Ampatuan massacre, Philippine

Details of how a powerful political clan in Southern Philippines planned the gruesome massacre of 57 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, are now slowly coming out in the open as trial of the accused finally began Wednesday in Metro Manila.

Government prosecutors presented its first witness, Lakmudian Saliao, told the court how Andal Ampatuan Sr. presided over a meeting with his sons, daughters, in laws and close relatives to plan the murder of their political opponent over dinner days before the November 23 massacre.

Saliao, a long-time household help of Ampatuan Sr, recounted how he overheard the former Maguindanao governor gave instructions to eliminate their political opponents and how they later on tried to sneak out of the country the principal suspect, his son and namesake Andal Ampatuan Jr, following the killings.

Trial versus Andal Jr formally began this week close to 10 months after the bodies of the victims were recovered from a secluded hill in Ampatuan town, scores of them buried by a backhoe in hastily dug graves.  Others were left inside the vehicles as the killers fled after government soldiers were sent to find the missing victims.

The murders sparked international outrage and condemnation which eventually led to the arrest of several other members of the Ampatuan family and the filing of charges against scores of police officers and militiamen.

Of the 197 formally charged in court, less than 20 are actually on trial, among them Andal Jr. The rest have appealed their indictment.  Scores of the suspects have also remained at large.

The Ampatuans have repeatedly denied any involvement in the heinous crime.

Government prosecutors said Saliao’s testimony is just one of the many damning accounts of the conspiracy to commit the murders.

A private lawyer of the now Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, said Saliao’s testimony is a “smoking gun.”

Saliao’s testimony lasted three hours and included details how the family patriarch wanted the crime covered up cleanly.

Defense lawyers have yet to cross examine the government witness.

		1	Manny Pacquiao, Antonia Margarito, boxing

Over the last five years, Philippine Rep. Manny Pacquiao steadily built his reputation not only as a feared boxer but also as a big live gate draw and even bigger pay per view attraction.

With the exception of Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr, no other boxer has breached the one million PPV mark over the same period.  In fact, Pacquiao figured in two of only five PPV fights since 2007 that sold more than one million buys in the US (his Ricky Hatton fight sold 850,000 in the US).  That in itself is remarkable given that Pacquiao is the only non-American boxer in that class of PPV headliners and proved that he can now carry a blockbuster fight by sheer name alone. 

HBO PPV boxing buyrates between 1999 and 2010 included:

He may not be the biggest crossover star in American sports today, but he is giving boxing fans the spectacle and entertainment expected from the world’s top pound for pound fighter.

His last outing, a dominating 12-round decision over Ghanian Joshua Clottey sold over 750,000, which makes it a blockbuster given his opponent’s non-entity status in the US.  But the 50,994 that showed up at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium was the biggest live attendance in the US in over five years and the third largest in the history of boxing in the US.

Manny is again due to fight on November 13 in the same venue.  Under “ordinary circumstances,” that fight should already spell a H-I-T.

But disgraced Antonio Margarito, his penciled opponent, is being pictured as an unworthy opponent considering Manny’s reputation.  Many who wish ill against Manny will drum up Margarito’s image as a boxing cheat to downplay the significance of the fight.  Among them, of course, is Floyd Mayweather Jr, who just recently launched his most vitriolic attack yet against the Filipino boxing champion.

So will the Pacquiao-Margarito fight sell – both live and on PPV?

Reputation-aside, this match-up would have been a blockbuster two years ago – before Margarito was psychologically and physically shamed by Shane Mosley.

Still, the fight is an intriguing one, match-up wise.  Margarito will be the biggest and tallest fighter Manny will ever face and probably the hardest hitting among them (sans plaster of Paris like substance in the hand wraps).

With HBO bringing back its 24/7 Emmy Award winning series as a teaser to the fight, there is little doubt this should be another blockbuster by Manny’s standard (HBO did not run the 24/7 series in the Pacquiao-Clottey fight).  It could even break the one million PPV mark.

With no other marquee match-up lined up for the rest of the year, this one is too intriguing for boxing fans to pass on. I predict at least 850,000 PPV buys for this one.

Let us see how Jerry Jones, owner of Dallas Cowboys will reconfigure his state-of-the-art stadium.  The last time he did it, he had to add more seats to accommodate more ticket buyers to see Manny turn Clottey into a punching bag.

