By KATHLEEN T. OKUBO
www.nordis.net

BONTOC, Mt. Province — “We the people of Mountain Province demand the unconditional and immediate pull- out of the troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from our villages!”
The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) here demanded in a chapter statement sent to Nordis.

The CPA, a legitimate regional alliance of some 130 sectoral, community people’s organizations leads in the campaign for the recognition and respect of indigenous peoples’ rights to ancestral land and self-determination.

The provincial chapter condemned what it described as “the shameless acts of the Philippine Army troops who are stationed in the Mountain Province,” in their conduct of their Civilian Military Operations (CMO).

It stated that, since January 24, 2010, 700 combat-ready troops of the AFP were deployed in 22 barangays of 10 municipalities of Mountain Province.

These troops stationed themselves in the dap-ays (village council house) in barangays Bangaan, Caneo and Betwagan. In the daycare centers and schools in barangays Sumadel, Aguid, Fidelisan, Tanulong, Betwagan and Saclit.

And, they even camped in homes in barangay Sumadel, Gueday, Dalican, Mainit, Bekigan, Sacasacan, Saclit, and Dacudac.

The presence of the soldiers in the villages puts “our innocent children in direct danger and exposed them to a violent atmosphere.” the statement said.

Adding a concrete experience of three ( 3) children in Gueday, Besao, who were threatened to be shot by a member of the 50th IB only because the children were not able to return the exact amount of change when they were sent to buy things for them.

The statement also pointed out that the AFP even threatens the integrity of our families by courting married women.

“Their presence in our homes violates our privacy. The troops presence in our Dap-ay is a direct insult and disregard of the sanctity of the Dap-ay, and prevents our elders from performing rituals and facilitating community activities.”

Also pointed out, was the AFP troops, “in organizing Barangay Intelligence Networks, Student Intelligence Networks;” the locals, town mates are used in the surveillance of active community members opposing the entry of destructive projects.

“When Barangay officials and the officers of the Peace and Order Movement and Development Organizations do not attend meetings and activities convened by the military, they are labeled as sympathizers of the CPP-NPA. Without let-up, the combat-ready troops dog our members and leaders,” the statement said.

The statement revealed that members of the organization are persistently told that the CPA is an NPA supporter and sympathizer and if this malicious propaganda fails the people are threatened and harassed by the soldiers.

“Winning hearts and minds” are integral to the civic-military operations (CMOs), which is part of the same formula of combat operations plus intelligence work the Army employs.

The statement said, “the soldiers promise farm to market roads, construction of barangay halls and basketball court, public toilet installation, and so many more… These are things government should have provided and the military has taken advantage of the government’s neglect to enter our villages.”

The statement criticised that the troops exert “all their efforts at sanitizing the true intent of the AFP” to crush the legitimate peoples’ resistance to destructive projects. # nordis.net

By JENNYLINE S. TABANGCURA
www.nordis.net

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — A compendium identifying 83 native rice varieties cultivated in 12 Benguet municipalities has recently been published by the Benguet State University (BSU).

The compendium shows the local names, the place of collection, color and shape of grains and other characteristics of the native rice varieties identified through a process of field interviews, germplasm collection and validation-workshops in close coordination with the municipal governments.

In the foreword, BSU President, Dr. Rogelio D. Colting, Sr. discussed that the production of traditional rice is slowly decreasing due to the introduction of high yielding varieties. However, in Benguet, indigenous rice is still preferred.

The introduction of modern varieties may result to the diversity loss of traditional rice. Thus, there is an urgent need to collect and characterize native rice. 

The compendium shows that Tublay, unlike the other municipalities, no longer has non-glutinous native rice varieties as the farmers have opted to cultivate modern varieties.

“A very important crop, the native rice or rice landraces have been cultivated for centuries in the place. In addition to increasing farmer’s self-sufficiency by expanding their agricultural survival tool-kit, traditional landraces heighten native communities’ identity by providing direct cultural links to their unique ancestral heritage as depicted in the rich culture of the Benguet People,” reads the compendium’s introduction.

The compendium was authored by Dr. Julia A. Solimen, College of Agriculture Dean, Dr. Belinda A. Tad-awan staff researchers Prof. Milagros R. Dumaslan and Mr. Meynardo P. Tosay.

A continuation of the study is the further evaluation of rice landraces with superior characteristics such as long awns that may indicate resistance to insect pest attack and efficient seed dispersal and high grain weight that may indicate high yield. This will lead to the identification of an heirloom rice variety for Benguet.

In the identification of an heirloom rice variety, Dr. Tad-awan added that elders/farmers, MAOs, Agricultural Technicians from the different municipalities of Benguet will also be consulted.# nordis.net

By LENILYN YANGO, IRISH LUNAG and GWENDOLYN LONGID
www.nordis.net

SAGADA, Mountain Province — Hotel and restaurant owners in this favorite vacation town in the Cordilleras felt a sharp dip of 80% in tourist related income this summer, according to Olahbinan Inn and restaurant proprietress, Hilda Piluden.

The global economic crunch ranks as the main reason for this drop in income. She says very few “puraw” (referring to non-Asians) came to Sagada this summer. Now more Asians, mostly Koreans visit the town. There are more Pinoy tourists too than foreigners. She laments that Pinoy tourists tend to be more demanding and are poor spenders.

The Pinoy tourists are “tipid”or cut down on expenses. Many bring their own food and drinks. Some even have their own gas stoves with them. Little money is also spent on beer and other gimmicks. In past years, tourists usually stay a week. Now three days is a long time, she said.

Rich hotel owners too are a factor. They can afford to provide expensive improvements and amenities that smaller inns are hard pressed to make. Some of these are private baths with hot showers and TV sets with cable or internet connection. Big hotels even lower their rates just to corner customers. Special rooms cost P500-600/person but rich hoteliers could drop them to P250/day.

Comparing to last summers’ income of P10,000.00 in 3 days, this 2010 she got only P2,000.00 in three days.

Competition too from Banaue as a tourist destination is another reason. Usually, tourists opt to hire jeepneys from Banaue for a day tour in Sagada and back to Banaue for lodging and a hot meal.
A large number of i-Sagadas rely on tourism for livelihood. This sharp decrease in summer income means many children have not enrolled in college this semester. Many have unpaid debts too.
Hilda Piluden hopes the newly elected LGU officials will take action to improve tourism in Sagada. She also hopes a hotel and restaurants association will be organized. This she thinks will at least draft policies for the members’ benefit.

