A great way to close out the year

2006 was in many ways a great year for me, I accomplished a lot of things this year that I feel good about.  One of the things that was sort of a highlight of 2006 for me was my trip to Marawi City in June, where I visited a US Military Medical Mission there.  One of the things that I saw in Marawi were the faces of these kids in the photo.  I was sitting here pondering on what photo to publish here for my last photo of 2006, and this one kind of jumped out at me.  Meeting the children in Marawi City really touched me, and made me consider the future of Mindanao.  The future of Mindanao is in the hands of these children and others.  In these times when peace is being negotiated between the Philippine Government and the Muslim Community, these Muslim kids hold the key to the future even more than the majority Christian Community.  The direction that Mindanao takes in the future lies with these kids and their families.  I hope that 2007 can be the year that a peace settlement can be reached here, although in my mind I doubt that it will happen.  Who knows, a peace agreement might not even be what is needed or even wanted in Mindanao.  Maybe we already have peace here, and just don’t recognize it.  Let’s face it, things are a lot more peaceful here than they were 20 or 30 years ago, right?  I hope you had a great 2006 like I did.  Let’s hope we all enjoy a peaceful and prosperous 2007.

“Abu Sulaiman” claims responsibility for Tacurong blast

A man who said he was the fugitive Abu Sulaiman claimed responsibility for the explosion Thursday at a shopping mart in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat.  The man made the claim on Friday morning when he called up radio station Bombo Radyo Marbel, and said he and his companions carried the attack on Kimsan Plaza to force the owners to give their demand.

He said he and his companions were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a claim that was denied immediately by the spokesman of the MILF.  “We are asking P50,000 monthly from the store so we would not disrupt their operations,” the purported Abu Sulaiman said in the radio interview.

The claim came as authorities said they eyed extortion as the motive behind the bomb attack that appeared to be intended to damage property than kill people.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu, on Friday, quickly disowned Sulaiman who is hunted by the military for allegedly masterminding the other previous bombings elsewhere in Southwestern Mindanao, and said that the MILF “does not engage in extortion activities”.

“We have no Abu Sulaiman under the MILF’s 3rd Brigade, 105th Base Command,” he said. The guerrilla brigade has an operational area that includes areas in  Southwestern Mindanao and portions of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Government bomb experts said the explosion, which wounded four people, was caused by an incendiary bomb primarily intended to trigger fire.

MindaNews

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Pomelo Salad

UPDATE: Here is an old post from August of 2005. Somebody posted a comment on it today, and in looking at it, I decided to give it a re-posting. It’s a great recipe that I am sure many of you will enjoy. Since I have many more readers now, I thought I’d let it have another run. Enjoy!

Continuing our series on the Fruits of Mindanao, with this weeks feature on Pomelo, I want to share with you a recipe for Pomelo Salad, which is absolutely delicious.

In yesterday’s initial post about Pomelo, I said that there were a number of names for Pomelo, let me share a few of the relevant names with you.

English: Pomelo (also commonly spelled Pommelo, Pomello, Pumelo, etc)
Tagalog: Suha
Bisaya: Buungon

Here is a picture of today’s dish:

Pomelo Salad

Recipe
1 whole Pomelo
1/2 cup Vinegar (cane vinegar is preferred)
2 pcs. Green Onion
15 pc. Small Shrimp
1/2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Small Onion
Dash of Salt and Pepper

Boil the shrimp. Slice Green Onions and Small white or red onion. Peel Pomelo and break into small pieces. Combine sugar and vinegar. Place pomelo pieces in a bowl, cover with green onion, onion and shrimp. Pour vinegar/sugar solution over the other ingredients. Salt and Pepper to taste. Enjoy!

This is really an excellent recipe. For a little variety, you might also put some crushed peanuts on top.

Peaceful setting on Samal