KAMPILAN DIVISION HOLDS PALARONG PINOY 2015

Camp Siongco, Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao – As the second semester of the year starts, the 6th Infantry (Kampilan) Division welcomes the rainy season with warmth and loud cheers through the conduct of an inter-unit/office sportsfest  that was participated in by the different offices and post units of the division headquarters. 

There were four competing teams: Yellow under the leadership of MGen Edmundo R Pangilinan; Red under Col Dickson P Hermoso ; Violet under BGen Manolito P Orense  and Blue team under Col Romeo S Brawner.

During the opening ceremony (01 August 2015), the different teams clad in their uniforms paraded in front of the 6ID grandstand and were led by their team captains and muses signalling the start of the activity. Each team also presented their well-decorated floats which were inspired by the theme “Palarong Pinoy”.

After the opening ceremony, a cheer dance competition followed wherein the top spot was bagged by the Yellow team followed by the red team, the blue team and the violet team. 

Other awards such as the Best Muse and the Best Float were won by the Red team. 

The teams then competed in the palarong pinoy which was composed of  kadang-kadang,  palosebo,  patintero and  gulong relay.

In his message, the Commander 6ID MGen Edmundo R Pangilinan said that it is always fun to unwind after a very hectic and tough first semester. 

He said that the sportsfest is intended for everyone to be able to practice esprit-de-corps and camaraderie among their team mates as well as to awaken the competitive spirit of the officers and personnel of 6ID in terms of sports and Filipino traditional games.

The sporstfest is expected to culminate by the end of August wherein the winners for the ball games will also be announced as well as the over-all champion for the  sportfest.

“Ramadhan Village” showcases Moro culture, food

https://vimeo.com/133438657

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/15 July) – Visitors to the Ramadhan Village inside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound here have had their fill of cultural presentations and a taste of Moro culinary delights every night since the start of the month of fasting on June 16.

The Ramadhan village, also known as “Ramadhan Fair” may be likened to a Christmas village during the yuletide season.

After breaking the fast and a prayer called “Tarawi,” visitors would be entertained by various cultural presentations from different tribal villages inside the ARMM compound.

“Here you can tour the region in an hour,” said Samaon Ismael, one of the visitors who joined the congregational prayer Monday night.

Visitors can witness a war dance and listen to the melody of kulintang at the Iranon villages.

At the nearby Tausug village, they can watch the Pangalay dance taste free native Sulu coffee in front of the replica of Darul Jambangan Royal House.

The Badjaos in the next “village” display their prowess by performing the famous Jangay dance.

The Meranaw or Maranaw from Lanao del Sur are not to be outdone. They are showcasing the famous Torogan, the Royal House where handicraft and the world famous malong (shawl) are on display.

In between “tours,” guests can taste different Moro delicacies for a very reasonable price.

“The atmosphere is really great here; our identity is shown here, in just one setting. In less than an hour one can feel, learn and be educated about the Muslim culture, tradition and food,” Secretary Don Loong of the ARMM Department of Public Works and Highways said.

The Ramadhan village is a reflection of Muslim Mindanao, Bai Shalimar Candao, Maguindanao tourism chief, said.

“You can see here what you have not seen in the past because our history is reborn here,” Candao said in Filipino, citing the case of Maguindanao.

“This is Walay na Sultan (House of Sultan),” she said, gesturing to the structure nearby.

“The concept of Maguindanao village is to showcase the Maguindanao culture on how it has evolved from [past] centuries to the present,” she added.

“Of course we are very happy. It is only now that our visitors learn about our Iranun culture and how we evolved in the autonomous region,” said Mayor Abolais Manalao of Buldon, Maguindanao and host of Maguindanao Iranun village.

Days before the Eud’l Fitr celebration marking the end of Ramadhan, organizers said they have prepared a grand event that includes several cultural presentations for guests.

During Ramadhan Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and devote more time to prayers and charity works as a religious obligation. (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)

Maguindanao: Transparency on bulk of loans

Five years after, the province was granted by the Land Bank of the Philippines to loan amounting to 1.7 Billion pesos payable in 10 years from separate loan terms.

Among the urgent and needed to be funded are the two giant dredging machine to be purchased for the flood prone province which cost around 200 million pesos.

Others will finance the purchase of provincial heavy equipment,construction of provincial capitol building, provincial jail, road networks and bridges, educational scholarship program, nursery and high value-crops seedlings.

