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The Muslim autonomous region is composed of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao and Maguindanao provinces, including Marawi City, where voters elected their new governor, deputy governor and members of the regional legislative assembly.

The Commission on Elections said there were reports of ballot boxes snatching in Sumisip town in Basilan province. Police also reported shootings in Akbar and Maluso towns. “There were reports of ballot boxes snatching in Basilan,” lawyer Vidzfar Julie, the deputy regional elections chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Automated polls successful

He said despite reports of ballot snatching incidents and shootings, the elections were successful because of the information campaign of the poll body of the use of automated machines. The regional polls were considered a prelude to the national elections in 2010.

James Jimenez, spokesman for the Commission on Elections, said the regional elections is a significant milestone in poll reform in the country because voters showed enthusiasm in using automated voting machines.

“We have seen the long queues of voters eagerly waiting for their turn to vote using the electronic voting machines,” Jimenez said. “We are so heartened about the initial positive voting turn out. With the new technology, the people of Maguindanao are more motivated vote than ever before.”

MILF attacks

Police in Basilan province said fighting erupted at around 1.30 p.m. in Tipo-Tipo town between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels.

“There is fighting between military and rebel forces and two soldiers and a government militia are wounded in the clashes,” Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the Basilan police chief, said in a separate interview.

He said armed rebels tried, but failed to stop elections in the town. There were no reports of MILF casualties, he said, adding, the rebels torched several houses before retreating to the mountains.

Macapantar said MILF gunmen also fired their weapons in Sumisip town, briefly disrupting the polls. He said a member of the Board of Elections panicked on the sounds of the gunfire and fled away bringing two ballot boxes, but returned later and the elections continued.

There were also shooting incidents in Akbar town, but no reports of casualties. “Overall, the elections were successful,” Macapantar said.

Cheating

In Sulu province, cheating had been reported in the town of Luuk where members of the Board of Elections themselves were allegedly spotted filling out ballots. Many ballot boxes in the polling precincts in Luuk also had no locks and supporters of candidates to the regional legislative assembly were inside allegedly influencing voters.

Gunfire were also reported in Sulu’s Panglima Estino town where supporters of opposing candidates were present, but police said the incident was quickly investigated.

“Elections in Sulu are peaceful. There were no major election-related incidents and the polls are successful,” said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, Sulu police chief.

He attributed the success of the polls to the joint efforts of the police and military and the strict enforcement of the gun ban throughout Sulu.

Close coordination

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan also cited the close coordination between the police and military and the Commission on Elections to the successful polls and the implementation of the total gun ban in the province. “As we expected, Sulu finished the elections without violence,” he said.

Elections were also generally peaceful in Maguindanao province, although fighting between military and MILF forces continue in nearby province of North Cotabato, where seven rebels and an infantryman died in fierce clashes since Sunday.

More rebel attacks, snatching of ballot boxes

There was also a report of ballot boxes snatching in Barira town in Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

“The regional elections were also peaceful and we have no reports of killings or serious election-incidents,” Ando said.

He said sporadic fighting continues between troops and Muslim rebels in the towns of Aleosan, Midsayap, and Pikit, where MILF forces were trapped. Authorities last week ordered rebel forces out of those areas, but a 24-hour ultimatum had been stretched because of the fighting also between MILF gunmen and government militias.

The MILF said the fighting, if not stopped, could spread to other areas in Mindanao and may affect the peace talks. The MILF, which is fighting for a separate homeland, has been negotiating for peace with the Arroyo government since 2001.

Close to 19,000 soldiers and policemen were deployed to secure the polls in more than 880 villages throughout the autonomous region. (Mindanao Examiner)

MANILA, Philippines (July 20, 2008) - At a mock balloting held at the main headquarters of the Philippines' Commission on Elections, at least 20 bloggers voted for actor Pierce Brosnan for ARMM Regional Governor over mock candidates Kevin Costner, Leonardo di Caprio, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Al Pacino and Sharon Stone.

On the other hand, Vanessa Redgrave won as Regional Vice Governor, beating Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Micheal Jackson, Tom Jones, Jennifer Lopez, Brian McKnight and David Pomeranz.

The bloggers, mostly students and young professionals, got to see first-hand the automated voting and counting machines that will be used in next month’s automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

“We invited bloggers because we believe them to represent a significant part of the general public that wants to be informed about the most recent developments in election automation,” said COMELEC spokesman and education and information chief James Jimenez.

