War on IS-linked Maute gaining steam — police
Wide-scale military and police operations against the identified terrorist Islamic State-inspired Maute group operating in Maguindanao and nearby provinces continued to gain ground, forcing an operative to yield at the adjoining province of Lanao del Sur.
Manila Standard

PEACETALK: Mechanisms of policy formulation to address concerns on Violent extremism
Understanding that any program or policy that would require action to prevent and counter violent extremism (PCVE) would require policy and legislative formulation.
Mindanews

MARAWI

Del Rosario to Ground Zero contractors: “sa Marawi projects, walang SOP”
Local contractors have been asked to take part in the rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in Marawi City’s Ground Zero but the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) warned them against overpricing as there is no need to give grease money to government personnel.
Mindanews

TOR for Marawi rehab projects will be “Design and Build”
The terms of reference for the Marawi rehabilitation projects will be “design and build,” the National Housing Authority (NHA), the implementing agency said, raising concerns from local contractors.
Mindanews

Breaking deadlines, breaking ground in Marawi’s battleground
The much-delayed groundbreaking rites to signal the start of rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Ground Zero, the main battleground during the five-month siege last year, finally happened on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, a year and 13 days after President Rodrigo Duterte declared the country’s lone Islamic city “liberated from the terrorist influence that marks the beginning of rehabilitation for the people.”
Mindanews

Marawi’s Ground Zero residents can start rebuilding homes by “middle of 2020”
Residents in the 24 barangays across the 250-hectare Ground Zero, the battleground between government forces and the Islamic State-inspired Maute Group and its allies last year, will be able to return home “middle of 2020,” the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) said.
Mindanews

Y-Speak: Scars from the battleground
A POST from a friend caught my attention while I was browsing online. It states depression and expresses great anger towards the world. Her last line meant suicide. And that was the saddest word I read that day because of the realization that while other people are fighting for their life some want to end it.
Sunstar Davao

SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE WORLD      

U.S. Law Enforcement Failed to See the Threat of White Nationalism. Now They Don’t Know How to Stop It.
For two decades, domestic counterterrorism strategy has ignored the rising danger of far-right extremism. In the atmosphere of willful indifference, a virulent movement has grown and metastasized.
New York Times

IS attack on Christian pilgrims in Egypt kills 7, wounds 19
Islamic militants on Friday ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing seven and wounding 19, according to the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Interior Ministry.
Philippine Daily Inquirer 

Growing narco terrorism
Narcotics smuggling has been the main funding source for the terrorists to carry forward their missions across the globe. This has been a flourishing business whether it is in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab or in the north east where army is more involved in destroying the clandestine cultivation of poppy to fund the terrorists.
State Times (India)

Surveillance state: NSW intensifies citizen tracking
NSW police and crime agencies are preparing to use a new national facial recognition system to rapidly match pictures of people captured on CCTV with their driver’s licence photo, to detect criminals and identity theft.
Sydney Morning Herald

Xinjiang vocational training centers: Tackling extremism with education and job opportunities
Memetali Memetmin opened his grill in Hotan over 20 years ago, but business wasn't always booming. A couple of years ago, the city was one of China's worst-hit targets for terrorism.  "I was terrified and nervous doing business back then. Thanks to the government, security is a lot better now, [and] so is my business," said Memetmin. 
CGTN

Forced Re-education Of Muslims In China
In October 2018, several news outlets reported that Muslims in China were being detained for re-education purposes. The reports suggested that China was participating in the practice of forced conversion whereby Muslims, among other things, are forced to “eat pork and drink alcohol.” Activities that, in fact, have nothing to do with education.
Forbes

Religious child centres in Egypt breed extremism
Young children are supposedly taught at the centres to depend on heritage as defined by Salafist teaching and to avoid critical thinking.
The Arab Weekly
 

BANGSAMORO ORGANIC LAW

Peace stakeholders craft vision for Bangsamoro gov’t
Peace stakeholders outside the proposed territory envision a Bangsamoro government that will “shun corruption and patronage politics” to spring the region out of poverty.
Mindanews

Robredo reiterates support for BOL
Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo has reiterated the importance of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) in bringing peace and development to Mindanao. The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which was renamed BOL (BOL), creates the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Manila Bulletin

'Breakaway' MNLF group backs BOL
A faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which emerged in the wake of an ouster move against Moro leader Nur Misuari as MNLF chairman a few years back, has thrown its support to the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
Philippine News Agency

