Philippine Muslim Today

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

PUNCHLINE: Salamat PRRD, sana all!

Philippines’ First Muslim Digital Newspaper

BATANES TO TAWI-TAWI: Code of Journalist Professional and Ethical Conduct . - Page A5

- Page A4

Dimaampao named SC justice, second Muslim in 34 years

12 Pages | P20

HAMMERHEAD: Tale of two MLs.. - Page A10

Inside

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OTABATO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao to the Supreme Court, making him the second Muslim member of the High Tribunal after more than three decades.

Reports about Dimaampao’s appointment, though coming from sources not authorized to make any announcement, went viral in the social media like the Mindanao Tapatan Lane where over 10,000 nitizens aired praises in less than a day of posting.

DIMAAMPAO | A2

House OKs BTA extension bill on 3rd, final reading

> A3: Support for Bukidnon vegetable farming sought > A6: ‘Don’t bash Duterte on Facebook page bearing my name,’ Piñol asks supporters. > A6: North Cotabato to launch giant bamboo industry this month > A9: Education and Integration of Badjaos in the Philippine Civil Service >A9: Banwa Private Island in PH Partners Ascent for Luxury Transfers by Air >A8: Taliban announces formation of caretaker gov’t in Afghanistan

By ALI G. MACABALANG

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HE HOUSE of Representatives passed tonight, Sept. 15, on third and final reading its bill extending the lifespan of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) after President Duterte certified the measure as urgent to give the new autonomous governance “sufficient time to com-

plete its mandate” under its charter and state’s peace accords.

House Bill 10121 gathered 187 approval votes sans objection or abstention in the plenary session presided over

by Deputy Speaker BerHOUSE APPROVES BTA EXTENSION. House Deputy nadette Herrera-Dy on Speaker Bernadette Herrera-Dy beats the gavel for behalf of Speaker Lord the unanimous approval on third and final reading Alan Velasco. of HB 10121 in session Wednesday night.

The Presidential cer-

DPWH to turnover Cotabato City District Office to BARMM Set protocols on PMOs creation COTABATO CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will formally turnover the management of its district office here to the Bangsamoro regional governance this week, and is likely to lay down protocols on the creation of its Project Management Office (PMO) in each component province of the autonomous region.

This was announced by Architect Eduard Guerra, Ministry of Public Works (MPW) minister, at the 4th episode of the weekly “Tapatan” forum of the Bangsamoro Press Corps (BPC) on Saturday.

DPWH | A3

tification and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea’s transmittal letter, both dated Sept. 14, purportedly reached on Wednesday the House leadership, prompting Deputy Majority Floor Leader Rimpy Bondoc to move for suspension of regular plenary rules and swift passage of the bill.

HOUSE | A2

WPF appoints 0ICRegional Director for Bicol Region WPF | A7

Lawmakers want BARMM police office seal corrected COTABATO CITY – Two key members of parliament (MPs) of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) want the new official seal of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in the autonomous region corrected in proper process to rid the logo of the Cross symbol, saying the icon awkwardly associates policing with religious sects.

BTA Parliament Deputy Speakers Omar Yasser Sema of Maguindanao and Zia-ur Rahman Alonto-Adiong took

turns on Saturday in airing the need for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) leadership to hold a corrective conference with the Philippine National Police (PNP) hierarchy.

‘Lookout’ order out vs. former PRRD’s adviser Michael Yang, 8 others LOOKOUT | A7

LAWMAKERS | A6

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The Bangsamoro

House OKs BTA extension bill on 3rd, final reading… from Page A1

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

Dimaampao named SC Justice, second Muslim in 34 years

By ALI G. MACABALANG

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OTABATO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao to the Supreme Court, making him the second Muslim member of the High Tribunal after more than three decades.

Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, main author, rejoices as the bill has been approved by the House.

The bill resets to 2025 the first regular election of BTA members by amending the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) charter that set the poll in the synchronized May 9, 22 local and national voting.

It substituted five bills filed by Manguindanao 2nd District Rep. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Deputy Speakers Loren Legarda and Isidro Ungab, Majority Leader Martin Romuladez and Lanao del Norte Rep. Khalid Dimaporo.

It stayed for months at the level of jointcommittees – a reason the Senate deferred the passage on second reading of its version or SB 2214 on June 23 before declaring adjournment sine die.

Senate Bill 2214, authored by Senator Francis Tolentino as a substitute two bills earlier filed by Senators Dick Gordon and Koko Pimentel, was passed on second reading on Aug. 25, with 18-1 votes sans abstention. It was approved on third and final reading on Sept. 6, with 15 affirmative votes. Senators Ping Lacson, Manny Pacquiao and Ralph Recto voted against, with Sen. Marcos abstained.

Senators Tolentino and Migz Zubiri demonstrated persistence in the approval on two stages of the bill in less than a month – something that earned for them profuse praises by BARMM officials, residents and supportive civil society organizations.

‘Thanks also to objectors’ During Wednesday night’s House plenary, Rep. Mangudadatu was seen on live stream in virtual presence, gesturing his peak of joy as presiding Deputy Speaker Herrera-Dy sounded the gavel for the unanimous approval of HB 10121.

The bill’s final approval came with several lawmakers including Herrera-Dy formally making themselves co-authors.

Rep. Manudadatu, who served as main author of the substitute bill, expressed gratitude to President Duterte for his official urgent push, his supportive colleagues, his legal staff, BARMM officials like Minister Naguib Sinarimbo, and “also opposing lawmakers” he did not name.

“Dahil sa kanila pamamaraang pagtutol, ako ay nagkaroon ng mas maigting na pagpupursige para itulak at mangalap lalo ng suporta,” Mangudadatu said, referring to opposing colleagues.

House leaders acknowledged requests from Deputy Speaker Mujiv Hataman and Anak Mindanao Party-list Rep. Amilhilda Sangcopan to submit narratives of their votes.

HOUSE | A10

The 58-year old Dimaampao, a Maranao from Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, will be the second Muslim SC associate justice 34 years after the late President Cory Aquino named to the High Tribunal Abdulwahid Bidin, a Tausog from the Sulu region.

President Duterte signed Dimaampao’s appointment paper on July 2, 2021, and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea wrote a transmittal letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo on the same date. Images of the two documents leaked out in traditional and social media only on Monday night.

Relatives and supporters of Dimaampao tried to persuade the Philippine Muslim Today not to publish news about the appointment for fear of a repeat of last year’s controversy. But they backtracked after two major dailies heralded the long-awaited news coupled with screenshot photos of the appointment and the transmittal letter.

Dimaampao, a topnotch bar reviewer from the University of the East College of Law, a bar examiner, law professor specializing in taxation, commercial and civil laws, has since 2016 been nominated five times by the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) as one of “top three” aspirants to SC. In the 2020 JBC nomination, Dimaampao emerged as the No. 1 choice, too, of 14 sitting SC magistrates, 11 of whom reportedly voted for him.

In the first week of June 2020, news broke out that President

Duterte had appointed Dimaampao.

Palace Spokesman Harry Roque, in a telephone interview with this writer on June 8, said he “confirmed” having seen the President inking Dimaampao’s appointment paper.

But in the telephone interview, Sec. Roque said he would not make the official announcement unless he got hold of a copy of the appointment document.

This writer heralded the telephone conversation’s proceedings via social media. But no Palace announcement had followed, stirring flak from some Dimaampao’s relatives and supporters, who believed my report had preempted the release of the signed documents.

An exchange of barbs prompted this writer to write a column narrating some of his empirical experiences concerning a flimsy practice of “hiding of or missing” appointment papers in the Palace.

“Dimaampao’s sad fate reminded me of a sad experience in my three-month stint in the Palace in 1992 alongside now MinDA Secretary Manny Piñol and Blah Bagundang then of the Philippine Star,” I said in my 2020 column.

“While looking for a stapler in one of the tables at the office of the then Palace Spokesperson Anabelle Abaya, I stumbled on a piece of document, which I later found to be a signed appointment of former President Diosdado Macapagal in a government regulatory body. The paper was dated at least two months earlier,” I added.

Reports about Dimaampao’s appointment, though coming from sources not authorized to make any announcement, went viral in the social media like the Mindanao Tapatan Lane where over 10,000 nitizens aired praises in less than a day of posting.

The appointment eventually reached the Macapagal family after we exposed its stunted state and facilitated its

release to a relative of the appointee. I was writing for the Philippine Daily Inquirer when it happened. (AGM)

BARMM

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

MinDA seeks state support for Bukidnon vegetable farming

By ALI G. MACABALANG

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IDAPAWAN CITY – Four Talaandig tribal towns in Bukidnon are in dire need of ample national government support to optimize production and feed large parts of the country from their immense vegetable farming for years, according to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

Sec. Piñol produced a video clip showing parts of the complex’s 50,000-hectare farms for cabbage, broccoli, carrots and potatoes, and his interview with Ryan Danio, a tribal farmer leading vegetable farmers in Miarayon, Talakag.

