Last Saturday, Al Haj Murad Ibrahim,chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Central Committee, held a press conference in Camp Darapanan, part of what they consider their Bangsamoro homeland. Murad reiterated the MILF’s position that the MOA-AD is a done deal and suggested that Comanders Ombra kato and Bravo are not subject to Philippine laws because they are a revolutionary government.
For the complete MILF report on the presscon, click to:http://www.luwaran.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=862
Excerpts:
MILF position is firm
As we had said and manifested in the press and official statement I had earlier read, the MILF position is firm. “As far as we are concerned, the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA – AD) is a final document, a done deal.”
The MILF cannot allow renegotiation on the MOA – AD, which took both the MILF – GRP Peace Negotiating Panels four years and eight months to discuss and initialed through the superb facilitation of the Malaysian government.
Sad incidents
What had happened in Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato are very unfortunate. The MILF expressed sadness to what had happened. We do feel that it should not have happened in the first place. The incidents were triggered by the frustrations and outraged of our commanders on the peace process in the wake of the aborted signing of the MOA – AD.
Strict laws and regulations
As a revolutionary organization, the MILF has its own laws and regulations as well as strict policies. Attacking civilians, destroying properties and violating human rights are totally in violation of the MILF internal laws and policies. Whoever is guilty of violation will be dealt with accordingly. The MILF is not a terrorist organization but a liberation front with clear ideology and political agenda.
That Murad was able to hold a press conference attended by local and foreign journalists in their camp shows that they really have control of certain parts of Philippine territory.
It’s a reality that the government, especially the future government (pabayaan na natin yan si GMA. Peace with our Muslim brothers will not happen under her term) will have to consider in finding peace in Mindanao.
This will be a bad precedent, now all revolutionary organizations can look forward to getting a piece of the country in the future. I wonder what part the NPA will ask for?
We should be concerned with the Ramadan when it comes. This is the period where the Muslims are willing to die and become martyrs. The government will be committing a big mistake if it attacks these Muslims during Ramadan.
sila-sila mismo, hindi malaman kung ano ba talaga!
tama lang, kasi puro naman kasinungalingan mga lumalabas sa bibig nila.
yeah? let’s see what they’re going to do.
if execute bravo, kato, and the rest of the field commanders who attacked the civilian populace, are executed in accordance with shari’ah law, i will then believe the MILF leadership.
if they give them anything tantamount to a slap on the wrist, i will agree with those who condemn the MILF as a terrorist organization.
To may beloved muslim brothers and Sister,
I think the MILF there in our country is justifying the barbaric actions of their so-called mujahiddin fighters who idolizes the atrocities made by radicals in middle east. Isn’t it that they are washing their hands after they have made the brutality and displacements of many civilains? That is why since then i didn’t want this group’s advocacy.
What would be our future if these MILF leaders got what they wants in mindanao? To twist the minds of our illiterate fellows? Don’t you see the ARMM leaders? Did they brought peace in mindanao after how many years until now since the MNLF uprises against the goverment for same reason? I’m afraid that this could happen again and again if people there were mostly uneducated because of “WAR”. Muslim to MUslim and Christian against Christians either.
Those former MNLF leaders, where are they now? Isn’t it that they were mostly congressmen, governors and mayors? Did they brought peace and progress in their hometowns- just like their advocacies when they were in the mountains.
These would be the most likely things that these MILF leaders and those mischievous politicians wants in the future-for FOR THEIR OWN PERSONNEL INTERESTS ONLY”…
God Bless Mindanao!!!
Salam
under the general principle of retaliation or “an eye for an eye”, under the sharia law, the aggrieve parties of a murder victim has the right to demand death or execution of the convicted murderer. another option would be compensation or “blood money”(instead of retribution.)
now the acts of bravo were not provoked. the killings of the unarmed civilians were clearly not the way of peace. this is murder. and murder it is. and there’s no other way to call it. yet he has gotten away years before. will he get away with murder this time around?
clearly a murderer and a terrorist. bravo is. will there be a court with enough balls to convict this bandit? will the milf or the afp ever try to catch him once and for all?
and better yet jail the mastermind behind bravo…
langhab,
They have to, they must. Otherwise its so difficult to comprehend why this government has put our MEDAL OF VALOR recipients in jail until now…and let these murderers run free…
Jug is right. Col. Ariel Querubin, who is in detention because he refused to be Arroyo’s election cheating operator, earned his Medal of Valor fighting Commander Bravo.
Another officer, Capt. Gary Alejano of the Magdalo was recommended for the Medal of Valor liberating the Narciso Ramos Highway from the MILF in 2000. He was wounded at matanog, maguindanao near the crossing of Langkong leading to Camp Abubakar.
The recommendation for Medal of Valor for Capt. Alejano was withheld when the 2003 Oakwood incident happened.
Ellen,
What about Col. Parcon?
The MILF Must Be Designated A “Foreign Terrorist Organization”!
OFF:
Beijing’s most touching story:
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/track_field/news;_ylt=AiEeBHhGPxbx8QwOYNZiiqQazJV4?slug=cr-somalirunners082408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Why do we even talk with these people? I say disarm them! Now!