A blogger himself, Jimenez said blogs can be a powerful medium to share knowledge with the electorate, especially the youth.

MANILA, Philippines (July 17, 2008) - The Supreme Court has declared the creation of the province of Shariff Kabunsuan in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao void and ruled that the power of ARMM’s legislature to create provinces and cities is unconstitutional.

The SC, in an 8-6 vote, declared void Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act 201, which created the province of Shariff Kabunsuan, which was carved out of Maguindanao province.

“Only Congress can create provinces and cities because the creation of provinces and cities necessarily includes the creation of legislative districts,” the 33-page decision penned by Justice Antonio Carpio reads.

The SC ruling said that creation of province or a city “inherently involves the power to create a legislative district.” Creating a province or a city without creating a legislative district, the decision said, is unconstitutional because the Constitution mandates that a province or a city with at least 250,000 inhabitants is entitled to at least one representative.

The ruling said that only Congress can create or reapportion a legislative district. “Congress exercises these powers through a law that the Congress itself enacts and not through a law that a regional or local legislative bodies enact.”

The Regional Legislative Assembly, ARMM’s law-making body enacted on Aug. 28, 2006 MMAA 201, which created Shariff Kabunsuan by separating eight municipalities from the first district of Maguindanao-- Barira, Buldon, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura and Upi. It was ratified in a plebiscite on October 29, 2006.

The now-defunct province of Shariff Kabunsuan was composed of 11 towns after RLA created three new towns—Sultan Mastura, Northern Kabuntalan and Datu Blah Sinsuat—from the province’s three existing plan.

The SC decision also declared unconstitutional the RLA’s power to create provinces and cities in the region but it did not pass upon the constitutionality of the creation of new municipalities and barangays.

“The creation of such municipalities and barangays does not involve the creation of legislative district,” the ruling reads.

Under Republic Act No. 9140 or the Expanded ARMM Law, the RLA has the power to create new LGUs and to set its own criteria in creating, dividing, merging, or abolishing LGUs. LGUs created by the Expanded ARMM Law that do not meet the standards of the LGC are not entitled to the share in the national taxes collected by the national government and depend only on the general funds of the ARMM regional government.

This provision of the ARMM law has been criticized because it results in the creation of smaller and non-viable local government units. In recent years, the number of LGUs in the region has swelled. In December 2005, the region was composed only of 5 provinces, 101 municipalities, and 2,461 barangays. Since then, one province (Shariff Kabunsuan), 12 municipalities, and nine barangays have been created.

Local officials in the region said that this process has improved the peace situation because it helps avoid rido or clan wars by giving every political family a territory to govern. (Jesus F. Llanto)

Indanan town Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his Haider have been detained after being accused of pocketing P3 million from the five million ransom initially paid to the Abu Sayyaf for the safe release of ABS-CBN television cameraman Angelo Valderama in Sulu.

Three other hostages, reporter Ces Drilon and her cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and a Muslim university professor Octavio Dinampo, were also freed in exchange for P15 million, police said.

The Abu Sayyaf kidnapped the four on June 8 while on their way to secretly interview an Abu Sayyaf terrorist leader Radulan Sahiron in Sulu’s Maimbung town, a known stronghold of the group tied to al-Qaeda.

Isnaji is one of seven candidates running for governor in the Muslim autonomous region and support for his campaign is steadily growing and he could win the polls if the trend continues in his favor, according to Ibrahim Abdurahman, a leader of the former Muslim rebel group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The MNLF is helping in the campaign of Isnaji, a senior leader of the MNLF and a former lawmaker in the Muslim autonomous region.

“There is a huge support because the sympathy of the Muslims is with good mayor. Many believe Mayor Alvarez Isnaji is innocent of all accusations against him and that these accusations are all part of a grand design to derail his candidacy,” Abdurahman said.

He said there is a huge support for Isnaji in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Shariff Kabunsuan and Lanao del Sur. “Except for Maguindanao, Mayor Isnaji is enjoying the support of the Bangsamoro people,” he said.

Maguindanao is the home province of the current governor of the Muslim autonomous region, Zaldy Ampatuan, whose father Andal Ampatuan is the incumbent governor. The young Ampatuan, a former mayor of a small town and a staunch ally of President Gloria Arroyo, is seeking reelection.

Isnaji is largely seen as a formidable force against Ampatuan. Isnaji is also being supported by the MNLF.

Elections in the Muslim autonomous region had been tagged in the past as one of the dirtiest in the country where politicians use “guns, gold and goons” to win votes.

