FEEDBACKS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Note that we do not take responsibility for any of the entries listed below.

Rolly Lagutin,MD
 Mutiaboy@MSN.com

I always log on to your website just to keep myself closer to home.I grew up in Mutia but went to school in SVC class '67 & now residing for years in USA.I would like to thank you for putting this excelent web site.Your article about the choir reunion is specially exciting for me because I recognize 2 relatives(Ligaya Lagutin &Zenaida Nicosia)please extend to them my congratulations and how proud I am for them.Thak you!! Dr. Lagutin

Subj: Data posted to form 1 of http://www.cagayandeoro.net.ph/feedback.htm  Date: 9/30/2002 4:35:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: cagayandeoro@cagayandeoro.net.ph To: eartajo@aol.com Sent from the Internet (Details)

Evelyn Dumile
dumile69@yahoo.com

 I am a beautician in this city.Therefore,I am a vital factor for Cagayan de Oro's promotion to tourism through gays God given talents.WE the gays in this city known for our contribution through beauty art and glamour are now shocked
of the incident happened to our fellow gay that was being tortured and has devastating sudden death done
by those evil vigilantes.Can't we have now an orderly process for justice? She was called by a name Darna.Beyond his personality and as a
unique being he possessed extraordinary versatile talents that gays posseses.Is the salavaging the ultimate solution to solve the crime problems to our city.This is an inhuman abdication done by our city which brings bad impression to our neighboring cities.After the incident it treathened all gays in this city we obtain traumatic and phobias although we are not the targets.But for fairness , why the city government superiors ignored such tragedies.We are not mainly speak for ourselves but to all the Cagayanos.The attack was an assault not only to all that vigilantes targets but an offense against the rights and freedom to all civilized Cagayanos as well as to the Filipinos in general.
   I need opinion and constructive perspective of yours pls..........

I just like to shout out to my former friends and classmates in Dipolog. I
found this site while surfing the net and just thought to say hi and all. I
was born and raised in Dipolog and went to school there until senior high. I finished elementary in Dipolog Pilot and Zambo Norte H.S. We used to live in Barangay Biasong on Rizal Avenue , if  my memory serves me right, next to that house with a shark snout shaped out of stone on its balcony. My last visit in Dipolog was like 8 years ago and  I have'nt back since. I have a lot of classmates but i forgot most of thier names now, yeah i know shame on me,  but hey if you recognize my name just e-mail me back and its always good to hear from old friends.

Solomon Cuenca

It has come to my attention that a priest of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Dipolog City made a derogatory comment on caregivers abroad as part of his homily in an afternoon mass held at the Holy Rosary Cathedral recently. In that statement he joked about caregivers as “P.I.L.O.T.S.”, for which acronym he interpreted and would literally translate from Bisaya as “Wiping the behinds of old people, et cetera”.

This unfortunate remark was received by shock and disgust by the Filipino community in Chicago in general and specifically the caregivers who have toiled here and all over the world. True, we the caregivers from Dipolog and around the country have come to America at our own volition. For years we have worked hard in diligent anonymity and utter loneliness if only to support our families and nation, hoping that in the end we will come home to a prosperous and grateful country. But alas! Irresponsible jokes made by prominent public figures (I personally know of one other who called us ‘P.Ts in the presence of a TV crew from Manila ) makes us wonder, are we really the heroes you have touted us to be? Or are we mere milking cows from the land of honey?

To those of you, who are fortunate enough to be home, possibly enjoying the fruits of our labor, picture this:

A former teacher crouched under the table, flashlight in hand away from the prying eyes of a barely sane patient, dictating the particulars of a PNB Remittance form to a cohort miles away just to be able to transmit much needed cash to her waiting nestlings. “Pa misa mo ha?” she specifically instructs them.

Now imagine what she is going to say to her people after this insensitive comment. Have we done wrong by our sacrifices to merit such contempt?

To the concerned cleric, I call on you to publicly apologize for that unfortunate remark sans your comical faux British twang. You may have spoken on your own behalf but the fact remains that you were in the pulpit wearing your vestments imply otherwise. In this uncertain times dear "Padre, I implore you to tend to the gardens of the Lord lest the worms molest your crops.Tu cuidao, the Pinoy’s colonial mentality does not discriminate. Now it’s MTV, tomorrow it could be the Boston trials. As a Catholic and one of these workers, I am both angered and saddened at how such a reckless quip may end up breaking open a veritable Pandora’s box of controversy which unlike the myth, holds no “hope” of relief.

