On May 15, 2008, Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) announced that 99 percent of eligible voters voted in the referendum (in the areas where voting took place) and that 92.4 percent of those voting on May 10 endorsed the proposed constitution. The SPDC made the announcement despite postponing the referendum until May 24 in areas worst-affected by Cyclone Nargis, including Burma’s largest city, Rangoon.

“Burma’s rulers have shown no less contempt for the political rights of the Burmese people with the referendum than they have with their welfare after the cyclone,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments that are truly concerned about Burma’s people should push harder for real democracy and political openness.”

The military government refused international or independent referendum monitors and UN assistance in conducting the voting. Initial unconfirmed reports from within Burma support Human Rights Watch’s concerns that the referendum was conducted in an atmosphere of official coercion and vote tampering.

Local observers reported intimidation of voters by the authorities. In Three Pagodas Pass town, Karen State police and the fire brigade were at polling stations to ensure voters made a “yes” vote for the proposed constitution.

A journalist from Mon State told Human Rights Watch, “In Mudon Township, people were followed into polling booths by officials to see how they voted. They had no confidentiality. Most people were scared. One woman told me she wanted to vote ‘no,’ but when she was followed she voted ‘yes.’ In other villages, officials only accepted ‘yes’ votes, they threw away ‘no’ votes. Polling station staff were threatened with the sack if their [polling stations] returned a ‘no’ vote.”

There were reports of voting being prevented altogether. At the Myaing Kalay Village Tract of six villages close to Myawaddy, the authorities set up a polling station and just took villagers’ names and house registrations. In villages in Kya Inn Seik Gyi township in Karen State, no households were registered to vote and no voting took place. In one village, some 2,000 people did not vote at all.

A local observer told Human Rights Watch, “It was not fair from the beginning, no independent monitoring, especially in rural areas. When villagers arrived at polling stations, they didn’t get ballot papers but were asked for their name, any ID and household registration number. [There was] no explanation, but we assume their details were used for a ‘yes’ vote.”

There is evidence that government officials altered referendum results. A journalist from Kachin State told Human Rights Watch, “When I phoned officials, I knew they told me the SPDC didn’t win everywhere … [One official] told me many quarters in Myintkyina voted ‘no.’ My quarter voted ‘yes’ but Dukahtawng voted ‘no,’ and in Waingmaw township the government changed the result from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’”

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch issued the report “Vote to Nowhere: The May 2008 Constitutional Referendum in Burma,” (http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/burma0508/) which showed that the referendum was being carried out in an environment of severe restrictions on access to information, repressive media laws, an almost total ban on freedom of expression, assembly, and association, and the continuing widespread detention of political activists. Following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis on May 2-3, Human Rights Watch called for the postponement of the referendum so that all government efforts could be focused on providing humanitarian assistance for the millions of storm survivors (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/05/08/burma18783.htm).

Human Rights Watch has long expressed concerns that the proposed constitution seeks to entrench military rule and limit the role of independent political parties. Under the draft constitution, the commander-in-chief will appoint military officers for a quarter of all seats in both houses of parliament, and the military has even broader representation in the selection of the president and two vice-presidents.

The draft constitution treats political parties with open hostility: draconian restrictions exclude many opposition politicians from running for office, and a custom drafted clause prevents opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding any elected office because she is the widow of a foreigner. The draft constitution makes it virtually impossible to amend these clauses, because more than three-quarters of the members of both houses of parliament need to approve any amendment. Given that the military holds at least one quarter of the seats – members of the military can also run for any “open seats,” so their representation will be significantly higher – it holds an effective veto.

Human Rights Watch said that respect for basic rights to free expression, information, association, and movement were also important for permitting a rapid governmental response to natural disasters such as Cyclone Nargis.

“The Burmese government’s response to the cyclone demonstrates why it is so urgent to keep promoting human rights and democratic reform in Burma,” said Adams. “While aid for the victims is the immediate priority, promoting political reform is also a humanitarian imperative.”

For more of Human Rights Watch’s work on Burma, please visit:

http://hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=burma

A group of German visitors went with the staff of Preda Foundation last 5 and 6 of May, 2008 to visit the children at the Reception and Action Center (RAC) and the Manila Youth Reception Center (MYRC) to bring snacks and drinks and see the condition of the children detained as prisoners. In the Action center, the kids are 10 years old and below and lives in a bare and empty room. Since our list exposed on this, the children are now allowed to watch TV for a while in the dining room instead of looking at a bare wall all day. Still, they look down from barred windows on the second floor. But on our previous visit, we were shocked to see that two strangely half dressed young men with dyed hair and strange ways were allowed access to these little children. They were not social workers, not in uniform, no IDs and clearly not qualified to be there. (See photos at www.preda.org)

They seemed to be in charge with authority. The little kids were following their orders and were clearly frightened of them. The danger of abuse to the children was present and alarming. The council for the Welfare of Children ought to have professional social workers and psychologists visit the children and see the conditions and talk to them to know if any have been abused.

