"Bayanihan" Update: Philippine Dragon Boat Team ' paddle to save flood victims

'Dragon warriors' paddle to save flood victims | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "After watching TV footages of hapless people, even children and elderly, wading in neck-deep flood, members of the PDBT volunteered to paddle to rescue their countrymen from the devastating effects of the back-to-back typhoons – Pedring and Quiel – that battered the country in recent days.

Col. Arnulfo Burgos, Jr., chief of the Armed Forces Public Affairs Office, said the PDBT is assisting local governments, non-governmental groups, and those involved in relief and rescue efforts for two days, starting Sunday.

Army deputy spokesman and PDBT team manager, Maj. Harold Cabunoc, led the champion paddlers in the operations. Cabunoc said the team is using the actual dragon boat that they used in the recent world competition in Tampa, Florida, where they emerged as champion paddlers. Their victory was hailed by their countrymen, and the sports world."

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Peace Update: Public Eagerness for Peace Agreement, Strongest in Mindanao - Filipino people already tired of armed conflict

7 in 10 Pinoys believe peace accord possible - The Philippine Star » News » Headlines: "Combined with those holding a 2014-2016 timeframe, optimism was still highest in Mindanao at 55 percent followed by the Visayas, 51 percent; and 50 percent each in balance Luzon and Metro Manila, 50 percent.

On the other hand, 23 percent in Metro Manila, 21 percent in both balance Luzon and Mindanao, and 15 percent in the Visayas expect an agreement to happen in the next administration, or 2016-2022.

Those who think that a deal will never be reached comprised 30 percent in the Visayas, 24 percent in balance Luzon, 22 percent in Metro Manila and 20 percent in Mindanao.

Of the overall 71 percent “hopeful” of an agreement, 26 percent said they were “very hopeful” while 45 percent described their sentiment as “somewhat hopeful.”"

Note: Results of the SWS survey, which were published in BusinessWorld yesterday, showed that public eagerness for a peace agreement is strongest in Mindanao, with 24 percent expecting a deal to happen in 2011 to 2013, compared to 12 percent in Metro Manila, 10 percent in balance Luzon and six percent in the Visayas.
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Peace Update: PHL gov't offers MILF "enhanced autonomy" (economic dev't & gov't recognition of Bangsamoros' historical ties to the land)

Frustration grows for Philippine Muslim rebels: "There are roughly four million Muslims in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, an area they see as their ancestral homeland dating back to Islamic sultanates established long before Spanish Christians arrived in the 1500s.

The region is among the most fertile and resource-rich in the Philippines, but it is also one of the country's poorest and undeveloped, a legacy of the conflict that began four decades ago.

Muslims, known as Bangsamoro, are now a minority in Mindanao but insist they should be allowed to largely govern the region themselves and control its potential riches.

The MILF, the largest Muslim rebel group with about 12,000 soldiers, has for the past decade sought to negotiate a settlement rather than achieve its aims through armed insurgency, which peaked in the 1970s when an all-out war raged."
Note: The Philippine government insists on using the constitutional framework to address the Bangsamoro problem. But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is insisting that what they want is a substate
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Tourism execs promote PHL in Russia - Pinoy Abroad - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News

Tourism execs promote PHL in Russia - Pinoy Abroad - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News: "In a news release, the Philippine Embassy in Moscow reported that the DOT—accompanied by 23 industry partners from 15 Philippine travel companies— participated in the Otdykh Leisure Fair held at the Crocus Exhibition Center in Moscow from September 21 to 24.

During the fair, the Tourism department launched a “travel business interaction activity" that will strengthen its ties with Russian tour operators and their travel agents.

In turn, seven Russian tour operators—all actively promoting the Philippines to Russia and countries at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)—presented their travel programs at the mini-theater within the Philippine booth.

The presentations included an overview of the Philippines, as well as the launch of the latest edition of the Philippine guidebook."

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Peace Update: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women):(click link) "UN Women facilitates “Open Days on Women, Peace and Security” with CSOs in the Philippines

DAVAO CITY, the Philippines (6 September, 2011) – Attention of the United Nations to the situation of communities affected by conflict, especially of women and young girls is needed, a meeting among the women’s peace networks found at a recent gathering facilitated by UN Women."

.....Representatives of indigenous and Muslim women’s groups, women’s peace networks, other civil society organizations from Mindanao, the Cordilleras and other parts of the country, the Philippine Government and UN agencies gathered 5-6 September in Davao City, Philippines, for the “Open Days on

Women, Peace and Security”. The event, facilitated by UN Women and organized in partnership with the Mindanao Commission of Women (MCW) and the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of Miriam College, aimed to promote sustained civil society engagement with the UN on these pressing issues. UN Resident Coordinator Jacqui Badcock led the UN delegation in the dialogue, also attended by Moni

Pizani, UN Women East and Southeast Asia Regional Office Representative and Regional Programme Director; Ugochi Daniels, UNFPA Representative and Chair of the Gender Mainstreaming Committee (GMC); Renaud Meyer, UNDP Country Director; and field staff and national officers from WFP, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and UN Women.

(pls click above link for complete article)
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Rotary Update: Ateneo de Iloilo student Kristiana Claire Yray chosen by Rotary Club of Iloilo City as City Mayor for Boys & Girls Week Celebration

Rotary girl city mayor named | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "Senior Ateneo de Iloilo student Kristiana Claire Yray was chosen by the Rotary Club of Iloilo City as this year’s Boys and Girls Week Celebration City Mayor, announced Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Yray, together with 49 other outstanding students from about 45 high schools in the metropolis, will be filling in the shoes of their public-servant counterparts as part of the yearly project of the Rotary Club which aims to instill social awareness among the youth.

Aside from Yray, another Atenean, Enna Faye Tolentino, will also be joining the fold as city councilor. This year’s girl vice mayor is Alera Maristel Lapascua of Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus while the first city councilor is Marie Ailee Siaotong of Central Philippine University."

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Peace Update: Kato, no longer a member of the MILF

The Mindanao Examiner: "Officially, Ameril Umra Kato is no longer a member of the MILF,” said Von Al-Haq, a rebel spokesman.

He said the MILF would come out with an official statement on the expulsion of Kato and would send a copy of this to Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks between Manila and the rebel group; and the Aquino government.

The MILF has given Kato until September 26 to return to its fold, but the rebel leader flatly rejected the offer. It said the ultimatum was based on the recommendation of the Ulama Council in Mindanao.

Kato has formed his own rebel group called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement and vowed to fight for an independent Muslim homeland. The 60-year old rebel leader has several times criticized Ebrahim for talking peace with the Aquino government which insisted on granting wider autonomy to some four million Muslims in Mindanao."

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