Vice Mayor Beng Climaco yesterday appealed for media support and cooperation in the campaign to protect children''s rights as she expressed alarm over the increasing child abuse cases in Zamboanga City.

In a meeting with radio and television station managers and newspaper editors yesterday, the vice mayor also distributed media kits on children reportage to help guide media practitioners in covering children.

A P50,000 reward was offered for any citizen who can provide information that would lead to the arrest of the bomber, who set off an explosion on a ferry in Lamitan, Basilan, that left at least 36 people wounded.

Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay offered the bounty after a consensus with other town officials, who vowed to fight terrorism and bring justice to the victims of the blast on the ferry Doña Ramona last Sunday.

The adventure camp held to commemorate its 80 years of guiding in Sabah branch will be held at Outward Bound Sabah, Kota Kinabalu from December 3 to 6, 2005.

After all the promises and the guarantees, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has still demonstrated to cooperate in the government effort to hunt down the remnants of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist elements.

In fact, the MILF has surreptitiously continued to shelter them and for all we know, had drafted these terror bands to train the MILF regulars and their recruits in the art of making explosives and carrying out bombing missions.

In one regular session of the Sangguniang Bayan of Lamitan sometime in the month of August this year, a letter from a concerned citizen addressed to a municipal councilor citing alleged dubious operation of a private hospital in the guise of medical clinic with moderately good-conditioned rooms for patients became a subject matter during the privilege hour of the local legislative body. The letter writer reportedly claimed that this medical establishment pays only a daily fee of P10 to the municipal government.

If we get it right, the clinic does not have a business permit. The owner of the establishment is an affluent and influential resident in the poblacion of Lamitan. The law is the law no matter how harsh or hard it is, dura lex sed lex in Latin, this private clinic should be required or compelled to secure the necessary business permit and pay the corresponding fees to the municipal government. This becomes a tall order from the Sangguniang Bayan directing the municipal treasurer to go after the medical clinic without necessarily recommend the closure or padlocking it.

The province of Pursat is by the great Tonle Sap Lake, one of the biggest lakes in the world. I had the chance to cross this lake once on a trip by boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. One gets a sense of the size of the lake when one realizes that at one point in the trip there is no shore that one can see in any

Jueteng and Bingo Combo are just but a name. Gambling is gambling by

any other name. It is haram (unlawful, dirty as human feces), an abomination of satan''s handiworks. Man must eschew such abomination. Yes, a profit for some but the sin is greater than the profits. Surprisingly, a known anti-jueteng

After another bomb blast on the ferry MV Doña Ramona at the Lamitan wharf last Sunday morning, it is clear that authorities like local governments, PNP, military, and other intelligence operatives just don''t have the capability to deal with continuing terrorist threat. This is the sad part and more unfortunately innocent people and lives are sacrificed simply because authorities are either lax, sleeping on their job or that they are not doing their job at all protecting the traveling public.

That peace-loving citizens condemn such terrorist carnage and other acts of the same nature causing loss of life and destruction to properties is a given thing. There''s no need to overemphasize and repeat over again that for every bomb that kills and maim people, press statements of condemnation from officials and politicians make headline in newspapers.

After all the promises and the guarantees, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has still demonstrated to cooperate in the government effort to hunt down the remnants of Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist elements.

In fact, the MILF has surreptitiously continued to shelter them and for all we know, had drafted these terror bands to train the MILF regulars and their recruits in the art of making explosives and carrying out bombing missions.

In one regular session of the Sangguniang Bayan of Lamitan sometime in the month of August this year, a letter from a concerned citizen addressed to a municipal councilor citing alleged dubious operation of a private hospital in the guise of medical clinic with moderately good-conditioned rooms for patients became a subject matter during the privilege hour of the local legislative body. The letter writer reportedly claimed that this medical establishment pays only a daily fee of P10 to the municipal government.

If we get it right, the clinic does not have a business permit. The owner of the establishment is an affluent and influential resident in the poblacion of Lamitan. The law is the law no matter how harsh or hard it is, dura lex sed lex in Latin, this private clinic should be required or compelled to secure the necessary business permit and pay the corresponding fees to the municipal government. This becomes a tall order from the Sangguniang Bayan directing the municipal treasurer to go after the medical clinic without necessarily recommend the closure or padlocking it.

The province of Pursat is by the great Tonle Sap Lake, one of the biggest lakes in the world. I had the chance to cross this lake once on a trip by boat from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. One gets a sense of the size of the lake when one realizes that at one point in the trip there is no shore that one can see in any

direction.

After another bomb blast on the ferry MV Doña Ramona at the Lamitan wharf last Sunday morning, it is clear that authorities like local governments, PNP, military, and other intelligence operatives just don''t have the capability to deal with continuing terrorist threat. This is the sad part and more unfortunately innocent people and lives are sacrificed simply because authorities are either lax, sleeping on their job or that they are not doing their job at all protecting the traveling public.

That peace-loving citizens condemn such terrorist carnage and other acts of the same nature causing loss of life and destruction to properties is a given thing. There''s no need to overemphasize and repeat over again that for every bomb that kills and maim people, press statements of condemnation from officials and politicians make headline in newspapers.

As the saying goes, it is better late than never. The Office on Muslim Affairs, Region IX-A, Zamboanga City of Zamboanga Peninsula has a new Officer-in-Charge.

Sheik Bahari M. Camlian or Dino, as he is fondly called by his friends, Legal Officer III of the above office, was designated as OIC in a fax message received thru Office Order No. 05-0030, dated August 24, 2005. As mentioned in the order, Camlian will Amilpasa T. Bandaying, the present Regional Director, with instruction to the latter to report to the regional office of OMA and act only as adviser if needed in running the office. The order came in the wake of strong endorsement coming from influential leaders of Region 9 and the present program of the new OMA leadership to bring the government closer to the people.

Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) Regional Director Amilpasa Bandaying has announced that September 1 (Thursday) is Muslim legal holiday as provided for under Presidential Decree No. 1083.

The holiday is observed in Regions 9A and 12 in celebration of Izrah Walmiraz, the ascension of Prophet Muhammad to heaven.

Traffic Management Office-9 chief Supt. Benilito A. Bianzon led TMO-9 men in conducting anti-carnapping, anti-highway robbery, anti-hijacking, no-plate, no-travel policy and traffic law enforcement operations in Sibugay and Pagadian City over the weekend.

Supt. Bianzon disclosed that during hi visit in the area there was no record of carnapping in Pagadian City recently.