Given also Margarito’s Latino background, I see a live gate attendance exceeding 50,000 and even topping the 75,000 mark.

Now, whether this will add sheen and luster to Manny’s ever growing reputation in the sport is one that will eventually be decided by history. 

			Luwalhati Antonino, Philippines, Mindanao

Other than saying the peace process is her main agendum as head of the Mindanao Development Authority, former Rep. Luwalhati Antonino offered little information on how development in Mindanao will shape up under her leadership.

When pressed by reporters immediately after former Senator Mar Roxas announced her appointment last week, 'Lu' said she need not craft her own development agenda as previous bodies have enough of them.

All she has to do, she said, is implement them.

Reports of her appointment were already known a week before it was announced and many have questioned her appointment, much more her credentials.

Although she served in the House of Representatives for three consecutive terms (1992-2001), she was not known to have given Mindanao a special focus except on one vital issue: the creation of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD), a body created following a negotiated political settlement between the Philippine government under President Fidel Ramos and the Moro National Liberation Front.

Antonino, along with the late then Zamboanga City Rep. Ma. Clara Lobregat and South Cotabato Rep. Daisy Avance Fuentes, vociferously opposed the creation of SPCPD which was anchored on their opposition to the 1996 Jakarta Peace Accord.

Other than that, Antonino was hardly around Mindanao.

She was, however, an active member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition and was strong supporter of former President Joseph Estrada.  When she finished her last three-year term, her daughter Darlene Antonino Custodio took over her position in 2001.  Lu, as the former congresswoman is popularly called, did not occupy any other public office, elective or appointive, until she was named MinDA head by President Benigno Aquino III.

Her husband, former General Santos City Mayor Adelbert Antonino, was a former Kilusang Bagong Lipunan stalwart and a strong supporter of Eduardo Cojuangco when the latter ran for president but lost in the 1992 elections.  Adelbert is also a close friend of both Estrada and former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The Antoninos did not really get into the Aquino bandwagon during the last election.

They were rooting for Mar Roxas for whom Lu’s daughter Liza worked as a legislative assistant in the Philippine Senate.

When Roxas withdrew his presidential bid in lieu of Aquino, the Antoninos also settled for Aquino as their presidential bet.

Many see Lu’s appointment as a return of political favor through Roxas’ intervention.

Business leaders would have preferred a non-politician to head the newly created office, however.

“She is a continuation of Jess (Dureza). Politico,” Fr. Jun Mercado said.

Businessman Sebastian Angliongto is questioning her qualifications for the post that requires law degree or a masters degree in the field of public administration, management, economics or similar relevant fields with “at least 10 years of relevant practice in the field.”   

Little is known about Antonino’s educational and academic background, however.

While her stint as member of the House of Representative makes her politically well connected, she is hardly known among civil society and non-government organization groups.

More alarming, Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar says her family is known to be “anti-Moro.”  

Lu however does have her own share of supporters among them, former partymate and now South Cotabato Gov. Arthur Pinggoy who said he was glad that the new MinDA chair is from his province.

Lu is technically not a resident of South Cotabato.  She was born in Upi, Cotabato province and was a resident of Kiamba, Sarangani where her husband owned and managed a logging company.

The Antoninos are reportedly only renting the house they are now occupying along the national highway in General Santos.  Husband Adel  grew up and studied in Davao city.

When asked where she will hold office, Lu quickly offered Manila as her main office but later mentioned Davao as an afterthought.

Not exactly the kind of answer you would expect from someone who is supposed to be the voice of Mindanao in government.

		6	Pacquiao, Watch:, Digging, his, own, grave

Floyd Mayweather Jr’s racism-laden diatribes against Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao can only come from a man totally afraid of his own ghost.

Like I said, Mayweather needs Pacquiao to make him relevant even if he does not intend to fight the Filipino champion at all.

Mayweather likes to pull the rug from under the feet of Pacquiao, his bitter rival as the world’s best pound for pound boxer.

The flamboyant, albeit irascible, American wants to have the stage all by his self.  And with attention of boxing fans shifting to the Pacquiao-Margarito fight, Mayweather has to make a noise in order to remind the public that he is still America’s best boxer.

Mayweather is afflicted with attention-deficiency disorder, a sickness borne out of insecurity.

