Mindanao Morning Roundup – January 21, 2007

Another morning, another roundup of what’s happening around Mindanao!  Of course the big news is the confirmation of Khadafi Janjalani’s death.  You can read the details on that here.  With the death of Janjalani, and the extreme fighting against the Abu Sayyaf that is ongoing, it seems like the Government is pretty serious about wiping out the terror group, or at least inflicting some really serious damage.  Heck, serious damage has already been inflicted, I guess, with the deaths of at least two top Abu Sayyaf leaders.  I saw on the TV news last night that out of 5 top Abu Sayyaf leaders who all carried $5 Million prices on their heads from the US Rewards for Justice program, 4 have already been killed.  Four out of 5 ain’t bad!  Of course, it seems that as you kill off or scare off members from these kinds of groups, it spurs others into joining up, and the battle is never ending.  Let’s hope that the Abu Sayyaf will soon be a relic on the ash bin of history.

Yesterday, rumors were flying around about CIA, FBI and Australian spies crawling all over Mindanao.   I can’t say for sure if that is true or not.  I am sure that some such people are here.  Many are probably here at the invitation of the Philippine Government, assisting in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist groups.  However, AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon says that it isn’t true.

According to US Embassy Counselor for Economic Affairs, Larry Memmot, the United States Government is currently surveying the needs and opportunities of Mindanao to see what can be done as a “peace dividend” once a peace deal is signed by the MILF and the Government of the Philippines.  This sounds like a great idea.  And, it’s an incentive to get the deal signed.   Look at some of the rewards that have come from the MNLF and GRP treaty in 1996, how much more can be accomplished now?  I recently spoke to somebody (not sure he wants to be named here) who was on the negotiation panel for the 96 deal, and he confirmed to me that he knew that mistakes were made on that deal.  He assured me that those mistakes were being taken into account by both sides of the current negotiation.  More and more people can be brought in to a life of peace and relative prosperity as soon as peace is achieved.

Today, Mindanews is reminding us that despite the recent bombings around Southern Mindanao, Mindanao is still a place for investments.  Remember, after all, that Mindanao is the Land of Promise!