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.

(Tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; watch GNN Destiny Cable Channel 8, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on "Hocus PCOS, final verdict" with Ado Paglinawan, former Comelec IT expert Ernie del Rosario, and whistleblower-lawyer Melchor Magdamo; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0923-4095739)

A-piece-ment miffs BIFF

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / 8/12/2013 / Daily Tribune

The so-called BangsaMoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) are reported to be miffed over the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)'s monopolization of all the pieces of the Mindanao pie from BS Aquino III's policy of "a-piece-ment," i.e. for being left out of the loot. But can we be sure that this is the real reason for the BIFF'S beef with the rest of Philippine society, so much so that this alleged breakaway group has now been rocking innocents to their core with its improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The personalities behind this "rebel terror" group, as well as their real identities and motives, are as a myriad and labyrinthine as the international networks of al-Qaeda, which US intelligence services organized (and continue to utilize) for terror destabilizations and destructions all over the world — from Libya to Syria, and to our very own Mindanao. Last I heard from a most competent source, the Uighur al-Qaeda branch is already in Central Mindanao.

The nerve wracking IED bombings in Mindanao should compel all Filipinos to rethink government's approach to the Islamic separatist problem — the same used by Fidel Ramos, then adopted by Gloria Arroyo and, now, BS Aquino III — which can be summed up as "a-piece-ment," that is, to give way to rebel demands and parcel away, piece-by-piece, more and more of Mindanao and its rich resources to these separatist groups. And as this happens, Malaysian and US-British sponsors of these "a-piece-ment" talks wait in the wings to get control of these resources as they always have, as in the case of their tyrant-run client states in the Middle East. This "a-piece-ment" strategy was disrupted briefly by President Joseph Estrada's "only one flag" policy that led to the bulldozing these separatists' claimed camps and headquarters.

Back then, Estrada already had the MILF on the run, with its leader fleeing to the bosom of Malaysia to ponder the end of his separatist and tribal ambitions — but not before he thought of writing to the great imperialist infidel, George "Dubya" Bush, in meek supplication to lift his defeated force. Thus, on the wings of the great eagle, the MILF was lifted back to life while Estrada was deposed by a conspiracy of US-backed corrupt military putschists and "civil socialites" that paved the way for the decades-long "a-piece-ment" negotiations and, now, the final 75/25 percent slicing of those parts of Mindanao and the Sulu Sea in favor of the MILF. Other groups understandably cried foul — most notably the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) for the treacherous terms over North Borneo (Sabah) and other aspects of the deal. Thus, the MNLF has threatened a new war over these issues.
Security expert Rommel Banlaoi informs us that there are even more groups — most likely Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)-linked al-Qaeda — that may be considered suspect in the bombings.

In my interview with Banlaoi, cut short by the arrival of the station crew from Solar News, I was being shown documents pointing to another group that read like "Indama," although I could not be sure because of the rush. For sure, future discussions and analyses with Banlaoi will be reported in this space. What is incontrovertible about the situation in Mindanao is that after President Estrada's policy of "one country, one flag" was dismembered by the succeeding Edsa II governments of Arroyo and BS Aquino, separatist-terror now seems to proliferate, with Malacañang having no alternative policy to its "a-piece-ment."

Whatever defense policy emanating from Malacañang these days only centers on a build-up of weaponry in relation to the China-Vietnam-Philippine maritime territorial disputes. US navy cutters are bought with Malampaya funds to defend the seas but are immediately brought to the repair docks, while attack helicopters are on the purchase orders, etc. But the West Philippines Sea, or South China Sea, or what others now call the Asean Sea, is all acoustic and no war—while a real war with IED terror and savage BIFF-MILF renegades and other paramilitary forces is raging. Is Malacañang going to send the rickety BRP Ramon Alcaraz to Cotabato or Cagayan to Oro to hunt down the terrorists? Wouldn't the hundreds of millions for weaponry be better spent for intel to wipe out such separatist terror forces first?

The territorial waters issue with other claimants is better resolved through honest interaction and dialog, as we have seen in the resolution of the imbroglio with Taiwan. Manila-Taipei relations have normalized with the objective National Bureau of Investigation investigators releasing their findings and recommending the appropriate filing of charges against erring Philippine Coast Guard members. The saber-rattling of the past could not have produced any good. Now, thousands of overseas Filipino workers are able to leave purgatory and go on with their productive employment in Taiwan (where the minimum wage is around P28,000 a month).

The same beneficial results would definitely arise from a dialog on RP's West Philippine Sea claims with China, especially with Ambassador Ma Kequing's call for both sides to "meet halfway." But what's keeping productive peace with Asian neighbors from being actualized? It's clearly Malacañang's fear of the US and some quarters profiting from RP arms purchases.