Olahbinan is an hourly inn in the center of Sagada. Hilda Piluden, says the hotel is a shortcut for her children’s names. They are Oswald, Lanie, Hilda and Barry and “ina”. “Ina” is Hilda’s mom who helped them build Olahbinan.# nordis.net

With reports from BENZENT PUMAY-O, QUIOSKY DAWEG and MERING DAZON
www.nordis.net

SAGADA, Mountain Province — The Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resources Management Project 2 (CHARMP 2) started, as scheduled, conducting orientation seminars on their program in 30 Barangays of the Mountain Province. Magi Bacoco, the NGO Supervisor in-charge of ensuring synchronization of schedules , said.

This is facilitated by the Community Mobilization Officers (CMO) of the non government organization that contracted the social mobilization phase of the project. Speakers in these orientation meetings are from the Montanyosa Research And Development Center (MRDC), Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMAG), Municipal Engineers Office ( MEO), National Commission on Indigenous People ( NCIP), and Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO).

The project, which is supported by a government loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Asia Development Bank (AsDB), and the OPEC Fund for International Development; covers Agriculture on food security, Rural Infrastructure Development (RID), Watershed Management and Land Delineation/Land Tenure. The orientation meetings will discuss these programs in the communities where it shall be implemented.

As of this date, only barangay Gueday, Besao was oriented. An initial feedback on the activity was positive as participants pinned hopes that the projects introduced would solve overdue, basic development needs described to be among the factors of poverty in the country.

One participant also noted that their economic development is a basic human and collective right as Indigenous peoples that has to be urgently addressed.

There were participants however who were wary of some programs like the delineation of lands. They see the delineation of lands as a privatization ploy to make it simpler for big mining companies to deal only with private owners and not the whole community that is equally put at the loosing end in large scale mining operations.

After the initial community orientation program, Bacoco said that preparations for a more substantial content for the orientation is underway. People must also understand and be properly informed that the fund for this whole undertaking is a loan.

This loan is supposedly to answer food security, farmers’ infrastructure needs and land tenure.
Therefore, people especially in target areas must actively participate in these orientations and in the whole process of the program from research, planning , implementation and assessments so that these funds to alleviate poverty will really go to who it is intended for – the POOREST of the POOR.# nordis.net

By JULIE MERO, NARCISO BUBOD and ALMA SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

Sagada Tourists. Photo by Alma Sinumlag

SAGADA, Mountain Province — Aside from the continuous price increase on all, especially basic commodities, people in Sagada are also burdened by what they call “tourist price” of basic commodities.

In the public market, the price of one kilo of cooking oil ranges from P65 – P100, rice is P30 – P38 per kilo, sugar is P49 – P54 per kilo, monggo is P35 – P40 per chupa. A small size can of sardines is P14, one bottle of soy sauce is 18 pesos and a kilo of iodized salt is 16 pesos. Their Arabica coffee produce, the local price ranges from P180 – P300 for only 400 grams . Compared to Besao, a nearby municipality, the prices are much lower.

Esther Sukalo -Tenario, 40 years old and a housewife said that prices of basic commodities are rising almost every day. For her family to survive, they plant vegetables in their backyard instead of buying it from the market . The money she is able to save will be used to buy other needs. Agnes Capuyan of Nangonogan, Sagada cites that is her practice also.

A halo-halo vendor who refused to be named said that they purchase their goods in bulk to avail of cheaper price during market day.

One resident said that there is a direct correlation between tourism and the pricing of goods. She compared the price of goods in Sagada to Besao which is not a popular tourist destination. Goods in Besao are cheaper.

She also added that with her P250 wage per day, she can only buy a kilo of sugar, a bundle of pechay, one pack of instant coffee, and one small can of sardines. Whenever there is some money left, she divides it among her four children for baon.

“In order to adapt to this kind of situation, you have to go with the flow thus, you have to double your effort to work or look for money” she said.

One store owner said that during market days, she is able to lower the price of her goods. She said she can still gain even if she lowers the price but to avoid conflict, she has to follow the pricing of the other store owners during regular days.

On the other hand, Mr. Paul S. Domoguen of the Department of Trade and Industry through a phone interview stated that “tourist price” is not a legitimate reason for a very high mark-up on the price of basic commodities. Otherwise the store owner can be charged for profiteering.

He added that there is a “natural implication” of tourism because they take advantage of it but it should be a minimum of up to 10% mark up from the prevailing price.# nordis.net

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Cordillera Day is celebrated twice in the region: first on April 24th of each year to commemorate the martyrdom of Macliing Dulag, the Kalinga leader who was assassinated on that day 30 years ago by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for leading the opposition against the construction of the Chico dams; and the second celebration is held on July 15 to mark the day in 1987 when then President Corazon C. Aquino signed Executive Order 220 creating the Cordillera Administrative Region and other regional bodies to facilitate supposedly the creation of a Cordillera regional autonomous region as provided for in the Constitution.

We say supposedly because the actual results of their efforts have made regional autonomy less desirable for many people in the region.

The celebration of the April 24th Cordillera Day antedates the July 15th celebration by three years with the former having started out as the Macliing Memorial Day, a year after Macliing Dulag’s assassination. It was renamed Cordillera Day in 1984 to make it more inclusive of the heroism of other people in their resistance to developmental aggression in the Cordillera region at the height of martial law.

The April 24th celebration though unofficial is widespread and popular, even being celebrated abroad especially in places where there is a sizeable Igorot community usually made up of overseas foreign workers from the Cordillera. This unofficial Cordillera Day celebration is spearheaded by militant peoples organizations in the region under the leadership of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance. Guests from abroad and other regions of the country usually attend this unofficial celebration where the theme usually revolves around issues involving the indigenous peoples struggle for self-determination. Macliing Dulag has been the icon of this annual celebration being led and organized by the private sector, more specifically peoples’ organizations and other non-government organizations.

By contrast the official Cordillera Day celebration held every July 15 has for its icon, the late Conrado Balweg, a former Roman Catholic priest who joined the NPA only to part ways with them forming the “Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army”(CPLA) as a paramilitary group to fight his former comrades. This official 2nd celebration of Cordillera Day is usually organized by petty bureaucrats in the region whose biggest contribution to the quest for regional autonomy is their growing list of unliquidated cash advances. Then there are the provincial politicians who usually grace the occasion, many of whom still have to live down allegations of corruption and inept leadership. No wonder regional autonomy has acquired such a bad reputation under their corrupt and bankrupt leadership.

