Kidapawan City, June 11 - North Cotabato Vice Governor Manny Piñol lamented the death of provincial security guard Jake Rosales who lost his life defending the provincial jail against Moro Islamic Liberation Front attackers early dawn today.

Rosales was hit in the head by a sniper’s bullet as he and other jail guards, augmented by elements of the Provincial Police Mobile Group, were fending off the armed assault of some 50 armed MILF rebels who were trying to free a high profile prisoner allied with their group.

As the French team leading the investigation into the Air France Flight 447 crash works through the multitude of likely and less likely disaster scenarios - from the repercussions of stormy conditions to an act of terrorism - perhaps among the most difficult to assess will be possible flight computer malfunctions. Air France CEO Pierre-Henry Gourgeon noted on Monday that immediately preceding AF447's disappearance, automatic messages sent by the plane indicated "multiple technical failures." As details emerge regarding these messages, experts will struggle to understand whether they were the inevitable result of the plane's breaking up or indicators of the failures that led to the accident. (Read "What Brought Down Air France Flight 447?")

Living in a place where the barrier between Christians and Muslims is very visible and knowing that it has been existing for years, I had reason to believe that it will take a very long time to break the walls that divide these groups.

Until one Wednesday afternoon, two young Muslim girls were invited by Vice Governor Manny Piñol to sing a song to the listeners of his radio program, Vice Gob Manny ug ang mga Panday sa Balaud.

Local military intelligence officials have informed North Cotabato Vice Governor Manny Piñol of intensified threats against his life, saying recent reports they have gathered now indicate foreign participation in plots to eliminate him.

“These military intelligence reports say that elements of the Jema’ah Islamiah are already involved in these plots to kill me, and the use of suicide bombers to carry out the plan is a possibility,” Vice Gov. Piñol said.