This is my personal statement and I assure you many more will follow from all over the globe. May this incident and the ensuing furor serve as a lesson to all, that we be treated with the respect due us and all other workers abroad and at home.

02 July 2002
Chicago, Illinois

eddie,
         i often check the ozamiz website for the first reason to see if the pictures of the city officials are been upgraded ( ozamiz city officials). i would be happy to see my big brother Vice-mayor  Carlos(Caloy) Bernad's picture in the website.  I think it is important to upgrade the pictures of the officials because this website is global. may GOD bliss our good source of communication(e-mails)
                                                                                      tino bernad

sheryl tillah dimas
tillah@winfirst.com

me and my husband are very happy
to know that we found this web.and i do really wanna to know if any of my friend read this from zamboanga pls. email me and hello claritian and hi to my aunt,
and the TILLAH FAMILY ESPECIALLY MR.AND MRS.BERNARDO TILLAH AND FAMILY
         FROM US,
     SHERYL,VINCENT,SYDNEY DIMAS
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!CHAVACANO...

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We're having problems with our news reporter in Dipolog so just be calm and be nice and don't be sarcastic.  ED

 vicky lacson gal>katipunan st. dipolog city>yehud israel
 gal_davidbeseq@int.net


mangumusta lang ko ninyo dinha sa former bacungan karon leon postigo na where i finished mylementary ug sa sindangan my high school days n st. joseph and in dipolog med.center sch of midwifery(pioneer).i really missed this places and my friends,relatives ,ill be home soon maybe with my husband this coming dec. am very excited i cant wait  the day! well,this is really agreat website keep up the good work kabayan and best wishes to everyone.    
if anyone recognize me pls. contact me in this address hear you soon!

  Law Office for Dennis Standefer
: justicein2002@email.com


News Release
June 4, 2002

Attempted murder complaint filed against American treasure hunters in the Philippines!

(Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, Philippines)

Four Americans and two Filipinos have been accused of the attempted murder of their former partner in a hundred-million dollar treasure salvage project of a Japanese Hospital Ship (sic.) sunk by allied torpedo bombers during WWII.

The accused include a Philippine National Police Colonel, Segundo Duran (PNP) and Moro National Liberation Front-Abu Sayyaf Commander, Tony Nasa, and former American partners in the salvage of the “fake” Japanese Hospital ship “Tieyo Maru” that is located in the main harbor of Camiguin Island off the north coast of Luzon, in the Baybuyan Islands.  The 400 ft. ship, which was sunk during the first week of April, 1945, lies in 100 feet of crystal clear water, near Calupiri Island and only 1,500 meters from the islands’ main dock.  A salvage permit had been awarded to Pacific SeaQuest and Dennis Standefer (The complainant) in 1993 by then President, Fidel Ramos, for this ship and 33 others that are in the area, including the USS Charleston (See map below and related stories)

The accused American treasure divers include Karl Steven Ryll, 42, who is the ringleader, and a El Monte California High school teacher, who is married to a Filipina, and Steven Edward Morgan, 54, who has been living in Manila salvaging shipwrecks and raising investment money since 1995.  The two treasure hunters were assisted and financed by Harold Karaka, of San Fernando, California, and Kiy Dupont, from Louisiana, who are also Americans.

This group has attempted to murder their former partner, Dennis Standefer, 57, (who started the salvage project in 1993) since early 1998 in the Philippines and Malaysia, where Standefer was living at the time.  The murder attempts and death threats were first reported to the Philippine government and the American Embassy (Manila) in early 1995 and were extensively covered in the Philippine and United States press at the time. (See attachments of Special series by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Santa Barbra News Press)

When the groups direct attempts to kill Standefer in Zamboanga, Mindanao and Sabah, Malaysia failed, they filed a phony “rape” charge in Surigao City, Mindanao, in August 1999 (See News Release attached for more details) seeking the extradition to the Philippines and death-penalty for Standefer.  Ryll and Morgan were assisted in this by Colonel Duran and his friends in the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine Interpol, which included the Director Ricardo A. Diaz and others.