The interview was recorded at the foreground of Danio family’s vegetable farm, and one of farm tractors awarded to the community by the Department of Agriculture months after Piñol, then a DA secretary, visited Talakag in 2018 when vegetable supply shortage hit Metro Manila.

Sec. Piñol recalled taking a trip from Metro Manila where veggies` market prices “hiked to 300% percent following a typhoon” to pursue information that vegetables in Bukidon were abundant and sold at very low prices.

Carrots were sold then in the metropolis at P300 per kilo, he said.

“I was then Secretary of Agriculture and the need to stabilize the vegetable prices was urgent so I flew to Cagayan de Oro City and drove to the mountainous area of Bukidnon where I saw for myself the vast vegetable production area owned mostly by the Talaandig tribe,” he narrated.

After the trip, he said, he “launched the TienDA Project” in Metro Manila and brought in tons of veggies along with farmer-producers, who sold carrots at P80 a kilo and other vegetables priced three times lower than those in the capital region. The project stabilized vegetable prices in the metropolis, he said.

“The farmers grew all kind of vegetables

MinDA Chairman Manny F. Piñol highlighted the plight of tribal vegetable farmers in Impasugong, Talakag, Sumilao and Lantapan comprising what is now called “ImTaSuLa complex” in Bukidnon during his visit to the area last week.

MinDA Chairman Manny Piñol’s ceremonial harvest of carrots with residents in Talakag, Bukidon.

but their problem was their access to the market,” Piñol recalled as telling DA people in a meeting, which reportedly led to crafting of mechanisms linking Bukidnon to buyers in Metro Manila.

Impressed of the farmers’ support, he said, he returned to Bukidnon many times, met the mayors of Impasugong, Talakag, Sumilao and Lantapan, and formed the “ImTaSuLa Complex” to sustain the 50,000hectare veggie farms.

He said the visits prompted the opening of the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) loan facility to the four-town corridor alongside the DA dispersal of farm equipment and work animals

to member-farmers.

Full implementation of a DA comprehensive plan for the Bukidnon vegetable production had reportedly ceased after Piñol resigned as department secretary in protest against the enactment of the Rice Tarrfication Law, which farmers nowadays berate as “anti-peasants” edict. “(But) shortly before I left the DA, the Universal Robina Corporation (URC) of the Gokongwei Family started a potato production project in at least three areas of the country, including the ImTaSuLa complex. URC bought potato seeds from Canada and gave these out for farmers’ groups to grow in support of DA’s production program,”

MinDA Chairman Manny Piñol (above) interviews a vegetable farmer. A skeletal structure (below) of a proposed carrots-produce buying station in Talakag, Bukidnon.

Piñol said.

In his last week’s visit to Bukidnon as MinDA chair, Piñol urged the national government to “sustain its efforts to help the (Bukidnon) farmers because the productivity of Filipino farmers will depend greatly on profitability.”

The ImTaSuLa complex “could produce enough high value vegetables not only for the whole country but also for the rest of the countries in the East Asean region,” he added.

Piñol said he would return to the tribal community within this month “with a possible investor whom I will convince to set up a vegetable buying station and packing plant.”

“What I envision is a program which would readily absorb the farmers’ produce at a fair price, pack the vegetables and distribute these across Mindanao and perhaps in nearby Visayas areas in a sustainable supply chain,” he said.

In related news, MinDA Public Affairs and Communications Division Chief Adrian Tamayo said Sec. Pinol has linked up with authorities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for constituent -farmers to grow vegetables alongside other agricultural plants to earn additional income.

Tamayo said Pinol’s stride was heeded initially by officials of Pagalungan town by hosting a “vegetable derby” where farmers across Maguindanao would undergo four-month training on new veggies farming technologies, apply earned skills in the field, and showcase their harvests in November for rating to receive various awards. (AGM)

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DPWH to turnover Cotabato City District... from page A1 The DPWH had reportedly decided to yield supervision over the district engineering office (DEO) here after this city became a territorial component of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) via the 2019 plebiscite. The decision was purportedly hastened by the DEO leadership rift between its lady district engineer (DE) and her male assistant district engineer (ADE).

On March 1 this year, Maguindanao 1st District Rep. Ronnie Sinsuat delivered a privilege speech, exposing alleged anomalies in the DEO. In his 15minute recorded speech, Sinsuat batted for the revamp of the DEO and endorsed the ADE to replace the lady DE. The ADE is an estranged cousin of the DE’s husband, it was learned.

At Saturday’s “Tapatan with BPC” forum, DPWH national officials including Secretary Mark Villar will come here this Sept. 17 to formally turnover the DEO management and assets to the BARMM governance through the MPW, Minister Guerra said.

Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim is expected to witness the turnover ceremony at the BARMM compound here, and discuss with the DPWH officials some protocols concerning a proposed creation of PMOs that will handle maintenance and improvement of national highways and bridges in the autonomous region, Guerra said.

Citing initial information, Guerra said the DPWH wanted to open one PMO each in Lanao del Sur including Marawi City, Maguindanao, Basilan including Lamitan City, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, all BARMM component areas, for swiffer actions on national roads and bridges therein.

Upon its formal creation in March 2019, the BARMM governance created the MPW to handle infra projects excluding national nationally-funded roads and bridges. The MPW has since not received funds for national highway or bridge maintenance and improvement, it was learned.

Responding to complaints by residents and commuters, the Philippine Muslim Today (PMT) news took photos of unmaintained parts of national highways in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao last August 10, heralded corresponding stories and images. Some of the news items were posted in the “Mindanao Tapatan Lane” page on Facebook.

Other local media entities joined the bandwagon of revealing craters like-studded portions of the highway in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, which hosts Camp Darapanan – the main headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Central Committee now leading the BARMM governance.

Sultan Kudarat Mayor Shameem Mastura and BARMM Parliament Member Ali Sangki rallied the media exposures, which prompted “voluntary” remedial scraping by MPW field workers of dilapidated asphalt layer along the town’s national highway early this month.

Prior to the MPW remedial efforts, Mayor Mastura and MP Sangki alongside other social media nitizens bashed the DPWH Region 12 office, ostensibly thinking the office was to blame in the mess.

But DPWH-12 Director Basir Ibrahim had renewed explanations that his office has not received any allocation for the maintenance of national roads or bridges in any part of BARMM areas. He said he had conveyed the necessary briefing reports to the DPWH central office.

At Saturday’s “Tapatan with BPC” forum, Minister Guerra said he had also directed the MPW district offices in Lanao del Sur where grasses grew as high as two meters on national roadsides, not to mention dilapidated pavements. He said the same order applied to other MPW field offices in other BARMM provinces.

ALI G. MACABALANG

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Opinion Philippine Muslim Today Inc. Co. Reg. No. 2021030008913-02 DATU YUSOPH B. MAMA Chairman, Board of Directors MASIDING NOOR YAHYA President/CEO JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL Vice President for Internal Affairs ALI G. MACABALANG Vice President for External Affairs ROCAYA SUMNDAD OTICAL Treasurer MACOD D. RASCAL Secretary CASAN C. CANA Auditor AMANODING D. ESMAIL Chairman, Special Committee on Administration & Finance

PHILIPPINE MUSLIM TODAY MASIDING NOOR YAHYA Editor-In-Chief and Publisher JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL Managing Editor ALI G. MACABALANG News Editor Bureau Chief for Bangsamoro & Central Mindanao Regions JAHARA A. SOLAIMAN Contributing Editor FATIMA ORTIL-JANNARAL Bureau Chief for NCR-Plus

ROCAYA SUMNDAD OTICAL Bureau Chief for Northern Mindanao & CARAGA Regions JOHNNY R. LEE Bureau Chief for Western Mindanao Region & BaSulTa

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

Of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Diosdado Macapagal, the Muslim Filipinos and Sabah

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s I agreed to the clamor for me to write a brief biographical backdrop of the father of Malaya and Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, often called by his people Bapa Malaya (Father of Malaya) and Bapa Malaysia (Father of Malaysia), in relation to the Bangsamoro People and the Muslim Filipinos, I wish to start the story here.

Indeed, the Tunku as a Muslim leader had expressed one concern that I as a Muslim and the Muslims in the Philippines should be thankful for. It may not be known to many that it was the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra who had first brought to the attention of the Philippine government the need for the establishment of a mosque and a Muslim cemetery in the Philippines’ capital.

It was in July 1963; on the first summit of the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) hosted by then Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal, that Putra spoke to President Macapagal about the poor treatment meted out to Muslims in the Philippines. They had neither a place of worship nor a burial ground in the capital.

All Macapagal said in a rebuttal was that he realized this was true but to allow Muslims to have either a mosque or a cemetery

in Manila would only anger the Christians, who were predominantly Catholics.

Putra asked: “Could he name any place in the world… where people were not free to practice their religion or to bury their dead, just because they happened to profess Looking Back another religion?”