As the years go by, the official Cordillera Day celebration continues to sound more empty and hollow as the themes and activities fail to resonate with the urgent demands of the citizens in the region like the scrapping of the Mining Law, the genuine observance of the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous people for any development project and program, and the advancement of their right to self-determination.

Meanwhile, more leaders and members of militant peoples organizations in the Cordillera have fallen victims to State sponsored terrorism even as they try to honor the memory of those who earlier paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the ancestral land. This especially during the 9-year stay of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in power.

Will the 2nd Aquino administration prove different to the people of the Cordillera? # nordis.net

By KATHLEEN T. OKUBO
www.nordis.net

The first time I visited Sagada was a time when Baguio was still more like Sagada. Everyone knew each other and if somebody’s son or daughter was seen walking in some district far from home or school the news gets to the parents that same day. It was also that time that newspapers travelled from Baguio to Sagada by the ‘first trip’ of the then Dangwa bus, so much so, that if one has travelled with the newspapers to Sagada, when you get to the place or house you are to stay, it is like dejavu, the people there would either be telling you what’s on the news or telling you what they thought of people or events in the newspapers you travelled with.

The American colonials arrived and settled in Baguio and Sagada around the same time. Baguio had the advantage of a central plan where besides the housing areas, city hall, the market, the school zones, etc. were drawn on it along with the sewer and garbage disposal designs but then only for a population of 25,000. Since then and until now that the city population is believed to be 300,000 that central plan is still the only plan that has worked but is now so outgrown. Like undersized and tattered clothes on a working man’s back that is still struggling to hold together a city that is bursting at its seams.

Because there was no responsible foresight since, there has never been a comprehensive improvement on the old City’s central plan. Even the confusing BLIST or medium term development plan is said to be being implemented at the whims and to the mood of whosoever politician finds use for it to build or gain some lime light. So, today, Baguio has only a garbage disposal plan on paper that has been taken-out and thrown back in to the shelf many times for more that a decade. She also had an improved sewerage plan 35 years ago that was for a population of 100000 (from the 25000) that remained half done as the population grew and grew. Now Baguio has a perennial garbage problem and it has also turned La Trinidad, by way of the Balili River tributaries, into its private toilet bowl.

Besides the big mining companies reviving their exploration plans to dig areas in Sagada and its neighbors, commerce and trade forces open doors for the population to grow especially in a once small community like Sagada. If the facilities for garbage and sewage are not attended to now, this treasured hideaway may soon grow to be as smelly as the pigsty or as dirty as Baguio today. I have also noticed that a break from tradition has been made, properties are now out for sale for housing. This can be a signal for strangers to come and add members to the once closed community of strong traditions and binding cultural ties.

Development for the community is usually welcome but sometimes the rush for development if not well thought of and planned for can be a curse to or for the next generations. When I first visited Sagada, I thought it was the best place on earth. I still did think so some ten years after that, and the road was still of gravel and rough but it was clean and the drainage canals did work. Today, looking at all the stores, the hotels the number of busses per day, makes me feel Sagada is growing to be another Baguio.

I would have wanted to say, “oh good” but instead I feel deep sadness. I do not think I like Sagada to grow so big that its garbage or sewer cannot be contained, its water rationed, its natural wealth ravaged by multi-national strangers and carpetbaggers, and its people angry. I will miss all those friendly smiles, native pride for their way of life, the strong pine scent even if sometimes interrupted by a whiff of fresh cow dung along the one main street of Sagada. Please, take care of the town. I hope the community remains strong to resist the mines and the betraying glitter of gold and continue to build it as their own town as the home they want it to be.# nordis.net

By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

Only through the conscious action of the working masses in city and country can it be brought
to life, only through the people’s highest intellectual maturity and inexhaustible idealism
can it be brought safely through all storms and find its way to port. — Rosa Luxemburg

In the previous administrations, the workers together with the Filipino people endured unimaginable hardships due to the inaction of past officials. They failed to deliver what they promised to the Filipino people prior to their placement in Malacañang palace. The Filipino workers especially the labor leaders along with hundreds of mass leadres and activists suffered the wrath of state instigated persecutions because of what they stood for — end the persecutions, end the root of poverty.

The people whenever they protested, were met with dispersals through brute force. The peasant communities were hamletted as the government claimed their communities are communist infested and they should be freed of these everytime they demand justice and the upliftment of their lives. The indigenous people suffered most from the hands of the military whenever they protected their ancestral heritage from outright destruction brought by plundering corporate mining, logging and other projects of the rich. Many labor leaders and workers were executed as they fought for decent wages and their labor rights.

Despite all the hardships that the toiling but fighting masses experienced through the years, they survived — barely. They survived because of their determination to overcome all the odds. And because of their own collective strength, they are still the makers of history and not the president who is only one.

Only days after the people witnessed the changing of the presidents, they heard the same cases they heard during the term of the small woman in the palace — the killings and dispersals and arrests. They will listen again to a president who aside from dedicating himself to a “wang-wang”less society, pronounced what his predecessors have prioritized which is the modernization of the military. Days after he got installed, the people heard the news that leaders and members of groups dedicated to fighting for the rights of their fellowmen were murdered in cold blood.

Workers heard that hundreds of workers will lose their jobs and many families again will grow hungrier. Many Filipinos are unemployed. All in all, the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. The protester remains ever a protestor as his job never ends and the ones being protested seems to be state protected.

Hearing him say he will get rid of the corruption, many hoped that it will be done. He said poverty is the result of corruption and he will get rid of it. The killings and abductions, the mass terminations, the militarization of the countrysides, land grabbing and anti-people government policies, the system of the society are products of corruption because of greed. Will he get rid of it? Again, we doubt. The Filipinos especially the ones who have to struggle to eke out a living do not think so.

But storms cannot erase humanity. It cannot eradicate the struggle for life as more and more will stand and continue struggling. And as the new administration proceeds with its rule, the Filipino people will always be and should always be… bracing for the new and perhaps deadlier storm.# nordis.net

BY REV. LUNA DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“Jephthah promised the LORD: ‘If you will give me victory over the Ammonites,
I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me,
when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice.’” – Judges 11:30-31

A Time for Oath Taking
We have witnessed in the past weeks a time for oath taking of elected officials from national down to the local level. Some of these oath-taking ceremonies had become controversial either because they defied traditional practices or they had some serious political implications. For instance, President Noynoy preferred to take his oath from Associate Justice Carpio-Morales instead of Chief Justice Corona as dictated by traditional practices due to allegations that the latter is a midnight appointee of Former President Arroyo.