Ryll and Morgan also paid officers of a Philippine NGO, ECPAT Philippines, to assist them in filing the fake case, by giving Diaz an “excuse” to have NBI/Interpol extradite Standefer from Indonesia. (See “victims statement sworn statement attached)

This group has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, “legal fees”, bribes, and payments to officials in the Philippines, and Indonesia to have Standefer held in detention without trial, or a chance to present evidence or witnesses in his behalf, in Indonesia and then extradited to the Philippines last year. The NBI transported Standefer to Manila on May 11, 2001, at the government’s expense, after having him injected with drugs and carried aboard a Philippines airlines flight.

Standefer was held in the NBI’s detention center in Manila for three weeks, without incident, after the American Embassy Consul Paul Boyd took “extreme interest” in the case and in Standefers’ safety after hearing of Ryll’s actions in Jakarta. (See American Embassy letters).  Paul Boyd confronted Karl Ryll in the presence of NBI/Interpol Director Diaz and “ordered” Ryll not to be involved in Standefers’ case in any way. At that time Ryll admitted using his NBI identification to attempt to gain access to Standefer detention cell in Indonesia as well as misrepresenting that he was working for the Philippine government on the case.

In early June of 2001, three NBI agents transferred Standefer to Surigao City, Mindanao, to await his trial.  Upon Standefers’ arrival there, no one seemed to know what to do, as the case had NEVER been pursed in Surigao City, only by Ryll, Morgan, Duran, and Diaz.   The prosecutor, court, and the trial judge, had no knowledge of Standefers’ two-year incarnation in Indonesia, his extradition, or his detention at NBI headquarters, until he arrived in Surigao City. The case had been returned to the archives, there was never any preliminary investigation (as is required by Philippine law), the “alleged victim”, refused to meet with the prosecutor in 1999, and the “warrant  of arrest” was illegally issued, not to the NBI, but to Karl Ryll!  THE RAPE WAS NEVER EVEN REPORTED TO THE LOCAL POLICE and there is no police report or ANY other evidence or witness statements in the case file.  Only the one page “complaint” written by Karl Steven Ryll.

It was quickly determined that the rape never took place and that Standefer was not even in the Philippines at the time the “alleged rape” took place (early November 1994).  This was verified by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration records and Standefers’ passport.

Nine witnesses presented themselves to the Chief Prosecutor (including the alleged victim-Niefelyn Sumaylo)) and confirmed that there never was a rape, Standefer never came to Surigao in 1994, and that Ryll made up the story and got the case filled in August of 1999, along with Duran and Nasa.  There was testimony that Ryll even wrote the “complaint” himself, when a local attorney refused to get involved. (See attached sworn statement)

After a brief court hearing where the witnesses testified, the case was dismissed.  Standefer did not even hire a lawyer for his death-penalty trial, but only paid a local attorney $10 to file the papers to have him released on July 5, 2002.

The groups’ next move was for Steven Morgan to file a “new” fake case and persuade the Philippine Undersecretary of Justice, Attorney Maria Merceditas Gutierrez, to get a hold departure order on Standefer to give them a chance to have him killed before he could leave the Philippines.

Ryll, Morgan, Karaka, Nasa, and Duran have been hunting for Standefer in the United States, Indonesia and the Philippines ever since.  While Standefer has remained at an undisclosed location for the last year, they have continually sought the location of the witnesses and have continued to threaten to kill them for telling the truth in this case.

(Note: Over 200 pages of documents, photographs, previous news releases, newspaper articles, witness statements, and additional information are available on request, by email or fax and can be down loaded from the website below)

http://flash.to/justice or http://flash.to/2002 or http://justicein2002.org

Important Note: Email attachment(s) have photographs and maps!

For additional information or to conduct an interview, contact:

Fax: 1.425.928.6496 (USA)

justicein2002@lycos.com

justicein2002@email.com
============================

T1: Flora Alcasid
T3: flora.alcasid@skynet.be
B1: Submit

S1:

Dear Mr. Eddie Artajo,

I am very happy that I found this website. It seems many Filipinos from abroad know it. Thank you very much. I am satisfied of what you did. I feel like I'm in Pagadian right now.
GOD bless you and more power.