This was a time that coincided with the Philippine claim of Sabah as part of the former territory initiated and carried out by Macapagal for historical basis such as that Sabah MASIDING NOOR YAHYA used to belong to the Sultanate of Sulu, a sovereign state before it was subjugated by foreigners and later Manila imperialists.

“How could he expect North Borneo, with its many Muslims and religious freedom to join another country like the Philippines, which did not tolerate other forms of religious worship or the rights of people to live their lives as they chose?”

TUNKU | A11

MARIA FHEBIE ORTIL Head of Accounts Executives for NCR Plus

Salamat PRRD, sana all!

DISCLAIMER: Opinion of the writer expressed herein is not necessarily the opinion of Philippine Muslim Today nor of its management.

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Front page of PHILIPPINE MUSLIM TODAY previous issue.

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uring my stint with the Philippines Daily Inquirer from 1986 to 1994, I had experienced life-threatening incidents in the line of duty. Some of those experiences, during which I stood my ground and made the difference, include the following: Profuse arrogance Some good news surfaced this week. Alhamdulillah!

Two of the favorable developments happened with the direct acts of President Rody Duterte, who has elevated Court of Appeals Associate Japar Dimaampao to the Supreme Court finally, and certified to urgency of House Bill 10121 for the deferment of the 2022 regional Parliament polls and extend the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) lifespan to 2025.

The President’s appointment of Justice Dimaampao did not only give justice to the appointee, supporters but also fulfilled the intents in the state’s peace accords with the MILF and the MNLF for equitable representation of Muslim Filipinos to all government institutions as much as possible.

In the case of Justice Dimaampao, his elevation to the High Tribunal ended the vacuum of Muslim representation in 34 years after President Cory Aquino named Judge Abdulwahid Bidin in 1987 as first FilipinoMuslim SC justice.

The fates of late Justice Bidin (who died on Feb. 2, 1999) and Justice Dimaampao involved wide contrast. The former was nominated once, backed by multi-sectors and even journalists including me, and made it. The former had since 2016 been nominated six times consistently as one of top three contenders, once as No. 1, but was bypassed.

Dimaampao’s sixth bypass in 2020 was a hard-to-forget event for me. I knew he was appointed SC justice as bared to me over the phone by Palace spokesman Harry Roque. I was too trusting of his words that I heralded the news in the social media

only to get criticized by partisan sectors when the appointment never surfaced.

I won’t reiterate my past narratives on my knowledge of “hiding of” or “missing” appointments in the Palace Punchline because I felt relieved by Dimaampao’s success finally in his seventh bid.

Thousands of people from Muslim, Christian and Lumad sectors are happy with the apALI G. MACABALANG pointment of a second Muslim justice, who is perceived not only for his sterling career records and personal traits.

During our pilgrimage in Makkah (on) the invitation of the King of Saudi Arabia in 2011, one of us was the Philippine champion in reading the Qur’an. He once rendered Qur’an reading, and I saw the tears rolling down the eyes of the good Justice (Dimaampao) indicating his good iman and humility. He’s a good Muslim,” said Islamic Studies Dr. Anshari Ali, incumbent chancellor of MSU-Gen. Santos campus. oo0oo Thousands of people have also expressed joy over President Duterte’s last-ditch issuance of urgent endorsement of the bill extending the BTA lifespan to 2025 for the interim BARMM governance to have “sufficient time to complete its mandate” under its charter (R.A. 11054) and the state’s peace accords with the MILF. For what reasons why the President made the urgent endorsement of the bill and the Palace released Dimaampao’s appointment paper signed last July 2 just this week, I don’t know. I could just hint at the heating up political fever for the 2022 elections.

SALAMAT | A11

Opinion PRESIDENTIAL CLASHES IN 2022 – Part 7 “Bad means never make for good ends.” Mahatma Gandhi

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here are quite a number of people who consider Former Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes, IV a serious contender for the presidency.

All these persons must either be blind or they do not know Trillanes. Sonny Trillanes burst into the national scene in the coup of 2003 during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – another failed and pretentious President.

The coup: I was in New York City when Trillanes and his Magdalo associates pulled a coup d’etat in a hotel in Makati City. A general of the PC called me if I could go home immediately to help out “the boys”. I did not know Trillanes who was a captain in the Philippine Navy or any of his companions. But I have a soft spot for my friend and for rebels with a cause – and I thought then the Magdalo boys were rebels with a cause. So I told my friend I would fly to Manila the following and the boys should wait forl my arrival before they make any crucial move and my friend assured me the boys will wait.

When I arrived in Manila, Trillanes and his Magdalo boys already surrendered to the authorities and were confined in the detention center of the Intelligence Services Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) at Camp Emilio Aguinaldo. When I visited them, the first question I asked Trillanes and the other leaders was – “Have you read any book on coup d’etat?” The answer was a unanimous – No! I had to ask that question because they pulled a coup in a hotel and they were waiting for other units which promised them they would come as soon as they are installed in a hotel – promising units never came.

When you pull a coup, you must read first the basic manuals on coup d’etat - Edward Luttwak’s Coup D’Etat, A Manual and Grigor Ferguson’s Coup D Etat, A Manual. Without reading them first, it’s

like being a lawyer going to court without having read his law books on trial technique. If you read these books – you would not pull a coup from a hotel and rely on promising leaders of units to help.

That’s being scandalously incompetent – and to think that Trillanes and his coup leaders graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). What an insult to the Academy and their teachers!

Or, are their teachers that incompetent, too?

Without being candid to some of their lawyers, Trillanes entered into a backdoor negotiation with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whose administration they denounced publicly as graft and corruptionridden without observing ethical standards – just to secure their freedom. As one of their lead lawyers, I confronted Trillanes and asked him why he did it. His lame excuse was – he did it for tactical reasons. When you fight for principles and an ideal, you don’t compromise with the devils – tactical or strategic.

Compromising shows lack of character and integrity. Can you rely on a leader who behaves in this manner?

The Senate: By the grace of President Benigno Aquino III, popularly known as Noynoy and for Asperger Syndrome, Trillanes got elected senator. As such he was trying hard to do honor to his office.

Impressed by Trillanes, President Noynoy used Trillanes to do back channeling with China supposedly on the West Philippines Sea (WPS) issue. Trillanes made several trips to Beijing.

If his mission on the WPS were true, Trillanes failed in his mission. Many individuals are wondering why President Noynoy engaged the services of a failed military man to do a diplomatic mission considering Trillanes’ knowledge of diplomacy is next to nothing. To those who knew President Noynoy as an incompetent President with a serious psycho-

logical problem, it is obvious he would choose an incompetent Trillanes. As they say, birds of a feather flock together?

When Rodrigo Duterte became Presi-

Diliman Way

HOMOBONO A. ADAZA dent, Trillanes publicly charged President Duterte with graft and corruption and of being unhinged. A lot of people agree with him that – President Duterte is a guilty of graft and corruption and Duterte has loose screws in his head. The charge of Duterte being unhinged is just a kind way of saying what dynamic actress Agot Isidro said of President Duterte as a psychopath.

And President Duterte did not deny the charge which, in law, is admission by silence. By bravely accusing Duterte, Trillanes got a lot of mileage in mainstream and social media. Had he handled it right, he could have become the leader of the Opposition but he did not. Instead of pushing Duterte to the wall, he just continued wailing and charging in media. For this, he earned a libel suit from President Duterte – in Davao City.

President Duterte appeared invincible because Trillanes, due to ineptitude, failed to chop President Duterte to pieces and send him to Hell – where many individuals think Dutertte belongs.

The impeachment: Possibly in an effort to recover lost ground, Trillanes, through one of the congressmen of the Magdalo Party List, filed an impeachment complaint. It was doomed from the very beginning.

Considering the Opposition did not have the numbers, Trillanes and his boys should have armed themselves with an Exocet missile to ADAZA | A11

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

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Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute.

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he Philippine Press Institute noted that “success of a free press is reflected in the ability of journalism to honor a primary responsibility to the public. Journalistic principles of truth- telling and independence work together to honor that loyalty.

“In order to seek truth and report it as fully as possible, journalists must be independent.

“Joumalists must remain free of associations and activities that may compromise their integrity or damage their own or their organization’s credibility.

“Credibility is what others think of us. Ethics is what kind of people we are.

“Conflicts of interest occur when individuals face competing loyalties: to a source or to their own self-interest, or to their organization’s economic needs, as opposed to the information needs of the public. ” Thus this Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute will become a living document to the extent that individual newspapers, their publishers/ owners, editors and staff writers will infuse it with life and vigor.

Ethics, and how individual journalists conduct themselves, are, first and last, the individual’s call. But it takes a community of journalists and newspapers living it out together to make this Code the genuine, positive, powerful norm and standard it should be for the industry.

Professionalism is the key to upgrading and enforcing ethical standards in the media.