President Noynoy indicated earlier that he would prefer to take his oath from a barangay captain in Tarlac rather than from ex-President Arroyo’s midnight appointee. If this was pursued, it would have been a powerful symbol of the thrust and direction of President Noynoy’s government, which is to serve the least of our people. It would have signified the intention of the Noynoy Administration to really bring genuine change in governance. Perhaps, this may not be the reason why President Noynoy thought of taking his oath from a barangay captain. But nevertheless, it would have been a good move even for a wrong reason, and would have a powerful impact among the common people.

Oath taking is not simply a ceremony that would formalize the start of an elected official’s term of office. It is far deeper than that. It is a public declaration of purpose and intention before God and the people of what a leader ought to do and to be. By putting his left hand on top of the Bible as he takes his oath of office, and ending his statement with the usual phrase “So help me, God”, the President is affirming the faith that the covenant of leadership is not only between him and the people but also with God. It is recognition of the fact that power and authority ultimately comes from God. Fulfilling the oath of office means not only faithfulness to the people, but also to God; abusing and disobeying it means betrayal not only of the people’s trust, but also that of God.

Jephthah’s Oath
Ancient leaders as recorded in the Bible also take their oath not only before the people but also before God. Jephthah was one of them. He was one of the major judges of Ancient Israel. Judges were crisis leaders called by God to lead the people from slavery to freedom. Judges, therefore, were liberators of their own people. During the period of the judges, the Israelites were usually enslaved by Canaanite tribes due to their unfaithfulness to their God.

Jephthah was a son of a prostitute and a guerrilla leader. Before like today, people would look down a person with such family background. But nevertheless, God apparently calls a person not because of what he is but in spite of what he is. God calls a person to be instrument of people’s liberation not because of what he can do, but because of what God can do through him. Hence, what a person called by God simply do is to be faithful to God.

And so, the Scripture says that Jephthah promised the LORD: “If you will give me victory over the Ammonites, I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice” (Judges 11:30-31). This is Jephthah’s oath of office before God and the people. He won the battle and was able to set his people free from the Ammonites. But he never thought that her daughter would be the first person to meet him when he would return home.

Fulfilling an Oath
Jephthah promised before God that he will sacrifice as burned offering the first person that would come out of his house when he would return home victoriously from battle against the Ammonites. Unfortunately, the first person who came out of his house to meet him was his own daughter. Jephthah loved his daughter so much. We could just imagine the pain he had to suffer in his heart, even though his daughter understood the situation, and she was very much willing to give her life. But promise is a promise. An oath must be fulfilled even if that oath would bring painful consequences to the person who took the oath himself.

The Deuteronomic Historians wrote this story shortly after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians. They were simply saying through this story that the Kingdom of Israel fell into the hands of the Assyrians simply because the leaders of Israel made promises before God and the people but did not fulfill their promises. They took solemn oath before God and the people, but they did not honor their own oath.

And so, through this story the Deuteronomic Historians were warning the people and the leaders of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. If ever they would want their country to survive any foreign invasion, their leaders must keep their promise to be faithful to God and their own people. Otherwise, they would suffer the same fate as Israel. And indeed, their country was also destroyed by the Babylonians about two centuries later, because they did not heed the warning of the Deuteronomic Historians.

Our past presidents also made promises before God and the people. President Erap promised to have a clean government, but he was convicted of plundering our country’s economy, and only to be pardoned by President Arroyo. President Arroyo herself solemnly promised before Rizal’s statue that she would make a solemn sacrifice like Rizal not to run as president because the nation would be divided if she would do so, but she ran anyway, and truly the country was hopelessly divided as she expected.

Now, we have again these newly elected national and local leaders who also took their solemn oath of office before God and our people. It is our hope and prayer that like Jephthah they would also fulfill their promises before God and our people, even if this would mean pain and suffering on their part. Sometimes, leaders have no problems fulfilling their promises as long as they are not the ones personally affected. But blessed are the leaders who would not change their mind and keep their promises in spite of personal pain and sacrifices. Our country will prosper in many ways, and history will be kind to them. # nordis.net

By JOHN CATALINOTTO / WWW.WORKERS WORLD.ORG
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Afghan resistance fighters killed six GIs in six different battles on July 10 as Gen. David Petraeus took over command from the fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The disarray in the U.S. command and the growing casualties highlight the disintegration of the U.S. war strategy. They also underline the importance of an upcoming national anti-war conference whose goal is producing an action program for the coming period.

A growing majority of the U.S. population and an even greater percentage of President Barack Obama’s voters are fed up with the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, just as they were with the occupation of Iraq under George W. Bush. With 223 U.S. troops dying in Afghanistan this year and 22 in July alone, this opposition will only grow.

These questions remain: When will this opposition turn into active struggle? When will it lead to action in the streets? Will this movement join with the class struggle? Will U.S. troops move from individual dissidence to organized resistance, as they did during the war against Vietnam?

Those actively seeking answers to these questions should consider attending the National Conference to Bring the Troops Home Now! scheduled for July 23-25 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany, N.Y. This conference is bringing together activists and organizations from different sectors of war opponents — from the explicitly anti-imperialist like BAYAN to the militantly pacifist like Creative Voices for Non-Violence.

The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupation has played a key role in organizing the conference. It is supported by Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, U.S. Labor Against the War, Peace Action and the National Lawyers Guild, to name just some of the 31 co-sponsoring organizations.

From Pakistan to Haiti to home
The conference’s action proposal demands an immediate end to the illegal occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and prepares the movement to respond to an attack on Iran. It also joins those basic anti-war demands with calls to end the enormous waste of human and natural resources that feeds the war machine and also with appeals for a moratorium on home seizures.

Workshops will take up many international issues, including Palestine, the U.S. occupation of Haiti, U.S. intervention in Colombia, global warming and the environment, the role of poor people’s movements and much more, including developments in the GI resistance movement. (See nationalpeaceconference.org for more details.)

While the event is not intended to be the kind of mass gathering that took place at the U.S. Social Forum, it will be consciously aiming to plan actions for the coming months to combat the war machine, not just to produce resolutions. The discussion will also reflect political changes within the anti-war movement.