Muslims in Sulu province have earlier urged the Philippine Senate to open up investigations into who benefited from the ransom.

Isnaji, who was handpicked by the Abu Sayyaf to negotiate for the safe release of the captives, strongly denied the accusations.

Police said Drilon's brother, Frank, paid P5 million ransom, but Isnaji allegedly gave only P2 million to the kidnappers. And Isnaji's lawyer, Firdausi Abbas, claimed that another P15 million donated by an unnamed Chinese businessman was paid to the captors.

Police and military said the payment of ransom to the Abu Sayyaf will endanger many people in the southern Philippines because the money could be used to purchase illegal weapons and fund terrorism and future kidnappings.

Since the release of the hostages, authorities have not made any arrest, but many in Sulu are waiting for the ABS-CBN special documentary on the kidnapping which will air on Sunday night. One of the cameramen, Encarnacion, was able to secretly film their ordeal and their Abu Sayyaf captors.

Security officials previously said the number of the Abu Sayyaf has dwindled from several hundreds in the last five years to only a few dozens now and the military downgraded the group to plain bandits. Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and has offered as much as $5 million bounty for the capture of its known leaders. (Mindanao Examiner)

Police and military assured the August 11 polls in the autonomous region will be clean and peaceful. “We see peaceful elections ahead. We have enough security forces to guard the polls,” Elections Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ferrer, together with Commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Lucenito Tagle, held a command conference with police and military in Sulu province.

Before the conference, the trio, accompanied by lawyer Vidzfar Julie, the deputy regional elections chief, met with Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and inaugurated the COMELEC provincial office in Patikul town.

Tan also brought the COMELEC officials and their assistants to different beaches and led a tour of the Mount Datu, which overlooks several towns of Sulu.

Julie said the more than P5 million was spent for the renovation of the elections office.

Sarmiento said the renovated COMELEC office is the most beautiful in the Philippines and praised the support of the provincial government. “Our COMELEC office is like a little Malakanyang,” he said, referring to the Presidential Palace.

The old COMELEC office, just besides the Provincial Capitol Building, was dark and small, but now boasts of glass and marble designs and several huge rooms and new furniture and air conditioning system.

Tagle, who is assigned to supervise the elections in Sulu, one of six provinces that comprise the Muslim autonomous region, said the COMELEC is ready with its computerized polls.

“We are ready with the computerizations of the elections in the autonomous region. Everything is now in place and we hope these elections will be clean, honest and peaceful,” he said.

The other provinces under the autonomous region are Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Shariff Kabunsuan.

Two technologies will be implemented in the automated elections in the autonomous region -- the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) system and the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) system.

COMELEC educators and representatives from technology suppliers, Smartmatic-SAHI and Avante International, have conducted actual trainings on the usage of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and automated counting machines (ACMs) in the provinces.

The DRE system uses touch-screen or touch-pad technology and is fully automated from voting to counting and final transmission of results to the canvassing centers at the provincial and regional levels. OMR technology, on the other hand, requires voters to fill out a paper ballot which is scanned by specially designed machines.

Smartmatic-SAHI will implement the DRE system in Maguindanao while Avante International will provide OMR technology for the other provinces. (Mindanao Examiner)

Elections in the six-province autonomous region have been set in August 11 where more than one million Muslims are to elect their new set of officials. The MILF said it does not recognize the Philippine Constitution and in the past did not participate in any elections.

The MILF last month ordered rebels to refrain from participating in the polls, but renewed its calls after a purported press statement from rebel chieftain Murad Ebrahim urged Manila to postpone the ARMM elections.

“ARMM did not and cannot cater to the basic needs of the Bangsamoro people and instead has worsened their already depressed condition and added confusion to the populace,” Murad said.

The statement, allegedly signed by Ebrahim and the leader of the former rebel group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Muslimin Sema, urged President Gloria Arroyo to postpone or scrap the polls because it pose “grave obstacle” to the ongoing peace negotiations between Manila and the MILF, including the MNLF tripartite talks.

Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, branded the press statement as fake and warned journalists to verify the authenticity of its source.

“We have not issued any statement urging the Philippine government to scrap or postpone the ARMM elections. The MILF has ordered all its members and supporters to refrain from participating in the ARMM polls and other Philippine elections,” Kabalu told the Mindanao Examiner.

Peace talks between the government and the MILF were stalled since last year over the rebel demands for ancestral lands, which is the single most contentious issue before both sides could a deal ending more than three decades of Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

SHARIFF KABUNSUAN, Philippines - Bliugan Primary School is as basic and isolated as they come: the wooden school house was built in 1960 with the help of Teduray elders.

