of Maguindanao had been removed from the legitimate authorities. Some of these local government units… had closed down. They ceased to render government services and there was a massing of heavily armed men… it was practically an overthrow of government,” said Devanadera, citing the reasons for the imposition of martial law in the province.
On the convening of both Houses of Congress, Speaker Prospero Nograles said that in this case, both Chambers of Congress “do not indicate any majority numbers with any intention to revoke the proclamation (of martial law by the President), which is only good for 60 days.”
“Both Houses of Congress will convene in joint session only for purposes of revoking but not for approving,” he said.
Besides, he said, majority of lawmakers of the House of Representatives have expressed approval with the President’s decision.
The Speaker said that he himself will author a resolution of support to the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao. By Lilybeth G. Ison (PNA)
It’s a sickening time to be a journalist in the Philippines.
At least 30 local reporters were among 57 people killed last week after being abducted and shot in the volatile south of the country, allegedly by the private army of a powerful Muslim clan that rules Maguindanao province.
 Other journalists remain in hiding in the south, amid anonymous threats being sent to local media organisations that they will also be killed if they report negatively on the Ampatuan clan that has been linked to the massacre.
The Philippines is now regarded by global media rights groups as the most dangerous place in the world to work — ahead of Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
More than 80 journalists have been killed since President Gloria Arroyo came to power in 2001.
It’s an unacceptable number but each time a reporter dies the government ignores calls to change the culture of impunity among the powerful who carry out the murders.
The reporters killed in Maguindanao were travelling in a convoy of six vehicles with the female relatives and lawyers of a local politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, who were on their way to register him as a candidate for provincial governor in next year’s elections.
Dozens of gunmen stopped the convoy, shot everyone in the cars and buried them in prepared mass graves or dumped them on the side of a road in a remote farming region.
Mangudadatu says one member of the rival Ampatuan clan organised the killings to stop him from running for governor.
Prosecutors have given no motive yet but have charged Andal Ampatuan Jnr, a local mayor who had his eyes on the governorship, with 25 counts of murder so far.
His father, the current governor of the province and an Arroyo ally who was grooming his son to take the post, plus at least four other clan members, are likely to face charges, according to police.
Maguindanao province is part of Mindanao island, where about 150,000 people have died since the late 1970s due to an insurgency by Muslim rebels who want their own homeland.
Parts of Mindanao are lawless and no-go areas for Philippine journalists.
Kidnappings for ransom, political murders and terrorist attacks occur almost monthly.
One of the most infamous groups on Mindanao are the Abu Sayyaf, listed by the United States as a terrorist organisation.
Yet until the November 23 killings, Philippine journalists believed there were a set of unwritten rules in Mindanao.
A media badge would not protect you from the Abu Sayyaf or the most ruthless elements in Mindanao, but it should at least protect you from political feuds.
Certainly, 30 journalists travelling in a pack would not be executed, not even by the Abu Sayyaf.
“The game has changed, a media badge no longer protects you from anyone in Mindanao,” a Filipino journalist told me.
A group of media groups in the Philippines — including the National Union of Journalists, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines and some daily newspapers — have set up a group called the “November 23 Movement, named after the date of the massacres.
The movement’s aim is to achieve justice for the victims’ relatives, and what I believe is a sadly futile effort to change the putrid mix of corruption, greed and violence in Philippine politics.
“The brutal, indiscriminate mass murder… raises the ultimate challenge of conscience,” the movement said in a statement.
“It carries the culture of impunity at work in this country to such levels of horror that, if it remains unpunished for long, can send the nation into an inexorable descent into absolute dehumanisation.
“The crime thus calls for swift justice, which can only be achieved through a credible and independent process, which in turn can only be achieved without the hand of this government — a government justly mistrusted generally and openly friendly precisely to the very members of the clan accused in the massacre.”
In this blog, journalists of global news wire AFP blog about the news they report and the challenges they face covering events from Baghdad to Beijing, the White House to Darfur. Karl Malakunas is AFP bureau chief in Manila.
Manila – Twenty-one people, including journalists and human rights lawyers, were killed Monday in the southern Philippines in what appeared to be political killings, the military said.
At least 20 more were unaccounted for and feared dead in what presidential aide Jesus Dureza described as a ‘gruesome massacre of civilians unequalled in recent history.’
 ‘Even working women and media men were not spared,’ he said. ‘There must be a stop to this senseless violence.’
Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner, a military spokesman, said troops recovered 21 bodies in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.
Brawner said 13 of the victims were women and eight were men, but the identities were still being confirmed.
‘I’m afraid that there are more victims that are buried in the area,’ he said.
Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu said the victims included his wife, two sisters, three human rights lawyers and several local journalists.
‘They were all killed, beheaded,’ Mangudadatu said.
Brawner could not yet confirm how the victims were killed.
Supporters of the rival Ampatuan political family were suspected to be behind the killings, he said.
About 100 gunmen reportedly led by Shariff Aguak town Mayor Datu Unsay Ampatuan blocked three vehicles used by the victims before noon and brought the hostages to a nearby mountain village.
Brawner said authorities were investigating reports that some police officers and militiamen were among the gunmen.
Mangudadatu said he sent his wife, Genalyn, and siblings to file his certificate of candidacy for the post of governor of Maguindanao in elections in May.
‘I talked to my wife before she was killed and she told me that they were taken on the orders of the Ampatuans,’ he said. ‘They were the perpetrators.’
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s political adviser Gabriel Claudio expressed shock over the incident and vowed to bring the killers to justice.
‘We’re in shock and in total outrage,’ he said. ‘Justice will be served and the perpetrators punished, whoever they are.’
The Ampatuan family, including Zaldy Ampatuan, the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, is a close ally of the president.
Feuding groups and families in the southern region of Mindanao often settle differences through violence. Clan wars erupt over land disputes and political rivalry.
Elections in the Philippines have traditionally been marred by violence, despite additional gun restrictions imposed during the campaign and polling periods.
The Muslim Alliance for Noynoy Aquino (MANA) held its 1st general assembly in Metro Manila last Friday night with a declaration to yield at least two million votes outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for the Liberal Party standard bearer and his running-mate Senator Mar Roxas.
 Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Aquino graced the MANA maiden assembly on behalf of her younger brother, the LP presidential bet, who she said could not make it due to his delayed provincial sortie in Cagayan.
She acknowledged MANA as one of the biggest groups rallying his brother’s bid, which has been drawing bandwagons of volunteers across the country including different individuals and sectors that, she said, were even chipping in campaign funds.
Pinky echoed her brother’s vow to pursue the visions and missions of their parents, the former Senator Ninoy Aquino Jr. and President Cory, for decent and just governance among all Filipinos including the Muslims’ cry for self-determination.
She swore in the MANA officers and delivered an extemporaneous message in between sobs after lawyer Paisalin Tago, MANA president, announced that the nationwide Muslim group was founded on their strong belief that Noynoy “inherited” his parents’ “big hearts” for the Muslim Filipinos.
Tago said the martyred Ninoy had exposed in the Senate the massacre of young Muslim Filipinos while undergoing secret military training in Bataan to attack purportedly Malaysia, prompting the formation of the separatist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). By ALI G. MACABALANG
Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao became a five-weight, five-time world champion with a stunning victory over Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao stopped his Puerto Rican opponent in the 12th round of their WBO welterweight clash at the MGM Grand.
The 30-year-old dominated throughout and had his opponent down in the third and fourth rounds with his speed and accuracy proving too much for Cotto.
 Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight 55 seconds into the final round.
“I tried my best to knock him out,” Pacquiao said.
“I thought in 11th round they would stop the fight. I am surprised he continued to fight.”
Cotto’s face was swollen, blood was flowing from his nose and his cuts, and he simply could not stop Pacquiao from bouncing inside and throwing both hands at will.
“I didn’t know from where the punches were coming,” Cotto said.
“Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers I ever fought.”
Pacquiao’s victory sees him confirm his status as the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer and takes his record to 50 wins, three defeats and two draws with 38 knockouts.
Some ring observers believe Pacquiao has now won world titles in seven weight divisions, a boxing record, but only five of his title wins came in fights sanctioned by one of boxing’s four major bodies – the WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA.
The victory over 29-year-old Cotto sets up the possibility of a mouth-watering clash with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.
And Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach admitted after the fight that he would like to see his man take on the American in a fight that would have global appeal.
Cotto began the contest strongly behind a stiff left jab as the pair traded punches in an explosive start to the fight.
Pacquiao soon found his range and took control dropping Cotto with a right hand early in the third round. But Cotto showed he wasn’t badly hurt and came back with a strong finish to the round.
But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand as the Puerto Rican was advancing forward late in the fourth round, the 29-year-old was never the same again.
Cotto fought gamely but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao kept coming after him relentlessly.
But Cotto refused to quit even as his corner tried to throw in the towel after the 11th but after sustaining yet more punishment in the final round, the fight was called to a halt.
“I heard that he was bigger than me and stronger than me and that’s why I tried to be more aggressive and fight toe to toe and try to (negate) his power,” said Pacquiao.
