.

Read More

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 30 Nov) – Trade officials from the Philippines and the Indonesia hailed the launching of a new air route between the two countries.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Muslims and Christians from all walks of life in the conflict-ridden island of Mindanao will seek common ground as thousands of them join in the annual Mindanao Week of Peace celebration from 30 November to 6 December.

Read More

Please help the poor children in Zamboanga. Please donate to the poor.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE (Rocky Dimaculangan / 29 Nov) – An indigenous Subanon tribe in a remote mountainous ancestral land in Southern Philippines has shown its readiness for self-determination after its members successfully elected a new set of leaders who promised to spearhead community efforts to attain sustainable development in partnership with a foreign-funded mining company.

Read More

.

Read More

Below is the official statement of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance network of media organizations around the region, in support of the class civil suit vs. Presidential spouse Jose Miguel Arroyo. (Freedom Watch)


Statement of support for Philippine journalists from free expression groups around Southeast Asia

We, representatives of journalist, media, and free expression organizations from around Southeast Asia, and collaborating under the network of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), applaud the initiative of our colleagues in the Philippines to defend their rights in the face of blatant abuse and harassment from the husband of Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 28 Nov) - The influential Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo, Sharif Ibrahim Ajibul Mohammad Pulalun, hailed Tuesday the Senate’s declaration of the Sheikh Karim al Makhdum Mosque in Tawi-Tawi Island and called it a milestone in Philippine history.

Read More

.

Read More

MAGUINDANAO (Juan Magtanggol / 27 Nov) – Moro Islamic Liberation Front soldiers clashed with government forces after a militia commander allegedly attacked three people, killing a six-year old girl in the southern Philippines, a rebel spokesman said Monday.

Read More

COTABATO CITY – Two senior Filipino and American officials have inspected various development projects jointly undertaken by the Philippine and US governments in Mindanao and both were impressed by the gains of peace and accelerated economic growth in the southern island.

Read More

MANILA – American officials welcomed Filipino children from four local charity centers for an afternoon of holiday tree decorating, snacks, and fun at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippine capital.

Read More

.

Read More

BASILAN ISLAND (Rene Carbayas / 27 Nov) - "There is always a better way," runs the slogan campaign of the Basilan Electric Cooperative, Incorporated (BASELCO) crisis management team that has effectively been proven with its "fantastic performance" that impresses the Presidential Assistant on Rural Electrification (PARE) and the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

Read More

BUKIDNON PROVINCE (Juan Magtanggol / 26 Nov) - Rescuers continue to search Sunday for at least 21 passengers of an outrigger that capsized off Hinatuan Island near the southern Philippine city of Surigao, officials said.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 25 Nov) – Government soldiers in the southern Philippines have recaptured a wanted Abu Sayyaf militant who escaped a provincial prison in 2004, officials said on Saturday.

Read More

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Nov) – Philippine military chief General Hermogenes Esperon on Friday inspected troops in the strife-torn Jolo island and ordered security forces to capture the leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and two Jemaah Islamiya bombers before Christmas.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 23 Nov)– The National Bureau of Investigation arrested a government soldier early Thursday for allegedly extorting money from a former Catholic priest he was protecting in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga.

Crisanto dela Cruz sought the help of the NBI after Ramil Luna, a member of the Philippine Air Force, allegedly tried to extort P2.5 million from him in exchange for a purported sex video between them.

Read More

ZAMBONGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 23 Nov) – U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney on Thursday arrived in Zamboanga City where she celebrated Thanks Giving Day with American troops.

Read More

COMPOSTELA VALLEY (Mark Navales / 23 Nov) – Compostela Valley province and Panabo City in the southern Philippines were both named as 2005 Consistent Regional Winner in Nutrition (CROWN), local officials said on Thursday.

Read More

.

Read More

BASILAN ISLAND (Uly Israel / 23 Nov) – The United Workers Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative on Thursday appealed to the government and foreign donor countries for funding to help farmers rehabilitate dilapidated processing plant and rubber plantations on Basilan island in the southern Philippines.

Read More

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 22 Nov) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) accused government soldiers of attacking rebel forces in the southern Philippines.

Read More

.

Read More

DAVAO CITY (Juan Magtanggol / 22 Nov) – Filipino media groups said they were supporting a class action lawsuit by journalists against President Gloria Arroyo’s husband Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Read More

.

Read More

MANILA (Uly Israel / 21 Nov) - Manila's new proposal to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) buoyed optimism that the impasse in the peace talks could be resolved sooner, Secy. Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on peace process, said.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 21 Nov) – The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) pledged to help put up a P1.5-million day care center in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga.

