Manila Archive

Manila, Nov 3 – Five Islamic militants, including a rebel commander, were killed in fighting with the security forces in the southern Philippines Tuesday, officials said.

The militants belonged to the Abu Sayyaf group that is linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, Xinhua reported, quoting the military.

The fighting started after the soldiers attacked a militant hideout in Sitio Bohe Kimeh village in the restive Basilan island, said Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, commander of the Western Mindanao military command. The troops also recovered firearms from the hideout.

The Abu Sayyaf group is blamed for terrorist attacks and kidnappings in the country.

Manila, Oct 27 – Visiting US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said his government is seeking partnership with the Philippines in biofuel research.

Speaking at a press conference Monday, Vilsack said both countries recognise the need to cooperate more intensively in energy security, especially in the development of renewable energy resources and alternative fuels, Xinhua reported Monday.

‘We are looking at a relationship and partnership with the Philippines in terms of research on biofuels. We recognise and appreciate that you’re faced with the same challenges we’re faced with. You don’t want to be reliant on one form of energy,’ Vilsack said.

The Philippines is the world’s second largest user of geothermal energy, which provides 27 percent of the country’s total electricity production. It is also developing alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energies.

At present, the Philippines is advancing the development of biofuels such as coco-diesel and ethanol blended fuels.

‘That’s one relationship that we can get at, the biofuel business and I’m sure that we’ll continue to share information, knowledge and discoveries,’ Vilsack said.

As to American investments in the Philippines, Vilsack said he is optimistic that the Philippines can attract more investors from the US.

‘The reason being is that if we can see investment here, chances are good that there will be resources, services, goods, and essentially benefit US companies,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Vilsack also announced that the US government is providing $8.5 million worth of food assistance from his department for victims of the two storms that affected tens of thousands of people in Central and Northern Luzon, including Metro Manila.

The food assistance, he said, will be in the form of rice, biscuits, and dried milk that will feed about 438,000 people for 60 days.

Manila, Oct 26 (DPA) Six abducted employees of the Environment and Natural Resources Department were freed unharmed over the weekend in southern Philippines, officials said Monday.

The kidnappers on Sunday turned over the six workers to local negotiators in the town of Sibagat in Agusan del Sur province, 810 km south of Manila.

The six hostages were then brought to a house of a Catholic bishop who helped in the negotiations, said Senior Superintendent Nestor Fajura, a regional police spokesman.

The six were among eight department employees who were abducted on Oct 21 while manning a checkpoint in a forest in nearby Butuan City. Two of the hostages were freed the following day.

The hostages were released without ransom, according to Edilberto Buiser, regional director for the department or DENR.

‘The crisis ended peacefully,’ he said. ‘Moral persuasion convinced the captors to release the DENR employees.’

The kidnappers were headed by a tribal leader disgruntled over a community-based forest-management agreement in Sibagat that he had demanded cancelled in exchange for the freedom of the hostages.

The kidnappers also sought the award of titles for ancestral domain land and the approval of customary farm practices.

According to the department, the forest-management agreement gave 25-year authority to tribal people’s organizations to reforest, rehabilitate and develop upland timber areas.

The organizations were also authorized to supply wood for processing firms and industries in the region.

But critics noted that while the programme was a major source of income for impoverished tribes, it was also open to abuse and corruption by environmental officials.