In the Newsroom, on the beat, in the boardrooms, and wherever it is journalists meet with their sources and make editorial decisions, the Code should serve all member newspapers of the PPI as a reference of conduct and decisions of the individual journalist and newspaper. At the least, this Code seeks to clarify; at best, it offers a road map for where the jour-

nalist and the newspaper should go, abiding by professional and ethical standards, according to widely held traditions and practices of the free press in the Philippines and overseas.

But this Code also assigns publishers/ owners and editors the primary role in upholding professional and ethical standards. Fulfilling the spirit and intentions of the Code on the field requires the full, unqualified support -in terms of money, resources and corporate leadership-of the newspaper owners.

Applying its terms to the day-to-day flow of operations and decision- making in the newsroom, and to the performance evaluation of reporters, photographers, desk persons, artists, columnists and contributors-or even popularizing and explaining the letter of the Code to the newspaper’s editorial staff-are the tasks of the editors as gatekeepers.

I. Covering elections A. Pay your way 1. The newspaper must cover the cost of coverage during the election campaign and count, including dining out sources for stories, the airfare, hotel accommodation, per diem and operations expenses of staff members assigned to political parties and candidates.

This prohibition excludes transport services and common rooming accommodations arranged by the political parties for all members of the media.

2. Staff members shall clear with their supervising editors invitations from the candidates or political parties to join out-of-town or overseas coverage events, so the newspaper may appropriate the necessary budget, if these are newsworthy events.

B. Do not accept cash or gifts in kind from politicians and political parties.

1. All editors, reporters, photographers, columnists, artists and other staff members must resist all attempts

of candidates or political parties to bribe the newspaper in cash or in kind. Newspapers are encouraged to expose such attempts, whether consummated or aborted, to identify the cul-

Batanes to Tawi-Tawi

JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL pable parties and to promptly return the bribe or donate it to charity with the appropriate documentation.

C. Do not moonlight with political parties.

1. No staff member shall be allowed to work on a part-time, full -time or contractual basis with any political party or candidate.

2. Staff members shall be discouraged from inviting candidates to stand as godparents in baptisms,weddings and other church rites, or as padrinos in the employment of relatives or friends.

D. Beware of surveys.

1. Statistical data derived from polling and surveying is especially susceptible to misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misuse.

Newspapers should clearly distinguish between scientific polls and non-scientific surveys such as readers’ call-ins or write-ins and person-in-the-street interviews that are reported in statistical terms. This must be done in a way that is likely to be understood by the average reader, including the headlines and graphics.

– In using scientific polls, the sample size and the margin of error should be disclosed.

– In using nonscientific surveys, the manner in which they were taken and their limitations should be clearly explained in print. Merely labeling a survey as “nonscientific” is not sufficient.

JANNARAL | A11

A6 Lawmakers want BARMM police office seal… from page A1 MPs Sema and Adiong were among six guests in the 4th episode of the weekly Tapatan forum of the Bangsamoro Press Corps last Saturday, Sept.

11. The four other guests were BARMM Public Works Secretary Ed Guerra, Trade and Tourism Deputy Minister Sukarno Abas, Planning Director General Mohajirin Ali and Land Management Director Hexsan Mabang, who also expressed surprise about the Cross icon embedded in the new PRO-BAR seal.

The issue was raised at the online media event amid criticisms from concerned professionals against the inception of the police logo “obviously without the knowledge” of the top policy makers in the BARMM governance. Among them was Dr. Sukarno Tanggol, chancellor of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, who demanded a review of the police logo’s elements.

At the center of the logo lie the icons of a crescent and a Cross. The PRO-BARMM has reportedly required its field office to adopt the new seal.

The BPC invited the regional police leadership to join Tapatan forum last Saturday and present its side, but it begged off to participate in the next episode of the media online engagement.

Sema and Adiong said they would likely file a resolution authorizing the BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim to make representation to the PNP hierarchy for an amendment in the police logo.

“Under existing laws, the Chief Minister is empowered to make remedial conferences with the higher authorities on various issues including police matters,” Sema said.

Adiong, for his part, said it is awkward for an official government seal to contain symbols that reflect religion, hinting that BARMM is more than 90 percent Muslim Filipinos haven.

BARMM replaced the 29-year old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and has immense autonomy and resources farm more than the preceding entity. Yet, the police regional office of the defunct ARMM did not have any religious symbol, Adiong said as he shared local media and academicians’ observations.

“It be better off for (the designers of the new regional police seal) to retain the symbol of Sultan Kudarat’s image with a shield in the national police seal,” Adiong said.

ALI G. MACABALANG

Mindanao Skills Training and Development Institute, Inc. For quality skills training.

LOCATED AT: MERCURY AND PLUTO STREETS, RABAGO SUBDIVISION, VILLA VERDE, IL;IGAN CITY 9200 PH Tel. 63 2290965

News

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

‘Don’t bash Duterte on Facebook page bearing my name,’ Piñol asks supporters

By ALI G. MACABALANG

K

IDAPAWAN CITY – Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA Chairman Manny Piñol has urged supporters not to bash President Rodrigo Duterte on Facebook pages associated Sec. Piñol aired his plea to the administrator (s) and members of the Facebook page titled “Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Piñol for Senator,” which a certain Gabriel Hebron Francisco, a Luzon-based farmer cum advocate of genuine agriculture development, created on July 6, 2020 to persuade the MinDA chief into seeking a senatorial seat in 2020.

The public page has since generated over 57,400 members as of this writing and the figure was steadily rising.

In an earlier radio interview here, Sec. Pinol clarified that he had no knowledge about the creation of the page until it reached his attention only early this year.

Francisco, in his

with his name, apparently hinting at the possibility that partisan quarters may take such criticism to his liking.

A screenshot photo of the “Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Piñol for Senator” page mast on Facebook created by Luzonbased farmer Gabriel Hebron Francisco on July 6, 2020. page advisory, said: “We need to gather enough number(s) to push Mr. Manny Piñol to run for senator. He is the only qualified person to promote and boost our country’s agriculture. (He is) known for his achievements and vision in the agricultural industry. He will be an effective chairman of the Senate’s committee on Agriculture.”

In a post this week, Piñol said was heartily thankful to the page administrator(s) and members for their trust in his consistent advocacy for better government attention to the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

“Naririnig ko po ang inyong mga boses at binibigyan ko nang malalim na pag-iisip ang inyong kahilingan.

Gagawa po ako ng de-

sisyon sa darating na mga araw at iyan po ay agad kong ipaalam sa inyo. Meron lang akong pakiusap at sana ay mapagbigyan ninyo ako,” Piñol said in his message to the page supporters.

“Napapansin ko at nababasa dito ang ibang mga posts at comments na pinupuna at tinutuligsa ang Pangulong Rody Duterte. Maski ano pa po ang opinyon ninyo sa performance ng Pangulo, nakikiusap po ako na h’wag na natin syang tuligsain sa pahina na ito kasi nakakabit ang pangalan ko,” he pleaded.

“Sana po maunawaan ninyo na maski merong mga polisiya na hindi DON’T BUSH | A12

North Cotabato to launch giant bamboo industry this month KIDAPAWAN CITY – The provincial government of North Cotabato will launch this month its giant bamboo growing and production, targeting at least 2,000 hectares in hilly areas including Mt. Akir-Akir in Libungan town, according to Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Chairman Manny Piñol.

Sec. Piñol said he and Gov. Nancy Catamco alongside other provincial officials agreed on the venture in a meeting at his farm here on Monday. The 11herctare or so farm, named Braveheart, covers some demonstration nurseries for varied agricultural crops and environmental species including giant bamboo seedlings.

He said the informal agreement, witnessed by First District Rep. Joel Sacdalan, Provincial Administrator Efren Pinol, Board Member Maria Kristina Pinol-Solis and former Tulunan Mayor Lani Candolada, requires the Braveheart farm to provide giant bamboo planting materials to at least 2,000 families at one hectare per family.

“The seedlings will be paid for by the beneficiaries when they start harvesting the giant bamboo after six years which will be processed in a facility to be established in the Provincial Agro-Industrial Park in M’lang town,” Piñol said.

Participating families will be asked to enter into a buy-back agreement with a group that will establish the processing facility, he said.

Giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus Asper) farmers can “earn as much as ₱200,000 per hectare” every harvest after six years of planting,” Piñol said in past post, citing a prospectus from the Bukidnon Giant Bamboo Resources Corp.

(BGBRC), first bamboo processing facility in Mindanao.

The BGBRC prospectus showed that growing giant bamboo is easy and economical because it needs no fertilizers and it has high regenerative trait with several shoots continuously growing to replace harvested poles.

The MinDA has included giant bamboo growing in its multiple strides as it yields hefty income for host communities and at the same time promotes environmental protection, especially in impounding ground water and preventing soil erosions, agency media liai-

A bunch of tall giant bamboos. son division chief Adrian Tamayo, Ph.D., said.