“Our strategy for the fight was not to hurry, take our time, because we knew his strategy was that he was going to counter.”
Cotto, whose record now stands at 34-2, was taken to hospital following the fight with his face swollen and bloodied.
“My health comes first. I just want to make sure I’m fine, but I feel great. I’m swollen but that’s all,” Cotto said.
Having now won at welterweight Pacquiao said he would not move up in weight any more.
“This is the last weight division for me,” Pacquiao said.
“It’s history for me and more importantly a Filipino did it.”
“I thought we could break him down and if Manny put pressure on him he could get him out of there and he finally did,” added Roach.
“Early in the fight he was tested with Miguel’s power and laying on the ropes a little too much but once he got his rhythm on the fight it was all over.” http://news.bbc.co.uk
By ELENA L. ABEN, AARON M. RECUENCO
November 13, 2009, 5:29pm
Twenty-four people were killed and 11 others were wounded in a clash from Wednesday until Thursday between government troops and New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who raided a logging company in Surigao del Sur, the military said Friday.
 Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said a report from the 4th Infantry Division showed 13 from the government side were killed in action (KIA): Eight Army troopers from the 58th Infantry Battalion, one from the Philippine National Police, two civilian auxiliaries (CAA), and two security personnel of the Surigao Development Corp., a logging company.
Ten more soldiers and a policeman were wounded.
4ID spokesman Maj. Michele Anayron said 11 NPA rebels were also killed in the clash.
Brawner said at around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, heavily-armed rebels under the NPA Front Committee 30 raided the detachment of the 4th Surigao CAFGU Active Auxiliary (SCAA) Company assigned to SUDECOR in the vicinity of KM 31 at the boundary of Calatagan, San Miguel town and Pakwan in Lanuza town.
The rebels took hostage 11 SCAA members and some SUDECOR workers, after which they burned all the equipment of the logging company.
At around 930 a.m., elements from the 23IB and 58IB augmented by the logging firm’s security personnel responded to the incident. On their way to the area, however, a landmine explosion hit the two vehicles carrying the reinforcement team at KM 18 in Barangay Calatagan.
The explosion resulted in the death of the eight soldiers and five others from the government side.
Anayron said additional troops were sent to the area to pursue the rebels. Sporadic clashes ensued which lasted up to 7 p.m. Thursday, resulting in the death of 11 NPA rebels.
Brawner said the SCAAs and SUDECOR workers who were held hostage were also eventually released.
Chief Superintendent Lino Calingasan, director of the CARAGA Regional Police Office, said the militiamen manning the detachment were able to call for reinforcement when they realized they were outnumbered by the raiders.
“They burned SUDECOR equipment such as bulldozers, chainsaws, and wreckers and also took hostage some of the employees of SUDECOR and even disarmed the security guards,” said Calingasan, quoting a report from the field.
The fatalities were identified as Corporals Gartin Plaza and Mohamad Kair; Privates First Class Kenneth Bactong, Dennis Garfin, Jose Belascuan and Charlito Pico; Privates Charles Orit and Traul Paquibot; Police Officer 2 Rodulfo Randy Medrano of the 1405th PNP Provincial Moble Group; and security guards Dionesito Luces, Edmundo Careño and Hilarion Agudo.
Those wounded were PFC Joebert Cabuyao, Rollie Altaya, Roy Dagatan, Joendel Hulgansa; Privates Arvie Melida, Robinson Aninag, Rico Macabangon, Dennis Ordinan, Joel Natividad, and Janio Delos Santos; Senior Police Officer 1 Luis Gorrero Alcasar and retired Colonel Tomasito Grafe, chief security officer of SUDECOR.
Grafe was also wounded when undetermined number of rebels strafed his service vehicle two months ago in the same area.
“Reports also indicate that the military were outnumbered by the rebels,” said Calingasan, adding that nearly 100 rebels operating in the province and nearby areas launched the attack.
Reports revealed that the attacking rebels were composed of members of the NPA’s Front Committee 30 and Front Committee 31 which are known to be operating in the region.
Amid the casualties, joint police and military operatives stood their ground and engaged the rebels in a fierce gunfight that lasted until the following day.
At least 11 communist rebels were killed based on military reports but only one cadaver from the enemy side was retrieved from the clash site.
Calingasan said all the employees who were held hostage were already freed while pursuit operations are now being conducted against the fleeing rebels.
The SUDECOR has been the target of communist rebel attacks to force the company to pay revolutionary taxes to the rebel movement. The latest was two months ago when at least seven people, including civilians, died when the rebels ambushed the firm’s bus which was transporting civilians. (With a report from Bong Reblando)
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