What's On & Expat - Philippines

Now is their time to speak up. Members of the Muslim community recently issued statements of condemnation amid news of yet another all-out war in Basilan, Mindanao. Last July, an encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in search of kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi led to the deaths of 14 Marines, 10 of which were controversially beheaded. This spurred fears that the government would react by launching yet another offensive military operations against the MILF similar to the eventful one seven years ago.
    Young Moro Professionals secretary general Ara Belleng led a group of representatives from Bangsamoro Lawyers Network (BLN), Moro Law Students Association, Bangsamoro Center for Law and Policy (BCLP), Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society Muslim Legal Assistance Foundation, Mindanao Solidarity Group, Mindanao Interfaith for Human Rights Advocacy, Alliance of Muslim Advocates of Law and Assembly of the Dar’ul Ifta at the Ateneo Law School in Makati in expressing fears that the government would ride on the volatile situation and the negative public opinion on Mindanao to generate consent to yet another all-out war. She cited the 2000 and 2003 when the government launched offensive operations against the MILF following the Ozamiz City ferry and Davao City Airport bombings, respectively, leaving several hapless civilians, both Christians and Muslims, caught in the middle of the warfare.
     “We call on you to exercise your reason and to bear in mind that joining the calls of war would lead to the suffering

of millions of people of all faiths in Mindanao,” she said.
   Atty. Zainudin Malang, executive director of the BLN and BCLP said that the 2000 encounter displaced 1.4 million individuals, one of the largest caused by a conflict around the world. The 2003 encounter displaced 400,000.
   A report from the Human Rights Watch entitled “Lives Destroyed: Attacks on Civilians in the Philippines” documented that since January 2000, attacks on Mindanao, Basilan, Jolo and other southern islands caused more than 1,700 casualties with nearly 400 civilians killed, “more than the number of people killed and injured in bombing attacks during the same period in neighboring Indonesia (including the 2002 Bali bombings), and considerably more than the number of those killed and injured in bombings in Morocco, Spain, Turkey, or Britain,” the report said.
     Bellang declared the Muslim groups’ stance against the impending war, saying that though their groups similarly condemn such human rights violations, “we are disturbed at the attempt to exploit the legitimate outrage over the Basilan incident into calls for all-out war and abandonment of the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines)-MILF Peace Process.” She called on the authorities to “respect the ceasefire mechanisms”, referring to the joint committees: Coordinating Committees for the Cessation of Hostilities, Ad Hoc Joint Action Group and International Monitoring Team represented by both parties, and address the root causes and come into a negotiated solution of the Mindanao conflict to ensure sustainable peace and prevent repetitions of the Basilan encounter.
     “Going back to the protocol of the

BI Assures Foreigners:
 “No Reason for Alarm”

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) assured recently the foreign and diplomatic community that it welcomes all foreigners visiting the country so long as they do not take part in partisan political activities and interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.
     “I am assuring our foreign guests that we are not going to exercise our enforcement powers indiscriminately to the extent that it will unduly alarm and scare away tourists,” BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
     He said the immigration bureau fully supports the government’s thrust to attract more foreign tourists and investors.
   But he stresses that foreigners who come here “should not abuse our hospitality” by taking part in mass actions against the Philippine government, adding that such actions also violate the country’s sovereignty.
   “Foreigners should not be marching and demonstrating in our streets. That is a violation of the conditions of

their admission and stay here as tourists,” he said.
    He added that foreigners who join rallies will be blacklisted and banned them from re-entering the country.
   Libanan had issued the warning after the media reported that several foreigners were seen marching with members of militant leftist groups during last Monday’s state of the nation address (SONA) by President Arroyo.
   Some of the foreigners were also seen delivering speeches critical of the Arroyo government during a program by the demonstrators that was held along Commonwealth Avenue.
   Libanan said teams of BI intelligence operatives were deployed in strategic areas of Manila to monitor foreigners early this week who might join rallies planned by leftist groups in connection with the ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Philippine International Convention Center

peace process is the way to resolve it,” Atty. Malang said of the long-standing conflict, adding that an aggressive move on the part of the government would only generate cynicism on the peace process.
   Similarly, Political and Economic Counsellor of the Canadian Embassy Steven Rheult-Kihara said, “We are calling on all involved to respect the ceasefire, and to use existing mechanisms to resolve this dispute peacefully. We still believe that both sides hold the primacy of peace in high regard and hope that they continue to

demonstrate this in their reactions to this unfortunate incident.” The Canadian International Development Agency has two thirds of its funds directed in various Mindanao projects. Earlier, the governments of Malaysia, Japan, Canada, the European Union and the World Bank were reported to have expressed concern for sobriety in Mindanao, threatening to withdraw their support if such outbreak of hostilities would occur. The United States, however. announced that it would continue its assistance to Mindanao through its US Agency for International Development arm.
 

Businessman and former airline manager Joe Basso was laid to rest August 4 in New York. Basso died of heart attack on July 25 two days after undergoing a coronary angiogram procedure at the Makati Medical Center (MMC). He was 69 years old.
     The well-loved Basso was survived by his wife, Dianne and children, Keith,Sharon, Julia, Sandra and Diandra.
    Basso owned many business interests here including the McBass Group of Companies which owned bars and restaurants in Makati City, Cebu and Angeles City; The Duck Factory Inc. in Paranaque, a wood handrafted factory; Tambuli Home and Fashion Accessories in Cebu; FilFresh Inc., a meat and fish processing company and the IRM-AVSEC, an aviation security agency, among others.
    Basso came to the Philippines in the early 1980s to serve as general manager of Pan American Airways, United Airlines and Continental Airlines. After his retirement, he concentrated on his businesses in the Philippines and settled here for good. Basso was also the treasurer of the Makati Tourism Foundation.
   In an email to friends and close associates, his son, Keith, said: “The world has lost a wonderful man that cared for many and was a pillar of strength for us all. He will be deeply missed but always remembered. His contributions to the United States Marine Corps, Pan American Airways, United Airlines and his many business interests are too vast to list as he cared deeply for those he worked with and was someone that could always be counted on in a time of need.”
     “He was a big and kind-hearted man. He was so humble and so gentle and very generous to other people,” said

The late Joe Basso