The hub of the South in more ways than one

ZAMBOANGA CITY – United States Ambassador Frank Ricciardone beat me to Basilan yesterday. In real D-Day fashion, he zoomed in by plane from Manila, grabbed a Mark II swift boat, and was in Port Holland and Maluso before you could say, "Abu Sayyaf".

I met our friend, Governor Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, in the lobby of our hotel, the Garden Orchid. We were joined by Presidential Secretary for Mindanao (former Congressman) Jess Dureza, who’d arrived from Davao.

They were headed to join the Ambassador and a large group of Filipino officials and American assistance and development men, plus media, in the Basilan expedition. Parouk and Jess asked me to join them, but I said I would get there, eventually, on my own hook – if not this trip, the next one.

Governor Parouk, who’s a fine leader, truly earnest in developing ARMM, told me he has one year to go in the post. He had just flown up from Jolo after a business council meeting there.

We reminisced about the "old days" when his father was educated in public school in Danan, and his teachers who had been American "Thomasites" (that grand group of teachers who came over on the USS Thomas to help establish public schools all over our archipelago). Would you believe? The schoolhouse, built by the Americans in that era, is still standing there.

Jess, for his part, cheerfully informed me that his office had been elevated to Cabinet rank. I recall many years ago when Jess, then our correspondent for The Manila Times, ran for Congress. He lost, having been cheated, but subsequently won his electoral protest in time to truly become a member of the House of Representatives.

Anyway, it was a happy reunion for all of us, however brief.

* * *

In the past three days, a great many important and interesting people have been coming and going – I met more in just two days than I might have, even in metropolitan Manila. Indeed, Zamboanga City – aside from the charms (probably because of its charms) – has become a crossroads, a vital hub in the south.

The other night, and again yesterday, I spoke with the courageous and youthful Mayor of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte, Caesar Soriano, who’s now on his third and final term as Mayor of that strategically-located municipality.

Caesar, a former ABS-CBN broadcaster, was one of the main targets of a massive raid by about 200 MILF and other rebels in May 2003. The attackers, swooping into town in early dawn, burned the marketplace and seized the town hall, then assaulted the mayor’s home. Soriano and a few policemen and guards fought off the attackers – who had seized 117 civilian hostages in the meantime – until help arrived. The Army relief force; led by Maj. General Salazar (who officially retired just last Tuesday in a ceremony held at Kuta Sang-an, Upper Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur) managed to kill 26 of the Moro rebels and rescue the civilian hostages.

Mayor Soriano’s real "enemy", though, he said to me, is a big Canadian mining company which has been open-pit mining for gold (copper, I suppose, yielding gold) in his vicinity. This mining operation has denuded the forest of trees, and, worst of all, has been using toxic chemicals, particularly cyanide, to extract the gold, thus poisoning his community’s drinking water.

Soriano told me he had petitioned Manila, and higher authorities in vain, for a long time, to halt the mining firm's destructive operations. But, it seems to him, the national government’s priority as well as that of Congress is the income generated by these types of mining operations.

"What about the people?" He plaintively asked.

Mayor Soriano estimates the mining firm utilizes 26 barrels of cyanide a day. Yet, he’s been met with a stone wall of indifference thus far.

The tragedy is that Siocon used to be one of the richest rice granaries of the Zamboanga Peninsula, also famous for its prawn production. All this is in danger of being mined, and is already in sharp decline.

When I last saw him, the Mayor was awaiting the arrival of Canadian Ambassador Peter Sutherland, who was expected in Zamboanga to discuss what could be done. I hope Caesar gets a workable solution to his despairing people’s plight. Between profit and people, I would think the choice is clear.

* * *

The reason I couldn’t go to Basilan, on a nostalgic pilgrimage as earlier planned, was the fact that I was the Guest of Honor and speaker in the First Zamboanga City Media Forum held in the Grand Astoria Hotel.

Mayor Celso L. Lobregat delivered the welcome remarks and an "overview" of the Workshop. Ms. Clea Leen Zainab Imlam and Ms. Twinkle Usman, ADZU, delivered the invocation.

