August 9, 2008
Statement
Stop the intimidation of journalists. Recall persona non grata declaration against Al Jacinto
The Zamboanga City Council move declaring Al Jacinto persona non grata was uncalled for and constituted a form of harassment. The council, with all its power and resources, could have checked first with the newsman or his news outfit before issuing such arbitrary and unwarranted action.
The move stemmed from Jacinto’s articles posted in GMANews.tv regarding the opposition to the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) by several groups in Zamboanga.
Jacinto is a veteran and was simply performing his duties, as demanded by his profession and news organization. Any statement against the formation of BJE was not Jacinto’s but were quoted from different sources duly identified in the articles. They were uttered by personalities campaigning against the controversial and emotional BJE issue.
Contrary to the council’s belief, Jacinto’s articles did not bring shame to the city. We thus resolutely call on the council to withdraw its resolution which has served as a tool to intimidate not just Jacinto but all journalists in Zamboanga City as well as other journalists covering the peace negotiations between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The move was an affront to press freedom and violated the right of the people to information on matters of public concern. All developments pertaining to the peace negotiations are definitely matters of grave public concern.
Reference:
Julie Alipala
Chairperson, NUJP Zamboanga chapter
9 August 2008 Saturday at 8:33 am |
My Dear Colleagues in the Media,
This is the article that the local City Council cited in its deliberation Thursday, August 7, 2008 that led to me being a persona non grata, along with GRP peace panel chief Rodolfo Garcia and Presidential peace adviser Sec. Hermogenes Esperon.
They cited some paragraphs they insisted have negative connotations between Muslims and Christians, but did not take the whole story as is. My article is balance and objective. Using the terms “Catholics” and “Christians” or “Muslims” does not connote anything. It is an accepted terms in international journalism that even news wires or news agencies use, including the news releases of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and the Catholic News Agency to name a few.
One good example was the letter sent to Basilan priests allegedly by the Abu Sayyaf and the CBCP issued a statement about Catholics being threatened and so were other Christian news agencies and media outfits.
EWTN.com – Muslim ‘Warriors’ Threaten Filipino Bishop If He Does …
Muslims demand Catholic bishop’s conversion | Spero News
Bishop: Catholics face increasing danger in Basilan | CBCP News
I have spoken to the Mayor today and explained my side and he also articulated his side and the effects of this story to the public. I have apologized to the Mayor and will write a letter address to the City Council asking for a reconsideration about the resolution declaring me as a persona non grata.
I wish to thank the journalists and the media outfits and those who stood for the truth. And those who supported and advocated press freedom in Zamboanga City. The people behind the Radio Mindanao Network, the RPN TV and Radio, ABS-CBN, IBC TV5, GMA TV, GMANews.TV, Peace Advocate Zamboanga, the editors and reporters of the Daily Zamboanga Times, the Zamboanga Today, Rey Bayoging, Joel Sanson, Gil Climaco, Gerky Valesco, Beng Climaco, Jerry Lacastesantos, Dodong Ramos, Fr. Angel Calvo, Roel Pareno, Charlie Saceda, Cheng Ordonez, Liza Jocson, Ely Dumaboc, Julie Alipala, Bong Garcia, Al Alhabsi, Therence Koh, Hader Glang, and to all those I forgot to mention.
Mabuhay!
Al Jacinto
Editor-in-Chief
Mindanao Examiner
http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com
Zambo Christians told to fight Muslim ancestral domain deal
08/03/2008 | 07:08 PM
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Christian residents in Zamboanga are being agitated to protest the inclusion of several Muslim enclaves here in a proposed Islamic homeland in Mindanao.
Local Catholic priests in their homily Sunday also urged residents to join a protest rally on Monday. In their homily, the priests said two villages largely populated by Christians would be included in the proposed Muslim homeland demanded by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also criticized Manila for including several Muslim villages here to be part of the MILF ancestral domain, including two villages where the century-old City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine are situated.
Lobregat, who was invited Saturday night at a Lion’s Club convention here, spoke lengthily about his opposition to the ancestral domain and the inclusion of Christian villages in the proposed Muslim homeland. He said residents had twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Muslim autonomous region.
Government and rebel peace negotiators have reached a deal on the ancestral domain and would sign the agreement on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, which is brokering the seven-year old talks aimed at ending more than four decades of Muslim secessionist wars in Mindanao.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow referendum on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
Esperon also denied Lobregat’s claim and said only Sacol Island, about 18 nautical miles, is included in the ancestral domain. “Only Sacol is included in the ancestral domain and islanders would be given a chance whether to be part of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or not,” he told GMANews.TV.
He said: “Included in the proposed plebiscite are the villages in Sacol Island and none in mainland Zamboanga City. We should hear the voice of the people of Sacol, which is populated by Muslims. Any plebiscite will be pursuant only to an enabling law which will be enacted by Congress.”
Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for its water and electricity sources, despite the city’s more than P2 billion savings in banks.