There must be something bad to hide if charity workers are forbidden to visit the children and bring them food. It’s what Jesus of Nazareth commanded us to do. This situation at the RAC and MYRC is harmful to children and youth. The sub-human conditions are a violation of RA 7610, PD 603 and RA 9344, and also the international conventions on the rights of the child. That’s why they don’t want us to visit. They are in violation of the law and harming the youth and children.

That’s one thing that Former Senator, now mayor of Manila Alfredo Lim, really abhors. He is a strict law and order mayor and his own son, recently arrested for drug offenses is to face the full wrath of the law. We expect him to investigate the sub-human conditions and the malnutrition of the inmates all suffering violations of their rights within a short walk of his office. He will see that this is a cruel and unusual punishment of children and youth and he will order it changed immediately. He is that kind of man.

We were also forbidden to visit the youth detained in the MYRC. But we know from previous visits, photographic evidence and the testimony of former inmates that it is a horrible dungeon and the kids are always hungry, deprived and lives worse than animals. The authorities have barred all outsiders from seeing the sub-human conditions. If there is nothing to hide, then why bar visits by charitable groups licensed and accredited by the DSWD such as Preda workers?

The MYRC authorities are acting like the Burmese Generals, they want us to leave the aid and relief supplies and go away. We will take care of it they say. There is no guarantee that the foods and donations will get to the needy and hungry children. They ought not to blame the staff of Mayor Lim for this. I advise the good mayor to lease out the entire compound for development into a ten story building with a commercial ground floor, a floor for the city offices, another for the courts and one for the social services. With the earnings from the rent and lease he can build a best practice and model children’s home on the city land in Marikina. END

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Contact Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, Philippines.
e-mail: preda@info.com.ph
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PREDA Information Office
PREDA Foundation, Inc.
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www.preda.org

Consolidated operating income of P3.85 billion is up 40% and net income of P11.0 billion is over four times that of the same period last year. Income from continuing operations was at P5.52 billion, more than five times the amount in the first quarter of 2007 as better efficiencies and tighter cost management across all operating units complement revenue building efforts.

Excluding the one time gains on sale of investments, net income is P4.1 billion more than double 2007.

Carrying the momentum of 2007’s strong performance, San Miguel Brewery Inc.’s net income surged 37% on year to P2.5 billion, driven by sales volume growth of 18% and successful cost-management efforts. Sales rose 13% on year to P12.3 billion.

The international beer operations posted 9% higher sales volumes in the first quarter with robust sales particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and beer exports. Combined with the improving performance of North China and Hongkong, net sales reached $63.1 million, up 40% over last year.

Revenue of Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., the Philippines’ No. 1 liquor company and producer of the largest selling gin in the world, grew 14% to P3.4 billion on account of 10% increase in volumes over the previous year. Demand was especially strong for Gran Matador and GSM Blue, while more aggressive distribution initiatives and promo activities helped push volumes for flagship brand Ginebra San Miguel. As a result, year-to-date net income of P130 million was sharply higher by 93% versus last year.

San Miguel Food Group’s consolidated revenue rose 19% to P16.6 billion. Poultry, flour, feeds and value-added segments performed solidly with most businesses registering higher volumes and selling prices. Further contributing to revenue growth was higher volumes for the Food Group’s Vietnamese feeds and live piggery operations.

San Miguel Packaging Group’s first quarter performance improved significantly with revenue growing 8% to P4.96 billion, reflective of the recovery in demand for glass in the beer, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Operating income of P347 million was a record turnaround from last year’s P25 million.

For 2008, San Miguel expects another year of positive growth driven by strong consumer demand for its brands and a more focused industry-specific growth strategy. The company is cognizant of the rising commodity price and fuel cost that will put pressure on the bottomline, requiring more vigilant management of efficiencies and cost.

For San Miguel’s Full Year Audited 2007 results, the company reported a 10% rise in sales revenues to P155 billion with Profits from continuing operations of P8.21 billion ending slightly higher versus 2006.

Net income amounted to P8.63 billion, 16% lower than 2006, reflecting the CCBPI and National Food’s transactions which now fall under “Discontinued Operations” and the lower performance of the liquor and packaging businesses.

