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Quality of life worst in 7 Mindanao provinces
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Written by Dharel Placido
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Experts say key to human development is big revenues and smaller population to share them
Seven provinces in Mindanao, almost all of them conflict areas, are among the 10 where the quality of life is worst in the Philippines, the latest human development report on the country showed on Wednesday.
Sulu ranked lowest in the human development index (HDI), followed by Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Masbate, Sarangani, Eastern Samar, Zamboanga del Norte, and Romblon.
The experts at the briefing on Wednesday said that because of the armed conflict in the southern provinces, thousands of families are displaced that were unable to access basic services.
“The policy challenge is to stop war, but the whole military approach is not the correct approach,” said Toby Monsod, an economics professor at the University of the Philippines and principal author of the 2008/2009 Philippine Human Development Report.
The poor quality of life in these provinces is almost at the same level as in poor African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritania, and Senegal, and conflict-ridden countries like Pakistan and Myanma, according to a comparison of HDIs made by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Population a Factor
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Posted by sultan1 on Tuesday, June 09 @ 01:30:16 EDT (85 reads)
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Muslims to have Shari’a Courts in ARMM, urban areas, if pushes through
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DAVAO CITY, May 26, 2009 –To help Filipino
Muslims resolve their legal conflicts in relation to their distinct
personal and family laws, a lawmaker from the 1st District of Sultan
Kudarat is urging for the passage of a measure seeking to create
shari’a courts in the Autonomous Region in Muslims Mindanao (ARMM) and
areas outside of it.
Cong. Datu Pax S. Mangudadatu, author of House Bill 6337 said that
the bill aims to strengthen the shari’a district court system by
establishing shari’a courts in areas where there are countless Filipino
Muslims.
Mangudadatu added that establishing shari’a courts in the country is
mandated under Presidential Decree 1083, although at present shari’a
courts are only in limited areas of Mindanao and the ARMM.
He added that due to the limited access of Muslims to shari’a courts
the situation also becomes inconvenient and difficult especially in
solving personal legal problems.
“There are Muslims’ communities all over the country especially in
urban centers. That is why the limited access to shari’a courts make it
more difficult for them to avail,” he said.
Under the proposed bill, five judicial districts with one shari’a
district court and one judge each shall be created in the provinces of
Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Isabela City in Lanao del Sur, Marawi City
in Maguindanao and Cotabato City.
Apart from that, six special judicial districts, each to have one
shari’a district court, shall be established in the provinces of Lanao
del Norte, Iligan City, North Cotabato, South Cotabato and General
Santos City and the ninth shari’a district in Metro Manila among
others.
The measure also provides that permanent stations or offices of
shari’a district courts shall be created in the ARMM particularly in
the first district of Jolo, Bongao, Isabela City, Marawi and Cotabato
City. Those permanent offices outside the ARMM shall be put up in
Zamboanga City, General Santos City, Metro Manila and Cebu. (Mark S.
Ventura)
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STRANGE FRUITS – Kidnaps for Ransom
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May 18, 2009
STRANGE FRUITS – Kidnaps for Ransom
Yolanda O. Stern – President, One World Institute
It has been little more than a quarter of a year for Eugenio Vagni of the ICRC in the forests of Jolo. He was taken with two other colleagues, Andreas Notter and Mary Jean Lacaba, also of the ICRC. While the two have rejoined their families after their release, Mr Vagni is still being held. The forests of Basilan, a collection depot for kidnapped hostages who are transferred there by motorized outrigger canoes after they are seized, also hold many hostages according to eyewitnesses. One poor farmer was beheaded yesterday for lack of ransom.
Nothing has changed in the kidnap for ransom business for 600 years. There are those who take, those who board and lodge, and those who negotiate the ransom. When reason is lost to the darkness, there are those who do the beheadings. Yet there are also those who provide the security on all fronts. It is a global consortium with many actors from different walks of life.
Hundreds of families have been affected by this business. Some have sold their homes, mortgaged their family car, lost all their meager assets to raise the ransom. Helped by better weapons, communications technology, and a larger population of young adults who lack gainful employment, the cycle continues unabated.
We can argue until the swine flies that this scourge is a product of poverty, lack of basic services, illiteracy , and an absence of opportunity for ‘the pursuit of life, liberty and justice for all’. But of the substantial number of poor, especially in Mindanao, only a very small percentage turn to “kidnap for ransom” as their livelihood. Yet the scourge it creates has impacted every administration, and the war against terrorism has an even bigger budget today. US military aid to the Philippines has practically tripled after ”9/11”.
Filipinos are no strangers to poverty. Even the wealthy are aware of the slums next to their estates. Where would their overworked, underpaid servants come from if it were not for the slums? Count the hundreds of foundations trying to alleviate things. More and more overseas Filipinos and overseas Filipino workers are sending subsistence money home for family alleviation. Some of these families are at the mendicant stage but not by choice.