This was the first after the province has been paying in the last years  the unpaid loan from the  his predescessors.

Vice-Governor Datu Lester Sinsuat said, the crafting of the loan was scrutinized and ratified from the Sanguniang Panlalawigan officials which he said is has far different from the previous procedures where at the moment transparency of the deal  and the following bidding will obviously be present.

END.

Maguindanao province, Army build Islamic school in former BIFF area

SALIPADA K. PENDATUN, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 29 June) – More than a hundred young children by the roadside amidst rice fields chanted and waived their flaglets as military troops and provincial officials arrived in the village of Kulasi.

Two years ago, the place was once an enclave of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), who regularly figured in fierce battles against government troops.

Today, residents witnessed a very different scenario when the team headed by Maj. Gen. Edmundo R. Pangilinan and Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu came for the turnover of a two-room Islamic school named Madrasa Tarbiya Al-Islamiyah, which aims to cater to more than 100 school children.

The project was initiated and built when Pangilinan was still a commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade stationed in Tacurong City in 2013.

“The first time we came here, not a single child was seen roaming. It was almost an abandoned area, and that made me worry because it’s so abnormal,” recalled Pangilinan, now commanding general of the 6th Infantry Division.

“What we witnessed now is far different, with jubilant young children gladly welcoming us. This is the scene we want to see in every Moro community,” he said.

Mangudadatu said exposing children to education is his administration’s only legacy to achieve long lasting peace in Mindanao because everybody has the chance to widen understanding.

In his speech inspired by the Ramadhan, the governor expressed concerns on extremist teachings to the young generation, which he said is dangerous as it may be an opening for future conflicts.

“That is why we prioritize education in our governance agenda because this is what we believe is the greatest enemy of poverty and insurgency. I’m praying this madrasah will give the children proper upbringing, will impart to them the moderate teachings of Islam,” he said.

The two-room madrasah, constructed by soldiers with the cooperation of local residents and P1-million support fund from the governor’s office for the construction materials, was built beside a dilapidated makeshift building, which served as the children’s classroom.

Army and provincial officials pledged to rehabilitate the old building to be used as a multi-purpose structure for the community’s use.

Barangay Kulasi chair Mamisan Akoy said they didn’t ask money or food from the local government. But he stressed that the madrasah was the greatest gift received by the community this Ramadhan.

He urged his fellow constituents who left the village because they are aligned with the BIFF to come back home and lead normal lives. Several houses in the village, mostly makeshift huts, are in a state of abandon.

BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama, when asked about Akoy’s appeal, replied over telephone: “No problem with that. We too want to live a normal and peaceful life.”

Explosion rocks Cotabato City and Maguindanao, 1 hurt

Blast site along Sinsuat Avenue in front of Aling Precy restaurant

COTABATO CITY (April 18) – A series of grenade attacks perpetrated by two men riding tandem on motorbike hit Cotabato City and Maguindanao Saturday night, police said. The first grenade attack occurred at a police detachment in Barangay Tamontaka 2, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao at past 7 p.m. Nobody was hurt. Police said the suspects riding tandem on a motorbike tossed the grenade as it approached the police detachment and sped away. Shortly before 8 p.m., the same suspects tossed a hand grenade at a military vehicle of the Army Special Forces Battalion conducting patrol along Sinsuat Avenue, particularly near Aling Precy restaurant. The blast damaged the restaurant’s glass panes and wounded a certain Dalmacio Villa who was rushed to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center. An Army truck driver said he noticed a motorbike with two men on board overtook his truck. The back rider tossed a grenade towards the driver side as the Army truck was in front of Aling Precy Restaurant along Sinsuat Avenue. “We were lucky the grenade bumped off the glass window and few seconds later a loud explosions occurred,” he told this reporter. “They immediately sped away. We chased the suspects but traffic along Sinsuat Avenue prevented us from catching up with them,” the driver, who asked not to be named, added. He said his companions could not fire at the fleeing suspects as there were many civilians along the highway. The suspects fled toward Notre Dame Avenue where they left behind an improvised bomb in front of Special Forces detachment in Barangay Rosary Heights 2. Senior Insp. Efren Salazar, police station 1 chief, said the IED, fashioned from 60 mm mortar, did not explode. As of posting, police and Army bomb experts are still conducting post blast investigation. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)