Why hide the Melo Commission report?

spy says: “In Gen Palparan’s case, he organized a special ops group composed of officers and soldier mainly from 24IB wherein he was the former battalion commander. The mission is abduction and liquidation.”

spy, paki-clarify lang kung kailan ang sinasabi mong period naging battalion commander si gen palparan when he organized special ops group whose main msiion is ABDUCTION AND LIQUIDATION. paki lang.

Lt. Col. Ariel Querubin, Philippine Marine Corps

MUSINGS

Ronald Roy

02/16/2007
It was Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself who pinned the Medal For Valor, more popularly known as Medal of Valor (MoV), on Lt. Col. Ariel Querubin of the Philippine Marine Corps. She was so proud of him, always addressing him “my hero” and, with a ring of fondness, called him by his first name every time they met. In fact, she never failed to abide by the tradition of saluting first a soldier if he was an MoV awardee. For your information, a soldier always salutes the President first, per force of law. The only exception is if the soldier is an MoV recipient, in which case the Commander-in-Chief is the first to salute, per force of tradition.

In the entire history of Philippine soldiery, Ariel Querubin became one of only a handful of MoV awardees. He officially received this recognition for acts of conspicuous courage, gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer, Marine Battalion Landing Team-1, Philippine Marine Corps, Philippine Navy during a 24-hour firefight against an estimated 800 fully armed men belonging to the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front at Barangay Inudaran, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte from March 18 to 19, 2000.

Tasked to capture the formidable MILF Camp John Mack (Abdullatef), Headquarters of the 303rd Brigade, 3rd Field Division of the MILF, commanded by the notorious Abdul Rahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, Ariel Querubin spearheaded the 1st MBLT composed of 117 officers and men in this hazardous mission against the enemy, superior in numbers, with a familiarity with the terrain, and believed responsible for the spate of bombings in Central Mindanao and the siege of, and hostage-taking at, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. On or about 181815H March 2000, while en route to their objective, he and his men were subjected to heavy volume of fire by rebels from their well-entrenched dugouts, bunkers and trenches.

Unable to maneuver due to darkness and intense devastating fire from both heavy and light machine guns, B-40 rockets, mortar and snipers, he nevertheless ordered his men to hold the line and directed the Special Operations Squad to close in on the enemy camp and pinpoint its location to the Marines’ battalion artillery supporting flanks, and the V-300 and V-150 armored vehicles to dislodge the enemy from their heavily fortified bunkers.

Unmindful of his own safety, Ariel Querubin continuously moved from one forward position to another, thus drawing enemy fire to his own location, purposely to pinpoint enemy targets for their artillery support flanks. The battle, which had raged continuously until the following day, did not deter him from rallying his men in repulsing wave after wave of enemy reinforcements and unrelenting assaults in their attempt to encircle his unit.

Despite dwindling ammunition and increasing casualties on their side, Colonel Querubin never lost his aggressive spirit as he continued to move around while urging and inspiring his men, including the wounded, to continue holding their ground. Bunker to bunker, he personally led the assault until the enemy’s line of defense started to crumble. Under his inspiring leadership, his men fought ferociously, forcing the enemy’s last line of defense to collapse and sending them scampering in different directions, along with their dead and wounded, and leaving behind their vaunted rocket launchers and high-powered firearms, as well as documents of high intelligence value.

The capture of Camp John Mack resulted in the neutralization of the MILF’s most strategic staging area for operations and, more importantly, liberated the residents along the coastal municipalities of Lanao del Norte from the oppressive MILF revolutionary tax collection estimated at P38 million annually. By this gallant deed, Col. Ariel Querubin distinguished himself in combat in the finest tradition of Filipino soldiery.
The foregoing narration is based on the official files of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

But then, times have changed. Mrs. Arroyo now views him as an “enemy of the State” because he has become a threat to her political and personal survival. She egotistically imagines herself as the personification of the State, even if she is but a speck, like a kutong lupa, of the body politic who rules with a purloined mandate. The reward system has been perverted, because rewards are now given to those who kowtow to the whims of the repressive tyrant, while those fully deserving of all the honors accorded by law for their bravery, gallantry and intrepidity, above and beyond the call of duty, are denied those honors.

Ariel Querubin is one such military rara avis who continues to languish in his undeserved confinement — he who almost perished for love of country with a bullet ripping through his pancreas, intestines and liver — and who, left for dead, most certainly would have been a goner if his left hand with a PMA bullring had not twinged in the morgue — he whose every request must await approval by high authority, such as for a priest or a medical specialist, the emergency’s nature notwithstanding — and he whose seven children often complain to their lovely mother, “Mommy, when will Daddy start coming home at least for breakfast? And why don’t some of our classmates want to play with us anymore?”