Read More

.

Read More

Davao City (Mai Gevera / 21 Nov) - Who would have thought a 24-year-old member of the Philippine Army now was once a child rebel who fought for the principles and ideology of the New People's Army?

At 12, Gelyn Dayong was swayed by the sweet promises of her recruiters. She left the comforts of her home, packed her things, and headed to where the leader directs her to go.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 18 Nov) - Adam Omar, chairman of the Zamboanga City-based Western Mindanao Seaweed Industry Foundation, Inc., said Filipino seaweed farmers get "a trickle of assistance" from the government, and that the industry is reeling due to natural calamity which ravaged the seaweed farms in Zamboanga City and other parts of Mindanao.

Read More

.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR (Mindanao Examiner / 17 Nov) – A farming couple who are members of the communist New People’s Army have surrendered Friday to the military in the southern Philippines, officials said on Friday.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 17 Nov) - Unidentified gunmen killed a Muslim man in a daring broad daylight attack Friday, just hours after authorities buried 26 corpses, mostly victims of summary executions in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

Read More

President Gloria Arroyo on Thursday reiterated her commitment to press freedom and strongly condemned the series of media killings in the country, the government media said.

Read More

CEBU CITY - Cebu City will host a five-day trade fair that will showcase different products from the central Philippine region, organizers said Thursday.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 16 Nov) - The creation of Metro Zamboanga will accelerate economic development, expand and democratize leadership base and unleash the full potentials of the city's rich endowed resources, the president of the Western Mindanao State University said.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Executive Secy. Eduardo Ermita on Wednesday announced the appointments of key personalities allied with President Gloria Arroyo to various government positions.

Read More

.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR (Alma Tingcang / 15 Nov) - For 2006, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) entrusted to the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur the amount of P14.1 million to address vital issues affecting children which is implemented through the following program components: Health and Nutrition, Early Childhood Care and Development, Education, Local Policy and Institutional Development, Communication, Children in Need of Special Protection and HIV/AIDS.

Read More

ROXAS CITY (Alex Lumague / 15 Nov) - The arrest of fugitive former Sen. Gregorio Honasan by the Civilian Intelligence and Detection Group (CIDG) is another milestone in the government’s effort to maintain peace and order and to put down a conspiracy aimed to destabilize the country.

Read More

.

Read More

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Nov) – Police and military agents arrested at dawn a fugitive political opposition leader after a chase in Quezon City near the Philippine capital, reports said.

Read More

...Partnership to bring microfinance to 270,000 poor families by 2009

ZAMBOANGA CITY (14 Nov) — Unitus, Inc., an organization which creates innovative solutions to global poverty, announced Tuesday its partnership with Lifebank Foundation, a microfinance institution (MFI) in the Philippines.

Through the partnership Unitus will provide Lifebank with a $250,000 grant as well as expert consulting to help accelerate Lifebank’s growth. With Unitus’s support, Lifebank plans to grow from its current base of just over 55,000 clients to more than 270,000 clients by 2009.

Read More

Built in 1928, this is one of few remaining old buildings in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, a former base to Spanish and American soldiers.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 14 Nov) – Filipino and Russian’s Mosphil Aero Incorporated announced Tuesday its plan to add new routes in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia and probably other countries in Southeast Asia.

Mosphil said it is only waiting the signing of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights by members of the sub-regional trade bloc of the East Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Growth Area (EAGA) during the ASEAN Summit in Cebu City next month.

Read More

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Nov) - Police arrested a member of the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), for allegedly transporting homemade bomb in the troubled Mindanao region, rocked by a spate of bomb attacks last month.

Read More

COTABATO CITY (Juan Magtanggol / 13 Nov) - A boy was injured in a mortar attack Monday in Cotabato City in the restive southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, a regional army spokesman said.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Nov) - Six ambassadors have pledged support to the Philippine peace efforts in Mindanao and renewed commitments to help develop the troubled island, south of Manila.

Read More

By Robert Andrews

Theft of journalists' work is exploding on the internet thanks to a new wave of automated story-copying software - but news organisations are not equipped to tackle the problem, according to one reporter carving a niche as the web's anti-plagiarism crusader.

Read More

By Peter Hirshberg

Technorati and the Associated Press have initiated a service to connect bloggers to more than 440 AP member newspapers in the United States.

Read More

NORTH COTABATO (D. Mondelo / 12 Nov) - A prestigious Swiss organization that has been extending assistance to several development organizations in the Philippines has written a strong letter to the Philippine embassy in Switzerland to protest the recent arrest of two Filipino relief workers, the independent online publication Bulatlat reported on Sunday.

