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The China Factor: Chinese Mining Disasters

China and the Arroyo government agreed to explore mining in the Philippines. Is this a recipe for disaster?

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Lives Destroyed: Attacks on Civilians in the Philippines

Philippines: Extremist Groups Target Civilians
More Than 1,700 Killed and Injured in Bombings and Kidnappings

(New York, July 30, 2007) – Violent Islamist groups in the Philippines have killed or injured more than 1,700 people in bombings and other attacks since 2000, Human Rights Watch said in a new report and photo essay released today. The attacks, mostly in Mindanao, Basilan, Jolo, and other southern islands, have also included kidnappings, executions, and shootings.

The 28-page report,“Lives Destroyed: Attacks on Civilians in the Philippines,” contains personal accounts and photographs of bombing sites and of victims of attacks and their relatives. It describes how attacks have killed children, parents, husbands, and wives, and caused terrible suffering among wounded survivors and relatives. The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), based in the southern Philippines, are implicated in or have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks.

“Extremist armed groups have spread terror among civilians in the Philippines,” said John Sifton, senior researcher on terrorism and counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch. “They have bombed buses carrying workers, food markets where people were shopping, airports where relatives were waiting for loved ones, and ferry boats carrying families.”

The casualties since 2000 amount to more than the number of people killed and injured in bombing attacks during the same period in neighboring Indonesia (including the 2002 Bali bombings), and considerably more than the number of those killed and injured in bombings in Morocco, Spain, Turkey, or the United Kingdom. The scale of the violence, however, has not received widespread attention outside the region.

Human Rights Watch faulted the Philippines government for not prosecuting those responsible for attacks. Although numerous suspects in bombing attacks have been arrested since 2000, Human Rights Watch said that very few have been successfully brought to trial, and prosecutions in some cases have been delayed for more than four years. The rest of the story.

Kidnapped Italian priest released in Philippines

Photo:Mindanews

Bossi released in Lanao Norte town without ransom
One-and-a-half months after his abduction, Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was released Thursday night and has been brought to a police camp in Zamboanga, radio reports said.

Radio dzBB reported before dawn Friday that a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) "renegade" faction released Bossi at 9 p.m. Thursday following "negotiations" led by a former mayor.

Bossi: Abductors introduced selves as 'Abu Sayyaf'

Ex-generals: Fabricated documents product of ‘Mercury Rising’

DE FACTO MAFIA GOVERNMENT
Bantay Boto special operatives should “physically isolate” known fraud operators before damage is done. I think warning is not enough. Specific action is must during critical times. There’s no rule of law in the Philippines. The Gloria Arroyo government is based on de facto on Mafia structures. It‘s riddled with corruption from grassroots level up to Malacanang Palace. Government contracts and privatization measures are manipulated in favor of cronies and close political allies. Crooks are being protected and promoted to key government post. The criminal justice system is rotten and the collapse of law enforcement. The illegitimate Arroyo government failed to deliver justice to its people and contributes to the widespread human rights violations in the country. Political killings, torture, disappearance, abduction, illegal arrest and intimidation are shades of Mafia gangland perpetuated by rogue cops and mercenary soldiers. The latest incident, a schoolhouse in Taysan, Batangas was deliberately razed by protector of the people (cops) leaving two teachers on election duty burned alive.
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Ex-generals: Fabricated documents product of ‘Mercury Rising’

GMA’s Garcis padding TU votes by 1M in 5 Mindanao provinces

By Sherwin C. Olaes

Daily Tribune 05/21/2007

An election watchdog composed of retired military and police officers and generals yesterday warned the public that the Arroyo administration is set to come up with pre-computed and pre-accomplished statements of votes (SoVs) and certificates of canvas (CoCs) at the municipal and provincial levels, where alleged dagdag-bawas (vote padding-vote shaving) enabled President Arroyo’s Team Unity (TU) senatorial candidates to post what the group described as a “dubious” one-million lead against their rivals from the Genuine Opposition (GO) in five provinces in the country’s southern Mindanao region.

In a statement released to the Tribune, retired Navy Commodore Ismael Aparri, a convenor of Bantay Boto, charged that the release of “accomplishments” by the Chief Executive’s operators was a fulfillment of “Operation Plan (Oplan) Mercury Rising,” the orchestrated cheating operations of Malacañang that may ensure victory for administration senatorial and congressional candidates against the GO camp of detained President Joseph Estrada.