And the eyes of “Pong,” to whom Ariel is “Babes,” can only well with tears, not knowing when they can be one happy family again, and not knowing if her Babes will ever joyously see the dawn of freedom, for which he says he has been trained to offer his life. And the most degrading part of his story is, of course: To this day, his trial remains indefinitely suspended because, per records of the pre-trial investigation, the investigators refuse to change their finding, despite tremendous pressure, that there is no probable cause against Colonel Querubin and other co-accused. There are other detainees, MoV or not, with similar gut-wrenching stories. It is so unfair to all of them, their families and the country they love.

Five percent of the entire Armed Forces of the Philippines, i.e., from the lowest-ranked foot soldier to the Chief of Staff, are said to be under GMA’s evil money spell. The rest, out of fear, just can’t get organized to bring down her evil regime. In a real sense, therefore, the 93 percent of the AFP are under her voodoo spell, with the remaining 2 percent are fence-sitters. And yet, there seems to be nothing much to hope for, what with GMA’s dirty tricks already in full swing at the start of the campaign.

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nagtatayuan pati balahibo ko sa ilong nang mabasa ko ang write up na ito ng kabayanihan ni col querubin. gusto kong umiyak. gusto kong durugin sa suntok kung maaari lang ang konkretong dingding ng aking opisina sa nadaramang galit sa pisting yawang buang na piking prisidinti.

yaaaaaahhhhh! ahhhhh! bayan ko, bakit? #@$%$^&*%$#@!

boom tarat tarat. kasalukuyang sikat na novelty song na bagamat napakababaw ng mensahe ay kinaaaliwan ng balanang humahanap ng pagbabalingan ng atensiyon upang kahit sandali’y malimutan ang pagkalam ng sikmurang (maaaring) bihira nang malamanan ng pagkain dulot ng pagdarahop at kawalan ng hanapbuhay at umaasang sa pagpila sa programang wowowee ay makakasumpong ng iglap na kayamanan. kasabay sa pag-indak sa tugtuging ito ay ang pagkalimot sa katotohanang hindi lahat ay magkakatulad ang kapalaran. subalit, hindi bale na, basta’t puno ng saya, limot na rin ang problema.

at ganito rin ang laman ng mga bahaw na ulo ng mga kaalyado ng huwad at mandarayang magnanakaw na nagpupumilit maging pangulo ng bansa gayung salat sa kakayahan at walang karapatang mamalagi kahit isang saglit sa loob ng malakanyang. iniisip nilang dahil sa kasikatan ng naturang awitin ay matatabunan nito ang katotohanang sila ang promotor ng nabuwag na pagpupursigeng maisulong nang panakaw ang cha cha na magbubuwag sa mataas na kapulungan ng kongreso tungo sa habambuhay na pananatili sa kapangyarihan ng angkan ng mga gahaman . tila nakakalimutang sa bawat pagharap nila (lalo na ang mga sipsip na bunye, ermita, defensor, claudio, gonzalez at gonzales) sa taong bayan ay parang multong nagbabangon sa kinahihimlayan ang mga katiwaliang kanilang kinasasangkutan na siyang dahilan ng pagtatagal sa poder ng walang kahihiyang babaeng baliw na mukhang daga sa malakanyang na nagsusumiksik sa kanyang umaalingasaw na lungga.

sino ba ang makakalimot sa iskandalo’t pandarayang tinutukoy sa “hello garci”? sino ang makakalimot sa mga kautusang sumusupil sa karapatan ng bawat isang sandaling namayani sa katulad na pagkakataon noong isang taon, ang pagpapairal ng state of emergency dahil kuno sa pagtatangkang agawin ang kapangyarihan na siyang pinagdurusahan ng mga tunay na magigiting na opisyal ng hukbong sumasalungat sa bulok na pamamalakad? paanong mawawaglit sa gunita ng bawat isang mamamayan kung paano bombahin ng mataas na presyon ng tubig at animo’y hayup na habulin at hinahalibas ng hataw ang mga taong naglalabas lamang ng kanilang mga karaingan laban sa pang-aabuso ng abusadong huwad na pangulo at kanyang mga nakaunipormeng tulisan?

napakaikli ng memoryang magsasadlak sa kanila sa mabahong pusalian kung saan sila nababagay!