KIDS ENJOY THE KILLER RIVER

I came from a media coverage at the Western Mindanao Command last week. Actually the entire city then was experiencing a sectional rain, sounds familiar? Its like sectional power interruption which we always experienced for quite sometime. Probably I should visit Reynerio Ramos, the manager of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative one of these days. But not for now, since I want to share another encounter.

When I left home earlier last Friday, the heat was so high, almost baked my melanin-rich skin.

But soon as we turned San Roque, the weather suddenly changed to something colder and quite cloudier. In just about 20 minutes, rain fell hard.

What surprised me, when I stepped the gate of Western Mindanao Command, again that heat hovers the sky (hmmm… probably God is quite selective now in bestowing blessings.)

After interviewing the rescued 4 Filipino fishermen from Palawan, all fellow journalists sped fast beating deadlines in time for the editors to run their stories.

I got stuck up in San Jose Gusu because of heavy traffic so I just requested the driver to drop me off near the bridge to get another vehicle bound back to Calarian.

But my attention was caught by these two boys having their dip at the murky water of San Jose Gusu River.

An old man approached me and said, “these kids are really hard headed, we’ve been telling them to get out of that river, but they ignored our advice, they knew that this river has been known here as killer river.”

Huh? Killer river?

I checked out with Francisco Barredo, the social welfare officer of the city and he confirmed that three kids have been declared dead when swollen river swallowed them up during heavy downpour that caused severe flashfloods since early this year.

Tsk!Tsk!Tsk! But it seems that children living beside the river are no longer afraid of this murky water, for them its fun to swim for free.

AMERICANS HAVING TIME...

The American soldiers are apparently enjoying their stay here in Mindanao. Some of them established ties and friendship with the local people and savoring simple sceneries found in Zamboanga City and in Sulu.

LONELY JOE?

In just a brief encounter with US Army Major Gunnar Newman, a member of the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines (JSOTFP) civil affairs, he excitedly and openly expressed admiration of the off-shore sites at Camp Majini Pier.

“Napakagandang panahon,” says Newman in slang Filipino words.

A CHAT WITH A FR IEND

US Marines Corporal Jack Flory enjoys a chat with his friend Philip Wee.

Feeling at home, Flory said Wee is like a father to him which the latter agreed.

Flory is one of the American soldiers detailed at the Camp Majini Pier and just wandering around the camp along with Wee curious to know who are the officials arriving on board USS Harpers Ferry.

PIGLETS FOR SALE?

No, this American in military uniform is not selling piglets. I just forgot his name, but Commander Katy Wright earlier gave his name. According to her, this US personnel is a veterinarian sent by US PACOM to join several medical dental action programs (MEDCAP’s) in Zamboanga City targeting household pets and farm animals for vaccination. The photo is provided by the US Embassy information center.

RELEASED OR ESCAPED?

The Army official and a politician in Sulu claimed four kidnapped victims were freed by their captors, but the victims themselves insisted they escaped.

All the four hostages engineers Romeo Rivera, Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista and their hired driver Isidro Amarano Lapus agreed in unison that they escaped on Thursday night, October 19, 2006 from their lone guard who fell asleep shortly before 9am.

But if you listen to Sulu Governor Benjamin Loong and 104^th Army Brigade commander Brig. General Reynaldo Sealana, the four were released by their captors on Friday dawn, October 20, 2006.

It is also quite disturbing to note that all the hostages claimed they were treated well by their captors. They were fed, treated humanely despite being tied with thin yellow nylon rope and the captors are quite friendly according to Rubio. Four victims are left to the care of a lone guard.

While showing the mug shots of the two suspects, Cedo insisted that suspects are really brutal “they are members of the dreadful urban terrorist group of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu.”

Cedo was showing the photos of brothers Itting and Omar Sailani, the main suspects in the killing of photojournalist Geneboyd Lumawag, two years ago.

As the military focuses on the Sailani brothers as the main suspects or shall we say masterminded the abduction, the police official in the area including the governor believed that GEM-USAID contracted security guards, actually two of them (Adznar Ibnaihi and Bong Sakandal) are the suspects who held the victims at gunpoint last October 17, 2006.

If Lapus is really telling the truth, only three kidnappers not six took them at gunpoint. He said of the three, only two were armed.

With the election fever just around the corner, more manmade miracles are expected and sad to note, military officials are also riding the said wagon for the sake of promotion. (END)

ZAMBOANGA'S SOCIAL PROBLEM

I was rushing to meet a friend Jayvee Francisco somewhere at Camins, well actually I just wanted to have breakfast in one of the food chains here with Jayvee.

On the way, I saw several Badjaos, known as water people or sea gypsies along the crossing of Santa Cruz. They are using the middle island as their resting ground if the traffic lights in the go, but once it stopped to a red or yellow, they flocked the motorists, some directly asking money, others, using their indigenous drums, perform certain Badjao's song.

What irked me is that they are using toddlers, infants under the heat of the sun to beg and I am wondering if the social welfare people are doing something about this.

Once I saw a 7 year old male Badjao throwing an infant (probably his younger brother) to another boy situated on the other end of the island. Sigh!

My brother Bobong (who was my driver) had a turn to another direction towards Veterans Street.

Soon as we reached crossing of Veterans turning towards Nunez Street, rains fell.

Everyone was seeking cover except for a lone Badjao boy with his drums.

Ignoring the downpour that drenched him all over, the boy kept on singing hoping to get a few centavos from either the passengers or motorists.