BIAF 5th Brigade, Expeditionary Mission Inner Guard Command holds General Assembly
The 5th Brigade, Expeditionary Mission Inner Guard Command, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces -Moro Islamic Liberation Front (BIAF-MILF) held a general assembly with the theme “Strengthening Unity and Solidarity towards Peace and Development’’.
Luwaran

MAGUINDANAO AND COTABATO CITY

LANAO PROVINCES

BASILAN

SULU 

Four Abu Sayyaf suspects in kidnap of 7-year-old girl arrested in Sulu
Four suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group who abducted a seven-year-old daughter of a businessman in Tawi-Tawi were arrested in an entrapment operation in Jolo, Sulu, a local police official said onSaturday.
Manila Bulletin

TAWI-TAWI 

DRUGS

Operations/ Incidents

6 fall in Quezon buy-busts
Six suspected peddlers of “shabu” (crystal meth) and marijuana (cannabis sativa) including a minor were nabbed in separate buy-bust operations in Lucena City, Tiaong and Candelaria towns in Quezon province on Friday and Saturday, police said.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Drug-crazed man kills 6-year-old nephew in Bacolod
A man, who claimed to be under the influence of drugs, stabbed to death his six-year-old nephew at their residence in Purok Sigay, Barangay Singcang-Airport here around midnight on Friday.
Philippine News Agency

Illegal drugs suspect yields ‘shabu’, grenade
Joint police and military personnel arrested a suspected drug peddler during a law enforcement operation in the Maguindanao town of Buldon on Friday morning.
Philippine News Agency

2 nabbed, 400K ‘shabu’ seized in Zamboanga
Police arrested two people and seized more than PHP400,000 worth of illegal drugs and a firearm in an anti-drug operation in this city, an official announced Saturday.
Philippine News Agency

14 arrested in NegOcc drug busts
A total of 14 suspects were arrested in various anti-drug operations in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, in the past three days, police reports showed.
Philippine News Agency

PDEA drug test on PUV drivers yields 1 'user'
A public utility vehicle (PUV) driver here has tested positive for illegal drug use, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM) said Saturday.
Philippine News Agency

Gun-for-hire suspect dead in buy-bust in Laguna
An alleged member of a gun-for-hire syndicate was killed in a police operation in this city before noon on Saturday. Supt. Giovannie Martinez, city police chief, said the slain suspect Rodolfo Mayorca, 39, was the target of a buy-bust operation in the suspect’s home in Barangay (village) San Antonio around 11:40 a.m.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Recovery and Rehabilitation  

ILLICIT FIREARMS, EXPLOSIVES AND AMMUNITION

CROSS-BORDER TRADING/ SMUGGLING  

HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

SCAM 

Palace on Duterte’s remarks on saints: Just a joke, ‘not a religious slight’
Malacañang on Saturday said President Rodrigo Duterte's statements about saints were said in jest and were not meant to offend Catholics. This, after Duterte made a mockery of the Catholic tradition of honoring saints, saying they are “gago” (fools) and “lasenggo” (drunk).
ABS-CBN News, GMA News

Bong Go still assists Duterte after resignation but in ‘private capacity, without pay’
Former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go downplayed the criticisms of netizens for accompanying President Duterte even if he is already resigned.
Manila Bulletin

Too early to compare Duterte and Bolsonaro
THE comparisons between President Rodrigo Duterte and Brazil’s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro was “understandable,” given that both “are populist leaders who came to power because of their respective peoples’ desire for formidable and decisive leadership,” a Palace official said.
The Manila Times

-----------

DISASTER

'Rosita'-affected families rise to 60.3K
The number of families affected by Typhoon Rosita in 1,360 barangays in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas and Cordillera regions has climbed to 60,360, or about 229,846 persons, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported Friday.
Philippine News Agency

Piñol explains absence, clarifies Duterte scolding
Malacañang had prior knowledge of his absence at a command conference with President Duterte on Thursday in typhoon-ravaged Isabela, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said yesterday, as he denied getting scolded by the Chief Executive for missing the emergency meeting.
Philippine Star

MINDANAO

ELECTION RELATED

Comelec not yet keen on using electronic vote counting system
The Comission on Elections (Comelec) is not keen on using the direct-recording electronic (DRE) system for the country’s elections for now. The proposal stemmed from a Senate Bill 2003 filed by Senator Richard Gordon, who seeks to mandate the use of DRE for national and local polls to make vote counting and results tabulation faster.
Manila Bulletin