Yes,disarm them and beat them to death!
Arroyo: No all-out war vs MILF in Mindanao
I say to the Filipinos, to the world, to our Muslim brothers in the South, to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) through our Kuwaiti friends, there is no all out war,” the President said.
Naloloka na talaga yang si Pandakikang,kailan lang nagdeclare siya ng all out war tapos ito ang sasabihin niya ngayon?
Ha!
“Murad reiterated the MILF’s position that the MOA-AD is a done deal and suggested that Comanders Ombra kato and Bravo are not subject to Philippine laws because they are a revolutionary government.”
There you go!
J: unfortunately, impossible to disarm them! When you have an AFP leadership that has loose morals (comparable to a street harlot and drug addicted prostitute), the young men and women within the rank and file of the AFP cannot do their job even if they want to.
The only way to disarm and annihilate these Mindanao rebels and bandits is for the AFP leadership to be decimated, for Esperon and Rudy Garcia to be fed to the dogs (alive) and for a new breed of AFP officers to step in and to prepare for war.
Si vis pacem para bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war!) is one military and political dogma that cannot apply to the Philippines for as long as we have the kind of surrender monkeys in government and cowardly chimps in the military!
For all her katarayan, Gloria is one taray who is not taray to these rebels… Anong kagagahan naman yan!
This traydor of a so called national leader (fake president kasi!) should have never allowed these so-called peace talks to happen, initiated to boot by the frigging Malaysians! What bloody peace talks? Peace talks with a parallel army? No way! Only way to peace talks with these warlords and bandits should only take place when they drop their weapons.
The current Mindanao problem is not a question of Muslims vs Christians. After all, they’ve been living and surviving side by side these last many decades. The bottom principle is that in a country that seeks stability, law and order and peace, one cannot have other armies operating in parallel to that nation’s official army.
To me an armed army of men and women, rebels or not, but with whom the Philippine government officially negotiates, either for “peace” or for other reasons, i.e., for an independent homeland, their own territory, who are in fact prepared to take on the official army of the nation is a parallel army, virtually at par with the official Philippine Army. In such a case, there’s no other way to deal with them but to decimate these parallel armiex.
It’s all so basic really. The existence in the country of parallel armies that are almost as powerful in terms of firepower, ‘military’ dogma and reach as the nation’s official army undermines not only the effectiveness of that nation’s official army but also makes it difficult for the official army to professionalize its ranks. Is it any wonder that the Armed Forces of the Philippines is still ‘unprofessional’? Frankly, the existence of all these armies has reduced Philippine Army commanders into battling their “enemies” for ideas instead of doing their jobs, fighting the enemies of the Republic.
Which leads us to the only one thing that our Malacanang and military leaders have proven to be good at: abducting and killing militants and human rights activists.
The issue of parallel armies that are hugely armed, capable of bringing down the Philippine Republic or dismantling it should be the first worry of the Philippine Army and this Gloria Arroyo-led government because militant farmers, human rights activists, outspoken priests and other individuals cannot realistically bring the Philippine Republic down but its parallel armies definitely can!
The Philippines must not sleepwalk.
We must not allow our Malaysian neigbours to walk all over us in the guise of friendship, particularly not on or over Mindanao. We must wake up before we find Mindanao is gone – has become a state of Malaysia and turned into another Sabah. We have to stop kowtowing to the Malaysians who are peaceniking for the MILF and MNLF.
Those “two” scalawags are only doing what Bonifacio did. They deserve more than the medal of valor. The Bangsamoro has an axe to grind with Christians and would try to get back what they lost. Anyway we cannot do anything at all. It was Spain who subjugated them but sad to say we cannot defend it anymore with the kind of chaotic administration anymore.
Do we really need Mindanao and Palawan? I dont need them. Lets give them up to those who wants. They do the fighting themselves. And dont involve me here. I’ll go there as a tourist.
Hi Jug, I’m not so sure in what battle Col. Parcon got his medal of valor.
25 August 2008
Mga kaibigan, bakit ba kailangan pa ang bansang Mali-sya sa usapang kapayapaan sa Mindanao??? eto nga’t panay ang panghhuhuli ng ating mga kababayan sa Sabah, na walang pakundanag na hulihin at ayon sa ulat ay parang mga hayop ang trato sa kulungan, na sinasabi naman nating atin. Subalit ang nakapagtataka sa lahat ay bakit itong si burat este murad (sorry po) ay gusto na ang mag imbestiga sa katarantaduhan ng kanilang tropa ay ang bansang Mali-sya??? sa tingin nyo ba papayag ang mga kupal na Mali-syano kung tayo naman ang mag iimbestiga sa ginagawa nila kay anwar??? ang kasgautan dyan ay hindi.
Ang isa pang nakapagtataka e bakit naman pumapayag ang impakta kasama ng ipokritong mga kampon nya sa gusto ni burat, este murad po pala (pasensya na po).