Like the USSF, which included 45 workshops on the struggle for Palestinian liberation, the Albany conference also has scheduled some important workshops on this issue. Palestinian solidarity activists are preparing resolutions and asking for strong participation to assure that the Palestinian issue is integrated with a general anti-war program — a progressive development.

In another big step forward, right after the conference ends on Sunday, July 25, there will be a public demonstration in Albany in solidarity with the Muslim community, which has faced discrimination and persecution by the U.S. political police. The Muslim Solidarity Committee and Project SALAM (Support And Legal Advocacy for Muslims) have called on conference participants to meet at the east steps of the Capitol, Washington and State Streets, at 1 p.m. for a march to Masjid As-Salam at 278 Central Ave., where there will be a meeting and refreshments.

The Muslim groups called the march to remember “the sixth anniversary of the arrests of two Muslim men from the Albany community and all Muslims pre-emptively prosecuted by the U.S. government,” they say in an e-mail. The groups will also participate in a conference luncheon panel on political repression and closing Guantánamo. (See www.projectsalam.org)

Leading speakers at the conference include political analyst Noam Chomsky; Donna Dewitt, president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO; Cindy Sheehan; Media Benjamin of Code Pink; and Pam Africa, a spokesperson for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Also speaking and endorsing are activists who regularly contribute articles to Workers World newspaper, such as Teresa Gutierrez of the May 1 Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Sara Flounders of the International Action Center and Larry Holmes of the Bail Out the People Movement.

WW Contributing Editor Abayomi Azikiwe, who is also editor of the Pan African News Service, is taking part in two workshops: “War, Militarization and the Assault on Civil Liberties and Communities of Color,” and “U.S. Economic and Military Expansion into Africa.”

The schedule for the weekend provides opportunities for anti-imperialists to intervene and fight for their positions within the context of building the broadest possible anti-war actions. Workers World Party will participate and WW newspaper will cover the conference. # nordis.net

By INNABUYOG-GABRIELA
www.nordis.net

To educate children on reproductive health and sexuality is an imperative. In fact, in these times when children are exposed everyday to a myriad of information on sex in the television, internet and other mass media, it is past the time to ask if sex should be discussed in formal education.

The values formation of the children is a concern of all institutions in the society. The family, academe, church, media, civil society and the government, are all responsible in teaching and molding the youth. Therefore, sex education in the classrooms does not necessarily filch the parents of their duty, nor excuse them of their responsibility. Instead, it affirms the state’s obligation to inform and educate the children on reproductive concerns, in support of parents especially those who may also not have the appropriate education and information to guide their children.

The baseless assumption that sex education in schools would make children “sex-obsessed” only proves that there is indeed a need for it. “Sex education” is stigmatized because the prevalent connotation on sex is that is “dirty”, “prohibited”, and “bastos”. Thus, appropriate education regarding the subject is necessary to help children sort out information that impresses in them misguided connotations pertaining to sex.

Further, an appropriate sex education program will help children develop healthy and scientific concepts about their bodies and sexuality, even at a young age. This is an important foundation in protecting children from potential sexual abuse and exploitation. We have seen children who allowed perpetrators to touch their private body parts under the guise of “playing.” We have even seen children who innocently crossed the line of propriety in their games of exploring each other’s body parts and role playing what they see in the media of adults in compromising acts.

We would like to emphasize that whether in the formal or informal educational setting, sex education should be viewed in the context of the rights and welfare of children, especially girl children. Not only will it protect them from potential abuse and exploitation, but it is also an integral component of their comprehensive reproductive rights.

We believe that teaching women at a young age on reproductive health and sexuality would aid them in avoiding unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and maternal death.

The Department of Education (DepEd)’s Memorandum No. 26, allowing the use of teaching modules on sex education, could be a positive step, granting that DepEd will conduct an intensive process of consultation with different stakeholders before full implementation. This will ensure that the program is not implemented mechanically, and all arguments are heard. In our part, GABRIELA, Gabriela Women’s Party and SALINLAHI are willing to become part of the consultation process and share our extensive experience in gender and sexuality education with children and parents.

Hopefully, from this pilot program we can draw important lessons to develop a more comprehensive gender and sexuality educational curriculum in the future. Children are never too young to know of their rights.

It’s never too early for all institutions in the society to work for the protection of their rights. # nordis.net

By MARTIN MONTANA / CHADLI MOLINTAS COMMAND
www.nordis.net

July10, 2010
In the past few months, the 5 ID of the Philippine Army has been exerting efforts to prevail upon Cordillera local government executives to sign a memorandum of agreement for the turnover of internal security operations to the provincial governments and police units. The said agreement, obviously the handiwork of the 5 ID, declares respective Cordillera provinces “cleared” of NPA units and binds the provincial governments to commit their time, personnel and resources to the anti-insurgency campaign. A version of the agreement has been signed in Kalinga and is still being studied by Ifugao provincial executives.

Foisting this agreement upon provincial governments is a sneaky way by which the 5 ID can claim that it has met the absurd and unrealistic deadline imposed by their former fake commander-in-chief Gloria Arroyo to crush the armed revolutionary movement by June 2010. It will also continue the objective of the past administration’s Oplan Bantay Laya2 to further subsume local governments and police units into the AFP counter-insurgency program.

Grossly exaggerated pronouncements made by the 5 ID that the NPA in the Cordillera has been “significantly reduced and relegated to an inconsequential level” were ground into the dirt by the victorious ambush staged last July 9 by the Leonardo Pacsi Command-NPA Mountain Province that wiped out a unit of the 52 Division Recon Company.

Unsurprisingly, the AFP raised hue and cry that the ambushed unit was on its way to coordinate a medical mission. Like a bully wailing foul when given his comeuppance, the AFP employs this over-used and dishonest tactic to portray its paid soldiers as good samaritans waylaid while on a mission of mercy. Two days prior to the ambush, the 5 ID did conduct a medical mission in Aguid, Sagada, Mountain Province as civil-military component of a simultaneous combat operation in the same area.
The insignificant medical and engineering civic action programs undertaken by the AFP are mere fronts to soften the detrimental impact of simultaneous and often large-scale combat operations on the local population.

It must be emphasized that the ambush staged by the Leonardo Pacsi Command used equitable force against a well-armed unit of capably-trained elite troops. The 52 DRC is frequently used as a forward screen and spearpoint for offensive military operations, and as the force of choice of the 5 ID for precision and strike operations in the Mountain Province and nearby areas.

