Treachery on all fronts

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
7/30/2007



Treachery in Basilan, but not from the first and usual suspects the government would want the nation to believe. Not the MILF that has denied that it ever sanctions such atrocity and denies its men did it. Not the Abu Sayyaf, a name nothing more than a mask, a costume, a camouflage for elements that commit crimes to create situations for extortion or political crisis in its name. The prime suspect rearing his ugly head in the heinous mutilation is a certain Akbar Wahid, a known asset of shady elements in the military and the feudal-trapo Mindanao politics of the Gloria regime.

“Akbar is their man”, a former mayor of Quezon City and reformed former operator of the Peping Conjuangco in Mindanao politics told us. If they, i.e. Gloria and Esperon, do not go after Wahid as seems to be happening with Gloria’s excuses and delays for the punitive strike, it can confirm that the mutilations were a heinous gimmick of the Gloria regime and its military-intelligence manipulators to create a crisis. What for: Apparently, to fire up popular support for anti-MILF hysteria and war; and deploy posthaste critical Marines divisions to Mindanao, as far away as can be from Manila.

This view of the Basilan massacre also implies that the mutilated Marines could have been led to the ambush deliberately by the bad command decisions that compelled the MILF to attack. This version of what happened in the ambush and mutilation, including the MILF’s timeline of the event and Mindanao NGO power point analysis sent to us, indicate that in the aftermath of the firefight unidentified elements entered the scene to commit the mutilations that the MILF wasn’t aware of. Even the most unlikely columnist to share my view, Tulfo, consider Wahid the top suspect now.

The Basilan treachery is treason of the highest order; but treachery and treason is synonymous to the Gloria regime - from its inception when General Angelo Reyes, indispensable canine of Gloria, abducted a bus load of AFP general and inducted them into the coup saying (and widely reported): “Gentlemen, we are now committing treason.” And treason it is up to this day, through the Operation Greenbase exposed by the Bagong Katipuneros at Oakwood, on to the rape of Garci’s 2004 and Bedol’s Maguindanao elections.

While treachery and treason is being committed in the Mindanao front, the same is happening in the electricity generation front. Last week, the Filipino people were suddenly bombarded by a mainstream media scare campaign, and headlines screamed “power and water shortage” all over. The Inquirer highlighted statements from dubious sources like Gerry Versoza of Benelco, who is also an asset of the Aboitiz, Lopez and WESM power ogres, declaring and justifying the power shortage claiming only 3,000MW IPP capacity could be used and “drought”.

As Nasecore’s Pete Ilagan pointed out and e-mailed data to back up, the Luzon grid has total 12,091.57MW rated capacity and 10,466.02MW dependable capacity from diesel (7%), gas turbine (9%), coal (37%), natural gas (25%), geothermal (8%), wind and hydro (20%) resources. Even if all the hydro plants were to stop the Luzon grid has more than enough to continue supplying full peak demand of around 7,000MW. The real reason behind the “rolling brownouts” is that the coal fired plants cutback on power production to dodge high coal prices, then cut power to consumers using “drought” as a cover.

Coal fired IPPs Pagbilao I & II, Sual I & II, Calaca I & II, Masinloc I & II, and Quezon Power are swindling the public. Coal is in short supply in the world market, China cut back exports for its own needs. Vietnam and Indonesia have raised prices. Instead of delivering their obligated power service to the people the coal power plants just scrimped on coal and power production, paid off the mainstream media to misdirect the public to “drought” as the excuse. Meralco was only too happy to ride along the PR campaign to distract from it own P 1.25/kwh, 20% increase.

The Gloria government is complicit in the national swindle of the coal-IPPs, with mainstream media panicking the people with the “drought” boogieman. God does not sleep and a day after the blatant “drought” tall tale it rained heavily and several days thereafter to belie the “drought” reports. So, dear readers, the Meralco “automatic cost recovery”, the coal-IPPs drought hoax and coal -electricity shortage swindle, should rest our case against the corporatocracy – onerous bane and not boon; with their handmaiden Gloria the monumental swindle goes on.

Today’s last treachery story is “civil society’s” “Forum on Democratic Politics for Public Education Reform” last Friday – funded by bankrupt US power company Mirant that helped engineer Edsa Dos, bagged the biggest IPP and sucked out $ 10-B PPA from hapless Filipino power consumers. Chaired by power privatizer Butch Abad, graced by Ayala gofer Vicky Garchitorena, emceed by Leah Navarro; opening remarks by Mirant Foundation chief parasite Roberto Calingo. Bertie Lim texted Linggoy Alcuaz, “What’s Herman Laurel’s problem?”

My problem is Mirant Foundation’s honoraria to “civil society” organizers of the forum are from treachery on power consumers, while the forum misinforms the public about Mirant’s false advocacy for democracy. Nations revolt against treason, the Constitution metes death to traitors. Next: Meralco-Ateneo real estate swindle of power consumers.

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