Bakit pa kaailangan sabihin ng impakta na hindi gyera laban sa MILF ang ginagawa ng mga kasundaluhan ng Pinas??? dapat upakan na ang mga iyan at masyadong ng lumalaki ang ulo ng mga iyan, lalo na’t alam ng mga hinayupak na yan na nandyan ang may sariling interest na mali-syano.
Gagaguhin pa ako ng murad na yan at ng kanyang mga kampon din. Paano naman maniniwala sa inyo na pag dating ng plebisito na mgaging patas ay maayos ang eleksyon na kung ang mga botante na ayaw sa inyo ay tatakutin nyo, mga hinayupak kayo. Napanood ko na yang istilo nyo, replay na yang istilo nyong bulok at bugok na. Kayong mga hindi lumalaban ng harapan, gusto nyo palagi patalikod kung bumanat at abusuhin ang walng kalaban-laban sa inyo, pero pag harapan ay ayaw naman ninyong lumaban.
At phuling pahabol, sa mga mali-syano, huwag na lang kayong makialam at alam naman namin ang inyong interes dito sa mindanao e. Mga buset!@#$%$#….
prans
Al Haj Murad Ibrahim of the MILF said:
“The MILF cannot allow renegotiation on the MOA – AD, which took both the MILF – GRP Peace Negotiating Panels four years and eight months to discuss and initialed through the superb facilitation of the Malaysian government.”
Yes, the superb facilitation of the Malaysian Government did us in. Malaysia has a clear conflict of interest in the peace process. It wont be fair to the RP. Malaysia has claims to Sabah and even treats Filipinos in Sabah badly. Of course Malaysia would like an unstable Mindanao unless the peace accord favors the MILF and its interest. I would even venture that Malaysia is funding and supplying with arms the MILF. This may be the reason murad and the MILF are so inflexible when it comes to the MOA-AD and have the gall to claim that Mindanao does not belong to the RP.
Please check this out, posted by atty36252 earlier…
http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2003_h/abuz1029.htm
It is the testimony of Dr. Zachary Abuza before the US House Committee on International Relations.
Choice paragraphs are the following:
“The MILF has been fighting for a homeland since the 1970s, and began to receive significant amounts of funding (lethal and non-lethal) from Al Qaeda beginning in the early-1990s. In return for the aid, the MILF opened its doors to Al Qaeda trainers, who instructed not just MILF cadres in terrorism but also local JI operatives who were unable to get to Pakistan and Afghanistan in significant numbers.”
“Perhaps the only tangible difference is that the United States is more involved in the peace process. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Daley secretly met with members of the MILF leadership in Kuala Lumpur and warned them to cut their ties to JI, and tried to indicate the seriousness the US attaches to this issue. Daley offered $30 million to the MILF as an incentive to signing a peace accord. Yet the MILF is insistent that this revolution is about principles and they cannot be bought off.”
“Murad reiterated the MILF’s position that the MOA-AD is a done deal and suggested that Comanders Ombra kato and Bravo are not subject to Philippine laws because they are a revolutionary government.”
If they are not subject to Pinas laws, these MILF should dig their own country because even if they claim to be a revolutionary government they are still occupying Mindanao, which last time I checked is still part of the Philippines.
Kasalanan kahat iyan ni Gloria impakta dahil ipinangako niya pati langit sa mga teroristang MILF!
Kasabay ng pagpulbura sa mga terorista, isabay si Gloria!
Masyadong malaki ang interes ng Malaysia at US sa Mindanao. At si Gloria dahil sa personal na interes na manatili sa pwesto hanggang katapusan ng mundo ay nilalaro sila thru MILF.
Kamukat-mukat natin ay Malaysia at US na ang nagbabakbakan dahil sa Mindanao.
Homeland Security
Committee on International Relations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-0128
“The State of Jemaah Islamiya and US Counter-Terror Efforts in Southeast Asia”
Dr. Zachary Abuza
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations
Simmons College
Testimony for the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific,
House International Relations Committee
29 October 2003
5. The MILF: The MILF has been fighting for a homeland since the 1970s, and began to receive significant amounts of funding (lethal and non-lethal) from Al Qaeda beginning in the early-1990s. In return for the aid, the MILF opened its doors to Al Qaeda trainers, who instructed not just MILF cadres in terrorism but also local JI operatives who were unable to get to Pakistan and Afghanistan in significant numbers.
Until the MILF cuts its ties to JI, there will be a terrorist problem in the region as without the MILF camps and secure base area JI cannot train effectively. Yet, to date there have been no incentives for the MILF to cut ties or cooperate. Although they strenuously deny it, the MILF resorts to terror when it suffers battlefield losses, such as this past spring when it bombed the Davao airport or after the 1999 offensive when it bombed the LRT in Manila. It has become standard operating procedure for them. They deny every act of terror – or when confronted with overwhelming evidence that implicates them, blame the attack on “lost commands.”
Read the rest…
http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2003_h/abuz1029.htm
jug,
It’s so clear from your post/link above that the MILF is a terrorist group.