Pupils aged between seven and 14 come from as far afield as Ranao Tenge, four kilometers away, whereas their older siblings are forced to trek to Ranao Elementary School six kilometers from Bliugan.

The distances are far enough for children to travel each day on flat paved roads. Here in this mountainous region of the southern Philippines where villages and homesteads are linked only by muddy and deeply rutted tracks, the school run for pupils can literally take hours.

Yet according to Bart and Jo Centina who teach at Bliugan, the daily trek to school is only one of countless challenges facing pupils in what passes for the education system here.

Bart who is part Teduray, has a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Notre Dame in Cotabato. A scholar who benefited from the National Integration Program, he was immediately assigned to Bliugan after passing his exams in 1996.

Wife Jo, who recently gave birth to a baby boy, graduated with a degree in Home Economics and after doing some teacher training took a holiday in South Upi, where she met Bart.

"Living in Upi was wonderful although my family was strongly against it,” said Jo. “My father even came here to try to convince me to come home. I was, at first, reluctant to resettle in Bliugan - having the dream of finding a job abroad. But the moment I saw children unable to read and write, I changed my mind and decided to give the mountain experience a try."
She applied to work as a teaching aide and taught Grade Four for two years.

There are 135 student enrolled at Bliugan Primary School this year --20 up on last -- and Bart is grateful for the Teduray elders for building the school and encouraging the young to try and get an education. But while the increase in numbers is impressive, Bart worries that not everybody will stay on until the end of the year.

As Bart and his wife see it, several factors impact mountain schools here and across the Philippines. A child’s performance is affected by geography, economy and family. Poverty, says Bart, is a major one. The district of Rifao and other Upi villages classified below the poverty line have populations more concerned with where they will find the next meal than on ensuring their children go to school.

“The majority of parents here have not gone to school which makes it difficult for them to appreciate the importance of sending their kids here,” says Bart.

The Tedurays are an indigenous group of people who inhabit the vast Cotabato mountain ranges. While some anthropology studies classify them as ‘Tirurays,’ the elders themselves insist on the term Teduray.

A typical family here will have eight to 12 children and livelihoods are largely based on slash-and-burn agriculture, cash-crops and part-time farm jobs during the harvest season. Mothers usually stay home to do household chores; older children stay behind to watch over their younger siblings, while their older brothers go hunting for part-time jobs.

The Centinas readily admit that education is not much of a priority here. During the harvest time in particular, parents are far more concerned with how much the family can make and store away for the lean months in between. Children skip school to take on part time jobs and when the cash comes in Bart finds it hard to convince his pupils to focus on their studies.

He often climbs on his motorbike to visit his students at home and ask them to return to school. And while he says many parents understand his argument that in the long run it is much better for them to get an education, the short term draw of money from the fields is usually overwhelming and children never return.

As a result, while the number of children enrolled in school is increasing, the number of dropouts is actually higher.

Rifao district is bisected by gradually inclining muddy roads. Topography means it is often raining at all times of the day. The school is 12 kilometers from the main highway and travel time to and from school on the local form of public transport –the habal-habal motorcycle is both time-consuming and very costly.

Depending on the weather, children can spend a large part of the day traveling to and from class. The tortuous muddy paths up and down the mountains are potentially dangerous – especially after dusk which is why classes are dismissed 30 minutes earlier than normal.

"The children usually reach home late at night too tired to open their notebooks,” says Bart.

“Because the family scrimps on kerosene, gas lamps are normally put out after supper.” And parents are unable to help their children with their homework because they can neither read nor write themselves.

“In the morning when you might expect children to be attentive, they are already sleepy,” Bart said. “Many have not yet eaten and have just arrived here after a long journey. “

The school which is located on an eight-hectare reservation has not benefited from any maintenance since it was built over 40 years ago. Its spacious classroom has no flooring; the ceiling is worn-out and the roof is decorated by holes. Books caught by the rain are left to dry out on plastic rice sacks. There are no cabinets to keep them dry and the blackboards are well overdue for replacing.

The Centinas draw from their own meager salaries to help equip the school with supplies as best they can. The flashcards, rulers, pencils, notebooks and a box of chalk have all been bought by them.