SMC’s 2006 net income also reflects the completion of Food Group’s restructuring and majority acquisition of Monterey Foods Corporation by San Miguel Pure Foods Inc. as part of a clean up in preparation for a secondary offering of SMPFC early next year. This resulted to P1.3 billion adjustment in San Miguel’s 2007 beginning-retained earnings. Certain Monterey asset accounts were adjusted to reflect their net realizable value. (pinoypress.net)

Consolidated San Miguel Pure Foods revenues for the first three months grew by 18% to P16.05 billion as most businesses posted higher volumes and enjoyed favorable selling prices.

The poultry and flour businesses continued to deliver solid gains.

Poultry’s revenue grew 20% to P5.0 billion, due to higher volumes and favorable selling prices while combined revenues from the flour and snacks businesses posted an impressive 39% growth.

Significantly higher input costs, particularly soybean meal, wheat, imported beef, pork, palm and coconut oil, milk fat and milk powder continued to weigh down on the company’s profits, as reflected in its gross margins. Still, SMPFC managed to temper the impact on the bottom line through intensified productivity and cost-efficiency measures.

While input costs remain high, the company is focusing on efficiencies to manage overhead costs, giving SMPFC a good start for 2008, with solid underlying performance for most of its businesses. The growth of the company’s branded foods businesses and the organization’s ability to invest in its brands and maximize synergies across its businesses will be key in delivering its performance targets.

Following the completion of its 2007 results, consolidated sales revenue for 2007 reached P62 billion, higher than 2006, reflecting the consolidation of Monterey Foods Corporation into the Group. SMPFC showed improvements in most of its businesses, particularly in its flour, value-added meats, feeds, and poultry segments. Also performing well against prior period comparables were the food service and coffee businesses.

SMPFC’s net income would have been P1.5 billion, 51% higher than the previous year, if not for a P1.3 billion one-time adjustment resulting from the reduction of Monterey’s net assets, following this subsidiary’s consolidation into SMPFC and alignment of its business and financial systems with other SMPFC food subsidiaries as part of a clean up in preparation for a secondary offering of SMPFC early next year. Inclusive of the Monterey one-time adjustment, SMPFC’s net income for 2007 is P182 million. pinoypress.net

The KMP identified the victim as Celso Pojas, 40, spokesman of the KMP-Davao Chapter, who was shot dead at around 6:30 a.m. Initial investigation showed two men aboard a motorcycle shot Pojas while he was buying cigarettes at a store near the KMP office.

Pojas sustained three gunshot wounds to his body and forearm. Police said that a 45-cal. pistol was used to gun down Pojas.

“This is the first case of the killing of a militant leader under the watch of new Armed Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano,” Ocampo said.

“Is the killing of Pojas what Gen. Yano meant in his inaugural speech ‘to carry on the sustained momentum’ by his predecessor to put an end to the insurgency? Gen. Yano is only continuing the implementation of internal security plan Bantay Laya 2 that includes extrajudicial killings of activists,” Ocampo said.

In his report last December, United Nations Special Rapporteur Prof. Philip Alston recommended that “extrajudicial executions must be eliminated in the government’s counter-insurgency program.”

Ocampo said that “this latest attack against leaders of the progressive movement evidently shows the continuing impunity for extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the country.”

He said “the climate of impunity remains and bolstered by a top level cover up by the Arroyo government and the military.”

The Bayan Muna lawmaker said they will include the killing of Pojas in the current investigations by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Civil, Political, and Human Rights on cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations. (pinoypress.net)

By CHERYLL D. FIEL | Davao Today

DAVAO CITY — Celso Pojas, a leader of a farmers’ group in Davao City, was shot dead this morning in front of the office of the Farmers’ Association of Davao City-Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (FADC-KMP), in sitio Bugac, barangay Maa, this city.

Slain farmers’ leader Celso Pojas during the peasant month press conference in October last year.The words on his hat reads “Land, not bullet.” (davaotoday.com file photo by Barry Ohaylan)

Pojas, 45, was the secretary-general of FADC and the spokesman of the KMP in Southern Mindanao. He was the first militant leader assassinated in Davao City, according to Karapatan-Southern Mindanao secretary general Kelly Delgado.

Pojas, Delgado said, was also the 14th activist killed in the Philippines this year and the 903rd since President Gloria Arroyo assumed office in 2001. Local and international groups, including the United Nations, have condemned the Arroyo regime for the series of extrajudicial killings in the country, a great majority of which have not been resolved.