Hindi dapat makipag-usap sa kanila, at lalong hindi tayo dapat makipag-usap kay Gloria. Animal na babaeng yan!
I wonder why the government has not declared the MILF as terrorists when Homeland Security has made some findings that they are funded by Al Qaeda since the early-1990’s?
Jug,
Could it be because the govt know that it would be upsetting the MILF’s backers, the Malaysians if they did?
If you google the name/words “Zachary Abuza, MILF”, you will get more findings by Dr. Abuza, including this choice quote:
“The MILF, led by Hashim Selamat, is a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front that has been waging a long-running separatist struggle with the Philippine government over the predominantly Muslim areas in the south of the country. It fields an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 combatants. MILF links with JI and international terrorism were forged during the Soviet-Afghan War when an estimated 500 to 700 Filipino Muslims underwent training and fought with the Mujahidin. The MILF has operated numerous bases in Mindanao that have been utilized by the JI and Al-Qaida as regional training facilities, the largest being Camp Abu Bakar in Maguindanao province. Camp Abu Bakar was active until early 2000 when it was overrun by Philippine Army forces. The camp hosted three sub-camps specifically for JI operative from Malaysia and Indonesia and for Arab Al-Qaida trainees. MILF-Special Operations Group leader Saifullah Yunos became a close associate of JI member Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozie when the pair underwent Al-Qaida-sponsored training in Afghanistan during the 1990s. This link saw fruition in the cooperation between JI and MILF-SOG in the metro Manila bombings on 31 December 2000 synchronized with the 24 December 2000 bombings in Indonesia. Hashim Selamat has repeatedly denied MILF links to the operation and has •disowned’ the MILF-SOG commander. Source: Zachary Abuza, 11-31.”
JDV finally speaks again:
President Arroyo is out to extend her stay in office beyond 2010 through Charter change, her former principal ally in Congress, Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., told reporters over the weekend.
De Venecia said the Arroyo administration promised federalism to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) so it can seek amendment to the 1987 Constitution.
“Federalism is their entry point to a parliamentary system. And under a parliamentary system, President Arroyo will become prime minister, effectively extending her term,” he said.
Responding to a question, De Venecia said the Arroyos are probably afraid of what might happen to them after her term expires on June 30, 2010. He did not elaborate.
….But instead of speaking to the media, why doesn’t JDV now testify at the Senate on ZTE deal? What’s delaying him?
Anna,
I sent my welcome back via email. 🙂
be,
Maybe he wasn’t summoned yet?
Jug and others, check out the USIP report on the US role in the peace talks. http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr202.html I think it explains why the US is refraining from declaring the MILF “terrorists.”
Correct, Ellen. The US is quick to brand any group as terrorist but refrain from doing it if it hinders their interest. That’s why I say the US always apply a double standard policy.
be,
They may not have a choice, if they brand them as terrorists, they might lose the chance of preventing them from becoming one or even neutralizing them. Bottomline, they just throw money around and somehow they get what they ask for.
Checked the USIP/PFP special report as you suggested. Whoa! We really were played with by the USA. Looks and feels like a CIA/Dept of State operations. No wonder esperon, garcia and the rest of the negotiators were lead by the nose into this MOA-AD, all for the USA interest. Nakisakay na rin si gloria for her term extension.
“Because of its ability to deal with nonstate actors and sensitive issues underlying civil conflict, USIP can be a useful instrument for advancing U.S. interests.”
And there lies the crux of the USA involvement in Mindanao, Southern Philippines.
Thanks Ellen for the link.
USIP: The roots of conflict in Mindanao are primarily political, not economic or religious.
And Gloria is taking advantage of this to the detriment of all of us.
****
USIP: Because of its ability to deal with nonstate actors and sensitive issues underlying civil conflict, USIP can be a useful instrument for advancing U.S. interests.
Ayan naman pala e!
Some are hurt when we say the number one terrorist in the world is the US. But, that’s a fact. The US attacks not only militarily; but politically and economically. The US has the habit of pitting one’s fellow citizens against one another. In the case of Mindanao, it’s again Filipinos against Filipinos. The US doesn’t want to lose even one American life, but does not mind seeing another country losing thousands of lives especially if these lives are lost for America’s interest. Then, all America does is to pour out some dollars of aids to compensate for those lives.
Ang mga nangyayari sa pekeng administrasyon ni Pandack Omama:
Sabi ni Yano ay “umaabot na sa 15 komunidad at kampo ng MILF ang nakubkob ng military at tinatayang mahigit 100 na ang napatay sa panig ng mga rebelde habang patuloy naman sa pag-abante ang tropa ng pamahalaan.” Napatay na rin daw ang sub-commander ni Bravo.
Si Dureza naman ay patuloy sa pagmamakaawa at “apela” na isuko ng MILF si Kato at Bravo.
Samantalang si Gloria ay pakendeng-kendeng na nag-iinagura ng kutsikutsi at nagpaparada kahit saan, maliban sa Mindanao na kanyang binabastos ng husto.
In short, si shorty Gloria ay nagsasayaw at umiinom ng brandy para hindi ma-stress test uli habang nasusunog ang Mindanao!
