My first coverage of war was in 2000, t’was the all-out war of deposed President Estrada with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). I’ve seen the horrors of war, i’ve seen how ruthless it was.

I also realized that it was a useless war.

Then on 2001, another wave of military operations in Pikit displaced thousands of civilians. Continue Reading »

When the Eraserheads reunion concert was cut short last night, many are asking if there would be a another gig the band. Drummer Raimund Marasigan promised that they would play again. The question is, would Ely Buendia play again? Personally, I think Ely should. He owes Eheads’ fans a Second Set.

When I heard the news about the death of Ely’s mom, I raised some doubts if the concert would push through. But then Ely chose to perform while grieving. That’s not easy.

Eraserheads reunion: A gallant and abbreviated stand

Ely Buendia was in a reasonable and very legitimate position to ask for it. The guy just lost his mother and was under a lot of stress, mentally, emotionally and from the exhausted look on his face, physically as well. Having suffered a heart attack not too long ago, he also was not in the best of health to begin with.

I don’t have any personal knowledge if he and the rest of the Eraserheads asked for a postponement of their much awaited reunion concert. He at least was certainly well within his rights to do given the circumstances. After all, tickets were only made available two days before the actual event so it’s not like there were a lot of refunds to worry about. I’m not sure if it’s a contract thing or simply in the spirit of “the show must go on,” but the Eraserheads led by their enigmatic frontman went on and played looked and felt like the gig of their lives.

Took this photo of the ill-fated Hercules C-130 cargo plane on November 12 last year shortly after it landed at the Davao International Airport. I was even amazed when it was approaching the runway because it went down on ‘nose dive’ position and slowly touched down. Then I took this shot. This is just one of my several frames.

On Monday evening, it went down in Davao Gulf. Nine crew members are feared to be dead. As of Tuesday afternoon, only body parts and debris from the airplane have been recovered.

The PAF in Davao City has confirmed that this plane on the photo is the same plane that crashed.

So, how many flying coffins left in the hangar of the Philippine Air Force? The recent tragedy only proves that the PAF is 99% Air and 1% Force. :)

On July 31, Lumads coming from all over Mindanao marched on the streets of Davao City to manifest their disgust over the alleged failure of the government to address the issues affecting the IP communities in the region. The mary ch protest was also the culminating activity of the State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA), which started at Camp Alano, Toril, Davao City on July 28.

To read the full text of the SIPA, download here.

Every time something’s good happening on the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), something bad is happening too. As usual, it’s the government’s fault. This only goes to show the insincerity of this government in peacefully resolving the decade-old Mindanao problem.

Negotiations with MILF flop; Arroyo gov’t ‘breaks’ promise

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Saturday blamed Manila for the collapse of the peace talks after government negotiators allegedly reneged again on a deal that would grant Filipino Muslims a separate homeland in the southern Philippines. The talks collapsed on Friday in Malaysia after government peace negotiators attempted to make changes on an earlier deal on ancestral domain. “The talks collapsed because the government was undoing already-settled issues on ancestral domain,” Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, said.

DAVAO CITY — Around a hundred of indigenous peoples will gather on July 28 to 31 at Camp Alano, Toril this city to expose the real state of the lives of the indigenous peoples in Mindanao, who seemed to be always missing in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s area of concern and programs.

The three-day conference, dubbed as State of the Indigenous Peoples Address (SIPA), will be in time for Arroyo’s 8^th State of the Nation Address (SONA). Continue Reading »