Senator urges gov’t aid for ‘cult’ victims after land deal termination --- Gaea Katreena Cabico - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The government should protect the welfare of the residents of a mountain community in Surigao del Norte after the environment department terminated its land grant agreement with them, a senator said on Tuesday. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced on Monday the cancelation of its Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA) with the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI), an alleged cult involved in human trafficking and child abuse. The cancelation order directs SBSI members to vacate the 353-hectare land awarded to the organization in 2004, dismantle their houses, and harvest their crops “within a reasonable period of time.” “There should be an assurance of a proper reintegration and rehabilitation plan for the community,” said Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who exposed the group as a “cult” that allegedly forced marriages and maintained a private army. “Our agencies, together with the local government of Socorro and Surigao del Norte, should collaborate to safeguard the welfare of the residents of Kapihan. They are also victims of poverty who were forced to cling to the promises and deception of Senior Agila,” Hontiveros added. Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga on Monday assured the relocation of residents in the area would be “humane and peaceful.” Joselin Marcus Fragada, DENR undersecretary for field operations in Mindanao, said the agency is already “in the process of carefully crafting the next steps, including the timetable of their move out.” Over 1,400 families are residing in the mountain village called “Kapihan.” The community’s population grew after ‘Senior Agila’ persuaded residents to join him on the mountain after an earthquake in 2019. The DENR terminated its protected area management agreement with SBSI due to violations, which include the establishment of settlements and checkpoints, construction of access roads, basketball and volleyball courts, wave pool, recording studio, and gymnasium, and the organization’s failure to submit reports on their resource management plan. In November 2023, the National Bureau of Investigation arrested Quilario and other members of SBSI for alleged violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 and other human rights abuses.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more