In North Cotabato, priority areas for giant bamboo panting will be the upland towns of Arakan, Antipas, Magpet, Pres. Roxas, Kidapawan City, Makilala, Tulunan, Matalam, Carmen, Banisilan, Alamada, Aleosan, Midsayap, Pigcawayan and Lubungan – host of tourist attracting Mt. Akir-Akir, Tamyo said.

Piñol said Gov. Catamco was confident that giant bamboo faring will their provincial drive to re-green the deforested areas and provide farmers with marginal lands the chance to earn at least P200,000 per hectare per year.

He the giant bamboo is now an accepted species in the export-manufacture of wood tiles, furniture and construction materials, as demonstrated for years by the Bukidnon-based BGBRC. Gov. Catamco will lead the ceremonial distribution and planting of the giant bamboo seedlings a week before the end of this month in Arakan and Libungan towns, Piñol said. (AGM)

News

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

IATF releases ratified guidelines on granular lockdowns

M

ANILA – The Inter -Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID) has ratified the guidelines on the pilot implementation of granular lockdowns and alert levels system in Metro Manila, Malacañang announced on Monday night.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who is also IATF-EID spokesperson, said the new classification framework will start on Sept.

16.

“In this new classification framework, we proactively advocate the Principles of 3C’s (Closed, Crowded and Close Contact) Strategy, which shall be applied in Metro Manila starting September 16, 2021,” he said in a press statement.

He said there should be a need to strike a delicate balance between health and the economy.

“We should strive for total health and this can only be realized by carefully balancing our Covid -19 response by considering both the health of our people and the economic health of the nation, which this policy shift is all about,” he added.

Under the new guidelines, the new community quarantine classifications will have five Alert Levels that would deter-

mine the activities allowed in cities and/or municipalities.

These include: * Alert Level 1 – refers to areas wherein case transmission is low and decreasing, total bed utilization rate, and intensive care unit utilization rate is low. * Alert Level 2 – refers to areas wherein case transmission is low and decreasing, healthcare utilization is low, or case counts are low but increasing, or case counts are low and decreasing but total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate is increasing. * Alert Level 3 – refers to areas wherein case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate at increasing utilization. * Alert Level 4 – refers to areas wherein case counts are high and/or increasing, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate are high. * Alert Level 5 – refers to areas wherein case counts are alarming, with total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate at critical level.

The Department of Health (DOH) shall identify the Alert Level of the pilot area that “shall follow the protocols consistent with the declared Alert Level.”

“Areas placed under Alert Level 5 shall observe the guidelines applicable to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) as provided for under the IATF Omnibus Guidelines on the implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, as amended,” the new guidelines stated.

On September 3, the IATF issued a resolution which provides that under the new classification framework, which focuses on the imposition of granular lockdown measures, community quarantine shall be reduced to either ECQ or general community quarantine (GCQ) “with the latter having an alert level system (Alert Level 1 to 4) with each alert level limiting restrictions only to identified high-risk activities.”

Authority to impose granular lockdown City and municipal mayors will have the authority to impose granular lockdowns with respect to their component barangays subject to the concurrence of the Regional InterAgency Task Force (RIATF), and individual houses where one household member has been confirmed.

According to the new guidelines, granular lockdown or a microlevel quarantine for areas identified as “critical zones” by the local government unit (LGU)

may be declared “regardless of Alert Level.”

Granular lockdowns must last for at least 14 days.

The declaration of granular lockdowns must be provisionally effective immediately and must include due notice to the RIATF. The IATF retains its mandate to impose and/or lift lockdowns on highly urbanized cities and independent component cities.

Households within areas under granular lockdown must also be provided assistance by their respective local government units (LGUs) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The pilot test guidelines also provide that the Philippine National Police shall ensure peace and order at all times, and that the security protocols are maintained in lockdown areas.

During the lockdown period, only health care workers and non-health personnel working in hospitals, laboratories, and dialysis facilities “if their institutions are unable to provide accommodation”, and uniformed personnel tasked to enforce the granular lockdown, shall be allowed to move within, into, and out of the area.

PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY

‘Lookout’ order out vs. 9 in Senate procurement probe MANILA – Upon the request of the Senate, the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday issued an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) on nine persons involved in an inquiry on the use of government funds for Covid-19 response.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters that following Blue Ribbon Committee chair Senator Richard Gordon’s request, they issued ILBO on former presidential advised Michael Yang, also known as Yang Hong Ming; former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management chief Lloyd Christopher Lao; Overall Deputy Ombudsman Warren Rex Liong; and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation president Twinkle Dargani, chief executive officer Huang Tzu Yen, executive Krizle Grace Mago, directors Justine Garado and Linconn Ong, and secretary Mohit Dargani.

“The BI (Bureau of Immigration) will make the proper arrangements for monitoring the subjects’ travel movements abroad,” Guevarra said in a text message.

Mago had testified that she had been with the

company since its incorporation in 2019 and had communicated online with the government’s procurement of supplies, includMichael Yang. (Malacanang ing face masks, in photo) March 2020.

Guevarra said the ILBO is “for monitoring purposes only and it is not, and of itself, a sufficient prohibition for a subject’s departure from the Philippines”.

Yang missed the Senate hearing on Monday due to hypertension and sent instead his lawyer, Raymond Fortun.

The ILBO does not prevent departure from the Philippines, unlike a hold departure order which is handed down by a Regional Trial Court where there is a pending criminal case.

PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY

A7

WPF appoints 0ICRegional Director for Bicol Region

By JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL

M

AKATI CITY — The World Philosophical Forum (WPF) Philippines, Inc. based in this city has appointed the WPF Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Office of the Regional Director in Region V or Bicol Region.

WPF chairman Dr. Shariff Ibrahim H. Albani has designated Marivel Ortil Razon as the OIC Regional Director of WPF of Region V. Razon who hails from the said region thanked Chairman Albani for her designation where she was given the Certificate of Appointment immediately after attending an extensive seminar on the WPF Roadmap that was conducted by the chairman himself.

Razon who is an incumbent member of the Cabacongan Barangay Council in Caramoan Municipality in Bicol Region is also entrusted with the WPF duties, functions, rights, and responsibilities.

She also confirmed to the Philippine Muslim Today that she has joined the Labor Party of the Philippines (LPP) where she will work with Bicolana singer Vice Governor Imelda Papin, who is the LPP vice president for the Bicol Region.

At the same time, once she received the LPP Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) she is all set to file her candidacy with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the Official Candidate of LPP for vice mayor in Caramoan Municipality.

On the other hand, Chairman Albani also emphasized that in conjunction with the appointment of Ms. Razon, she is also authorized to coordinate with all the local government units (LGUs) specifically for the implementation and realization of the Mission, Vision and Program for poverty alleviation of the World Philosophical Forum Philippines.

Hence, in this connection Chairman Albani has also authorized the new OIC Regional Director of the Bicol Region to organize the officers and members by educating them the WPF mission and vision for being an earth citizen of the 21st Century.

Finally, in line with the appointment of Ms. Razon, she is legally responsible for any action that she may perform contrary to the WPF rules and regulations and the existing laws of the Philippines.

Moreover, the appointment of Ms. Razon also coincided with the 3rd Anniversary of WPF Philippines, Inc. that celebrated based on the theme: “Strengthening ties among countries to overcome the effect of COVID-19 to its citizens through the help of God Almighty.”

The celebration was so simple with only few personalities in attendance in compliance with the minimum health protocol of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), according to Chairman Albani.

The celebration was also virtual since there were officers of the World Philosophical Forum from foreign countries who sent their video greetings like Prof. Ahmad Hafizul, WPF Chairman of Malaysia; Eduard Tan, Chairman of Taisay Group of Singapore; Dr. Nikolay Kenov of Russia; and Princess Isabelle Lafforgue of WPF of France.

Back here in the Philippines, Dr. Shariff H. Thanks Ibrahim Albani who delivered his Inspirational Message to the officers and members followed by Prof. Oscar L. Morado, Senior VP for Operations and LPP Party spokesman; Dr. Lani Briones, SocSksargen WPF Regional Director; and finally Ambassador Bulu Chowdury, WPF International Director also gave his 3rd WPF Anniversary Greetings.

JIJ

A8

Across the Globe

Taliban announces formation of caretaker gov’t in Afghanistan

US renews its call for dialogue with NoKor

A

NKARA – The US on Tuesday renewed its call for dialogue with North Korea and said Washington has no hostile intent toward Pyongyang, according to local media.

Speaking at a summit of the top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the US held in Tokyo, Washington's special envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, said his country wants to resolve all issues with North Korea through negotiations.

"As we have made it clear repeatedly, the United States has no hostile intent with the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," Seoulbased Yonhap News Agency quoted Sung as saying.

He renewed his calls for North Korea to return to dialogue, while noting that the recent developments in the North served as a reminder of the importance of close cooperation between the US and its allies, according to the report.

