Wayward aim

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / 8/14/2013 / Daily Tribune

The so-called BangsaMoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) has reportedly sent 20 youthful bombers to terrorize Manila. Bus stations, Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit rides, malls, and any place where masses of people congregate are a probable target. This follows the multiple bombings in Mindanao that have already claimed almost two dozen lives. The BIFF is just one of a myriad of Muslim separatist groups believed to be doing such acts. Of course, these are just the most recent flare-ups in the decades-long war and terror from Islamic separatists, most of which are linked to international terror groups that are, in turn, directly or indirectly inspired, organized, armed and funded by the US and its Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar et al., like what has been happening to Libya and now Syria.

During the time of President Joseph Estrada, he aimed for the final resolution of the Muslim separatist problem by vanquishing the main force of the movement. He succeeded in taking over all major Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps and forced its top leader to flee to Malaysia. That was the first step to final stabilization of the political-military situation in the region. It was, however, a victory that irked the US, an imperial power that wants to ensure its pre-eminence in the country by keeping destabilizing forces alive and active, thus, leading it to help depose Estrada. But even as the US started to coddle the MILF more directly through the so-called peace process, where it had its puppet Philippine presidents give way to the MILF in terms of territories and control, dozens of our soldiers had been ambushed and beheaded over the decade.

The past two weeks, newspaper front pages were filled with reports of initiatives from BS Aquino's government — led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense chief Voltaire Gazmin — inviting "rotating" US forces into Philippine military and naval bases, even moving the Manila-based military facilities to what had been for two decades the commercial hub of Subic, with the "threat" from China as the justification for these moves.

On the civilian side, former US Naval Academy cadet Roilo Golez has been the point man of the anti-China West Philippine Sea Coalition, after taking his cue from Filipino-American Loida Nicolas-Lewis and her Fil-Am gofer Rodel Rodis. To this end, all of them champion the purchase of arms hardware from the West.
To BS Aquino and this group, the chief and implacable enemy of the Philippines today is China, so much so that they will even violate the Constitution to invite foreign US military forces in. These people really think so lowly of the public's level of intelligence that they expect Filipinos to believe their thesis that the Philippines should devote hundreds of millions, if not billions, to prepare for war against China. Well, as Golez said in an interview with Harry Tambuatco on GNN, the Philippines need not worry for it will have "allies" in this war (of course, referring to the US and Japan). We will gladly leave Golez to his wishful thinking; but while his group saber-rattles against China, the fact is Muslim separatist terror bombings are already bombarding Mindanao — threatening the same in Manila.

Without a doubt, the inanity, if not insanity, of these anti-China warmongers knows no bounds. They expect Filipinos to accept their crappy logic that China is the main enemy and that there can be no bilateral dialog with it. Yet, they, along with BS Aquino, are not at all adverse to having such talks, even finalize agreements, with the MILF, which has killed hundreds of Filipinos, beheaded dozens of Filipino soldiers, and would not even meet the Philippine government halfway in negotiations by demanding a 75-percent share of the resources of the territories it claims? To wit, even if there have been diplomatic impasses and tensions, the Chinese government has neither fired one shot nor harmed the hair of one Filipino. Still, Del Rosario will not engage in any dialog with it while and Gazmin, Golez et al. want to prepare for war?

China today employs around 10,000 overseas Filipino workers as hotel staff and entertainers, and others as English teachers. Some are even missionary workers there. China buys billions worth of agricultural goods, such as bananas and coconut products, from the Philippines. It has made every effort to pursue dialog, with its Ambassador Ma Keqing even humbly appealing to the Philippines to meet halfway in negotiations. Yet all that Del Rosario, Gazmin, Golez et al. do is aim their diplomatic, verbal, and other guns at China. Meanwhile, I do not see or hear these characters focusing any attention on the real threats from the BIFF and its ilk, or even from the MILF, which still threatens to secede if its lion's share of Mindanao's wealth is not granted.

This wayward aim of Del Rosario, Gazmin, Golez et al. leads me to suspect that they are in alliance with the terrorists in destabilizing the Philippines to keep it from real economic and national progress.

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