MindanaoSTAR T H E P UR V EY O R O F T RU T H , J U S T I C E A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
Duterte to end speculations on IPMR selection Volume II, No. 39
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InsideStories
Netizens join in Davao Lights first online photo contest/2 n
National Greening Program promising, but more is needed/3
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Opinion | Are you in a front poistion?/4 n
(The) Life of Dr. Hilario Camino Moncado/5
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The advantages of being a student leader/6 n
A V A O City––Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will convene all the Kagans in the city to an assembly to confirm if they want Bai HalilaSudagarto.
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HERMILINO VILLALON
22nd/31st Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City
February 7-13, 2015
website: www.mindanaostarbalita.com
To convene Kagan Muslim tribe
The assembly will put an end to speculations on the fate of the elected Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR). The mayor also asked the City Council not to make any move in amending the IPMR ordinance until the issue on Sudagar is final because it would preempt any result of the recent January selection process. He also expressed support for former IPMR representative Berino Mambo-o to sit on holdover capacity to avoid vacuum. “That is automatic until there is no substitute,” he said. The City Council was set to bring back Mambo-o to the Council on a holdover capacity in view of Duterte’s refusal to Sudagar as the new IP representative to the city council. In confirming Sudagar’s election, Duterte said
0935-160-0668 Davao City has 100 slots available for scholarship DAVAO City––At least 100 scholarship slots are available for indigenous peoples (IPs) from the departments of Social Welfare and Development, Agriculture and Health and from the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), an Ata official said. In an interview Friday in Paquibato, Datu Jose Amban, chair of Paquibato’s indigenous political structure, said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has asked him for recommendations of students who are qualified for scholarships. The priority scholars should come from the beneficiaries of the See slots, page 7
CCTV on buses, public transportation mulled By DAVAOTODAY
Students, faculty members and civil society organizations light candles not only for the 44 fallen PNP-SAF operatives and others who died in the clash, but also to call for peace and justice during a prayer rally Wednesday (4 Feb 2015) at Rizal Park in Davao City. MindaNews photo by Toto Lozano
Army, police to put up joint action centers in Davao Norte
DAVAO del Norte––The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) stationed in Davao del Norte will put up action centers in strategic areas in the province. Col. Harold Cabreros, commanding officer of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade, said that the Joint AFP-PNP Action Center (JAPAC) will serve as a nerve center for collaborateive and joint actions and points of contact
between and among their units to maintain peace in the province. “This is good because it will strengthen our partnership with the PNP especially that we are helping each other in the law enforcement, which is the police’s main function and in our internal security,” Col. Cabreros added. He added that the action center will immediately address complaints and reports from the people.
“The center will eventually prevent incursions and resurgence of the rebel group, address criminalities in the area and help develop the capability of the local government unit,” he said. Cabreros revealed that the action center will also composed of the barangay peace keeping action team (BPATS) and the peace and development volunteers who are trained by the military. He said that with See army, page 7
DAVAO City––Councilor Tomas Monteverde IV disclosed on Tuesday that the council is planning to pass an ordinance requiring buses, taxis and Public Utility Vehicles (PUV) to install Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) units. But the passage is stalled due to arguments posed by some sectors, said Monteverde, who chairs the Committee on Transportation and Communication. Last December, Davao City Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) urged bus companies in the city to install CCTV cameras in all their bus units following the deadly bus bombing in Maramag, Bukidnon. “The aim for this ordinance is good, but what if bus companies would demand that jeepneys, taxis, and other public utility
vehicles should also be required to install CCTVs?” he said. He added that it would be better if the city will wait for a national law to be enacted. “There must be a national law first that requires all PUVs to install CCTVs before we make an ordinance in Davao because for example, when buses would travel outside of Davao City, there is a tendency that they would turn off those CCTVs and it would be an easier ground for criminal acts and they would not be subjected to any violation,” Monteverde said. Monteverde said it is the discretion of the bus companies and other vehicle operators “whether or not to install CCTVs.” Taxis are included in the ordinance, especially as “there is a greater risk of crimes affecting See public, page 7
Workers irked with banana firm’s non-remittance of SSS contribution By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
DAVAO City––Workers of Japanese-owned Sumitomo Fruits, Co. (Sumifru) demanded the full remittance of their monthly health and social security contributions that they claimed were not paid to the government agencies. Vicente Barrios, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farms (Namasufa), said more than a hundred workers mounted a protest march around
the town center of Compostela, Compostela Valley. The union said the Sumifru did not remit their contributions to the Social Security System, the Philhealth and the Pag-ibig housing since July last year but they only learned of it last October. Barrios said that they only knew that their remittances were not updated after many workers and their family members complained that they were asked to pay the full billing by hospitals
instead of receiving deductions from PhilHealth. “What SUMIFRU is doing to us is a grave injustice,” said Barrios. Barrios said that they “demand that Sumifru revert to the old arrangement and to remit our contributions to Compostela Banana Packing Plant Workers’ Cooperative (CBPPWC).” The workers allowed the cooperative to collect their contributions until the Sumifru and Namasufa were embroiled in a
legal controversy over the recognition of an employer-employee relationship. The CBPPWC is the cooperative formed by Namasufa members. Sumifru has denied it is the employer of the workers belonging to Plant 90, but the courts up to the level of the Court of Appeals have ruled in favor of the workers, maintaining that Sumifru is the direct employer of the banana packing plant workers, said Barrios in a statement.
Barrios said that Namasufa and Sumifru “have maintained an arrangement wherein all social benefits of union members are remitted to the (CBPPWC) while awaiting the ruling of the Supreme Court.” “If the remittances will be paid for by Mobasco, it will be reflected as our employer and not Sumifru. This will place the workers in a difficult situation. It will endanger our survival See workers, page 7
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