Cotabato City councilor flags McDonald's snacks at session despite boycott resolution
COTABATO CITY — Councilor Shalimar Candao on Tuesday, Oct. 13, called out the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) for serving McDonald's snacks during its regular session, months after the council approved her resolution urging a boycott of American fast-food chains in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Rising on a point of privilege, Candao asked the SP food staff to clear the spaghetti and chicken meals prepared for city legislators and personnel.
"We are the ones making laws, ordinances, resolutions, and we are the ones violating resolutions that we approved," Candao told Councilor Florante Formento, who presided over the session.
Approved on April 14, 2026, her resolution urges the city government to bar food and drinks from McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in all its offices, departments and instrumentalities in support of Palestinians amid continuing Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Washington has provided military aid to Israel throughout the war in Gaza, which began in October 2023.
While Candao was speaking, SP food service staff started removing the snacks from the councilors' tables. Several staff members who had already begun eating were forced to stop.
"This is not the first time that this happened in our session," Candao said, adding that those who could not refrain from eating the snacks should leave the session hall and eat elsewhere.
"Noted," Formento replied. "Take note, everybody, especially the SP food staff, about the concerns of Honorable Candao."
Footage of the exchange circulated online, as the session was being streamed live on a Facebook page.
11:13 AM
Taher
Gov't, MILF get land claims study on six former MILF camps
By Taher G. Solaiman
COTABATO CITY — The government has launched a study mapping land claims in six acknowledged camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a key step toward resolving land issues tied to the normalization track of the Bangsamoro peace process.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) presented the final report of the Parcellary Inventory Project on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the headquarters of the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division in Camp Siongco, Barangay Awang, OPAPRU said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. DAR turned over the report to OPAPRU on June 18.
A pilot initiative, the project gives the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF an initial inventory and analysis, built on a geographic information system (GIS), of statutory and customary land claims in priority areas within the six camps.
Findings will help the Joint Task Force on Camps Transformation and other bodies under the GPH-MILF peace implementing panels and the Joint Normalization Committee determine whether socioeconomic and land tenure programs, including housing for decommissioned MILF combatants, can be carried out in the identified areas.
The report is also expected to guide planners on land governance, livelihood and other normalization programs.
Under the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation (TJR) Roadmap approved by the GPH and MILF peace implementing panels in January 2025, the project falls under Track II on reparations, which seeks to address the consequences of marginalization, including land dispossession.
OPAPRU transitional justice consultant Maria Carmen "Ica" Fernandez led the project, with geospatial specialists Jonathan Villasper, Wilfredo Dizon Jr. and Mikko Tamura.
"When we talk about land in the Bangsamoro, we are talking about something deeply personal," said Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento, who also chairs the GPH peace implementing panel. He said understanding the situation on the ground must come before deciding what to do.
In a message read by MP Ali Salik, MILF Chair Ahod "Al Haj Murad" Ebrahim and MILF peace implementing panel chair Mohagher Iqbal said the report's completion "must not be considered the end of our responsibility," and reaffirmed the front's commitment to the full implementation of the peace agreement.
Bangsamoro Transition Authority Speaker Mohammad Yacob said the report should guide future decisions and programs toward healing, reconciliation and inclusive progress.
Assistant Secretary Ria Danielle Lumapas of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President said peace agreements would be judged by whether people who had long waited for peace "can finally feel its benefits in their everyday lives."
Winston Camarinas of the United Nations Development Programme said the agency would continue supporting efforts to help resolve land issues in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III, in a message delivered by Undersecretary Amihilda Sangcopan, said DAR would build on the partnership with OPAPRU for the benefit of Bangsamoro communities.