Archive - ARMM Watch

Photojournalist Luis Liwanag captures Marawi City today, on the 30th day of the crisis.​

By FERDINANDH B. CABRERA, MindaNews SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao — Voters here say the next elections in this town should have police officers instead of teachers as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) as the special elections Saturday in Barangay Katuli started and ended with no untoward incident. “Voting went on smoothly without delay and

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DAVAO City – The chair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has congratulated presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte for his “historic victory” during the May 9 Presidential election and vowed to “partner with you and your administration.” Addressing the letter dated May 10 to “His Excellency… President-elect Duterte,” MILF chair

By FREDERIC LORENZO UPI, Maguindanao – Sixty-year-old Herminio Lacave will walk two kilometers to cast his vote tomorrow. Born with a smaller left leg, Lacave calls on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make it easy for persons with disabilities (PWDs) to vote. “Bilang isang PWD, nanawagan ako sa Comelec na bigyan kami ng isang

By YANG AMING Podcast By BABYLYN KANO-OMAR BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi — Ten of the 11 island municipalities here appear set for the presidential elections Monday, save for Mapun, where vote-counting machines (VCMs) are yet to be tested. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday tested 81 machines in the capital Bongao, and found only one did not print

By JAKE SORIANO FOR a time during the presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino III, it seemed peace in Mindanao was finally within grasp. On Oct. 5, 2012, the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB). A crucial guiding document in the peace

By JAKE SORIANO A visiting United Nations envoy has urged Philippine lawmakers to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) “as urgently as possible,” saying failure to do so would lead to further violence in the region where “displacement has become the pattern of life” for many. “A viable, inclusive and comprehensive peace process is essential

Text, photo and video by JAKE SORIANO A civil society leader and peace advocate warned of a rise in cases of human trafficking among evacuees in Maguindanao, with the continuing conflict in the province. Amina Rasul, president of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID), made the comment during the launch of Friends of

By JAKE SORIANO UPI, Maguindanao–The local police here warned residents against accepting job offers to work as housekeepers in Marawi City due to reported cases of exploitation there. The Upi Police Station Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) said illegal recruiters and traffickers have been preying on poor women minors from the barrios. With the

by TOTO LOZANO, MindaNews CAMP DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat (MindaNews / 28 March) — The mood was festive as thousands of Moro men and women gathered at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Camp Darapanan to celebrate the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front Thursday

By MindaNews MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/28 March) – UK Foreign Secretary William Hague hailed the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for the Bangsamoro (CAB) Thursday.

By MindaNews MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/28 March) – Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Friday urged the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to continue working together to make the agreement they signed Thursday “a reality.” “Canada encourages both parties to the Agreement, and all Filipinos, to continue to work together to

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews KALAYAAN GARDENS, Malacanan Palace (MindaNews /27 March)  — From the battlefields of Mindanao, the 17-year old peace negotiations between the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) formally ended at 5:29 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)

The Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamore (CAB) in Malacañan Thursday.

Speech of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines At the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DATU PIANG, Maguindanao (MindaNews /27 March) – The signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) on Thursday in Malacañang after 17 years of on-and-off peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), comes at a most insecure time for Mindanao’s 27 provinces and

By MindaNews COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 27 March) – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman hailed Thursday the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but cautioned that much needs to be done as there are still many challenges lying ahead for the envisioned Bangsamoro region.

  By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DATU PIANG, Maguindanao (MindaNews/27 March) – The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) that the Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will sign in Malacañang today (March 27) may seem like a complex set of documents that would pave the way for the creation of a new

Text and video by NECA REYES OFFICIALS of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) remembered the Jabidah Massacre by visiting Corregidor Island in Cavite where some 60 young Muslim men were killed 46 years ago. ARMM officials also built a Mindanao Garden of Peace in honor of the fallen Muslims, who had been recruited

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES and AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN BULDON, Maguindanao— Voters literally chased after ballot boxes in hotly contested towns in Maguindanao on barangay election day, while in others, there was hardly anyone outside the homes.

By DARLENE CAY THE proclamation of winning bets in Monday’s barangay polls is almost done, the Commission on Elections said Wednesday. As of 8 a.m. today, almost 39,500 barangays or 93.8 percent of 42,028 barangays have declared their new set of officials, it said. Of these, Ilocos Norte (Region I), Central Luzon (III), Calabarzon (IV-A),

  By DANIEL ABUNALES ISABELA, Basilan – Violence and conflicts among candidates in elections in the Autonomous Region in MuslimMindanao (ARMM) are averted through negotiation among opposing parties. This has been the approach used by leaders in the region to achieve peaceful polls. But in Basilan, the process of discussing in order to reach agreement has

Video by FREDERIC LORENZO, I-Watch UPI, Maguindanao—When results of the barangay elections are announced, it won’t only be the top candidates who will be “winners” in some villages here.

By POP M. SALAHOG, I-Watch DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao—All the barangay candidates in this town can already claim victory even before village elections take place nationwide on Monday.

By VERA Files COTABATO CITY— Candidates for barangay elections in this city spent the last day of the campaign period engaging in partisan activity that violated the Omnibus Election Code, but no one stopped them or even called them to task for their offense.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES COTABATO CITY— Election officers in Maguindanao say priority and fast lanes will be set aside for persons with disabilities, senior citizens and pregnant women as part of government’s move to make polling places “accessible” on election day on Monday. But the special lanes aren’t enough, they are the first to admit,

By DEXTER CABALZA and MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ MORE than half of recorded deaths from rido or clan wars in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) since 1993 were politically motivated, according to the Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission (RRUC).

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES PARANG, Maguindanao—Like a priest sending his flock off to spread the word of peaceful elections, the police chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on Saturday admonished policemen and women serving in Monday's barangay elections to follow the Blessed Virgin Mary’s example of making the right decision.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES Photo and Video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN COTABATO CITY— The candidates for barangay polls arrived at the same time and wore political colors and party uniforms, revealing the partisan nature of village elections.

By DANIEL ABUNALES ZAMBOANGA CITY – In tomorrow’s barangay elections, there will be 20 polling places across the country where public school teachers will work alongside private individuals as election tellers. Under an arrangement with the Commission on Elections, the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) will be fielding citizen volunteers in 20 pre-selected polling