Director Rafael G. Evangelista Jr., Regional Director of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA IX) gave an enlightening lecture, backed up by slides and statistics of the "Prospects of Economic Advancement, " while our friend, Regional Director Ricky San Juan, DOT IX, explained the "Prospects of Tourism in Zamboanga". International Hotel Expert Arthur Lopez, a homecoming Zamboangueño, who’s just been tapped by Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano as his senior (but pro bono) tourism adviser, delivered an enlightening speech on how to make Zamboanga a big player in the tourism scene, and how to create an effective relationship between Media and Business.

Arthur graduated from the Ateneo de Zamboanga and his class will observe its ruby anniversary this December. He was roundly cheered by the audience, many of them his friends and even his barkada and batchmates.

The opening ceremony, of course, was presided over by Larry Velasquez, president of the Zamboanga Press Club, while the Workshop briefing was given by Ma. Lisa M. Alamia. The emcees/moderators were Ms. Lisa Jocson and Rolly San Juan.

I had to speak twice – they really put me to work. My main address concerned the "Responsibility of the Press and its Role in Development".

After the Workshop groups submitted their reports in the afternoon, and – with Mayor Lobregat again presiding – a commitment/pledge to act on the decided initiatives was formally signed, I made the closing remarks.

Have to rush to the airport, though. So this column is thankfully brief. Have no fear – I’ll have more tomorrow. (But perhaps that’s what our readers fear.)

* * *

We had on our panel, too, I’ll have to add, Lt. General Generoso S. Senga, commander of the Southern Command, who’s been overlooked by the media, including this writer, mea culpa, as one of the "possibles" when the president announces her choice of Armed Forces Chief of Staff, when General Narciso Abaya retires next October 29.

Senga, to be clear, didn’t complain to me about having been neglected in the short-listing, but he’s a contender. He’s 54, graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1972, and hails from Calumpang, Marikina, Metro Manila.

He was first assigned to Mindanao as a platoon leader, Bravo Company, 27th Infantry Division, operating in Central Mindanao (today’s major "conflict" area). He participated in the many battles of the 1970s, and was once wounded in action.

He trained in civil affairs and psychological warfare at the JFK Center for Military Assistance in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, in 1979 in the US Defense Intelligence College, 1984; in Intelligence and Security in the United Kingdom (Britain) in 1990. He received a Masters in National Security Administration from the National Defense College in 1996, and attended the International Security Program, Galilee College, in Nazareth, Israel, in 2001.

In civilian matters, he took his Masters in Business Administration at the Ateneo de Manila University, and completed two years of law at the Ateneo Law School. He is taking a Masters in Public Management at the University of the Philippines Open University, but is currently "on leave of absence" status.

That ought to give you a partial picture of Gene Senga’s qualifications.

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THE ROVING EYE . . . Since I’ve mentioned General Senga, I’ll have to report on another leading contender, General Efren Abu, commanding general of the Philippine Army. General Abu rang me up Monday night when I first arrived in Zamboanga. I had invited him but he expressed regrets he had to fly to Pagadian, Zamboanga del Norte, for above-mentioned retirement ceremony for Maj. General Salazar, the much-decorated commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, whose valor in fighting the Abu Sayyaf and MILF is well-known. Salazar opted for early retirement and turnover on his birthday, October 18. Efren (General Abu), who had been a classmate of the now President-elect of Indonesia, General Susilo Bambang Yudyohono (better known as SBY), in turn, invited me to go with him to Jakarta on October 24th. General SBY, who’s being inaugurated into the Presidency on October 20, had advised Efren that the best time for them to "get together" would be few days after his inauguration since preparing for that takeover and the announcement of his Cabinet were much too hectic. SBY’s office has also promised me a one-on-one with him when "the dust settles". Anyway, I may not be able to go to Jakarta on October 24, since I have commitments in Europe. Hopefully, in early November. As they say in Javanese, alon-alon asal kelakon.