Kabute, I’ve referred to the report in my Aug. 11(US role in MILF pact) column. My Aug. 13 (Hijacking the Muslim cause) column also talks about US motive in participating in GRP-MILF peace talks.
As long ago as 2005, Asia Times had already reported (on the topic of US bases in Mindanao) that :
Philippine-based US diplomats strongly dismiss such speculation. “There are no talks along those lines. The US is an ally of the Philippines and, at the moment, military bases are not allowed here,” Stacy MacTaggert, deputy press attache at the US Embassy in Manila, said in a telephone interview.
Eugene Martin, executive director of the Philippines chapter of the USIP, sounds similar denials. “As the Institute of Peace is not a US government agency, I do not know what and if any discussions on this matter are or have been held. But the institute is not in any way engaged in such talks as we focus on trying to help the two sides reach a viable peace agreement,” he said in an e-mail response to Asia Times Online queries.
“Personally, I would be surprised if there were such discussion, since the US military is working closely with its Filipino counterparts on counter-terrorism training,” Martin said. “Furthermore, as long as the prospective Bangsamoro homeland is within Philippine territorial boundaries and sovereignty, I believe the national constitutional provisions barring foreign military bases would prevail. Legal scholars and nationalists in Manila would find it difficult to accept such bases.”
Even DJB Rizalist arrived at the conclusion that the USA does not want and does not need to put any military base in Mindanao.
Ellen, Have you attended the USIP workshops, or am I just reading badly your August 11 column : the US role in pact. Your August 11 column has this entry:
The USIP conducted multi-faceted workshops. I participated in one of the media workshops on covering conflicts it organized.
If you attended the workshops, what was your perception of the degree of openness and sincerity between the GRP and the MILF participants?
Hi Jug,
Just read it! Thanks…
usman: you asked what happened to the mnlf? if you are a maguindanaon you should know. the survivors of the jabbidah masacre went underground and eventually joined the mnlf forming a necleus of aggressive and highly intelligent individuals in their early 20’s. marcos tried to destroy the front by infiltration but instead the radicals separated and formed the milf with the sole purpose: independence. the remnants of the mnlf are now with the arrm. the suspect infiltrator was later on gunned down, i happen to know him personally.
there will two sides of this issue; a) the government trying to uphold the constitution b) the milf fighting for mindanao to be independent.
history will tell you that those who fought for their independence to be a separate state in the long run will prevail. the philippine government can use its military muscles for now but in the long run world opinion will be against them…the u.s. government will stop military aid to them …pressure from the un… and that will be the end of it.
let the philippinne government experience what indonesia have udergone a couple of years back. whoever sits in the palace could delay this movement but can not stop it. and remember…you heard it from me…shalom
Ellen: With the USIP conducting media workshops on MILF/GRP negotiations, why didn’t the Inquirer and other Manila-media print the stories? Now I am getting more angry at the Inquirer and the rest of the Manila media, and hopefully, you can help me. How much did the USIP discuss in those workshop or workshops (in 2007 or earlier???) that you attended? [Disclosure: I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing that the Inquirer — bigger than Malaya — was there.]
Maybe the MILF and the Govt-negotiators were sworn to secrecy, but the media did not have to muzzle itself, considering the importance of the topic. Now I am getting the impression that the USIP was kind of leaking the news so that the general population will not be so badly surprised at the number of baranggays and the provinces they are located.
Jug: This will be a bad precedent, now all revolutionary organizations can look forward to getting a piece of the country in the future.
*****
Sinabi mo pa. Where in the world can you see a government willing to negotiate and grant a group of hoodlums lands in exchange for not killing Filipinos outside of their supposed domains even when those domains were actually cleaned up not by them but fellow Filipinos from other islands, towns, etc?
Of course, only in the Philippines, where the presidents are known to be robbers and thieves, and where someone can sit at Malacanang by trampling on its Constitution and rigging the elections.
Over in our country, we have a law against sedition. It is a crime, and anyone guilty of it is called “a criminal,” who is not privileged to be granted a negotiation much less so-called “ancestral land” that he/she may demand but subject to prosecution and penal servitude.
Ano sila masaya? Gago talaga. Nakakalusot iyan kasi peke ang government ng Pilipinas under the reign of a cheat and a criminal. Kawawang bansa!
BE: Some are hurt when we say the number one terrorist in the world is the US. But, that’s a fact.
*****
Sinabi mo pa, BE. Truth is I have many white and black American friends who think that it is about time the US stops meddling in other people’s affair, and they are not hurt at all if other peoples call them “ugly.” Iyong mga pilipino lang sa Tate ang akala mo mas loyal at mas Amerikano pa kesa doon sa mga native Americano kung ipagtanggol ang Amerika at si Dubya. Hindi mo nga malaman kung nagsisipsip para sa kung anong pabor from Uncle Sam.
Sa totoo lang, racist pa nga. Sila pa nga ang mahilig manglait kay Obama kasi itim siya. Yuck!