With the sights, I decided to skip my breakfast and simply sip a hot chocolate drink in my favorite food nook.

ZAMBOANGA'S FINEST

Claretian students danced to their hearts for the showdown street dancing on October 11, 2006 in front of the city hall.






Another school with which I forgot to list down the name in my notebook showed their best in the showdown, what caught the onlookers were the sunflower adorning their headgears and bouquets.

BASILAN UPDATES

A PEEK OF BASILAN ISLAND

Sixty year old Ambalan Ausalin is weaving an intricate design known locally as "Sineluen".

Sineluen is one of the many Yakan cloth designs using ordinary threads purchased from the stores. She is weaving a Sineluen which is about 32 meters in length that costs her about Php 10,000 worth of threads.

She can finish a meter length of said design for a month earning about Php500 for every meter she weaved.

Sineluen products are commonly used for wall hangers, wall decors, patched design for t-shirts, skirts, dresses, polo and blouses or small cut cloth is used for earing, banggles, necklaces and slippers.

SULU UPDATES

SULU INCIDENTS

October 3, 2006

• Istiada BHT Oemar Sovie along with her children Alih 8 and Edar 6 were arrested in Barangay Sanda, Patikul Sulu.

• Sovie is the wife of Dulmatin, an Indonesian bomb expert and member of Jemaah Islamiyah who is now working closely with the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu. Source: Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, 3^rd Marine Brigade Commander

October 4, 2006

• Bongkaong Barangay Councilor Bubak Omadjadi was forcibly taken in his residence around 8am allegedly by uniformed personnel.

• Omadjadi’s headless body was discovered near his house around 5pm of the same day.

• Bongkaong is an adjacent barangay to Sanda where Sovie was arrested.

• Military claimed Omadjadi was executed by the group of Dulmatin for helping the authorities that led to Sovie’s arrest.

• However, Omadjadi’s brother, a barangay captain in the area claimed that military personnel were responsible for the beheading since only Scout Rangers are the only unit operating in their village. Sources: Jose Manuel Mamauag, regional director Commission on Human Rights Western Mindanao, Atty. Jinmar Abdurasad, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO-SULU), Sr. Supt. Ahirum Ajirim, Sulu Provincial Police Director

October 8, 2006

• Six Scout Rangers (7^th Scout Rangers Coy) were wounded in a ferocious encounter in Mount Tunggol, Patikul Sulu around 9:30pm. Source: Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana, 104^th Army Brigade Commander

October 11, 2006

• Two Scout Rangers (7^th Scout Ranger Coy) died while undergoing medical treatment at the Camp Asturias Hospital, 8 others wounded after an hour clash with the Abu Sayyaf Group in Mount Sinumaan, Patikul Sulu around 7:30am. Source: Lt. Col. Pablo Lorenzo, 35^th Infantry Battalion Commander.

October 15, 2006

• An improvised explosive device (IED) went off Sunday night (7:10pm) inside the compound of the Sulu Provincial Police Headquarters known as Camp Asturias, in Asturias Street, Jolo town Sulu.
• Three persons were injured identified as Lolita Bernardo 55, her daughter Geraldine 20 and a bystander Hatta Jilah Junior 26 years old.
• The bomb exploded was placed in the middle of the alley separating the walls of PeaceKeepers' Inn and Camp Asturias Hospital of the Western Mindanao Command.
• The said compound houses the Sulu Water District, the military's hospital, a radio station of Radyo ng Bayan, a cooperative lodging house managed by the PNP, a Catholic chapel, a mosque and the main headquarters of the PNP.

October 17, 2006

• A USAID-Gem project manager Engr. Romeo Rivera who is connected with the Monolithic Construction based in Davao City was kidnapped along with his two personal friends also Engrs. Larry Bautista and Reynaldo Rubio around 5pm in Barangay Beid, Parang town Sulu.
• Aside from the three engineers, their driver Isidro Amarano, an employee of Sulu Governor Benjamin Loong was also included in the kidnapping.
• Rubio and Bautista are sub-contractors connected with the TerraSyme Chemicals firm based in Metro Manila.
• Reynaldo Sealana, commander of the 104th Army Brigade said one of the six suspects was identified as Bong Salih, a hired security guard by GEM project in Parang. He was with five other armed suspects when the four were abducted.
• The military launched a rescue operation to secure the immediate recovery of the four kidnapped victims and the neutralization of the suspects.
  

MEMORABLE QUOTES

• “They were attacked because they were sleeping sincerely last night.”Retired General Roy Kyamko, former Southern Command chief responding to journalists’ query why Siocon was attacked last May 4, 2003 leaving 34 dead civilians and cops.

• “We are offering this token to Police Chief Supt. Servando Hizon for his mysterious achievements as Regional Police Director for Western Mindanao,” says an EMCEE during a turn-over of command two years ago Camp Abendan in Mercedes, Zamboanga City.

• “I am happy to see ah John Hamburger (Linborg) of USED (USAID) and other officers that are very presence here….” says Maimbung town (Sulu) mayor Najib Maldisa in one of the soft launching of USAID projects in Sulu.

• "Minabuti kong dalhin dito sa hospital, you know, after three days ordeal, kailangan medyo konting un-stress," says Lt. General Eugenio Cedo, Western Mindanao Command chief last October 21, 2006 when he was asked by a journalist why confine the four released or escaped kidnapped victims.