US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been very active in providing Muslim villages in Zamboanga City with various infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes, among others.
Cell phone text messages were also spreading about the inclusion of Zamboanga City in the Muslim ancestral domain. One text message urged citizens to resist the ancestral domain and to join Monday’s protest rally.
Many commercial stores here, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen and supporters of Lobregat, said they will all close at 11 a.m. on Monday to protest the inclusion of the villages to the ancestral domain. Even some journalists, who are supposed to stay neutral, have joined calls to resist the ancestral domain.
Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities to the Bangsamoro homeland. However, most of these leaders are also the mayor’s allies and supporters.
But many Muslims here said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many Muslim residents in Zamboanga City said they are discriminated by Christians. Others claimed many department stores owned by influential Chinese businessmen here do not hire Muslims, but Christians.
Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favored the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain is the single most important and, arguably, the thorniest issue before government and rebel peace negotiators can reach a political settlement.
Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.
Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain included the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which is comprise of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao, and Maguindanao provinces and Marawi City, and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes; and Palawan Island near Mindanao.
The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity will also have sufficient control over economic resources and a structure of governance in all its territories that will allow Muslims to govern themselves in ways that are consonant with their culture and with minimal interference from Manila.
Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan City in Lanao province, said he would also hold a protest rally on Monday. Deputy Governor Emmanuel Piñol, of North Cotabato, said he will oppose any attempt to include his province to the Muslim homeland.
Piñol has asked the Supreme Court to stop the government and rebel peace negotiators from signing the agreement on the ancestral domain. Lobregat and Cruz said they would also petition the High Court to stop the signing.
The MILF on Sunday appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation and not hatred and mistrust. The rebel group previously said it would not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo administration unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral domain deal.
Mrs Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord.
Peace negotiators last month also signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society. – Al Jacinto
And below are my original stories which I posted on the website Mindanao Examiner and filed to other national and international outfits.
Catholics Hold Rally Vs Muslim Homeland In Southern Philippines
Monday, August 04, 2008 12:44:09 PM
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – Some 3,000 mostly Christian residents here held a rally Monday to protest the inclusion of at least eight Muslim villages in a proposed Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines.
Mayor Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga City also criticized the government for including the villages in the ancestral domain that the government supposedly would grant the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels under the peace pact.
He said the century-old Zamboanga City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine and the Cathedral are located in two of the eight villages, he said.
Many of those who joined the rally wore red shirt and were mostly local government employees and students who were ordered by their teachers to join the protest. Others were curious about the rally and the issue of the Muslim ancestral domain.
Local Catholic priests in their homily on Sunday also urged the residents to join the rally.
“Our teacher told us to attend this rally. We do not know what they are talking about here,” one high school student told the Midnanao Examiner.
His teacher said the principal ordered them to bring the students at the rally. “We were just told to bring the students here at the rally and to put on a red arm band in support of the protest rally,” she said.
Some of the protesters carried placards denouncing the inclusion of Zamboanga villages in the Muslim homeland. One placard reads: “Gloria tumigil ka na…Gloria magisip-isp ka.”
Another reads: “I am a good Moro. I am against the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Let us all unite to live in peace.”
Lobregat, also wearing a red shirt and Zamboanga City Archbishop Romulo Valles, clad in white robe and red skull cap, also spoke about the ancestral domain before the huge crowd. Some of their followers carried wooden crosses and different statues of the Virgin Mary.
President Gloria Arroyo’s peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow the referendum in areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsa¬moro Juridical Entity.
Peace negotiators are to formally sign the agreement on the ancestral domain on Tuesday in Malaysia, which is brokering the seven-year old talks. The peace agreement also supposedly would provide for a referendum on whether more than 700 other villages across Mindanao wanted to be part of the ancestral domain.
Lobregat said residents already twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Esperon denied Lobregat’s claim on the coverage of the proposed plebiscite. He said only Sacol Island in Zamboanga City is included in the ancestral domain. “I assured the people of Zamboanga that only Sacol, which is a predominantly Muslim island, is included in the ancestral domain,” he said in a separate interview.
Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for their water and electricity sources, despite the city government’s more than P2-billion savings in banks.
US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been active in providing Muslim villages in the city with infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes.
Several department stores, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen, also closed shops before noontime in support of Lobregat’s call to protest the inclusion of Zamboanga City villages to the Muslim homeland.
Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities in the Bangsamoro homeland. Most of these leaders, however, are also the mayor’s allies and supporters.
But many Muslims in Zamboanga City said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many of them claimed that they are being discriminated against by Christians. Others also claimed that many department stores in the city do not hire Muslims, but only Christians.
Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favor the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain was arguably the thorniest issue that blocked a political settlement between the government and the rebels.
Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.
Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain includes the whole of ARMM and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. It also covers Palawan province in western Philippines. ARMM is composed of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces and Marawi City.
Lobregat said the Arroyo government is using the policy of “divide and conquer” and “divide and rule”.