It is interesting to note that the 5 ID has intensified its operations in the Cordillera under the leadership of BGen. Rommel Gomez, himself a Cordillera native. BGen. Gomez served with the infamous executioner Jovito Palparan and once headed the 703 Brigade that had operational control over the 69 IB which was behind numerous human rights violations in Central Luzon, including the murder of Aeta leader Ricardo Guiao. BGen. Gomez and his fellow Igorot officers obviously think that a repeat of the human rights violations done under their watch in Central Luzon and other areas is the best way by which they could improve the lives of their fellow Cordillerans. In a series of large-scale military operations since January, they gave free rein to troops of the 52 DRC, 50 IB, 54 IB, and 77 IB to descend upon and harass villages in the Mountain Province. Villages in Southwest Ifugao have been turned into virtual military garrisons.

It is duplicitous for the military to wail about being victims when it is they who routinely violate the rights of the people.

No amount of name-calling and drama on their part can generate sympathy for troops who are known perpetrators of extrajudicial killings; abductions and enforced disappearances; indiscriminate bombings and strafings; damage to crops, agricultural infrastructure and property; and theft of poultry and farm animals. It behooves BGen. Gomez and his fellow Igorot officers to listen to the voice of the people. The people of the Mountain Province have this to say about the ambush, “Massem da, those abusive troops had it coming.”# nordis.net

Ni BRENDA SUBIDO-DACPANO
www.nordis.net

Photo by Brenda S. Dacpano

Malagip ko ti kinaubing ko, no aglutoak ti bola-bola nga innapuy. Nagaget daydi apong mi a lakay nga agkirog ti kilabban. Saan pay a limgak ti init ket aglutluton ti pagarmusaran. Ikirogna ti kilabban a paturayen na nga agittip tapno nasarangsang. Adda kami nga appona iti abayna nga agur-uray ti pinekkel a kinirog. Nakasaganan ti pagsiwsiwanmi a digo ti bugguong a munamon. Mayat ti aginudo iti sango ti dalikan bayat iti pannangan ti pinekkel a kinirog.

Ti awag da ti kastoy idiay Spain ket croqueta, croquette met idiay France a kayat na a sawen ket sanga-subo wenno bite-size. Iti France ti naggapuan ti croquette. Ngem no kadatayo nga Ilokano, innapuy a pinekkel wenno bola-bola. Ti croquette ket kadawyan a maaramid manipud iti tinadtad a karne wenno nateng ken linebbek a patatas. Maipatulid iti binatil nga itlog ken maregmeg ti tinapay (breadcrumbs) santo maiprito. No adda pugon yo, maymayat a mai-bake daytoy tapno saan unay a nalanit. Mayat met nga aramiden dagiti tedda a sida kas dagiti adobo, menudo, chopsuey, kdpy. Mabalin pay nga aramiden a vegetarian wenno seafood croquette.

Ramen ti croquette:
6 tasa nga innapuy
1 lata (240 gramo) a corned beef
1 kutsarita nga asin
1 sibuyas, tinadtad
2 itlog
½ kutsarita a paminta
1 tasa a keso, ginadgad

Breading:
2 itlog
1 ½ tasa breadcrumbs
2 tasa a mantika

Sawsawan:
1 tasa a mayonnaise
¼ tasa a gatas
¼ tasa prepared mustard (optional)
4 kutsarita a lemon juice
2 ngipen a bawang, tinadtad
bulong ti parsley, tinadtad (optional)

Preparasyon:
1. No agusar ti oven, ipapudot daytoy iti 450OF (225C).
2. Iluto ti bagas. Adawen ken pabaawan no naluton.
3. Inayon iti nabaaw nga innapuy dagiti nabati a ramen ti croquette. Kiwaren a naimbag tapno maigamer ti raman na.
4. Isagana ti pagitulidan ti croquette. Batilen ti 2 nga itlog. Ikabil met ti breadcrumbs iti maysa a pinggan.
5. Isagana ti pagprituan. Ipapudot ti pariok, ikabil ti 2 tasa a mantika.
6. Aramiden a bola-bola ti croquette mixture. Ipatulid ti tunggal bola iti breadcrumbs santo itabsaw iti binatil nga itlog. Isubli nga ipatulid iti breadcrumbs. Iprito daytoy iti napudot a mantika iti 5-7 minutos wenno aginggana ag-brown ti croquette. Adawen ken paik-ikan. No agusar ti pugon, i-bake daytoy iti 10 minutos, balikiden ken iluto manen iti 10 a minutos.
7. Paglauken amin a ramen ti sawsawan.
8. Idasar ti croquette a napudot ken nasarangsang nga adda sawsawan na.# nordis.net

By ALMA SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

Amnesty International (AI) urges government to deliver justice for victims of extrajudicial executions and put indigenous peoples rights a top priority. In the photo are (from L-R) Commission on Human Rights - CAR OIC Atty. Harold Kub-aron, Section Director Amnesty International Philippines Dr. Aurora Parong, NUJP Baguio-Benguet Vice Pres. Arthur Allad-iw and Col. Ramon Yogyog of Infantry GSC PA, MA 7, PMA at the launching of AI’s report on the state of world human rights. Photo by Marv Boac Terceño

BAGUIO CITY — Art Allad-iw, Vice Chairperson of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP), Baguio-Benguet chapter during the Amnesty International press conference held at Hotel Veniz here Wednesday, urged the newly proclaimed president to fully implement in favor of the people, the Freedom of Information Bill and the Writ of Amparo.

Allad-iw stressed that the Writ of Amparo is not working. He cited the case of James Balao that was granted the writ by the Regional Trial Court of La Trinidad in 2008.

It has already been 654 days since James Balao was abducted and 510 days since the court issued the writ of amparo and yet he is still missing up to now. This, he believes, is due to the loopholes in the writ which was worsened by the uncooperative state security forces.

Balao’s family and friends continue to condemn slow action of government to surface their kin, James as they condemn enforced disappearance and denounce the Oplan Bantay Laya II (OBL II) as a state policy.

Allad-iw also urged the new administration to review the government’s anti insurgency policies and the OBL II. He said that under this policy a great number of civilians have become the victims.
The policy has resulted to displacement of communities caught in the middle of the so-called war against insurgency, extra judicial killings and enforced disapearances have been meted against leaders and members of civilian or peoples’ organizations maliciously branded by state security forces as Communist fronts.