Many Fil-Ams are even darker than Obama…
Another AFP officer who is also in jail and a recipient of the Medal of Valor during the Lamitan seige in 2001, Capt. Ginolbay of the Scout Ranger, I remember he said “I’d rather be a part of the solution than be a part of a problem” when ask about the Magdalo, but after few months he joined them..Sayang, dapat sila ngayon ang tumutugis sa mga MILF commander, dapat palabasin ng makatulong sa AFP.
NO ceasefire until the MILF is reduced to nothing. I’m sure peaceful na yan..ubusin ang mga armed group na yan bago pa dumami at maging mayabang ulit…
Mabuti pinadala uli yung mga Army battalion from the Samar province, sila kasi ang nasanay na dyan sa mindanao, mula pa nung 1970’s everytime kelangan ng additional troops, sila lagi, nung Erap all out war, sila din.. mahirap kasi pag ang tropang ipapadala di sanay sa terrain at di pa sanay sa combat. Sana lang may naiwan sa Samar kasi baka yung mga NPA naman ang magsigasigaan, lalo na sa remote areas, one-half ang kinukuha nila sa IRA ng mga barangay, pag harvest time, darating ang mga bida, me dalang mga sako, ibibigay sa mga kawawang farmer, kelangan pagdaan nila, puno na yung mga sako..Revolutionary TAX daw. Pero ang pinagtataka ko, ang NPA considered na terrrorist, pero ang MILF na minsan ABu Sayyaf at breakaway group, depende sa trip nila…na namumugot ng ulo, at tinatadtad ng taga ang mga sibilyan bata man o babae, di nila ma ma consider na terrorista, harap harapan ang karumaldumal na gawain nila, at sigurado tayo na connected sila sa JI at Taliban…bat di masabi ng US na terrorista at gusto pa mag peace talk, samantala all out war sila sa terrorism. Dapat yata mag protesta ang NPA dyan, sila terrorista, ang MILF hindi. Unfair yun, gusto pang bigyan ng AD, at baka ma recognize pa as belligirent organization na gaya ng gusto ng malaysia. Paano na lang ang NPA, pag nag peace talk hingi din sila ng portion na Pilipinas kahit sa tuktok lang ng pinakamataas na parte ng Sierra madre. hwey, ang daming pasaway.
to hostile_fire: among the groups on the US State Department “foreign terrorist organization” list are:
# Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
# Abu Sayyaf Group <————
# Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
# Ansar al-Islam
# Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
# Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
# Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA)
# Continuity Irish Republican Army
# Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)
# HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
# Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
# Hizballah (Party of God)
# Islamic Jihad Group
# al-Qa’ida
# al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly GSPC)
# Real IRA
# Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
# Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
# United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)
Air Force C130 plane missing after takeoff from Davao City
A Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 transport plane went missing after taking off from Davao International Airport Monday evening.
PAF chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog said the aircraft, with two pilots and seven crewmembers onboard, “most probably crashed that’s why we are concentrating our search within a 20-mile radius.”
…..Did it crash or was it shot down by the rebels? Too bad, GMA was not on the plane.
ABS-CBN davao reported that the two pilots were identified as Major Manny Sambrano and Captain Adrian de Dios.
Cadungog said it took off around 8:50 p.m. and it was expected to arrive at the Iloilo City airport around 10 p.m. The plane was bound for Iloilo City to pick up personnel of the Presidential Security Group and fly them to Metro Manila.
be,
Those planes are really old. Its probably refurbished so many times over.
I really wish the Evil Bitch was on board the crashed plane…
be,
She won’t get near one, she knows the risk, then again, why doesn’t she do something about it? I’m sure the airforce has reported the status of these euipments earlier…
Madali namang ubusin ang mga MILF na iyan kung gugustuhin lang ng military.Ipadalang lahat sa Mindanao ang mga sundalo sa Maynila para magkaubusan na.
Namumulitika lang ang magkabilang panig kaya ganyan.
Cocoy,
Hindi papayag si Gloria na mawala sa kanyang tabi ang mga “anti-coup” forces niya, baka lalo siyang hindi makatulong nyan.
…tulog nyan
Ellen, just gone and read the Aug. 11 and 13 columns. Thanks. Whenever the U.S. is involved I almost am always suspicious of its motive. The magnanimity and sincerity of the U.S. almost always costs its recipient more. Take Iraq, the U.S. has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq but in the process has destroyed its cultural heritage, intensified internal conflict, and virtually weakened its government. Is the USIP also in Iraq? I don’t know, maybe another form of USIP may be working there. Can Iraq in one form or another happen in the Philippines? Probably or more likely? Hence my suspicions.
Michael Mastura, former congressman of Maguindanao and currently senior member of the MILF peace panel, issued a statement answering the full page ads of former Senate President Frank Drilon that the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain endangers the country’s sovereignty.