Shortly before he was shot, Pojas was preparing to leave for Compostela town in Compostela Valley province to attend to peasant and lumads who had evacuated from the hinterlands due to intensifying military operations, according to the KMP. Pojas, the group said, had been receiving death threats since December last year.

Pojas was set to go to Compostela with Delgado this morning after receiving reports that soldiers had allegedly entered last night the municipality gymnasium where some 300 evacuees had sought refuge since Tuesday.

He was having coffee with colleagues inside the FADC office when he went out to buy cigarettes at a store across the street. Witnesses said Pojas was shot by two men on a motorcycle who escaped toward the Maa Diversion Road.

Pojas’s colleagues inside the FADC-KMP office said they heard four gunshots. A witness said Pojas was still able to run toward the office, crying for help. He fell to the ground just before reaching the gate.

They said the owner of the store where Pojas bought his cigarette had told them about “suspicious-looking” men hanging around in the area days before the murder.

Pojas was killed a few meters from his office. (Contributed photo by FADC-KMP)

Investigators from the Talomo Police Station said Pojas was hit in his right rib and in his left arm. Police said they also recovered two caliber .45 shells in the scene.

According to his colleagues, Pojas had been frequenting areas in Compostela Valley province lately to help farmers and peasants reportedly harassed by soldiers.

Military operations had been intensifying in the region since early this year, resulting in the evacuations of hundreds of families and harassments of farmer leaders.

Pojas also had been helping the family of Datu Domingo Diarog, the Bagobo leader whose house in Manuel Guianga, Tugbok, was strafed by unidentified men on April 29. The Diarog family had pointed to the Task Force Davao (TFD) as perpetrators of the strafing, a charge the task force denied.

Delgado, of Karapatan, said 10 battalions of the Philippine Army forces have been stationed in the area so far, ever since Arroyo ordered the creation of an Investment Defense Force (IDF), a special unit of the military tasked to secure mining investments in the region. (Cheryll D. Fiel, davaotoday.com)

iPhone will soon be available in the Philippines, thanks to Globe Telecom and its partner, SingTel. In a short statement on Monday, Globe said “Globe, SingTel, Bharti Airtel and Optus today announced that they have signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Australia later this year. More information will be released at a later date.”

This, of course, is great news to Filipinos who’ve been holding their breaths since iPhone’s launch.

The Philippines: COUNTER-INSURGENCY VS. COUNTER-TERRORISM IN MINDANAO

Executive Summary and recommendations

U.S.-backed security operations in the southern Philippines are making progress but are also confusing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency with dangerous implications for conflict in the region. The “Mindanao Model” — using classic counter-insurgency techniques to achieve counter-terror goals – has been directed against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and has helped force its fighters out of their traditional stronghold on Basilan. But it runs the risk of pushing them into the arms of the broader insurgencies in Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The U.S. and the Philippines need to revive mechanisms to keep these conflicts apart and refocus energies on peace processes with these groups. That imperative has become particularly acute since the Malaysian government announced withdrawal, beginning on 10 May, from the International Monitoring Team (IMT) that has helped keep a lid on conflict since 2004. If renewed attention to a peace agreement is not forthcoming by the time the IMT mandate ends in August, hostilities could quickly resume.

A policy tool of proven value is at hand. Called the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), it was designed to facilitate coordination between the Philippine government and the MILF to share intelligence on terrorists and avoid accidental clashes while government forces pursued them. Allowed to lapse in June 2007, it was formally renewed in November but not fully revived. It should be, as a counter-terror and conflict management mechanism that worked, and a similar arrangement should be developed with the MNLF. The problem is that it will only work if there is progress on the political front – that is, in peace negotiations – so that insurgents see concrete benefits from their cooperation with the government.

As part of Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines, U.S. forces are strengthening the Philippine military and using civic action to drive a wedge between rebels and the Muslim populace, But if their goal is to defeat the ASG and its foreign, mainly Indonesian, jihadi allies, they are casting the net too widely and creating unnecessary enemies.

Mass-based insurgencies like the MILF and MNLF rely on supportive populations. By extension, small numbers of terrorists rely on sympathetic insurgents. Counter-terrorism’s central task in a setting like that in the Philippines is to isolate jihadis from their insurgent hosts – not divide insurgents from the population Recent gains against the ASG came only after the MILF expelled key jihadis from mainland Mindanao in 2005. Yet AHJAG, the mechanism that made this possible, is not getting the attention it deserves.

AHJAG was crafted as part of an ongoing government-MILF peace process. For more than two years, it prevented conflict escalation as the search for terrorists intensified in MILF strongholds in western Mindanao and led to a few cases of the MILF’s disciplining extremists in its own ranks. It helped forced the ASG’s core group, including Kadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, to Sulu, where they were killed.