Aparri identified the five Mindanao provinces as Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sharif Kabunsuan, Sultan Kudarat and Surigao del Sur, where, according to him, the results of the May 14 mid-term vote are being”doctored” by the President’s “poll fraud operators.”?

“From the fraudulent pattern, we can see immediately the devilish intent of Mrs. Arroyo’s fraud operators. The 2007 registered voters from the Oplan Mercury Rising provinces were from eight to 20 percent higher than 2004; the voter turnout was much more than the 2004 voting turnout; the votes garnered by the administration candidates in the provinces were consistently 50 to 100 percent higher than those from the Genuine Opposition,” the Bantay Boto convenor said.

Aparri stressed in these five provinces alone, the lead of the TU senatorial bets over their GO rivals is almost one million.

“Bantay Boto is appealing to the fraud operators not to push through with this plan. Do not do it. It is not worth it. We’re also serving this notice to the fraud operators and their accomplices. We know you. Our eyes and ears are tuned to you. Perpetrators will be dealt with accordingly,” he said.

Aparri said the pre-computed and pre-accomplished SoVs and CoC, a product of the Malacanang-initiated cheating operations, will show an unusual increase in the 2007 registered voters compared to 2004, from eight percent to 20 percent in these areas.

“Just compare these percentages to the population average growth of 2.5 percent annually,” he added.

The retired commodore also charged the declaration of “failure of elections”?in some areas in Mindanao was plotted by the administration so the holding of special elections there can be justified.

Aparri said the original Oplan Mercury Rising was intended by Malacanang to offset the opposition leads that are expected from Metro Manila and the country’s main island of Luzon.

“The idea is to push the senatorial bids of (TU senatorial bets) Rep. (Juan Miguel) Zubiri, (former presidential chief of staff Michael) Defensor and (Rep. Prospero) Pichay, among others, into the winning circle. Even if they will land in the last slots, the magic number to add is at least two million votes in Oplan Mercury Rising provinces, roughly an average of 100,000-vote lead in about 20 provinces,”? he added.

According to Aparri, reports indicate that these leads are already pre-computed and being written in the SoVs and CoC.

“These (figures) will be released on a staggered sequence next week from the Oplan Mercury Rising provinces to the Comelec (Commission on Elections) for senatorial canvassing. Note that the same pattern in the 2004 elections where (the leads of opposition standard-bearer and movie icon) Fernando Poe Jr. in Luzon and Metro Manila were wiped out when the votes from Bohol, Cebu and Iloilo were canvassed, and the final GMA (Mrs. Arroyo’s initials) lead of one million was completed when the votes from special elections and the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) provinces were finally submitted, as the last provinces to be canvassed,” Aparri said.

A ranking Comelec official who gained notoriety during the alleged massive cheating in the 2004 presidential elections has been identified as one of the “Garci boys” apparently involved in the Mindanao fraud in the May 14-mid-term vote.

Rey Sumalipao, Comelec regional election supervisor for ARMM, has been pinpointed by an election officer in Lanao del Sur as the one who allegedly ordered the indefinite suspension of canvassing of election returns (ERs) in the senatorial race.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also yesterday called for the relief of Sumalipao from his post.

“Undue delays” in the canvassing of votes is the latest alleged tack being employed in the cheating operations as opposition leaders also yesterday noted reports of almost “simultaneous” incidents where election officials leave their posts while others could not explain the suspension of canvassing.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a reelectionist running under the GO banner, cited reports on the “unnecessary delays,” this time in Quezon City (Metro Manila), San Jose del Monte in Bulacan province, four towns in Sultan Kudarat province, including Isulan town.

Lacson said similar unnecessary delays have also been reported in Albay province and its capital Legazpi City in the Bicol Region.

He noted that in the four towns in Sultan Kudarat, election officers had abandoned their posts.

“It is possible that plans are afoot and the election officers are playing along,” Lacson said.

He urged poll watchdogs to make a test case of alleged cheating in Maguindanao province, where a teacher had come forward to spill the beans.

The teacher, during an interview on radio last Saturday, claimed that teachers were made to fill in blanks in ballots for TU senatorial candidates and that schoolchildren were made to print thumb marks on the ballots.