South Korean's nuclear negotiator Noh Kyuduk and his Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi also attended the meeting.

The meeting was held after North Korea announced Monday that it test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend.

"We hope the DPRK will respond positively to our multiple offers to meet without preconditions," the US envoy said, adding Washington will also continue to fully implement all UN Security Council resolutions on the North.

In a statement on Monday, the Korean Central News Agency said the country's Academy of Defense Science successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile on Saturday and Sunday.

"The launched long-range cruise missiles traveled for 7,580 seconds (126 minutes) along an oval and pattern-8 flight orbits in the air above the territorial land and waters of the DPRK and hit targets 1,500 km (932 miles) away," the statement said.

The latest missile test came after the last month's US-South Korea joint military exercises opposed by Pyongyang, which called them "a threat to their security."

The joint military drills came a month after North Korea and South Korea restored crossborder communication lines that were cut off by Pyongyang in June last year.

North Korea severed communication with South Korea and also blew up an inter-Korean liaison office along the border in June 2020.

Earlier in January, just hours after US President Joe Biden took office, Pyongyang conducted a cruise missile test while later in March North Korea again tested a new tactical short-range ballistic missile.

Reacting to the North Korean move, Biden warned there would be "responses" if North Korea continues with such escalations.

In response, North Korea said Washington might face "undesirable happenings" if it continues its provocations and "habitual hostility" against Pyongyang. (Anadolu)

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

K

ABUL – The Taliban announced on Tuesday night, September 7, 2021, the formation of Afghanistan’s caretaker government, with Mullah Hassan Akhund appointed as the acting prime minister.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference here that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi were named as the acting deputy prime ministers, while Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban cofounder Mullah Mohammad Omar, was appointed as the acting defense minister.

Amir Khan Muttaqi was appointed as the acting foreign minister, Sarajuddin Haqqani, son of the founder of the Haqqani network, was named as the acting interior minister and Abas Stanikzai as the acting deputy foreign minister, the Taliban spokesman said.

Mujahid said the appointments of the interim government were not final as these were acting positions, and the remaining posts would be announced at a later date.

The move was aimed at carrying out necessary government works, he said, stressing that it was an “acting” government and the group would try to take people from other parts of the country.

He did not elaborate on how long the caretaker government will serve.

Basir Faqiri, a shop owner in Kabul, hoped that lasting peace would be restored in the war-torn country with the formation of the caretaker government.

“The announcement of the acting government is another step toward the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan,” said Faqiri, planning to reopen his shop and restart his small business.

“I hope the Taliban soon finds some solutions for political and economic uncertainties,” he said.

Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada said in a statement after the announcement of the acting government makeup that the new leadership would ensure “lasting peace, prosperity and development”, and urged people not to try to leave the country.

He said all will take part in strengthening Afghanistan and “in this way, we will rebuild our wartorn country.”

He told Afghans that the ultimate goal of the new authorities would be to “put the country on its feet as soon as possible” and rebuild the country.

The formation of the caretaker government was announced after the Taliban said on Monday it had completely captured Panjshir, the last holdout province of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Panjshir, some 200 km north of the capital Kabul, had been the last province in Afghanistan un-

CARETAKER GOV’T. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid (Rear) speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 7, 2021. The Taliban announced on Tuesday night the formation of Afghanistan’s caretaker government, with Mullah Hassan Akhund appointed as the acting prime minister. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

controlled by the Taliban after the group seized most of Afghanistan’s territories since early August in its blitz attacks, including Kabul.

The last batch of US troops left Afghanistan at midnight on Aug. 30, one day before the Aug. 31 deadline set by US President Joe Biden, ending a 20-year invasion war into the Central Asian country.

In 2001, the US-led military forces invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of searching for Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

During the past two decades, the US-led operations in Afghanistan have caused more than 30,000 civilian deaths, and turned about 11 million people into refugees, leaving Afghanistan in desperate need of stability and rehabilitation.

The Taliban has previously promised to build an inclusive government and hoped that Afghan people would help in the country’s transition.

At a press conference held on Aug. 18, the first since Taliban’s takeover of the capital Kabul on Aug. 15, spokesman Mujahid said the Taliban wants to have good relations with everybody to develop the country’s economy and achieve prosperity.

The Taliban supreme leader had declared a general amnesty, promising to ensure the safety of the contractors and translators who had worked for the United States and allied forces, the government soldiers who had been fighting the Taliban for years, and those whose families were attempting to leave Afghanistan, Mujahid said.

He also said women could work and study in different fields within the framework of Sharia or Islamic law, and they would be offered all rights within the Islamic principles, because women are vital parts of the society.

(Xinhua)

Oil prices up for 3rd straight week MANILA – Oil companies will hike pump prices anew on Tuesday, marking the third consecutive week of an increase.

In separate advisories, Caltex, Petro Gazz, Phoenix Petroleum, Seaoil and Shell said they will raise gasoline prices by PHP0.40 per liter and diesel prices by PHP0.35 per liter.

Cleanfuel will roll out price increments of PHP0.30 per liter for both gasoline and diesel products.

Caltex, Seaoil, and Shell will also increase kerosene prices by PHP0.15 per liter.

In the Department of Energy’s (DOE) latest oil monitor bulletin, week-on-week prices of Dubai crude as of Sept. 3 trading rose by USD1.80 per barrel.

Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) gasoline and diesel prices also went up by USD1.50 per barrel and USD2.90 per barrel in the same peri-

od.

Meanwhile, year-to-date prices of gasoline stood a net increase of PHP13.35 per liter, PHP10.90 per liter for diesel, and PHP8.70 per liter for kerosene, the DOE said.

PNA

JRL)

Tourism | Culture

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

Education and Integration of Badjaos in the Philippine Civil Service

Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl

L

est we forget, the creation of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as Basic Law provides among others the Bangsamoro Identity which includes natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago; and without doubt the Badjaos are truly part of it. Also in its Article 5 Section 7 of said law under the Social Justice, says that: ‘the Bangsamoro shall establish a government that ensures that every citizen in the Bangsamoro is provided the basic necessities and equal opportunities in life.

Social Justice shall be promoted in all phases of development and facets of life within the Bangsamoro’.

These provisions sit well with my proposition that the Badjaos could not just be neglected by mere reasons that they are inferior, primitive, ignorant, an outsiders and all the pejoratives

thrown at them.

Some modern Badjaos of today did manage to climb the ladder of success in terms of social and economic stability. A number of their sons and daughters have graduated from the formal schools up to the collegiate level. But the social stigma remains be-

BANGSAMORO HALAL DISH With Maria Fhebie Ortil

By JOHNNY R. LEE, Ph.D.

cause of the long-held notion that Badjaos do not deserve attention because they have never been politically united and their voices are only needed to prop up the images of land-based political groups. This writer reiterates that the BARMM government has the bigger responsibility if only they will review their mandate to look into the sad plight of indigenous peoples like the Badjaos. (Please read this writer’s suggested formula and mechanisms on how.)

This writer has also lain on the table regarding the enlistment or integration of Badjaos (those who earned college degrees) to the Philippine military service and other branches of government.

There should be government initiatives to reserve a small percentage for the Badjaos who are willing to serve in military establishment like the Philippine Navy and components of the Philippine

Coast Guard and Maritime Industry Authority.

Looking at the Philippine Coast Guard’s mandates and responsibility which is to ‘perform maritime search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, maritime safety, maritime environmental protection and maritime security’, the Badjaos are most fitted to be considered as part of this AFP establishment.

Their ability as a ‘maritime people in a maritime country’ like the Philippines suits well to provide as part of the mandate knowing that they are the children of the sea.

The Badjaos, if given the chance to be enlisted in other branches of the AFP or the PNP could as well be effective because each of these branches has their components in rescue operations at sea and some other disasters that need divers and skills in water navigation. (To be continued in the next issues)

Banwa Private Island in PH Partners Ascent for Luxury Transfers by Air Banwa Private Island in Philippines has partnered with Ascent Flights Global to offer guests with exclusive transfers using seaplanes, helicopters and private jets, as needed.

Located in northeastern Palawan and nestled in Sulu Sea, Banwa Private Island is set amidst one of the most outstanding areas of natural beauty imaginable.

Peter Nilsson, CEO of Banwa Private Island, said, “We found a great partner in Ascent with our shared goal to deliver exceptional, personalised and intimate guest experiences to our affluent clientele. Our utmost priority is the genuine care and well-being of our guests from their chartered flight to their holiday experience in our informal and intimate island sanctuary. Personal safety and hand-crafted travel experiences have become even more important in the luxury travel landscape as we gear up towards Philippines’ borders reopening to International travel.”

Guests can choose to take a 1 hour and 45-minute seaplane flight from Manila, seating up to 8 pax and landing directly in front of Banwa Private Island’s house reef, or a 10-seat helicopter ride from Manila Ninoy Airport or one of Palawan’s three commercial

A9

airports San Vicente, Puerto Princesa or El Nido across the Sulu Sea to land on Banwa Private Island’s heli-lawn.