Part of Mastura’s statement:
Mr Matsura’s above posturings have just reinforced the recent declaration of intent by MILF Chairman Murad virtually proclaiming a state within a state: Manila Bay Watch: MILF doublespeak: “BJE is not for MILF”
Matsura says;
“An act of statesmanship is to ‘write sovereignty’ in terms of the ‘associative ties’ envisaged in the MOA-AD. We cannot proceed with a serious debate as if the meaning of sovereignty were stable; for, in reality, not one but various forms of sovereign statehood exist. There’s no confusing justice with legitimacy for workable arrangements here. However, there’s a truncated understanding of sovereignty when 12 June 1898 was fixed by law as an episodic event, following the inauguration of Philippine independence on 4 July 1946. Article 1 of Title I of the Malolos Constitution succinctly reads: “The political association of all the Filipinos constitutes a nation, whose state is called the Philippine Republic”. At that point in time, the Bangsamoro homeland was not a part of the whole Country, for as a matter of historical narrative that Republic invited the Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Magindanaw to federate with it….etc
Maybe I’m just not into legalese or diplomatics, but I’m confused by the statements of Matsura. I got lost somewhere. Can someone clarify what he means in layman’s language?
Why can’t these people talk in plain and simple language to avoid confusion and foster better understanding. The same goes for people in government like ermita, fajardo, remonde, golez and the rest of the malacanang mouthpiece.
End part of the Malaya editorial;
“Those who call for war may yet get their wish. In Mindanao. In the Visayas. And in Luzon.”
“Be very careful what you wish for, might just get it” or something to that effect. Hope Malaya is wrong about these warmongers. Woe to us Filipinos if ever war come and we become another Iraq.
Har, har, that Matsura. Well said. That should open the eyes of the political failings we now have since the beginning of Christian era in our chaotic ‘land’ that we cannot even put on a tracing paper. The Muslims have a point. What is ours? Love of country now that we are going to lose some of its bowels?
That C130, they missed it in Zamboanga. The carrier missed the plane. He detonated just the same. But in Davao, the carrier this time was exposed earlier so he disintegrated prematurely. He should have done it when those palace guards went on board at Iloilo. Whodunnit? Could be one of the crew since there were no passengers with them. Another feather on the cap of the MILF just the same.
Mastura, the Maguindanao Datu, has the most to gain in BJE. Their Sultanate would’ve put one over its Tausug rivals in Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-tawi. The MNLF, based in the Sultanate of Sulu had long been awarded administrative control over Mastura’s Maguindanao, among other provinces and the city of Marawi, in Tripoli and Indonesia. The Masturas, via BJE, want it the other way. So do the Ampatuans, Datumanongs, Dilangalens.
That’s why Malaysia is supporting them and avoiding at all cost the rise of MNLF to political eminence. They could lose Sabah if the tripartite (OIC-GRP-MNLF) meeting, postponed for years, pushed through. They were successful though in prolonging delays, silencing Misuari by jailing him, and by propaganda against MNLF as Abu Sayyaf coddlers. Malaysia is steadily stoking the flames of division between BangsaMoro itself.
The MILF say its a done deal because they want it to end right there and then. They stop at getting the land then they will die fighting for it. Proceeding further would mean they will have to slug it out in an election/referendum against these political clans which they will surely lose. All these troubles for naught.
No, Gloria was not giving away territory for the MILF, she was giving it away to her allies. MILF is a dummy.
“This is what the MILF-GRP negotiation process is all about: to determine the extent and limits of each side’s commitments. Clearly the premise of peace with your Muslim brothers under the MOA-AD precisely does not endanger but entrenches the country’s sovereignty.”
Sounds like a threat to me. Let go of Mindanao and we wont bother you anymore
I wonder how much of the “ancestral land” would the pandak’s and asspweron’s dummies have if the MoA pushed through?
PSB,
By my computations, about one million hectares. Remember, that much has been committed to China already for China’s alternative fuel stocks, but she can’t deliver it because there isn’t any land in that size that is available. Except in Mindanao. One Million hectares would be about the size of 3 major Visayan provinces.
Pepito, sorry for the late reply. I’ve been very, very busy. Re :
Yes, I attended one of the media workshops conducted by USIP. It was held in Subic. Most of the media participants covered defense the defense beat. There were Muslim participants but I don’t think they were members of the MILF. They were from non-government organizations active in peace efforts in Mindanao.
It was more of increasing our knowledge of Muslim in the Philippines- history, aspirations, etc. (which I admit I’m inadequate) to improve our reporting.
It was educational for me.
By Alex J. VillaTubbataha management board opposes Sulu Sea fertilizationnueva, Jr. (PNA)
THE TUBBATAHA Protected Area Management Board (TPAMB) opposed the proposed dumping of urea in Sulu Sea, claiming that it could create negative affects on the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Marine Park (TRNMP).
In its approved resolution No. 07-13, Anglique Songco, secretariat of TPAMP and park manager, said that the board is opposing the Ocean Nourishment Corporation’s (ONC) intention to carry out an experiment involving the dumping of 500 tons of urea into Sulu Sea pelagic ocean and sequester carbon from the atmosphere because it can have adverse impacts on the Tubbataha Reef, located some 92 nautical miles from this city.
The Sulu Sea between Mindanao and Palawan happens to be home to the Tubbataha, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-declared World Heritage Tubbataha Reef Marine Park.