“We should see someone jailed for this. If a handwriting expert confirms that only two to three filled in the blanks in the ballots in the area, we’ll have an open-and-shut case,” Lacson said.

He also urged his fellow GO candidates to instruct their staff in keeping close watch on the areas he had mentioned, including some parts of Metro Manila.

Lacson said the GO is monitoring the race to the 10th to 12th slots, where cheating may alter the results.

In a so-called election hot spot, Muntinlupa City (Metro Manila), where incumbent Rep. Ruffy Biazon is being challenged by former television executive and lawyer Ricardo “Dong” Puno in the congressional contest, three members of the board of canvassers had been “hospitalized,” causing the suspension of the counting.

“This is the first time that three canvassers are hospitalized at the same time. What’s next?” Biazon asked.

Pimentel asked Sumalipao to explain on the undue delay in the canvassing of senatorial ERs in Lanao del Sur, an ARMM province.

Sumalipao, at the height of the congressional probe on the “Hello Garci” tapes, was identified by some witnesses as the one mentioned in the wiretapped conversations supposedly receiving instructions from former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, the alleged poll operator for the administration in the 2004 polls.

“Garci” has since been attached to Garcillano’s name.

As revealed by the Lanao del Sur election officer during the television interview, Sumalipao allegedly gave the order to indefinitely suspend the canvassing of the senatorial ERs after the canvassing of the ERs for the congressional and local-government races in various municipalities of the province.

Such order, Pimentel said, is a gross violation of the Omnibus Election Code, which provides that the tabulation of the results of the senatorial, congressional and local elections should be done simultaneously or continuously.

In fact, he added, the law also provides that the results of the senatorial elections should be tallied by the board of canvassers ahead of the results of the congressional and local polls.

Pimentel said the delayed canvassing of the senatorial ERs should not be tolerated under any circumstance because this is part of the modus operandi to manipulate the results of the senatorial contest to favor candidates of the administration.

According to him, the GO legal team will ask the Comelec, as national board of canvassers, not to tabulate the CoC from Maguindanao, supposedly showing a 12-0 score in the senatorial contest in favor of the TU candidates, unless allegations of large-scale electoral fraud are resolved.

Pimentel said the reported sweep is incredible and doubtful in view of allegations that ERs were falsified and votes for TU candidates were padded while votes for GO candidates were shaved.

He also noted that while the media reported poor turnout of voters in several towns in Maguindanao, the provincial election results reflected that 95 percent of voters had cast their ballots.

Pimentel cited reports that no actual voting took place in many parts of Maguindanao, including those controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Saying practically all the rules of fair play and transparency were violated in the Maguindanao polls, he denounced the refusal of local election officials to allow volunteer watchers of the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections to witness the canvassing of votes at the municipal and provincial levels and to obtain copies of ERs, as mandated by law.

The answer to whether the TU bets swept their GO rivals in Maguindanao may not be known now as the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) also yesterday announced that they will no no longer include in their national quick count the results from that province.

According to Namfrel Chairman Eduardo Go, they came up with the decision after election officials in Maguindanao allegedly refused to release copies of ERs to their volunteers.

Go admitted that their decision could affect the ranking of the senatorial candidates.

Maguindanao has 289,000 registered voters.

Namfrel saidt suspicions further grows on the so-called TU sweep with the revelation of another watchdog, Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), that no actual voting occurred in Maguindanao.

Lawyer Carlos Medina, Lente co-convenor, also yesterday told reporters at the Namfrel headquarters in Greenhills, San Juan (Metro Manila) that on May 14, the teachers used the signatures and thumb marks of students for the ballots.

“The Comelec…on its own should do an investigation to find out if this is true or not…they should investigate to find out what really happened…” Medina said as he also appealed to the Comelec to set aside “technical requirements” such as affidavits from witnesses because the teachers would afraid to prepare such documents.

Malacañang also yesterday dismissed the allegations of the teacher and, at the same time, vented its ire on Estrada.

“It is very easy for them (GO) to say there had been cheating, and that they have witnesses but our question is this, do they really have concrete evidence against us?”? presidential legal adviser Sergio Apostol said.

