MINDANAO DAILY T H E P U RV E YO R O F T R U T H , J U S T I C E , A N D D E V E LO P M E N T
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GPH, MILF still looking for new Malysian facilitator Volume VI, No. 189
Website: www.mindanaodailynews.com
Wednesday
January 18, 2017
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AVAO City--The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF ) peace implementing panels are still “in the process of looking” for a new Malaysian facilitator, contrary to a report that someone has been named, government’s peace implementing panel chair Irene Santiago said.
“Tan Sri Zakaria Bin Abdul Hamid is not the new Malaysian Facilitator. The GPH and MILF Implementing Panels are still in the process of looking for the new Third Party Facilitator,” Santiago said in a January 14 letter e-mailed to MindaNews by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). MILF peace implementing chair Mohagher Iqbal told MindaNews Sunday that they are still waiting
for the name of the new facilitator. He said the MILF is “closely working with the GPH implementing panel to clarify the issue around the third party facilitator.” A VERA Files report that MindaNews published on January 13 said the Philippines and Malaysia had agreed on a new facilitator, Tan Sri Zakaria Bin Abdul Hamid, who is supposed to be the third Malaysian Irene Santiago Santiago, chair of the government’s peace implementing panel shows the two-page joint statement to act as facilitator in she signed with MILF’s peace implementing panel chair Mohagher Iqbal on August 14, 2016 after the launch of the See looking, page A7
implementation phase of the GPH-MILF peace process in Kuala Lumpur. MindaNews file photo by Carolyn O. Arguillas
Inside the Mindanao University for Science and Technology in Cagayan de Oro City on Monday, January 17, 2017, the worst flooding inside the campus since 2012. About 300 to 500 students, faculty and staff were stranded. Photo courtesy of Nefoi Luczon
Cagayan de Oro’s SOS: more big trucks, more volunteers please CAGAYAN de Oro City--“Rescue operations going on but we need more big trucks and volunteers.” This sums up the SOS message posted on the Facebook page of the Cagayan de Oro City government at around 8 p.m. Monday, after continuous heavy rains since early afternoon left thousands of residents stranded in schools and offices due to waist-deep or neck-deep floods. A message posted by the City Information Office on the city
government’s Facebook page said: “Rescue operations now ongoing. We have deployed all our vehicles assisted by the PNP (Philippine National Police), Army, Coast Guard, Red Cross. But CDRRMC (City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) need(s) more big trucks. They would appreciate volunteers. If you have big trucks that we can use, please send them at the CDRRMC Command Center at City Hall for deployment.”
Amid the heavy rains, Iligan City was plunged into darkness at 8:45 p.m. An hour later, the city was still in the dark. Several parts of the city were also flooded. The Iligan Light and Power, Inc. (ILPI) posted a notice that they are “on skeletal staff tonight unable to take in all the calls now as many of our ILPI staff have also been affected by the floods.” ILPI also instructed residents to keep safe. “Para sa inyong
safety, palonga inyong ga plangka para makaiwas sa disgrasya.” (For your safety, turn off your main electrical switch). We will update this post as soon as we get new information. Low Pressure Area The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in its 5 p.m. advisory said the low pressure area was estimated to be in the vicinity of Kabasalan in Zamboanga Sibugay
as of 4 p.m. The advisory said cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms “may trigger flashfloods and landslides” over Visayas and the regions of Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula and the province of Palawan. Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms, the advisory added, is expected over the rest of See PLEASE, page A7
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