Flora - Belgium

Othman Bin Surib.
emangondrong@yahoo.com.my.

saya suka akan Dipolog City (I like Dipolog City ).
Bandar yang berseh,penduduk yang ramah mesra.
Isteri saya orang Silanok.
11.04.2002 the 2nd.time I go to Dipolog 2 week only.I miss you.
May be on October I came back again.
Thank you for the people for Dipolog City, Mutia and the people of Barangai of Silano.
Special to Baguinat and Hinampas family,I miss you.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP

 
       Exclusion  of those Pilipinos who served in government and military service  in the United States is not only unfair, biased, and misguided, it is also detrimental to the economic and technical development of the Philippines. I said this because those Pilipinos who served in the U.S. military during the 1950, 60, and 70’s are already retired collecting large sums of pension, plus most of their children have already graduated from colleges, and Universities and have better paying jobs. My point is; by excluding these people you are missing a huge opportunity for the Philippines to develop economically, financially , and technically.

These people owns multiple properties, such as houses, businesses, stocks and bonds, aside from their monthly pensions, they also posses an  assortment of knowledge that they can contribute towards the developmnent of the Philippines. Their children who are college graduates may also opt to live with their parents whereby contributing their wealth and knowledge towards the betterment of the country. By excluding these people is therefore defeating the purpose of attracting investors  and denying all the dollars these retirees may spend in the country. 

Imagine if these people are not given dual citizenship, they will not build or buy houses, they will not spend money on appliances, they will not buy clothing, food, medicine, or  give employment to the locals. In other words you deprive the country a huge opportunity in terms of economic and technical development, therefore this bill would be a huge disservice to the country and its people. 

            This is the twenty first century; the argument that we took oath and swore allegiance towards the United  States Military and United States government is true, the same oath of allegiance that is used for you to become a United States citizen. “In that; you swear to defend the U.S. constitution against enemies foreign or domestic so help me God.”  In this borderless world we worry about one’s allegiance; then let me ask you these questions? Did you ask the NPA’s their allegiance? How about the MILF, MNLF, the ABBU SAYYAF? Did you ask them  their allegiance? These group of people are fighting the government. How about the Chinese Pilipinos, are their allegiance towards China or the Philippines? Surely you are not planning to wage war against the United States of America. That would be a suicide besides you depend on her economically .  I bet you if there would be war between the United States and the Philippines guess who would be the first to leave for a foreign country. So much for your allegiance argument. These Pilipinos who retired from the U.S. military and government service will not de-stabilize the government, they are here to rest, relax, spend their money and help the people.

The name of the game is survival. As a nation we use all kinds of tricks to survive. The world is divided into north and south , though geographically Australia and New Zealand  belongs to the south they are classified as northerners, in words the world is divided into have and have nots. The Philippines though located above the equator technically belongs to the north, politically it belongs to the south by virtue of its poverty. Thanks for the corruption we inherited from the Spanish era to the present.

The WTO “World Trade Organization” is organized by the rich countries to promote and seek markets for their products. It is not organized solely for the benefit of a poor country such as the Philippines. If there are benefits derived from it, it is minimal compared to those of the rich. So if the Philippines wants to get out of  poverty this is the time to implement changes; from the way we think, act and make laws. We have to change our attitudes, instead of whats  in it for me? We asked ourselves of how can we improve  the lives of those poor starving souls that would do anything to survive including thievery, kidnapping, selling drugs and even prostitution. That’s why by including these military retirees and government workers for dual citizenship hopefully will help revive the economy thereby alleviating the above mentioned lawlessness.

Mexico had implemented their dual citizenship program beginning February 2002. Mexicans in all walks of life are going back to Mexico to buy properties, for vacation, or for conducting business. These contributes immensely to their economy. How I wish the Philippines would do the same and not wait to debate about useless rhetoric about  allegiance. People change their minds every day. Dwelling on this word allegiance is nonsense. It will not buy you  a sack of rice, instead it will drag us deeper into the abyss of poverty.

Passing this dual citizenship law to include those who serve in the U.S. military and government will not only enhance your vote during election time but will also create an economy that will rival anyone in Asia.

  Signed
             Art Balayan
             Fresno CA USA
             MSC, USN Retired Arturo C. Balayan3563 N Saratoga aVE

Marylyn Nieves Kagan
 mahlyn@hotmail.com or nievelyn@aol.com

It's a wonderful and great idea. I think people all over the world is loving this as i do. Keep up the good work and service to the community. I sent some announcement,about the first grand reunion of the Dipolog Cathedral Mixed Choir and I hope you will publish it, so that those members that i was'nt able to contact
(unknown address and married names) wpuold be able to see it in your website. Thank you so much for creating this website, and helping us to connect to the people we love.Very good job kiddo.