Apostol added Abalos and his five commissioners should not be swayed by tprotests being aired by the Estrada camp and focus on the counting of the votes, especially the contested Maguindanao ballots that delivered a 12-0 victory for Mrs. Arroyo’s bets.

He said the Comelec must simply junk the protests of the opposition because they are merely sourgraping after being junked by the Maguindanao electorate. Angie M. Rosales and Jojo Arazas

Int’l monitors: RP polls marred by 3 G’s, cheating

The National Board of Canvassers had finally convened two days after May 14, 2007 is a delaying tactics to iron-out a “credible” dagdag-bawas scheme (vote padding and shaving). Any delay may create tension among die-hard political supporters. The center of political and economic power Metro Manila had repudiated the illegitimate Gloria Arroyo government. Mercenary election’s fraud operators are determined to thwart the true people’s mandate with the blessings from their evil patroness. Gloria Arroyo’s political survival is at stake. It appears that partisan Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos wants to gag TV-radio quick count upon the orders from Malacanang despite of signed ABS-CBN Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with STI and the COMELEC to conduct a media count. The Filipino people won’t allow massive cheating in favor of losing TUTA candidates. As expected, the Comelec has no credibility to conduct clean and honest elections. Be fair and come clean Senor Abalos. Public anger is ready to explode. Only time can tell.