This has come at a heavy price in Sulu, where no equivalent ceasefire machinery exists to separate jihadis from the dominant local guerrilla force, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Instead, heavy-handed offensives against ASG and its foreign jihadi allies have repeatedly spilled over into MNLF communities, driving some insurgents into closer cooperation with the terrorists, instead of with government.

Ceasefire mechanisms like AHJAG depend on substantive progress toward a comprehensive peace pact, but negotiations with the MILF remain deadlocked. While the Arroyo administration is distracted by turmoil in Manila, and Washington focuses on economic and military approaches to an essentially political problem in the Philippine south, AHJAG has been allowed to wither. As an innovative means of depriving transnational extremists of refuge and regeneration while building confidence with insurgents and strengthening moderates among them, this mechanism needs to be strengthened and expanded.

An MILF fighter in Sultan Kudarat. | Read the ICG’s report here.

Jakarta/Brussels, 14 May 2008: The U.S. and the Philippines need to refocus energies on peace processes in Mindanao or they risk new hostilities between government forces and insurgents.

The Philippines: Counterinsurgency vs. Counter Terrorism,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, warns that U.S.-backed security operations in the southern Philippines are confusing counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism and risk pushing the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) – their target — into the arms of the broader insurgencies in Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“The ‘Mindanao model’ of combining military operations with civic action operations against the ASG has been widely heralded as a success, but the gains could be short-lived”, says Kit Collier, a consultant for Crisis Group. “The model involves using counterinsurgency techniques for counter-terrorism goals, but the only way the Philippines will effectively manage domestic terrorism is to secure the cooperation of the MILF and MNLF – and that requires concrete progress toward formal peace agreements.”

The urgency of finalizing agreements is even more acute since the Malaysian government announced last month that it was withdrawing from an international monitoring team that has kept the lid on conflict in Mindanao since 2004.

The report urges the Philippines government to revive the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG). Designed to facilitate information-sharing between the Philippines government and the MILF, AHJAG was critical to the prevention of conflict escalation in 2005-2007 as the search for terrorists intensified. After a six-month hiatus, its mandate was formally extended in November 2007 but is not yet fully restored. A similar arrangement should be developed with the MNLF. But the leadership of both insurgencies will only be willing to provide information on terrorists in their midst as part of a political endgame, and the Philippines government is stalling while the U.S. appears more focused on economic aid than political agreements.

“The number of terrorists in the Philippines is small relative to the mass-based insurgencies in which they take cover”, says John Virgoe, Crisis Group’s South East Asia Director. “But the ASG and its allies remain dangerous because of their potential to drag the latter back into war.”

MANILA — The consumer group People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity Rates (POWER) estimates that electricity customers have been paying P84.6 billion for Meralco systems losses from the period of 2003-2007.

It was in 2003 that electricity rates were unbundled and systems losses became apparent in the computations. By applying the VAT on power starting 2006, government also earned a hefty cut from the systems losses charge.

The systems loss charge is pegged at 70.55 centavos per kWh. If Meralco power sales from 2003-2007 is around 24 billion kWh a year, or 120 billion kWh in five years, that would mean customers have been paying a total of P84.6 billion in systems losses for the same period, according to the consumer group.

Systems losses include electricity lost due to pilferage as well as technical losses incurred in the delivery of electricity. Consumers have argued that such losses should not be passed on to consumers because these do not form part of electricity they consumed.

POWER also assailed the Value Added Tax being passed on to consumers. The group estimated that P3.46 billion has been collected by the Arroyo government in the form of VAT on systems losses in 2006 anfd 2007.

“If Meralco’s total sales from 2006 and 2007 would be around 51 billion kWh, that means systems losses Meralco collected P35.98 billion for that period. Since the VAT on systems losses is at 9.6034%, that would mean a VAT collection of P3.46 billion for the Arroyo government,” Power Convenor Engr. Ramon Ramirez said.

That VAT on power was only imposed starting 2006 yet it has resulted to windfall revenues for the Arroyo administration. POWER has argued that systems losses should not be subjected to value added tax because these do not form any part of electricity consumed, and are in fact losses sustained by the distribution firm. Meralco has agreed that systems losses should not be subjected to the VAT.

“If the VAT on systems loss is viewed as unjust from the very start, then consumers must be refunded the total VAT on systems loss that government has collected since 2006. That should be more than P3.46 billion by now,” Ramirez said.

“If systems losses are to be declared unjust, then Meralco consumers are also entitled to a refund of more than P84 billion,” he added. (Pinoypress.net)