“We are for peace. We are for honorable and long lasting peace. Christians and Muslim live in harmony and peace in Zamboanga City. And we respect each other culture and religion.”
“This issue of ancestral domain again cropped up. We are appealing to the government peace panel to listen to our calls. We are part of Mindanao. We are part of the Philippines. We are Filipinos and we should thread what binds us together and not our differences. We do not believe that a juridical entity should be created out of religion or base on segregation.
Here we should live together and in harmony,” Lobregat said.
Residents of Iligan City, led by Mayor Lawrence Cruz, also held a protest rally, Lobregat said. Vice Gov. Emmanuel Pinol of North Cotabato said he will also oppose any attempt to include his province in the Muslim homeland and has petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the signing of the ancestral domain accord in Kuala Lumpur.
Zamboanga City Rep. Erico Fabian also filed a similar petition on Monday at the Supreme Court.
The independent, but influential group called Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ), headed by Claretian priest Angel Calvo said the signing of the ancestral domain is a big step in achieving peace in Mindanao. “It is one big step to achieving peace,” said the Spanish priest, who is also the president of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace in Philippines.
PAZ is a Catholic organization whose objective is the promotion of peace by strengthening good relations among Muslims and Christians, and all other peoples.
The United Opposition also called on President Gloria Arroyo to postpone the signing of the peace pact until the Supreme Court determines the legality of the agreement.
The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation, not hatred and mistrust. Rebel leaders said they will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless the demand of Muslims for self-determination is granted.
Last year, peace talks were stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral-domain deal.
President Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord. (Mindanao Examiner)
Christians Being Agitated To Fight Muslim Ancestral Domain Deal In Mindanao
Sunday, August 03, 2008 02:18:43 PM
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – Christian residents in southern Philippine city of Zamboanga are being agitated to protest the inclusion of several Muslim enclaves here in a proposed Islamic homeland in Mindanao.
Local Catholic priests in their homily Sunday also urged residents to join a protest rally on Monday. In their homily, the priests said two villages largely populated by Christians would be included in the proposed Muslim homeland demanded by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which is negotiating peace with Manila.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also criticized Manila for including several Muslim villages here to be part of the MILF ancestral domain, including two villages where the century-old City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine are situated.
Lobregat, who was invited Saturday night at a Lion’s Club convention here, spoke lengthily about his opposition to the ancestral domain and the inclusion of Christian villages in the proposed Muslim homeland. He said residents had twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Muslim autonomous region.
Government and rebel peace negotiators have reached a deal on the ancestral domain and would sign the agreement on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur which is brokering the seven-year old talks aimed at ending more than four decades of Muslim secessionist wars in Mindanao.
President Gloria Arroyo’s peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow referendum on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
Esperon also denied Lobregat’s claim and said only Sacol Island, about 18 nautical miles, is included in the ancestral domain. “Only Sacol is included in the ancestral domain and islanders would be given a chance whether to be part of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or not,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said: “Included in the proposed plebiscite are the villages in Sacol Island and none in mainland Zamboanga City. We should hear the voice of the people of Sacol, which is populated by Muslims. Any plebiscite will be pursuant only to an enabling law which will be enacted by Congress.”
Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for its water and electricity sources, despite the city’s more than P2 billion savings in banks.
US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been very active in providing Muslim villages in Zamboanga City with various infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes, among others.
Cell phone text messages were also spreading about the inclusion of Zamboanga City in the Muslim ancestral domain. One text message urged citizens to resist the ancestral domain and to join Monday’s protest rally.
Many commercial stores here, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen and supporters of Lobregat, said they will all close at 11 a.m. on Monday to protest the inclusion of the villages to the ancestral domain. Even some journalists, who are supposed to stay neutral, have joined calls to resist the ancestral domain.
Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities to the Bangsamoro homeland. However, most of these leaders are also the mayor’s allies and supporters.
But many Muslims here said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many Muslim residents in Zamboanga City said they are discriminated by Christians. Others claimed many department stores owned by Chinese businessmen here do not hire Muslims, but Christians.
Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favored the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain is the single most important and, arguably, the thorniest issue before government and rebel peace negotiators can reach a political settlement.
Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.
Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain included the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is comprise of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao, and Maguindanao provinces and Marawi City, and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And Palawan Island near Mindanao.
The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity will also have sufficient control over economic resources and a structure of governance in all its territories that will allow Muslims to govern themselves in ways that are consonant with their culture and with minimal interference from Manila.
Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan City in Lanao province, said he will also hold a protest rally on Monday. Deputy Governor Emmanuel Pinol, of North Cotabato, said he will oppose any attempt to include his province to the Muslim homeland.
Pinol has asked the Supreme Court to stop the government and rebel peace negotiators from signing the agreement on the ancestral domain. Lobregat and Cruz said they would also petition the High Court to stop the signing.
The MILF on Sunday appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation and not hatred and mistrust. The rebel group previously said it will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral domain deal.
Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord.
Peace negotiators last month also signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society. (Mindanao Examiner)