Foreign poll observers: We felt safer in Afghanistan

Int’l monitors: RP polls marred by 3 G’s, cheating

By Michaela P. del Callar

Daily Tribune 05/17/2007

Malacañang and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) appear to have failed in projecting to the international community that they had conducted fair, fraud-free, peaceful and orderly elections, as accredited international monitors yesterday told reporters that elections in the country were marred by bombings, intimidation, vote-buying and cheating.
Members of the group told reporters yesterday that they witnessed two bombings, encountered two armed groups and saw election rules being openly ignored.
Money to buy votes was handed out openly. “The transactions took place very blatantly. Our presence did not deter them at all,” said Mohamad Yunus Lebai Ali, a Malaysian lecturer and one of the monitors.
The 21-member team from the Bangkok-based Asian Network For Free Elections (Anfrel) visited the six provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for the May 14 midterm elections to witness the campaigning, voting and counting.
The international monitors warned that the credibility of democracy was under threat in a region where powerful families still dominate politics.
Asian poll observers showed dismay at the culture of impunity for elections, manipulation of votes, and prevalence of political violence in ARMM.
The Anfrel and the National Institute for Electoral Integrity denounced electoral fraud and the use of violence and force in ARMM to undermine the democratic process or gain votes.
“In terms of peacefulness, we all can agree that the atmosphere is not conducive for elections. In terms of security, we get it from our experience in the field. Like my colleague from Thailand, she experienced two bombing incidents in polling centers and encountered two armed groups. I do not feel physically safe. What more about the voters?” NIEI Director Ali said in yesterday’s press conference.
Ali said the 21 Anfrel observers, who were deployed to the ARMM provinces on election day, witnessed polling problems, violation of the secrecy of the vote, cheating, violence and commission of election offenses.
“From our own direct observation and our own experience we saw manipulation and the buying of votes. It’s not to say election is fair. We saw how protection took place, many cases of vote manipulation. It’s very hard to say there was no cheating up to election day,” he said.
Ali said the group observed a lot of coaching inside precincts wherein voters were being commanded to write the names of certain candidates.
“And I myself observed flying voters in truckloads with 20-25 of them coming to precincts. No security of votes,” he said, adding: “It’s not free, no individual freedom to vote candidates they like.”
Anfrel Director Somri Hananontasuk of Thailand, meanwhile, said she finds military presence in polling centers unusual and disturbing.
“There was deployment of military outside schools or voting centers. (In Thailand ), we see them (only) in (instances of) national disasters and earthquakes,” she said.
“In our country we don’t have crowded polling stations. (Here), voters talk and look at each other so (there is) no secrecy of votes. In Philippine elections there’s no secrecy,” she pointed out.
For his part, coordinator Amim Shah bin Iskandor ( Malaysia ) said he was “impressed” with the vigilance displayed by non-government election watchdogs National Movement for Free Elections and Parish Pastoral Counting for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
The Genuine Opposition’s allegations appear to have been backed up by the reports of the international monitors.
GO yesterday unearthed the alleged massive cheating being done by the administration in the ARMM which shows the two survey tail enders as the top vote getters in Mindanao: Luis Chavit Singson and Prospero Pichay.
Adel Tamano, spokesperson for GO, revealed the dreaded “cheating mode” of the administration, saying that “it’s quite obvious the elections were rigged in ARMM. It is so statistically improbable for voters to vote 12 straight if you are going to vote,” Tamano told reporters late afternoon.
According to Tamano, what was really suspicious was the fact that their top vote getter, Loren Legarda, was nowhere near the top 20 in the ARMM.
The other senatorial bets, Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Manuel Villar, Panfilo Lacson and even independent candidate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan landed from numbers 13 to 16.
“When I was informed it was 12-0, I was surprised,” he said.
Earlier, deputy campaign spokesperson Tonypet Albano said TU is not surprised to get a 12-0 in Mindanao since they believe that the local executives will carry them and that contrary to popular belief people trust Singson.
Albano said in other areas such as Isabela and Eastern Samar the 12-0 vote for TU was also assured.
Escudero landed in the 13th spot but according to Tamano, a big difference with what can be seen as based on the Comelec tally.
It is also reported that 72 percent of the election returns have been counted in Maguindanao.
It also reported a 90 percent voter’s turn-out.
Tamano also said that in Datu Unsay there are 10,172 registered voters and 10,160 voted.
In Southern Kudarat, out of 10,999 registered voters, 10,664 voted.
Observers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand spent eight days observing pre-election situations and Election Day last May 14 throughout the six provinces of ARMM, visiting more than 500 precincts.
Anfrel recommended that the problem of impunity for election offenses must be addressed and that overspending by political candidates must be discouraged and their source of funding should be declared.
They added that the Comelec must be “more professional and needs to disqualify those who misuse their power and that local elections should be more professional and candidates who abuse their power must be disqualified.
Anfrel also said that law on modernization should be implemented in preparation for the upcoming presidential polls in 2010.
Meanwhile, with the majority of GO headed in the count for victory, opposition figures expressed fear over massive cheating by the administration’s poll operators to overturn the opposition victory in the polls.
Detained Rep. Crispin Beltran said all efforts must be exerted now to ensure that Malacañang will not be able to sneak in more of its TU candidates in the Top 12 through cheating.
Beltran said that it was already clear that Malacañang is manipulating to have GO bet Alan Peter Cayetano dropped from the winners’ circle by having votes for him invalidated on the grounds of a paltry legal technicality.
Reports that President Arroyo is now highly busy making phone calls and that there are countless incidences of Election Returns switching or theft should make the Filipino people vigilant. We must not allow a repeat of the ‘Hello, Garci’ scam and allow the Arroyo government to secure a stolen victory,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel also yesterday voiced suspicions over the very premature conceding of former Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano in the Bukidnon polls, saying that this was probably his message that he was now free to “perform” poll operations and at the same time, collect a hefty fee for his services that would more than pay for the expenses he incurred for his campaign.
Pimentel also reported that some five cheating operators who are alleged to have connections with the Comelec recently arrived in Davao City to ensure a delay in the canvassing of votes and gain more time to manipulate the election results to favor TU candidates.
Also, Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPeg), in an initial assessment, said that the voters’ turnout during the May 14 elections was the lowest in six years.
According to Prof. Bobby Tuazon, the low turnout could be attributed to widespread disenfranchisement even as he said that in the National Capital region the turnout has dropped to a low of 50 to 60 percent only.
Comelec claimed a turnout of some 70-80 percent.
Reports reaching CenPeg showed that possibly hundreds of thousands of voters were directly disenfranchised with the names of many legitimate voters missing in master lists or names found in other precincts.
He said there were also complaints of missing precincts, many master lists unreadable, delayed opening of polling precincts, and of voting marked by long queues thus preventing many voters from casting their ballots while others were harassed by soldiers and police not to vote for certain partylist groups.
He said reports culled from Task Force Poll Watch (TFPW) of Party-list groups, the PPCRV, Kontra Daya, monitoring by UP mass communication student volunteers, foreign observers missions as well as partial field reports from 30 provinces also showed that many voters complained about their names missing in master lists while groups of voters were harassed and prevented from going to their precincts. With Gerry Baldo, Jojo Arazas and AFP

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