He reminded the audience that the first victim of this policy under the new Aquino administration is Bayan Muna chairperson of Aklan and father of an NUJP member, Fernando Baldomero who was shot dead infront of his home last July 5.

Allad-iw also raised the cases of still unsolved journalist killings in the Cordillera and Ilocos Region during the Arroyo administration: Stephen Umawis of Guru Press who was killed in 2004, Roger Mariano of Radyo Natin – Aksyon Radyo in Ilocos Norte who was gunned down while riding his motorcycle on July 2004, and Jerome Tabanganay of DZRK, Tabuk, Kalinga who very recently survived an ambush.

According to him, since the restoration of democracy in the Philippines in 1986, there are already 141 documented extrajudicial killings against journalists in the country, and that President Aquino must give priority for the immediate and thorough investigation and resolution of these cases.
On the other hand, Dr. Aurora Parong, Section Director of Amnesty International Philippines said the new Justice Secretary, Leila De Lima must improve the witness protection program of the government.

She said that one of the weaknesses of the program is that it excludes the family of the one being protected from the protection program. She added that as a Human Rights defender, De Lima must bring back the trust of the people to the Department of Justice (DOJ) which was marred by the previous administrations.

This is evident in the case of the late Suwaid Upham a.k.a. “Jessie” who was the lone witness of the Maguindanao massacre who was shot dead in front of their house last June 14. It was found out later that he was not given protection by the DOJ despite the letter of request sent by his lawyer.
“Concrete steps to improve and make the witness protection effective must be adopted by the DOJ immediately” Parong stressed.

Amnesty International is urging De Lima to establish a working group to review all reported cases of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances since 2000, with a view to ensuring effective prosecution.

As the Amnesty International Philippines continues to echo the voices of the poor in the international level, “we will continue to push for the present administration to address these cases specially the journalist killings.” Allad – iw said. # nordis.net

By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — Seven soldiers belonging to the 52nd Division Reconnaisance Company of the 501st Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) died in an ambush carried out by New Peoples Army (NPA) guerillas in the morning of July 9 somewhere in Sitio Chawer of Barangay Samoki, Bontoc, Mountain Province.

The said troops who came from the nearby Barangay Talubin of the same town were on board an army truck when ambushed by an undetermined number of NPA members at around 11:50 a.m.
The issued firearms of the soldiers were reportedly taken by the NPA. Included are 4 M203 grenade launchers, one M16 rifle and one M14 rifle, magazines and ammunitions and a Harris radio.

The casualties were identified by Police S/Supt. Fortunato Albas of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Mt. Province as 1st Lt. Lito Punio, the team leader, S/Sgts. Melchor Castro and Anthony Banugan, Private First Class James Tio-an, Camilo Topinio and Windel Gazzingan, and Corporal Cornelio Balmes.

The bodies were later recovered from the said ambush site by composite teams of Army soldiers and PNP. #nordis.net

by ARTHUR ALLAD-IW
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The culture of impunity continues as another journalist was gunned down by unidentified perpetrators in Tabuk City, Kalinga on Saturday.

A media watchdog, National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP), claimed that journalists in the province are more exposed to threat on their lives, a manifestation of weak law enforcement in the provinces.

Jose “Pepe” Daguio, 75 years old, died after he was shot by still unidentified perpetrators in front his house in Tuga, Tabuk on Saturday night, a police officer from the Tabuk City PNP said in an interview.

Daguio was proclaimed dead by physicians upon reaching the Kalinga Provincial Hospital where he was brought after the incident. He suffered multiple injuries when he was shot by a shotgun.
Supt. Virgilio Laya, Kalinga provincial police director said, no suspect has been identified yet nor has the cause for the killing established.

Daguio is the 141st journalists killed since democracy was re-established in 1986 and the 1st casualty under the new administration of Pres. Noynoy Aquino.

Ghumie Pinkihan, the managing editor of Guru Press in Tabuk City, said in a phone interview that Daguio was an announcer of the Tabuk City based-Radyo Natin and Radyo ng Bayan. and a contributor of the community paper, Guru Press. He has however been inactive the past year due to poor health, another Tabuk-based journalist added.

Journalists condemn killing
The Kalinga Media Club (KAMC), through its president Regino Wacas and the Guru Press, through its publisher Marciano Paroy Jr., condemned what they claimed is the senseless killing of Daguio.
“The club condemns in the strongest possible terms the killing of Daguio… the senseless killing must immediately be solved….the Kalinga people have long buried their past of killing (people) as a form revenge,” KAMC said in its statement.

Tabuk City PNP officials updated this writer that investigations are still on going. Elorde Marcelino, a councilman of Barangay Tuga in Tabuk City submitted himself for a parrafin test to prove that he did not fire a gun.

He submitted himself to the police after he learned that he was among those considered a suspects in the crime. Animosity between Daguio and Marcelino allegedly occurred when the latter allegedly re-alligned funds for a Tuga road project.

Tabuk PNP claimed that their investigations are still on-going as they are considering various angles for the commission of the crime.

In this city, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Baguio-Benguet chapter joined journalists in Kalinga and the whole nation in condemning the killing of Daguio.

Journalists who expose anomalous issues in the province had been the target of the culture of impunity, pointed out the NUJP-BB, as manifested again in the killing in Tabuk City, Kalinga.
The media watchdog said that on November 26, 2004, Guru Press reporter Stephen B. Omaois was killed yet total justice remains unrealized up to this day.

On May 15 this year, dzRK (Radyo ng Bayan) commentator Jerome Tabanganay was attacked by armed men while he was about to enter the said station. The perpetrators of this case remain at large, added the NUJP-BB.

NUJP-BB urged the new administration of Pres. Noynoy Aquino to order an immediate investigation and arrest of the perpetrator/s in the killing of Daguio, Omais and the attack on Tabanganay; and to work for the attainment of justice for journalists killed during various past administrations. # nordis.net

By ALMA SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

Phto by ALMA SINUMLAG

BAGUIO CITY — Cordillera Women’s, Education, Action and Research Center (CWEARC) and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) hosted the Strategy Planning Workshop of the Red Internacional Mujeres y Mineria (RIMM) or the International Women and Mining Network held at the Igorot Lodge, Camp John Hay last July 5–7.

RIMM has brought in conference women from different sides of the world on the serious issue of mining and gender justice. Women affected by mining like mine workers, Indigenous Peoples and civil society groups.They united their stand against mining related to exploitation due to the continuing liberalization of mining industries around the world.