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Posted by sultan1 on Tuesday, May 19 @ 03:20:11 EDT (105 reads)
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Commission confirms first Filipina Muslim as ambassador
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By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter
A Filipino Muslim woman made
history in the diplomatic service when the Commission on
Appointments confirmed her as ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Corazon Yap-Bahjin, who was
confirmed May 20, is the first Filipino Muslim woman to serve as
ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, the Department of
Foreign Affairs reported in a statement released Friday.
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In 1979, she also became the
first Filipina Muslim to pass the Foreign Service Officers (FSO)
exam, said to be one of the toughest examinations in the
Philippines. That exam is needed to join the Philippine foreign
service. Her grandmothers and late husband, Datu Samsuddin Rasul
Bahjin, were Tausugs from Sulu province.
Bahjin will replace Ambassador
Eduardo Pablo Maglaya, also a career diplomat, in Manama, the
capital of Bahrain.
Before her confirmation, she
served as the assistant secretary for personnel at the Foreign
Affairs home office in Pasay City. She also served as assistant
secretary of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy
Coordination and as acting assistant secretary of the Office of
Consular Affairs.
Her previous postings included
Cairo, Amman (Jordan), Bangkok and Xiamen (China), where she was
consul general.
Before her diplomatic career,
Bahjin was an educator.
She graduated cum laude from the
University of Santo Tomas in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in
Education and obtained a Master of Arts in Social Studies from the
University of the Philippines in 1974. She then taught at the Holy
Trinity College in Palawan, later at Centro Escolar University, and
then at Palawan State University, where she became an assistant
professor.
Bahjin joins the short list of
Filipino Muslim career diplomats, including Bahnarim Guinomla,
former ambassador to Turkey and now assistant secretary for
Mindanao; Usop Kadatua, consul general and deputy chief of mission
in Dhaka; Candidate Gutoc, former ambassador to Oman; and Mukhtar
Muallam, former ambassador to Libya.
There were other Filipino Muslims
who were not career diplomats but were appointed to serve as
ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary: Alunan Glang (Kuwait);
Abraham Rasul (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia); and Mauyag Tamano (Kuwait).
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P50-M beach resort eyed in Sulu
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PANGLIMA
TAHIL, Sulu, May 27 (PNA) –- The mere mention of its name Sulu
sends a chilling effect mechanism, but all this would be a thing of the
past as the provincial government has unveiled a master plan to build
an ultra- modern beach resort here as a come-on for both local and
foreign tourists.
A plan is afoot to build a P50-million resort on this scenic islet that would erase the stigma of Sulu as a war-torn island.
The
indefatigable Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has unveiled the ambitious plan
to develop the Panglima Tahil beach resort, about 10 kilometers west of
the capital town Jolo, and make it a haven for tourists.
The
island province of Sulu, situated in the southernmost portion of the
country, is blessed with rich natural resources both in land and sea.
However, because of the long-existing problem of law and order, the development of Sulu has remained stagnant through the years.
Tan
noted that tapping the island’s potentials could uplift the economic
conditions of its citizens and curtail the “conflict status” that has
besieged the province for many years.
Sulu
boasts of its pristine beaches, particularly on the island municipality
of Panglima Tahil where the Sulu provincial government plans to put up
a world-class beach resort. It is located in front of the capital town
of Jolo and just 10 minutes ride by motorized boat.
Panglima
Tahil is composed of five island barangays with a total land area of
4,950 hectares. It has a population of 6,192 persons as of the 2007
census.
Private
investors are reluctant to venture in this project because of the
perceived peace and order problem prevailing in the area.
But
seeing the immense potential of Panglima Tahil, Tan said the provincial
government is initiating a public investment to lure foreign and local
investors to invest in the province.
Among
the many pristine beaches in the province, Panglima Tahil is the most
feasible considering its proximity to the town of Jolo and the most
peaceful among the 19 municipalities of Sulu. It is very easy to secure
and very attractive for diving activities. OBJECTIVE
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Posted by sultan1 on Sunday, May 31 @ 07:15:22 EDT (66 reads)
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| Additional Info |
Sulu History (external link)
Inhabiting the shores and coast of the many islands that constitute the Sulu Archipelago, the people of the province naturally take to a seafaring life. Long before Miguel Lopez de Legaspi colonized Cebu, foreign traders were already familiar with Sulu waters. When Manila and Cebu were yet small settlements, Jolo was already a city, the most important in the Philippines, with trade flourishing between its inhabitants and Chinese merchants.
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Sulu Quick Facts (external link)
Far-flung Sulu is the southernmost part of the Philippines, lying between the Sulu Sea on the north and the Celebes Sea on the south. With fishing as its most important industry, it is classified as a First Class Province in terms of income.
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