Lessons must be learned: "A-piece-ment" in Mindanao is a failure; a comprehensive national security strategy is needed to define priorities; and the free reign of separatist terror groups must be eliminated as Estrada did by shifting national focus to that through a quick resolution of disputes with China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and other claimants by sharing in the disputed territories' economic benefits while agreeing to disagree peacefully over sovereignty issues.

(Tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; watch GNN Destiny Cable Channel 8, Saturday, 8 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on "Mindanao or WPS: Security priority"; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0923-4095739)

Changes

DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / 8/7/2013 / Daily Tribune

There is an air of change wafting through Metro Manila these days. It can be sensed in several spheres of Filipino life at the heart of this nation. What is bringing this about is probably the onset of the search for alternatives by the Filipino people, who have patiently lived under the post-1986 ruling powers' promises of heaven-and-earth but got the opposite, coupled with the emergence of the Edsa III consciousness among the displaced middle class out of the decades-long decay in their economic and social standing. This Edsa III awareness may not be wholly understood by the middle classes themselves but is signified by the outstanding comeback of President-Mayor Joseph Estrada, especially after his recent impact clean-up and traffic easing projects in the City of Manila.

In the media community, too, this air of change is being reflected in the many new "kapihans" emerging in the metropolis, challenging the old, tired media breakfast and coffee klatches that began in the 80s and 90s that have overextended their natural lives, surviving only for the sponsorships that the state gaming bodies and a few other government financial and social institutions provide. Among these new and exciting "kapihans" that have sprouted is the Aristocrat Kapihan every Monday morning (in the historic Aristocrat on Roxas Boulevard, naturally) organized by veteran mediaman Melo Acuña of Radio Veritas; another is the Mabuhay Forum at the Mabuhay Resto fronting the demolished Army Navy Club, every Tuesday, by former press club prexy Fred Gabot and Fil-Am Gawad Kalinga leader, lawyer Rose Cabrera.
These two new media kapihans are both fresh and energizing, oxygenated by the breeze of Manila Bay and far from the smog of Mabini, M.H. Del Pilar, Ortigas, Greenhills, Morato, etc.

The organizers also offer new media presence as Melo Acuña brings in the foreign correspondents from Focap (Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines) as well as members of the diplomatic corps (as in the last forum on Philippine-China issues with a Bloomberg correspondent and Mr. Cang Hoang Nghia of the Vietnamese Embassy present), which is also the case with the group of Ricky Sunga and Fred Gabot, the latter of whom networks events at the Mabuhay Forum with a chain of Filipino-American newspapers in the different US states that he is connected with.

There is another forum I almost forgot — the Bayleaf Media Forum with Greggy Licaros and Jonathan de la Cruz, which we'll have more of in future columns.
From such gatherings I have mentioned, I noted significant changes in the perspectives of media that would reflect changes in the public's mind on major issues as well.

In the Aristocrat Kapihan on the issue of the West Philippine Sea with Sen. Leticia Shahani, Chito Sta. Romana, Jay Bataongbacal of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea of the UP Law Center, and Richard Javad Heydarian of the Ateneo, both resource persons as well as the audience manifested the dominant view that "bilateral" talks between the Philippines and China is the practical and almost inevitable conclusion, even if the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea case filed by RP prospers in the long run. That was also the point of Tess Villapando, a Church lay media worker.

The Mabuhay Forum, organized under the auspices of the Manila City Hall Press Club and established in the 50s, is, we are told by Fred Gabot, the forerunner of the National Press Club by three or four years. The last topic of discussion there that I attended was the Botong Francisco painting pull-out from city hall for the purpose of restoration but without the proper documentation. Previous to this was the discussion on Mayor Estrada's action to free Manila's major streets from traffic jams, with the removal of "colorum" and unauthorized buses. The next issues will likely be the Manila Bay reclamation project and the proposed privatization of public parking slots. Be that as it may, media covering the Manila beat sense a new openness, transparency and decisiveness at city hall today.

Over and above all these, however, is the most startling change in the mood and perspective of the nation now reflected in social networking sites. This change I would reiterate I trace to the premise I stated above — the failure of the Edsa I promises and the outstanding example presented by the alternative leadership that Joseph Estrada represents and has exhibited. A screenshot of ABS-CBN News' Facebook page shows various endless threads that say, "I remember her (Cory) as someone who contributed to the misery of the Filipino people; an oligarch doormat who doomed the Filipinos to poverty … May she burn in hell — if it existed; the one who put the Philippines to its greatest misery. She gave… ABiaS-CBN and… other companies back to the Lopezes without anything in return…"

Indeed, the truth shall set us free.

(Tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; watch GNN Destiny Cable Channel 8, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on a "Collage of anti-war documentaries"; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0923-4095739)