Despite his successes atop the ring and the money that he earned over the years, Mayweather really has not endeared himself with boxing fans.

He loves his bad boy of boxing image. He wants to dictate the terms of his every fight.  And he handpicks his opponents. He dodges every boxer he thinks has the chance of beating him. That is why Mayweather has yet to come up with a respectable boxing writer that will crown him the greatest of his era.

All that because Manny Pacquiao is standing in his way.

Pacquiao is the anti-thesis of Mayweather.  Pacquiao does not trash talk his opponents.  He takes on all competition physically bigger than him.  All the fighters Mayweather avoided, Pacquiao fought and destroyed.

Those Pacquiao traits make Mayweather sick.

He made a fool out of himself when he accused Pacquiao of using performance enhancing drugs but failed to offer tangible proof.

Now, he just dug his own grave by launching a vitriolic attack on Pacquiao’s Asian and Filipino race.

Mayweather will never be the same again.  He just threw away whatever decency he had in him.

The only way to redeem his self and get out of the grave of ignominy is to fight Pacquiao.  But I doubt if Mayweatehr has the stomach to do that.

		1	Philippines, seek, lifting, ban, tuna, fishing

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said on Friday that the country will ask the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to lift the two-year ban on tuna fishing in two identified pockets of international waters.

In a message delivered by former Senator Mar Roxas, Aquino said the Philippines will push for the opening of portions of the high seas to Philippine tuna catchers or give the country “preferential treatment.”    

The ban, which initially took effect in January this year, prohibits the use of fish aggregating devices in catching yellowfin tuna and other tuna-like fish species.

It covers more than 306,000 square miles of open seas south of Micronesia and north of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea where over 38 Philippine-flag purse seine fishing ships operate.

Member countries violating the ban will be de-listed from the WCPFC.

The ban however exempts handline tuna catching, a traditional Filipino fishing method.

Fishing inside the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of member countries of the WCPFC is also allowed provided a vessel monitoring system is observed and observers from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) are allowed on board.

The ban has already directly affected close to 1,500 workers employed by fishing companies who were laid off following compliance to the WCPFC circular.  

BFAR director Malcolm Sarmiento said they will submit the Philippine position during the meeting of the WCPFC in December in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sarmiento said the ban is impractical.

“The measure is not achieving it purpose,” as Sarmiento reasoned that banning tuna fishing in areas of the species’ migratory path will not solve the rapid depletion of tuna stocks.

He said the practical way of conserving tuna stock is to limit the capacity of catch by each member countries of the WCPFC.

“We will seek for a thorough review of the ban. (We believe the) logic of the measure will be put to test,” the fisheries chief said.

		1	Coast, Guard, boards, fishing, vessel, off, Palau

Philippine authorities today confirmed receiving reports that two fishing vessels from the country were boarded by the United States Coast Guard in the international waters north of the Republic of Palau and were found to have no international fishing license.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Bfar) assistant director Benjamin Tabios on Friday said they received an e-mail from the US Coast Guard about the incident which could affect the tuna industry in the Philippines.

A two-year ban on tuna fishing in international waters was put into effect starting January this year by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) due to rapidly declining tuna stock.  

A three-month ban on tuna fishing using fish aggregating devices is also in effect every year from July to September. 

Member countries of the WCPFC, however, are allowed to fish within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone provided fishing vessels using this method must have observers on board and must subscribe to the vessel monitoring system (VMS) and equipped with proper licenses.  

The Philippines is a member country of the WCPFC.

Tabios said the two fishing vessels, a purse seiner and a carrier, were accosted outside the pocket of high seas within the Western and Central Pacific where the two-year ban is in effect.

Still, the government will look into the report, according to the fisheries official.

Tabios said they already sent notice of the hearing to the owners and operators of the Filipino fishing vessels, reportedly based in Mati, Davao Oriental.

He said they would file appropriate administrative charges against the owners and operators of the fishing vessel if found guilty of violating Philippine fishing laws.

Tabios declined to give the name of the fishing boats as well as their owners.

“We are still conducting investigation and we have yet to receive a reply from the boat owners,” Tabios said.

The incident was disclosed before the media during the 12th National Tuna Congress in General Santos city.

Ironically, President Benigno Aquino III, in his keynote address delivered by former Senator Mar Roxas, warned fishermen against violating international agreements and Philippine fishing laws.