Read More

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Juan Magtanggol / 11 Nov) - Motorcycle gunmen killed a town mayor in a daring broad daylight attack Saturday on the restive southern Philippine region, police and military said.

Read More

.

Read More

Philippines Communists Celebrate 76th Anniversary.

Read More

CAVITE CITY - At least seven big foreign-owned companies, including Wal-Mart, expressed alarm over the spate of killings, violence and attacks against workers on strike in Cavite City, just outside the Philippine capital, the Workers’ Assistance Center, Inc. (WAC).

Read More

BASILAN ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Nov) - Gunmen shot dead a government militia and wounded his companion in an attack in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, a regional army commander said.

Read More

.

Read More

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 10) - A temblor struck near the southern Philippine port city of General Santos, but authorities said Friday there were no damage to structure or casualties.

Read More

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 09 Nov) - Patrolling government soldiers and militias clashed Thursday with suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels in the town of Maramag in the southern Philippine province of Bukidnon, a regional army spokesman said.

Read More

SANDAKAN, Sabah (Haslin Gafor / 09 Nov) - Sandakan, the second largest town in Sabah is not only known as the gateway for eco-tourism, but also an important trading post for many Filipinos from southern Philippines.

Read More

.

Read More

DAVAO CITY (Mark Navales / 09 Nov) – For the first time in Mindanao, more than 10,000 mostly young Catholics flocked to Davao City in the southern Philippines celebration of the National Youth Day.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Nov) - Filipino leader Gloria Arroyo announced that Manila is allocating a first series of funds worth 1 billion pesos (€15.7/US$ 20 mio) aimed at achieving energy independence through biofuels.

Read More

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 09 Nov) - Army troopers stumbled into an abandoned camp of the New People's Army (NPA) in San Fernando town in Bukidnon province in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Read More

.

Read More

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Nov) - Malaysia has agreed to initiate another round of talks between the Philippines and Muslim rebels fighting for independence in Mindanao island, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Nov) - Government soldiers on Tuesday recovered more banned chemicals used widely by rebels in the manufacture of explosives in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA City (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Nov) - Government soldiers on Tuesday intercepted a truck transporting a chemical used by rebels in manufacturing homemade bombs in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga, a regional army spokesman said.

Read More

2006 not promising year for journalism in Asia; majority of countries fell in Reporters Without Borders rankings!

By Tita Tantipinichwong

Asia remains an inhospitable environment for journalists and media outlets, with governmental repression on the rise in the past year. Kidnappings of reporters and physical beatings by police are common throughout the continent, says an annual report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Read More

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 06 Nov) – Presidential Assistant for Police Affairs Orlando Macaspac on Monday challenged Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr to professionalize the appointments and promotions of senior police officials to help improve the performance of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Pimentel earlier expressed alarm over the PNP's admission that police efficiency in the country is declining by 3.9 percent every year and index crimes are on the rise.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 06 Nov) - While it is true that seaweed farming offers tremendous potentials for marginal income earners in the Philippines to stave off poverty, the emergence of globalization, the gnawing structural defects and the concomitant exploitation of farmers by those who have the means to manipulate prices – all add up to sustaining if not worsening poverty in the coastal areas, a seaweed specialist claimed.

Read More

NORTH COTABATO (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Nov) - Masked gunmen seized two people working for a non-government organization in the troubled Mindanao province of North Cotabato, the official Philippine News Agency reported on Monday.

Read More

PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Nov) - Government soldiers killed a notorious member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, implicated in a string of kidnappings, in a firefight Monday on the island of Olutangga off the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, a regional military commander said.

Read More

.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 06 Nov) - Here’s good news for sunset lovers! Another bay walk and park will soon rise in Zamboanga City that will give them the opportunity to view the captivating sight of setting sun.

Not only that, a museum will also be built in honor of the late Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat. Her son, Celso Lobregat, now mayor of Zamboanga City, said all these will be constructed to provide the city’s denizens of another place to go, watch the sunset, stroll around and catch the cooling effect of sea breeze.

Lobregat said the park and bay walk will become a new site for food stalls, coffee shops and stores that will cater to strollers, joggers, and visitors.

“It is patterned after the Roxas Boulevard in Manila where people can go to stroll, relax, jog or watch the sunset. The people will have a place to go,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Read More

.

Read More

Western Mindanao Seaweed Industry Development Foundation, Inc.

Read More

.

Read More

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 05 Nov) The Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU)-Ateneo Alumni Association (AAA) is inviting all alumni and alumnae to join the "despedida" for Fr. William "Bill" Kreutz, S.J. on Sunday evening, November 12, at the Pearlmont Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.