Robredo confident ongoing PET recount in her favor, ‘nothing to worry about’
Vice President Leni Robredo is confident with the final results of the vice presidential recount of votes by the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. Robredo, who is facing an electoral protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said she has nothing to worry about the results of the ongoing manual recount.
Manila Bulletin

Election-related Violence

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

JUDICIARY

LEGISLATIVE

Sotto says Honasan to leave Senate for DICT
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a radio interview on Saturday, November 3, that Senator Gregorio Honasan II may be leaving the Senate to head the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Rappler

Solon optimistic that Anti-Political Dynasty bill can be passed in 17th Congress
The chairman of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms has expressed optimism that the Anti-Political Dynasty bill can be passed in the 17th Congress.
Manila Bulletin

Senate to tackle bill abolishing redundant gov’t agencies in January
The Senate is eyeing to pass by January next year the bill which seeks to reorganize and abolish redundant or irrelevant agencies in government.
Manila Bulletin

House panel OKs bill seeking to rename, strengthen the National Museum
The House committee on ways and means, chaired by Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, has approved the tax provision of a bill seeking to rename the National Museum as the “National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) ”.
Manila Bulletin, ABS-CBN News

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs)

DEFENSE AND SECURITY

ECONOMY AND INVESTMENTS

Gov’t drums up PH growth outlook in HK, US
The Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) have drummed up the Philippines’ robust growth outlook before the institutional investors during a series of one-on-one meetings in Hong Kong and the United States last month.
Manila Bulletin

Trade deficit likely to swell to record highs until 2020
Barcelona-based think tank FocusEconomics expects the Philippines to continue to book record trade deficits over the next two years as imports growth continues to outpace exports.
Philippine Star

Exporters unaffected by US-China trade war
The ongoing trade war between the US and China  barely made a dent on operations of members of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport).
Philippine Star

Think tank sees slower 5.8% GDP growth in Q3
London-based Capital Economics expects Philippine economic growth to have slowed down to 5.8 percent in the third quarter as rising inflation likely eroded the spending power of consumers.
Philippine Star

BUILD, BUILD, BUILD

OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

GRAFT AND CORRUPTION

FOREIGN RELATIONS  

West Philippine Sea

LABOR

TRANSPORTATION

More business professionals prefer carpooling
Despite previous setbacks like The Land Transportation and Franchising Office (LTFRB) telling them to “cease and desist immediately” last year, German-based carpool app Wunder continues to operate in the Philippines (Manila and Cebu to be specific).
The Manila Times

HEALTH 

Ubial given more time to respond to Dengvaxia raps
Former Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial has been given more time to respond the complaint filed against her concerning her liability in the deaths of children who received shots of the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.
Manila Bulletin

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

SEARCA pushes nutrition-sensitive agriculture in PH
To help address malnutrition that is affecting about 15 million to 26 million Filipinos, an international conference on nutrition-sensitive agriculture will be held in the Philippines to help boost vitamins and minerals-rich food production.
Manila Bulletin

First steps in building consensus for a new rice sector road map
Rising inflation had been very much in the news lately, with a marked increase in the retail price of rice often cited as one of the major culprits. Indeed, our rice sector has a long way to go to produce enough to meet our national requirement at a cost competitive with imports.
Manila Bulletin

EDUCATION

Breaking down challenges in literacy
“By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.” This is the fourth Sustainable Development Goal the country needs to achieve in the next 12 years, along with every member country of the United Nations.It is one of the many global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly back in 2015 to address global challenges. The goal is to leave no one behind.
Manila Bulletin

ENERGY

POVERTY

HOUSING

TOURISM

DOT eyes farm, eco-tourism for inclusive, sustainable dev't
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is setting its sights on the development of farm and eco-tourism sites in the region to provide income for small farmers and Indigenous Peoples (IP).
Philippine News Agency

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

Unfair imposition
The House Committee on Ways and Means has reportedly approved a substitute bill imposing a one to five percent royalty on the margins of mining companies outside designated mineral reservations, and a three percent royalty based on gross output for those inside these areas.
Philippine Star

COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Let telcos share towers to boost Internet connectivity – solon
Deputy Minority Leader and Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said Saturday that “shared wireless communications towers” would help boost Internet connectivity all over the country.
Manila Bulletin

Facebook hackers sell private messages from 81,000 accounts
Private messages from at least 81,000 hacked Facebook accounts are being sold, according to a BBC report published on Friday, November 2. According to the BBC, the breach first came to light when a post on an English-language forum advertised the sale of the details of 120 million Facebook accounts.
Rappler

DEVELOPMENT SECTOR