Archive for August, 2003
MILF peace talks to start finally next week
By Blanche S. Rivera
Inquirer News Service
August 21, 2003
The long overdue peace talks between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume next week, an adviser to the government panel said.
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A Peace Advocate’s Reflections on the Magdalo Mutiny
By Soliman M. Santos, Jr., Kaiba News and Features
It may be too early to judge whether the Magdalo mutiny, the way
it played out last July 27 around Oakwood hotel in Makati City, was
something positive or negative, in the balance, for the country. As
the cliché goes, history will judge. At the height of the mutiny and
its immediate aftermath, many described and continue to describe it
as a “wake-up call.” It was like the famous question of former Vice
President Emmanuel Pelaez immediately after he was ambushed in 1982
and who passed away also last July 27: “General, what is happening
to our country?” Both, in different ways, were eloquent statements
of the state of the nation.
Defense Secretary on the Defensive
First, he was accused by the July 27 mutineers of being the mastermind in the series of bombings in Davao, southern Philippines early this year. Now Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes has been asked to be placed under investigation for the bombings and that he should immediately resign. A signature campaign to support this call has been launched.
By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com
Navy Whistleblowers’ Lost Cause
One whistleblower who took the lid off reports of corruption in the Philippine Navy died. The commander of the Philippine Navy himself, who had exposed corruption in the Philippine Marines, was sacked. Who says that mechanisms are in place to act on allegations of corruption in the military?
By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com
MILF Peace Process Remains On Track –Ople
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today said that the death of MILF founder and leader Hashim Salamat and the change in leadership in the MILF will not derail current efforts to achieve peace in the Southern Philippines.
“The Philippines remains committed to the peace process with the MILF. The change in leadership in the MILF will not affect our desire to achieve peace,” the Secretary said.
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