CMFR: If no information can be obtained because of executive privilege, then no information vital to the exercise of the sovereign right of the people in a democracy to decide on policy and other governance issues can be made available.

The nongovernment group Kabiba Alliance, a children’s right advocate based in Davao City, circulated photographs (such as the one at left) of children maimed and killed allegedly during military air strikes in Maguindanao. According to reports, the air strikes — supposedly aimed at Moro rebels — killed civilians, five of them children. The photos, which show graphic and grisly images of the children, can be viewed here.

By Carlos H. Conde
About the only thing that is different in the present war are the names of the military commanders running it. Everything else remains the same — the displaced civilians, the suffering children, the fragile peace process, and the ever-burning desire of the Moros to attain self-determination.

Off goes one of the dozens of killers released this morning, aimed supposedly at bandits and criminals and guerrillas but — as the tens of thousands of refugees now crowding the evacuation centers in this and in the other towns know — would destroy more than what they had intended to destroy. The smoke that billows from the Howitzer right after it was fired gives an eerie sense of dread.

The MILF insists that a “final solution” that does not represent the aspirations and interests of the Moro people is out of the question. “The reality is, unless the economic, political, religious and cultural interests of the Bangsamoro people are protected, there will be no peace agreement,” MILF chairman Al Haj Ebrahim Murad said.

To say that Akas Unsay and his fellow Moro villagers are used to a life of constant displacement is an understatement. “We are forced to lead this kind of life,” he said.

The future of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Mindanao, the region in the southern Philippines that has been the hotbed of Islamic separatism, is in the hands of young Muslims like Manex Ulam. They want to see the peace process between the front and Manila succeed, but no one but the government should be blamed if it fails, Ulam said.

Since the government’s major offensive against the rebels belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front started in 2000, hundreds of thousands of Filipino Muslims have been displaced. Although most have returned to their homes and lands, there are still thousands of them in refugee camps such as the one here, their numbers swelling each time the government conducts more offensives against the rebels.

The toll on civilians of the continuing military campaign in Mindanao continues to increase. Aside from the displacement of more than half a million residents, reports today indicate that air strikes against Islamic rebels killed children and their parents, including an 18-year-old pregnant woman. Read the reports here and here.

“Up to half a million people have been affected by the hostilities, and tens of thousands of them have had to flee their homes,” said the ICRC’s Dominik Stillhart. “Given the breakdown of the peace process, civilians will continue to suffer the effects of the armed conflict.”

Apart from the issues of custody arising from the Subic Rape case, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said that it also plans to question the “duration and scope of the seemingly permanent presence of US troops in Mindanao.”

By Carl Baker
Any peace settlement in Mindanao will require a serious rethinking of sovereignty in the Philippines and a lot of creative thinking about how to accommodate the interests of all parties.

“ANZ is lying through their teeth by saying they have no involvement in the OceanGold Didipio Gold-Copper mining project. The bank is listed as one of the top shareholders in the latest OceanaGold Corporation annual report,” said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of militant environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE).
Kalikasan PNE was among [...]

High prices of commodities could also have been mitigated if government had not surrendered control over the oil industry by maintaining oil deregulation.

Hiring Bias, Harassment of Disabled Organizations Undermine Laws
(New York, September 5, 2008) – Despite recent positive steps, discrimination against persons with disabilities continues in China and organizations for the disabled face government pressure and harassment, Human Rights Watch said today on the eve of the September 6 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
“The Chinese government deserves praise [...]

Donor governments have failed not only to improve the quality of aid but also even to make progress towards delivering committed amounts, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

Quality assurance management services expanding
(Manila, Philippines, September 5, 2008) – Rapid growth of the Philippines software development industry is catalyzing the development of related support sectors such as quality assurance (QA) management and testing, said Nora Terrado, country manager of Headstrong, a global consulting and IT services film.
According to the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), [...]

By Annie Rose A. Laborte

A record 6,533 law graduates are set to take the 2008 Bar examinations to be held on all four Sundays of this month (September 7, 14, 21, and 28) at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Taft Avenue, Manila. The 2008 Committee on Bar Examinations is chaired by Justice Dante [...]