Peace Process – ellen tordesillas

Duterte does a delicate balancing act

Published by Ellen on July 31, 2016

Duterte announces lifting of unilateral ceasefire July 29. Photo by Rene Lumawag of PPD

Last Monday, July 25, in his first State- of-the- Nation- Address, President Duterte was applauded when he declared a unilateral ceasefire in the armed conflict with the communist rebels.

He said: “To immediately stop violence on the ground, restore peace in the communities and provide enabling environment conducive to the resumption of the peace talks, I am now announcing a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP/NPA/NDF effective immediately. And call on our Filipinos in the National Democratic Front and its forces to respond accordingly.”

Before the week ended, he withdrew that headline grabbing announcement. At 7 p.m. of Saturday, July 30, Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella read the President’s statement:

Sarah

Published by Ellen on February 19, 2015

The tragedy in Mamasapano, Maguindanao claimed the lives of 44 of the country’s elite policemen, 18 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and some civilians.

One of those who died was an eight-year old girl named Sarah.

I learned about Sarah from Hussein Macarambon’s heart-rending post in Facebook:

“ At a forum organized by advocates of peace for Mindanao, the room started to get filled with a terrible feeling of sadness. Stories evoked tears when people who have followed the Mamasapano incident, on the ground or from afar, attempted to describe the pain and grief felt by many, especially the bereaved families of the 67 casualties- families of the 44 SAF troops, of the 5 civilians, and of the 18 MILF combatants.

“One of them lost the youngest victim, an eight-year old girl called Sarah. Her family was roused from sleep by the sound of bullets that had hit them. They survived. Sarah did not.

Continue readingSarah

Senators asked the wrong question

Published by Ellen on February 15, 2015

Sen. Grace Poe chairs hearing on Mamasapano carnage.

It was President Aquino who informed Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang and the rest of the presidential party in Zamboanga on the Mamasapano debacle on Jan. 25, a source close to Malacañang said.

That’s why in the hearings in the Senate and the House of Representatives the three and Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of Western Mindanao Command said they didn’t inform Aquino of the dawn carnage that left 44 members of the Special Action Force dead when they were with him throughout the day.

SAF44 stirred public interest on BBL

Published by Ellen on February 10, 2015

Norwegian William Hovlan, operations chief of the International Monitoring Team,

There was something amusing in the narration of Mamasapano Mayor Tahirodin Benzar A. Ampatuan that reflects a trait common to many Filipinos.

Mayor Ampatuan (yes, the Ampatuans of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre are still very much a force to reckon with in Maguindanao) said that at about 1:30 in the afternoon of Jan. 25, members of the joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) arrived to stop the battle between the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police on one side and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on the other side.

The fighting had been raging since dawn. The SAF were on their way out of the area after they accomplished killing one of their targets, Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir alias ”Marwan”, high in the terrorists list of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. Marwan had a $5 million price of his head.
Their other target, Basit Usman, a bomb expert was able to escape.

Trapped

Published by Ellen on August 9, 2012

It’s not only in Metro Manila that people are trapped.

While flood and landslide due to the monsoon rains the past days have confined people to certain places and access to them difficult in Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon, it’s a more worrisome situation in Muslim Mindanao.

Reports from Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur said people are caught in the middle in the latest clash between government troops and the breakaway Moro rebel group headed by Ameril Umbra Kato.

Here’s yesterday’s report by Mindanews’ Froilan Gallardo:

Paliwanag ni Deles tungkol sa P5 milyon

Published by Ellen on October 29, 2011

chiz sa senado — Wants to know details of P5 M

Halatang-halata ang sama ng loob ni Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles na pinagdududahan ang kayang katapatan kay Pangulong Aquino sa kanyang pahayag na sagot kay Sen.Francis Escudero na binatikos siya sa kanyang mga kwestyonable na mga payo kay Pangulong Aquino.

Ging Deles — Don't worry, P5M is subject to audit

Sa simula ng kanyang sinabi na niya kaagad na nag-resign siya noong Hulyo 2005 sa administrasyong Arroyo kasama sa grupong Hyatt 10.

Ang isa sa isyu na binanggit ni Escudero ay ang P5 milyon na ayuda sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front na matagal nang nakikipagbakbakan sa ating Hukbong Sandatahan. Ang mainit na engkwentro ay yung nangyari
noong Oktubre 18 sa Albarka,Basilan kung saan 19 na sundalo ang namatay.

Hindi maalis na lalong magagalit ang marami dahil ang dating ng mga aksyun ni Aquino ay alaylay na alalay sa MILF. Sa kanyang unang pahayag, nagalit sa palpak ng military at hindi siya nag-order na tugisin ang MILF na sangkot sa trahedya. Nang sumunod na mga araw,nang lumabas ang balita ng demoralisasyun sa military, sinabi niyang bibigyan daw ng hustisya ang mga namatay.

Pres. Aquino meets with MILF chair Murad

Published by Ellen on August 5, 2011

By Carolyn O. Arguillas
Mindanews

Aquino wd Murad — Aquino and Murad in a Tokyo Hotel Thursday evening. Photo by OPPAP

GENERAL SANTOS CITY- Now the silence can be explained.

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim shook hands and talked peace for two hours in a hotel in Japan with their respective panel chairs taking down notes, the President’s Cabinet members and the MILF’s peace panel and Central Committee members as well as the Malaysian facilitator waiting outside the meeting room.

The President and the MILF chair agreed to move the negotiations forward to ensure that whatever agreement is forged can be implemented within the Aquino administration whose term ends on June 30, 2016, the chairs of both panels told MindaNews in separate telephone interviews. How the talks can move forward, the panels will discuss when they meet within the month, they said.