Bart customarily asks parents to make a desk each for every child enrolled in class. The school has 25 substandard classroom chairs – one for every five children enrolled. All children are taught from the same four text books regardless of their age. The books include Mathematics for Everyday Life and Growing with Science and Health and they were bought through the Elementary Education Project launched four years ago by the education department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

When Bart pushed the ARMM’s Department of Education to explain why it could not provide more resources for the school he says he was told Bliugan was being treated no better or worse than any other village primary school.

For her part, Jo says her first year at Bliugan bordered between frustration and depression. "There is no pre-school therefore I had to start from nothing,” she said. “I taught them how to read, write, recognize colors, draw patterns and speak confidently in Filipino and English. There was no specific teaching method I could use as the majority of them are slow-learners. It could be rote learning and boring at times so I have to be a bit creative. I feel Bart and I have this gargantuan responsibility to nurture the children to prepare them for a bright future."

Devising ways to make teaching easier for Jo was another story. She had to classify students into slow-, fast-learners, and "frustration" level. While the fast-learners account only 10 percent of the classroom population, Jo felt this was necessary so she and Bart could devote time to others -- particularly those in the slow-paced bracket. "A two-day learning module takes a week for us to finish, as we have to closely monitor the progress each student had made. I am particularly concerned how each had learned cursive writing, so they would be able to write their names properly," Jo said.

This, however, has not sapped the creativity and teaching energies out of the Centinas. Bart said the rewards may not immediately come but hearing their students recite a poem in English, reading a book aloud, writing evenly on lines, and solving basic Math problems were sufficient to make them feel like they are in “heaven.”

"Jo and I remain inspired by the inadequacies of Bliugan," explains Bart. "We always believe that the best weapon against poverty is education. The odds – both man-made and natural -- may be stacked against these children and that may leave us heart-broken – yet we always remember our responsibility is to try and help educate others, so they might lead better lives someday.” (Maria Congee S. Gomez, Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - Confident of a sweep by the ruling Lakas-CMD in the August 11 elections for the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), House Speaker and Lakas President Prospero Nograles said that the first order of business of reelectionist Regional Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan is to find a lasting solution to the peace and order problem in Mindanao.

Speaking during the recent proclamation of Lakas CMD candidates, Nograles said Mindanao leaders should set aside partisan and personal misunderstandings and work together to finally stop the recurring violence that has stagnated the economic growth for most areas in Southern Philippines.

Ampatuan has been proclaimed by party stalwarts as the only official gubernatorial bet of the ruling Lakas-CMD in the coming regional polls.

Official Lakas-CMD certificates of nomination signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, party chairperson, Nograles and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, party secretary-general, and former President Fidel Ramos, chairman emeritus, were issued to Ampatuan and ARMM Vice Governor Ansaruddin Adiong and to all the party's 27 candidates for the Regional Legislative Assembly.

Nograles said that while Mindanao is gifted with rich natural resources, vast tracks of fertile lands and a climate that is typhoon-free, it has also been the center of many armed conflicts that scares away any potential investor.

The tandem both obliged in their statements to help build and sustain peace in the Muslim Mindanao region. They also expressed gratitude to national leaders, principally to President Arroyo, Zubiri and Speaker Nograles for their support to the region.

“Gusto nating mag-develop ang Mindanao, hindi naman papasukan ng mga tao dahil takot sila. So I think tayong mga leaders sa Mindanao we should work together towards the attainment of peace,” Nograles said.

“Without peace in Mindanao, mahihirapan ho tayo. Ang madedevelop lang ay iyong mga highly urbanized cities pero ayaw natin iyon eh. Ang gusto natin countryside. It is very difficult to entice people to invest in Mindanao unless we solve the peace and order problem. We have to have peace in Mindanao.”

Nograles said that once peace achieved, Mindanao will leap-frog and immediately take its rightful place as the country's richest island in terms of economy and development.

At the same time, Nograles said that with a solid Lakas slate for the ARMM polls, Mindanao is again expected to deliver victory for the administration party in 2010.

“Yan po ang pinaka-solid na region sa buong Pilipinas when it comes to the delivery of votes for a political party. Kung sino ang kandidato ng Lakas ay iyon din ang uupo sa Palasyo on 2010. Mindanao will deliver that,” Nograles said.

He also asked the ARMM leaders to support the charter change proposal that was started by another Mindanaoan, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel as this will also hold the key in ending the armed conflict in the area.

“Walang ibang tao na sosolusyon sa ating problema sa Mindanao kundi tayong mga taga-Mindanao, That is why we have been pushing for federalism because we know that nobody knows Mindanao better than us, Mindanaoans,” he said.