Read More

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mike Banos / 05 Nov) - A replica of the world-famous Nuestra Senora del Pilar shrine at the Fort Pilar National Museum in Zamboanga City will soon rise in a hilltop village called Macasandig in Cagayan de Oro City in Northern Mindanao island, south of the Philippines.

Read More

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Nov) - Filipino Defense chief Avelino Cruz has resigned from his post, but the former chief legal counsel of President Gloria Arroyo did not give any reason for his sudden decision.

Read More

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Nov) - Two government soldiers were wounded in an Abu Sayyaf attack in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, where security forces are battling the al-Qaeda-linked homegrown terrorist group, a regional army spokesman said Sunday.

Read More

Listen To What The Government Media Has To Say...

Read More

QUEZON CITY (Alexander Martin Remollino / 04 Nov) - "Not all solutions to the ongoing conflict in Mindanao can be found in the Constitution."

This was the observation made by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu in a phone interview with Bulatlat on Saturday. Kabalu, who is also a lawyer, was reacting to a recent statement by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye that the Arroyo government was willing to grant the MILF's demands on the ancestral domain claim, but within the framework of the Constitution.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Nov) - An ambulance carrying four passengers collided with a cargo truck in the outskirts of Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, killing one person, police said on Saturday.

Read More

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Nov) - A moderate earthquake shook the southern Philippine port city of General Santos on Saturday, but there were no reports of damage or injuries, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Nov) - Lawyer Aminola Abaton, regional director of the Land Transportation Office for Western Mindanao, continues to draw praises from the public because of the agency’s remarkable performance the past two years.

Abaton, who has been in the LTO for almost 3 years now, introduced a lot of changes that resulted in the agency’s being cited as one of the best in the country.

Last year, the LTO in Western Mindanao, collected almost P178 million in revenues from about P159 million in 2004. Abaton said the increase in collection was mainly due to the concerted efforts and teamwork of all employees under the regional office.

Read More

DAVAO CITY (Yolynne Medina / 03 Nov) – The Asia Source II announced Saturday an upcoming conference on media and new I.T. methods, among others, to be held on January in Indonesia.

Read More

COTABATO CITY (Juan Magtanggol / 03 Nov) – Government troops have tightened security Saturday in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines after the regional police held a town mayor and implicated him in the killing of five people, officials said.

Read More

BUTUAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 04 Nov) — Church leaders on Saturday condemned the police for raiding a convent in the southern Philippine city of Butuan.

Read More

Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at the indifference of both local and national authorities to the fate of radio presenter and anti-logging campaigner Joey Estriber, who has been missing ever since he was kidnapped outside an Internet café in Baler, in Aurora province, northeast of Manila, on the evening of 3 March 2006.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR (Linda Elouali Bansil / 03 Nov) – Residents of the remote village of West Migpulao, formerly Tinikol, in Dinas town in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, praised government efforts in helping the locals put up a water project.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Darwin Wee / 03 Nov) – To help boost white corn production in southern Philippines, the Department of Agriculture on Friday said it will put up a P27-million modern post-harvest facilities in Zamboanga Del Norte province early next year.

Read More

COTABATO CITY (Mark Navales / 02 Nov) - Communist insurgents raided Thursday a military detachment after taking hostage dozens of civilians and used them as shield in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, a regional army commander said.

Read More

NORTH COTABATO (Juan Magtanggol / 02 Nov) - Three people were killed and five more injured when gunmen attacked Thursday a group of civilians near the municipal hall of Banisilan in North Cotabato province in the troubled southern Philippine region, military officials said.

Read More

.

Read More

.

Read More

OLONGAPO CITY (Mike Banos / 02 Nov) - The Bai Lawanen Jaycees of Cagayan de Oro were adjudged best LOM in Mindanao in the recently concluded 58th National Convention of the Junior Chamber International Philippines (Worldwide Federation of Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs) held October 12-14 in Subic, Olongapo City in Luzon.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 Nov) – Police on Wednesday have implicated a government soldier as allegedly behind the murder of a Chinese trader in Zamboanga City.

Read More

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 01 Nov) - People from the coastal villages tend to flock in the highly urbanized Metro Manila or would sell or mortgage their land to find work abroad in search for their dreams of a decent and comfortable life.

And little did they know that such dreams are within reach even without moving out because there are always opportunities, said Engineer Isidro D. Eijansantos, Jr., a strategic planner from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-Zamboanga City).

Read More

ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR (Mindanao Examiner / 01 Nov) – About 3,000 mostly farmers have flocked to the mountain town of Bayog in Zamboanga del Sur, south of the Philippines, to welcome delegates from a Canadian mining firm.

Read More