This conference was attended by 17 delegates from countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Martha Agpani, from the Lokiaka Community Deu Centre Port Harcourt enumerated the impact of large scale mining companies in Nigeria. She said, “women and children are the ones mostly affected. Mortality rate in the communities near the mining operations has increased.
Documented deaths due to lead poisoning has reached 163 individuals, 111 of them are children. Prostitution has also increased leading women to be predisposed to having HIV/AIDS.”

The RIMM brochure stated that “women in mining communities experience harassment by businessmen, mining contractors, company security guards and government soldiers around the mining areas.”

Agpani ended her statement by saying; “It is high time for the Nigerian government to look into these issues seriously.”

In Latin America, women are in an unfriendly, masculine and gender insensitive workplace. Ana Maria Aranibar of Latin America Network of Women and Mining (Bolivia) said thousands of women who are working in the mining industry are confined to unskilled labor like picking and hauling the gold ore. They are not allowed to handle technology and cannot participate in decision making.

Aside from this, women are mostly made to work in hazardous and polluted sections of the mining operations that lead to severe illnessess like silicosis (inflammation of the lungs), tuberculosis, asbestosis and reproductive health problems which are usually ignored and neglected by the government.

Despite this situation, there are a few women who fought for their rights to equal benefits with men workers but achieving this needs great bravery. One of these brave women is an RIMM member in Zimbabwe. In a statement published in their brochure she said, “The biggest challenge as a woman in the mining industry, is the acceptance by our male counterpart that we are as good or better. I’m the only woman in Zimbabwe with a blasting license to work underground…It was a world war to achieve this.”

Large scale mining is a contributor to Climate Change but companies are not helping to mitigate its effects. Siti Maemurah of JATAM Mining Advocacy Network in Indonesia explained that Kalimantan’s coal mining is the 2nd coal largest exporter in the world. But despite the presence of a policy that aims to lessen coal extraction because of its great contribution to global warming, the coal company in Kalimantan, Indonesia plans to increase extraction.

Matilda Koma of CERD, Papua New Guinea talked about deep sea mining that dumps their mine waste straight into the seas resulting to food insufficiency of the communities dependent on these waters for their livelihood. She added that the government is working together with the companies, setting aside the concerns of its people.

The presence of the World Bank’s Techno – Gold Assistance Loan Project which promotes large scale mining regardless of its grave effects, the opposition of the people affected continue to be unheeded. Thus, RIMM was established to voice out the issues for the women vis-a-vis mining to a bigger audience.

RIMM seeks to protect women’s rights and environmental concerns in the mining industry. This, according to Vernie Yocogan Diano of Innabuyog, will influence the governments and institutions to come up with policies in favor of the mining affected communities.

This activity, Diano added, is an oppurtunity for Innabuyog and CPA to learn from the stories of their sisters from the other side of the world. It is also a realization that indigenous women and workers in the Cordillera and the Philippines are not alone with the issues they are experiencing regarding destructive mining.

In the Women’s agenda the Innabuyog will be endorsing to the Gabriela Women’s party, will include concerns on the plight of women affected by mining. # nordis.net

By ACE ALEGRE
www.nordis.net

LAOAG CITY —  Laoag City Mayor Michael Farinas was threatened through the city hall’s telephone operator who received a landline call from an unidentified male.

The caller said in Ilocano that he has already been paid for the “kill”, prompting Farinas, who ran unopposed in the recent May 10 polls, to increase security at the entrance and exit points of the city hall.

Farinas, brother of first district rep. Rodolfo Farinas, has also ordered that all telephone lines in the city hall be installed with caller IDs.

The mayor said this is not the first time though that he has received a threat on his life in the province.

 Two weeks ago, Pagudpud town mayor Matilde Sales was ambushed by assassins while enroute to Laoag City.  She survived the slay try but her two bodyguards died.

“Gun Culture Unchecked”

The rash of violence in Ilocos Norte that remains unchecked is blamed on various interconnecting issues like “gun culture” and among others.

Former Ilocos Norte police director Sr. Supt. Ulysses Abellera believes the continuing violence in the province is brought about by a culture of violence.

Sales husband Engr. Reynolan Sales has pointed directly at local political rivalries as behind his wife’s ambush.

The mayor faced her sister-in-law Kleng Sales and Sangunniang Bayan member Imee Llanes in the last polls. But in the past elections, the ambushed mayor was allied with her in-laws.
Journalists in Ilocos Norte who are still reeling from the murder of radio commentator Jovelito Agustin less than a week before the ambush said a radio reporter was riding with Mayor Sales when the ambush happened. 

“Assassins”
Police believe hired assassins turn ruthless because of the “fee” which earlier,  outgoing Sangunniang Panlalawigan member Chris Ablan who chaired the human rights committee of the Ilocos Norte provincial board claimed “kills” are pegged at a low of P5,000.00.

Police believe some guns-for-hire in the province are imported from neighboring provinces.
Though in most cases, police records bare that most “guns-for-hire” were natives of Badoc town, the southernmost town of the province adjacent to Ilocos Sur.

Before the May 10 polls, rivals in Dingras town not only traded accusations of maintaining armed followers, but actually “ambushed” each other, also claiming lives.

These and many other earlier incidents including even rivalries in mere electric cooperative positions turned violent.

“Distrust in the Courts”
Abellera, a lawyer, who was replaced after the ambush of Sales by Sr. Supt. Marlou Chan, went on to further blame the unending violence in the province to distrust in the Courts.
 A high-ranking police officer who once served in Ilocos Norte earlier dared that an accounting should be made on how justice grinds in Ilocos Norte.  Not only is it snail-paced, he said it is believed to be rigged by money.
Abellera said distrust in the Courts persists “because it is perceived to be controlled by vested interests”.

“Apathy”
Behind these violence, when the anger dies down after each “fall of a victim from the asassins bullet”, comes apathy, added Abellera.

Distrust that genuine justice will ever be served to victims surfaces out to be the culprit of this apathy.  “Sometimes, these killings only are statistics,” one lady reporter said.

The same lady reporter has said she is now opting to leave town after this spate of unsolved killings.
A holistic approach should be employed, Sr. Supt. Abellera pushes.  An approach that can nail down these issues that breeds the violence in the laid-back tourist province known for its fine beaches and century old Catholic churches at the tip of Northern Luzon overlooking the calm South China Sea.#nordis.net