CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/17 August) — I'm more than halfway reading through Sen. Nene Pimentel's "Martial Law in the Philippines: My Story." In the book that was launched in June, the senator from Cagayan de Oro tells about how martial law changed his life and about all the difficulties he and his family had to endure because of Ferdinand Marcos's authoritarian rule. He gave the nation's sufferings during martial law a human face. Sen. Joker Arroyo puts it this way: Pimentel became "the poster boy of defiance to dictatorship." And in the foreword, former president Cory Aquino says Nene Pimentel, at that time, became a "household name synonymous with the national cry for freedom, justice and democracy."

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/16 August) — Religious leaders and other stakeholders in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have approved the halal certification standards that will be observed in the region as it strives to penetrate the $150 billion global market for halal products.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/16 August) — The city government of Kidapawan has offered P100,000 reward for anyone who can pinpoint the two suspects responsible for last week’s twin bombings here.

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/15 Aug) — South Cotabato Rep. Arthur Pingoy Jr. today admitted that he has not yet made up his mind on whether to endorse or not the new impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/15 Aug) — A member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) was wounded in a 30-minute gunfight against communist guerillas in a remote village in Magpet, a hinterland town in North Cotabato, around 3 p.m. Sunday, belated police reports said.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/15 Aug) — Police operatives nabbed in General Santos City last Monday a suspected bigtime robber operating in Metro Manila.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/14 Aug)– Police authorities here have already released the cartographic sketches of the two still unidentified suspects in the twin bombings Thursday last week.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/13 August) — More than twenty years after the creation of their barangay, the people of Kulaman Valley in Arakan, North Cotabato, are now linked by a farm to market road to the center of the municipality.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 August) — The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao presented to the public Friday its “Aha! Primer” on guidelines and tips for potential whistleblowers and other anti-corruption advocates.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 August) –  The Sailani brothers, Omar and Inting, suspects in the killing of MindaNews photo editor Gene Boyd Lumawag on November 12, 2004 in Jolo, Sulu, were killed in Sulu today.

VALENCIA CITY (MindaNews/12 August) — Beware of old bombs that look like simple pieces of scrap metal.
Two persons died and six others were injured when a vintage bomb sold to a junk shop here exploded around 5p.m. Friday as the vendor tried to dismantle it.

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews) — The provincial government of South Cotabato
has finally opened the province’s longest steel bridge, a 240 lineal-meter infrastructure that connects the towns of Sto. Niño and Surallah in South Cotabato and Bagumbayan in Sultan Kudarat.

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/12 August) — South Cotabato’s body fitness champion and newly crowned Ms Universe Philippines winner Maria Crishiela Abantao declared she’s aiming for nothing less than the top prize in the 2006 Mr. and Ms. Universe world championships scheduled in December in Munich, Germany.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/11 August) — The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which has been complaining about government’s alleged failure to implement the September 2, 1996 peace agreement, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which is yet to sign a peace agreement, are no longer considered “threats to peace,” the Armed Forces Chief of Staff said.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / August 11) – At least 1,440 residents were displaced from 17 coastal barangays after big monsoon waves battered the shorelines of this city today, according to a disaster official here.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / August 11) – A top-ranking Army official in North Cotabato has accused the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) of being behind the twin explosions here Thursday, which injured a bomb expert and a bystander.

KIDAPAW AN CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) — Two bomb explosions rocked this city this afternoon while at the same time a grenade blast killed a security officer in Cotabato City, reports said. Cotabato-based radio station DXMS reported that the blast in front of the complex of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) killed Manny Mayo, a member of the Regional Security Force guarding the ARMM compound. Colleague Ampal Baya and two others were wounded. Sittie Sundang, spokesperson of the group Kawagib (Maguindanaon term for “rights”) who was only a few meters away from the blast, quoted security guards as saying that the bomber was aboard a motorcycle when he threw the grenade around 1:30 p.m.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) — Tuna traders here have expressed confidence that they can pass the standards set by the European Union as a team of inspectors are set to come over later this year and observe the local industry if it will be allowed to export tuna products to Europe. Local businessmen said that with the reforms in the processing facilities and the series of trainings on food safety handling in the last few years, GenSan-based tuna producers are likely to gain acceptance in the European market. The European Union inspection team, after twice postponing its visit, is expected to push through with its mission before the end of the third quarter.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) — Six persons, including an Army soldier and a barangay tanod, were killed in a four-hour firefight that started 4:30 a.m. Wednesday between soldiers and some 100 Moro rebels in a remote village in Tulunan, North Cotabato. Tulunan Mayor Nestor Taasan identified one of the fatalities as Dionisio Hulios, an armed civilian volunteer or tanod assigned in Barangay Dungos, Tulunan. The still unidentified slain soldier was a member of the Special Operations Team of the 25th Infantry Battalion assigned in Barangay New Panay, Tulunan. Reports from the PNP-12 Intelligence and Investigation Division said that four of those killed were members of the 105th Satellite Base of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under a certain Commander TMX.