Ascent also offers a variety of private jet services that includes ground handling arrangements, meet and greet services, inter-airport transfers, exclusive lounge service and immigration fast track if needed.

Lionel Sinai-Sinelnikoff, Founder and CEO of Ascent, said, “With this

partnership, a guest’s experience now starts with a seamless and private bubble. With Ascent’s dedicated solution and best-inclass air operations on fuel -efficient aircraft, Banwa Private Island’s guests elevate their journey with peace of mind.” Source: Travel News Asia

Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl

A

ssalamu Alaykum! Finally the Bangsamoro Halal Cuisine is now in Volume 2, Number 14th Issue of Philippine Muslim Today Digital Online Edition.

For this issue, I would like to discuss with my avid readers some of the halal cuisine that are just sumptuous to their palate. Hence, I would like to tackle with you this Coconut Curry Noodle.

In simple language, Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl is an incredibly delicious, light, and refreshing Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl topped with chicken, shrimp, and herbs.

INGREDIENTS 3 cans (411 g each can) chicken broth 2 chicken breasts 1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined in 2 cans (400 ml each can) coconut milk 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons (45 ml) red curry paste 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce 4 squares ramen noodle 1 lime, cut into wedges OPTIONAL TOPPINGS: Thai basil leaves Thai chili peppers, chopped Green onions, chopped Cilantro, chopped INSTRUCTIONS 1. In a pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil.

2. Add the chicken breast and boil until cooked through.

3. Transfer the chicken to a plate; shred when cooled.

4. Cook the shrimp in the broth, and then transfer to a plate.

5. Add the coconut milk, garlic, red curry paste and fish sauce to the broth.

6. Mix until the paste is thoroughly incorporated. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

7. In a separate pot, boil water and cook the ramen according to the package instructions.

8. Drain and flush with cold water. Divide the noodles evenly between 4 bowls.

9. Top with shrimp and chicken. Ladle the broth, as much or as little as you'd like, over the top.

10. Garnish with toppings and serve with lime wedges.

MFO

A10

Business News

1-day online processing in company registration system launched T

M

ANILA – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made starting a business even faster and easier, as it held the soft launch for a new feature in its online company registration system that will allow applicants to complete the process in one day.

Starting Sept. 15, domestic corporations may register with the Commission through the One-Day Submission and Express Registration of Companies (OneSEC) feature of the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC).

In a statement Wednesday, SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said OneSEC gives new businesses the means to easily comply with the Commission’s registration requirements, ensuring the continuity of the business sector amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“The single-day processing of applications for company registration will help us further our goal of improving the ease of doing business in the country, complementing our other recent digital initiatives that aim to provide seamless transactions to the public,” Aquino said.

OneSEC, which can be accessed at https:// secwebapps.sec.gov.ph /application, will accept applications for the registration of domestic stock corporations, which are 100 percent owned by Filipinos and whose common shares have a par value of not less than PHP1 and in non-decimal currency, and subscribed for through cash payment.

The corporation must have incorporators, directors, and subscribers who are natural persons and residents of the Philippines. It

must also have a perpetual corporate term of existence and be located outside an economic zone.

The proposed corporate name must include a descriptor according to the corporation’s industry classification, must not contain any trade name, and must not be subject to any appeal for reconsideration.

OneSEC will prefill the corporation’s primary purpose or main business activity based on the chosen industry classification, which may not be subject to any modification by the applicant.

To make the end-toend registration process seamless, OneSEC is integrated with the Commission’s online payment portal called Electronic System for Payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC).

Upon completing the online registration process, applicants may download the digital copy of their interim certificates of incorporation (COI).

Applicants may secure the original copy of their COI upon presentation of the digital interim COIs and proof of payment of the assessed registration fees, together with the originally signed and authenticated or notarized hard copies of their registration documents to the SEC. Applicants may submit the said hard copies of the registration documents within one year from the issuance of their interim COI. Migration from CRS to Esparc In addition, the eSPARC will now accept applications for registration of partnerships and foreign corporations, which were previously accepted through the SEC company registration system (CRS).

All pending applications starting with the company name reser-

vation and those applications in the preform and in-form status in the CRS, including those filed but not yet approved for payment and in compliance status must re-apply in eSPARC. On the other hand, those whose applications have been approved for payment in the CRS and have been provided with a payment assessment form should proceed in paying the registration fees.

Meanwhile, applicants that have already paid their registration fees but could not upload the proof of payment in the CRS should submit the proof of payment, together with the signed and authenticated/notarized copies of the registration documents, to the selected processing office for the issuance of their COI. Those who have not yet been issued with their COI despite having uploaded the proof of payment in the CRS should submit the proof of payment, together with the signed and authenticated/notarized copies of the registration documents, to the selected processing office for the issuance of the COI. OneSEC is the latest initiative in the digital transformation program of the SEC. The eSPARC was launched on April 19 to facilitate faster and easier registration of corporations.

The Commission on March 15 also launched the online submission tool, which allows for the online submission of annual financial statements, general information sheet, and other covered reports.

Earlier on March 1, the eSPAYSEC went live, giving clients the option to settle their registration and other transaction fees through online banking or their digital wallets.

(PR)

READ PHILIPPINE MUSLIM TODAY Https://philmuslim.today/

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

Tale of two MLs..

he 1st Martial Law was declared by Former President Marcos on Sept 21, 1972.

The following month, October 21, 1972, Marawi City erupted in violence.

A group of rebels, or so it was said, attacked Camp Kiethley, a Philippine Constabulary camp (Now called PNP), in the early hours of the morning.

I remember the day of the Marawi Uprising in 1972. We woke up to the sound of gunfires all over the city rattling the residents to their deafening roars.

I remember the road teeming with people fleeing the city in panic either on foot or vehicles of all kinds. We were jampacked in a Macarthur type jeep making its way to our mother’s hometown in Ramain, 20 kilometers away from the city.

We passed by people, many I know who are friends and classmates tagging along with their families walking their way out of the city.

Our eyes meet but without saying a word.

We were all too young to make sense of the violent sounds that jolted us from sleep.

We became evacuees (IDP is a modern word) for several months even though the armed conflict took less than a month only.

Marawi City then became a military garrison.

The dreaded Tabak Division of the AFP took

over the city. Stories of atrocities committed by soldiers animated people’s imagination which triggered a great diaspora that has reduced Marawi into a ghost town for a significant period.

The 2nd Martial Law was declared by President Duterte on May 24, 2017. That is a day after a group of Muslim militants or terrorists laid siege on Marawi City.

I had to rush to Marawi from Cotabato City on the same day.

While entering Marawi, the same gunfires I heard during the Marawi Uprising of 1972, was much the same.

Only this time, they light up the sky. It was already dark when I reached Marawi.

What is the commonality of the two Martial Law declarations?

The destruction of Marawi City.

It was revealed from sources close to Marcos that the uprising was staged to justify the declaration of ML. There were questions then from the international community on the sufficiency of its declaration.

Hence, they had to lit the fuse somewhere to legitimize ML. On the 2nd declaration, thanks to President Duterte, the ISIS and Abu Sayyaf attacked, so the gov’t must respond in defense of the country’s sovereignty.

Except that

Malacanang was wracked by a scandalous controversy after another and public indignation was eroding the President’s credibility to lead this country.

Hammerhead

MOY ALONTO LUCMAN Recall Paulo Duterte being dared by Sen. Trillanes to show his tatoo in a senate hearing on the 11 Billions worth of drugs confiscated by the BOC but later inexplicably released.

So Marawi had to be destroyed.

This is not new to us. Erap had his Mindanao War in 2000 when his Jueteng involvement pushed him to the brink of resignation.

Muslim Mindanao has been at the receiving end of maneuverings whenever Malacanang is beleaguered by political controversies.

Malacanang should not wonder why radicalism creeps into the psyche of some Muslim youths. People have sense of what is happening around them.

Bad faith on the part of those wielding powers has been the singlemost cause of the elusive peace in Mindanao.

Time to change.

House OKs BTA extension bill on 3rd, final reading… from Page A2 The House passed on second reading HB 10121 on Monday, Sept.

13 after Mangudadatu delivered his sponsorship speech, which drew interpellation for about an hour by Hataman, Basilan’s lone representative. The latter asserted but failed to institute a provision that will authorize only the next President to appoint BTA members.

Members of the 80seat BTA Parliament members were appointed by President Duterte to serve until June 30

next year in time for his last day in office. But Mangudadatu’s bill provides a room for the sitting President to appoint the second set of BTA members “upon the approval” of a law postponing the 2022 parliament election.

In effect, the House version differs with the Senate counterpart bill that allows the President to appoint BTA members upon the expiration of the incumbents’ term on June 20, 2022, Minister Sinarimbo, a lawyer, said.