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) — At least 500 aspiring call center agents from South Cotabato are set to receive training and work scholarship grants under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Training for Work Scholarship Program (PGMA-TWSP). Juanito Cueva, Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-Region 12 director, said the scholarship scheme mainly focuses on providing local residents who want to work in the growing call center industry with finishing courses for call center agents. The program is jointly implemented by TESDA, the provincial government of South Cotabato and the Department of Labor and Employment. Cueva said that initially, at least 25 scholars have already received a financial grant of P5,000 each.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) — Because of the country's “unique” labor movement, it is actually difficult to achieve industrial peace, according to a professor from the Davao-based University of the Philippines-Mindanao. Prof. Adela Ellson pointed out that the Philippines is the only country with more than 12 labor centers, 69 labor federations and groups, and 232 independent labor unions, each with a different agenda. “This makes it more adversarial. More interested parties mean more demands,” she stressed. This, for her, puts the country at a disadvantage because “it’s so very hard to attain industrial peace.”  Ellson said that the Philippines' “unique” labor system has become the subject of many studies by researchers all over the world.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) — Local residents may now verify the validity of any sales promotion employed by various business establishments by just logging online or sending an inquiry through a mobile phone’s text message, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said. Ibrahim Guiamadel, DTI Region 12 director, said they have established an online portal that would specifically handle the increasing number of inquiries lodged before their offices regarding the legality and validity of several sales gimmicks and promotions in the region. “We want to give consumers a medium of data access where they can verify outright whether a certain sales stratagem or price reduction scheme has a permit without the need to make a call or go to our offices,” he said in a statement. Guiamadel said their office has been maintaining a database of permits issued on sales promotions as part of their regulatory functions.

KIDAPAWAN CITY – A top official of the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion operating in North Cotabato and Davao del Sur has denied allegations that the deployment of the Special Operations Team (SOT) in Sta. Cruz town in Davao del Sur “was meant to destroy the peace in the area.” “Our intentions are noble. We went to the area so that the people, the farmers in particular, would get rid of the harassment made by the New Peoples’ Army (NPA),” said Lt. Col. Victor Tan, 39IB commander. Tan, reacting to a press statement issued by the Karapatan, a human rights group based in Davao City, said that the deployment of the 39IB's Special Operations Team in at least three villages in Sta. Cruz town “was allowed by the Barangay officials.” “We didn’t hear the complaints of the village officials there. Those who are complaining are the same groups, like Karapatan, Bayan Muna, etc.,” he said.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/9 Aug) — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is urging farmers in Mindanao to go back into coconut farming as their number in Southeastern Mindanao dropped by 80 percent this year. Coconut has remained the most economically viable crop in Mindanao, said Lornito U. Orillaneda, PCA regional manager, in an interview with MindaNews Wednesday. The coconut industry, Orillaneda said, offers bigger and more businesses than just copra. But most farmers look at copra as if it is the only business with coconut, he pointed out. Only 40,120 of the 187,000 farmers last year who belonged to small coconut farmers' organizations in Southeastern Mindanao, where majority of the country's coconut output is grown, have remained active, according to a PCA report.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/9 Aug) — The principal of Kidapawan City National High School and most of the teachers in the senior level have showed support to the reinstatement of the National College Entrance Examination as proposed by the Department of Education (DepEd). Nenita Rodriguez, the school principal, believe that the reinstatement of NCEE would help the graduating students to choose whether a two-year or a four-year course in college. “The reinstatement of NCEE to the graduating high school students is welcome to our school. This might be a wakeup call to the lower year levels to study harder in order to get high scores in the NCEE,” Rodriguez said. She said KCNHS has a pool of dedicated teaching staff who would give full support to senior students so they will be ready if ever the DepEd would reinstate the NCEE. Many of them, she said, are willing to render extra time just to help the senior students.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/9 Aug) — At least 10 provinces have been eyed as pilot areas in the national government’s national rubber program that is currently being drafted, according to an official from the Department of Agriculture. The national rubber program will be launched by Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban during the 92nd foundation anniversary of North Cotabato later this month. Dr. Rodel Maghirang, the DA’s coordinator for high-value commercial crops, said in his talk during graduation rites of 41 farmers in the first national rubber technology program at the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato, Maghirang that the government can provide financial assistance of up to P100,000 per hectare to those wanting to plant rubber.

KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/9 Aug) — The provincial government of North Cotabato will sponsor a three-day seminar on ethics, libel and responsible journalism on August 26-27 as part of the province 92^nd foundation anniversary. Caloy Bautista, executive assistant for media affairs, said the seminar will not only be for practicing print and broadcast journalists but also to young writers, including campus journalists. The seminar dubbed as North Cotabato Media Summit aims to equip practicing journalists and school campus writers with skills and full understanding of ethical as well as responsible reporting. “The summit is very timely in the wake of the unmitigated killings of journalists, particularly those in the countryside,” said Juan P. Dayang, the president of Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) in a press statement.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/08 August) –  "It's frustrating and unfair," said Dagz Magaway, a leader of the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS), as around a hundred members walked out of the session hall Tuesday when the City Council deferred the approval of the ordinance banning aerial spraying over plantations.