Because of the

“substantial difference” between the House and Senate bills, Sinarimbo said, there will be a need for a bicameral committee conference.

Interview over the phone Wednesday night by the Philippine Muslim Today news, Sinarimbo expressed conference that with the Presidential urgent certification, the bicameral body will be able to mend the difference and beat time in the upcoming filing of candidacies on October 1-8 for the May 9, 2022 elections.

(AGM)

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

A11

TUNKU | from Page A4

Of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Diosdado Macapagal, the Muslim Filipinos and Sabah In one of his columns at The STAR, then famous daily in Malaysia those days, the Tunku wrote: “Oh”, he said, “Sabah used to belong to the Sultanate of Sulu.” I replied, “But the Sultanate does not exist anymore”. He answered that it was necessary for him to have Sabah to better his own political position — so I countered by saying that I would hold on to Sabah, not only to better my political position but to fulfill the promise I had made, as well as to protect Sabah from the Philippines taking over, an act that would deny freedom of worship to a happy people.

“At the end of this particular discussion I laid stress once again on the absence of a place for

Muslim worship, saying, “I want to see a mosque in Manila, for when I come here, I would like to pray, as well as to play.”

The dire plight of Muslims in the Philippines caused a wave of revulsion later, when a Conference of Islamic Foreign Ministers in Benghazi was to learn how badly they suffered.

Muslims had their lands taken away on the grounds that their names did not appear in the Register of Titles at the Land Office, so lands they had occupied for generations were given to Christians.

Homes were burned, and what was far worse, there had been a massacre in a mosque.

“So, if Sabah had ever been handed over to the

Philippines, its people would have suffered a terrible fate. Thanks be to God, it did not happen; and now the people of Sabah are among the most progressive and richest in Malaysia,” the Malay leader said.

The occasion of Macapagal’s reluctance, shall I say, discriminatory attitude towards the Muslim Filipinos, is a less remembered part of our history, but it should gain a place in the hearts of every Bangsamoro who must promote the sense and act of patriotism, the love of homeland and freedom, to make the Bangsamoro great. (Continued next issue) PMT

MACABALANG | from Page A4

Salamat PRRD, sana all!... From Page 4 Candidly, I would not mind if the two Presidential acts were laced with heavy political undertones.

I can just thank him with a prayer – sana all!

I hope he will also certify urgently the Marawi compensation bill, whose version in the House was passed recently, in the Senate.

I hope he will also crack the whip on officials

responsible in the snail-paced rehabilitation of Marawi, especially those who may have pocket parts of the reconstruction funds and are remiss in tracing the location of IDPs in other parts of the country, ascertain their true plights and bring them home.

I would also want to see the Chief Executive

ending his ultra protective stance for some cabinet members perceived to be remiss in the campaign against the spread of COVID-19 disease, or involved in kickbacks of funds. Amen!

(Comments and reactions may be sent to this columnist via alimac.bulletin@gmail.con or via Facebook messenger.)

ADAZA | from Page A5

PRESIDENTIAL CLASHES IN 2022 – Part 7 demolish the administration’s arguments and debaters – not with a 22 caliber paltik pistol from Danao City.

As I have repeatedly written - an impeachment of a President is not just a game of numbers, it is a fight for the hearts and minds of men and women.

Based on our experience in the regular Batasang Pambansa, where we were totally outnumbered, the Opposition filed an impeachment complaint against President Marcos. Expectedly, we were totally outvoted but we won the argument – Marcos was ousted as President.

The Opposition had top caliber lawyers whose knowledge of the Constitution and the law, the intricacies of trial and debate and projections in local and international media was not only brilliant – it

was super excellent. To quote Former First Lady Imelda Romualdez, putting the accomplishment of the Opposition on a personal level said to me: “You know Homobono, were it not for your mouth in Parliament, we will still be in power today. My only consoling thought is that while we are out of power - so are you.” I meekly replied, “Ma’am, that’s the law of life and a part of the game.”

The Imelda tribute should really be for the Opposition. Fortunately for me, I was the most visible Opposition leader who argued and debated against the Marcos defenders.

Trillanes should learn this. Trillanes and the members of the Magdalo whom he used were not Exocet missiles but 22 caliber paltiks from Davao City.

Unsolicited advice: If Trillanes wants to truly

serve this country and amount to anything - he should not shamelessly run for President now unless he thinks that 16 Million voters will be so blind as they were when they voted for Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2016.

What should he do? He should read more books and go to school and learn from Tony Laviña’a School of Good Government at the Ateneo de Manila University or in John F. Kennedy’s School of Good Government at Harvard University.

And more – learn the ABC of love of country, ideals and principles, character and integrity and create a vision worthy for our country and our people. That way, maybe he deserves a second look when he runs for President after going through the basics and the fundamentals. (HAA)

JANNARAL | from Page A5

Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct of the Philippine Press Institute – Surveys that do not meet minimal scientific standards of validity and reliability should not be identified as polls, nor should they be portrayed in language suitable to scientific polls.

– Great caution should be used in employing non-scientific polls to address substantial questions of public policy or to describe the popularity or approval rating of public officials or public actions.

II. Conflicts of interest Individual journalists (publishers, editors, desk persons, reporters, photographers, artists, columnists) must weigh their obligations against the impact of: – Involvement in particular activities

– Affiliation with causes or organizations – Acceptance of favors or preferential treatment – Financial investments – Outside employment – Friendships In the end, individual journalists might do well to ask themselves: – Am I being independent?

– Could my action harm my integrity or my organization’s integrity?

– Is the mere appearance of conflict enough to diminish my credibility?

– Am I willing to publicly disclose any potential conflicts?

A. Be careful with secondary jobs you take.

1. “Outside work,” secondary jobs or moonlighting presents per se a potential conflict of interest, especially with individuals, firms or en-

tities: – that are the subject of news, past or future; – that are competitors of the primary source of income of the journalist (another broadsheet or magazine circulating in the same market); – that requires the journalist to render more than just editorial services (writing, editing, art design), additional services that would compromise the integrity of his/her profession and news agency (pushing press releases, organizing press conferences, acting as press agent, etc.)

2. Individual journalists who do outside work or acquire secondary jobs must properly inform their immediate superiors. (A secondary job is one which gives the journalist income less than what he/she

gets from his/her newspaper.)

3. Professional work as stringers or freelance writers for newspapers, magazines, book publishers, news services, photo agencies and similar organizations headquartered outside their circulation area is usually acceptable. So is part-time teaching in local colleges and other professional or paranewspaper duties. All arrangements of this kind are discussed in advance with management.

4. Journalists must avoid paid or unpaid work for a politician or political organization, and should not hold public office or accept appointment to any political position for which there is remuneration other than expenses.

B. Don’t use your paper/job to make money. Draw the line between journalism and your own money ventures.

1. Financial investment by staff members or other outside business interests that could conflict with the newspaper’s ability to report the news or that would create the impression of such a conflict should be avoided.

2. A staff member may not enter into a business relationship with a news source. A staff member may not make investments which could come into conflict with the staff member’s duties. A staff member with investments or stockholdings in corporations should avoid making news decisions that involve those corpora-

tions.

3. Similarly, staff members’ employment by news sources or potential news sources should be avoided, and staffers should refrain from lending their names to commercial enterprises with no promotional value to their papers. Business interests that could conflict with a staff member’s ability to report the news, or that would create the impression of such.a conflict, must be avoided.

C. You are entitled to advocate causes and join organizations but don’t impose this on your readers. Disclose your advocacies and organizational involvements.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Vol. II, No. 14 | Sept 17-23, 2021 (Safar 10-16, 1443)

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‘Don’t bash Duterte… from page A6

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ADDRESS: Consunji Street, Poblacion, Iligan City, PH 9200 | TEL: 63 302 5565

magkatugma ang aming pananaw, kaibigan ko pa rin po ang Pangulong Duterte na nag-iisang ninong sa binyag ng aking bunsong anak, si Imman, at ninong sa kasal ng aking panganay, si Dra. Krista,” Piñol added.

He pointed out: “Hindi ko po narating ang posisyon kong ito at hindi rin ninyo ako nakilala kung hindi dahil sa kanya.

Simpleng batang probinsya lang po ako na marunong tumanaw

ng utang na loob.”

“Dagdag pa, hindi naman natin kailangang makipag-away para makamit ang ating adhikain. Sana ay pagbigyan nyo ako. Salamat po,” the MinDA chief said.

Piñol, a former veteran journalist-turned mayor and governor in North Cotabato, was among the first batch of cabinet members appointed by Duterte upon winning the 2016 Presidential election.

He irrevocably resigned as Agriculture

secretary in 2018 when he tried but failed to oppose the passage of the Rice Tarrification Law pushed by the economic cluster of the cabinet and some senators led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Senator Cynthia Villar.

The President named Piñol as MinDA chairman in August 2019 to succeed Abul Khayr Alonto, who died of lingering ailment on May 9 that same year.

(AGM)