It is also home to the Ramsar Wetlands Site and the first Philippine National Park.
Songco said the TPAMB’s opposition supports the position of World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF)-Philippines, and the petition of Greenpeace-Southeast Asia, SEARICE and the Third World Network opposing the plan by ONC.
A number of environmental groups showed their opposition to the proposal to “fertilize” the Sulu Sea by reducing carbon dioxide in the surface layers and in the atmosphere to offset the effects of global warming and enhance fish production.
It was noted that WWF-Philippines is campaigning to prevent an Australian geo-engineering firm from dumping massive amounts of toxic urea into the heart of the Earth’s Coral Triangle–the Sulu Sea.
Urea is an organic compound commercially derived from ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
Urea and nitrogen runoff from agricultural lands have historically been known to cause toxic algal blooms such as red tide.
Large quantities of CO2 are produced in the manufacture of ammonia from coal or petroleum-based raw materials.
LEGAL CLAIM BASIS
The claim was based on several historical facts and court judgement.
The lease agreement is definitely a proof otherwise there will be no basis for any agreement if such ownership was not established at all. The contract was between Sri Paduka Maulana Al Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam – representing the sultanate as owner and sovereign of Sabah on one hand, and that of Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent, representing the British East India Co.(then became the North Borneo Co.), on the other as lessee of Sabah, was executed on June 22, 1878. Though the British turned
over the possession and government of Sabah to the federation, the Malaysians have not remissed in paying the annual rental.
The 1939 court judgement on the claim had handed ownership of North Borneo to the heirs of the Sultanate prior to the formation of Malaysian federation in 1963. The judgment
of Chief Justice C.F.C. Makaskie of the High Court of North Borneo in the civil suit filed by the late Dayang Dayang Hadji Piandao and eight other heirs of the Sultan of
Sulu, including the famous Putlih (Princess) Tarhata Kiram, upheld the validity of the claim of the heirs.
Being a British colony did they favored the Malaysians than returning the leased territory to its rightful owners as per 1939 court judgment? Did the British influenced the outcome of their sponsored 1962 plebiscite to which won by those who wanted to join the Malaysian federation than be an independent state. One also has to speculate as to why did the British respected a similar treaty with China by returning Hong Kong instead of conducting a plebiscite just like the one conducted in Sabah in 1962, is the Philippines a weak nation that can be ignored? These are some questions that need to be addressed by those who have the mandate to pursue the Philippine claim.
The Malaysian argument before the International Court (The Hague) is in the link below. This is based on the islands disputed between Indonesia and Malaysia wherein the
Philippines is trying to intervene.
SO WHY THE REVIVAL OF THE CLAIM NOW?
In the last few months the Malaysian authorities have been deporting, we are not sure if this is the right term for this action knowing the existence of legal claim to North
Borneo, thousands of Filipinos from Sabah for being illegals and for lack of necessary documents. There are allegations of inhuman treatments and rapes by Malaysian authorities
which are currently being investigated by both governments. It is also good to point out that illegal Indonesians are likewise being sent home through Kalimantan (Borneo part
of Indonesia). Both the Philippine and the Indonesian governments have protested the mass deportation and have indignation rallies against the Malaysian action.
Since the time memorial the numerous ethnic tribes in the southern Philippines notably the Tausugs and Badjaos have been traversing the Celebes Sea from Sulu to Borneo and
other parts of Indonesia. These tribes are sea faring people and settled from anywhere around the region. To curtail these movements, the Malaysians have decided to demand
document from the Filipinos in Sabah. Undocumented Filipinos were deported and could only be admitted back when there are necessary papers presented. This situation is extremely hard specially to those who have fled the secessionist war during the seventies and eighties as they are refugees and do not have any travel documents. These Muslim Filipinos have considered Sabah as part of their domain as their ancestors have been doing centuries ago. That part of southeast asia is bound by common religion, history and people.
Sulu sultan seeks a sweet US deal
By Christopher Johnson
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – When the Sultan of Sulu visits his oil-rich cousin the Sultan of Brunei, he says that he is ashamed to be so poor. But Sultan Ismael Kiram adds that he believes this will change because of the war on terror, and that the US military action in the southern Philippines will empower him, just as it has another formerly unknown royal, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
Sultan Kiram III, a Muslim royal based in the Jolo island hotbed of Islamic radicals and Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, says he will let the Americans set up bases on his land, arm and train his royal guard, and develop what he calls “one of the biggest oil deposits in the world”, if they can help the Sulus recapture Sabah from Malaysia and gain independence from Manila’s “colonialism”.
For the complete article, click to: http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/DC22Ae01.html
THE REAL REASON WHY THE U.S. IS PLOTTING W/ MALAYSIA & MILF TO DISMEMBER MINDANAO & PALAWAN FROM R.P.
http://www.doe.gov.ph/PECR2005/petroleum/pdf/Petroleum%20Potential.pdf
Tongue,
Re: “No, Gloria was not giving away territory for the MILF, she was giving it away to her allies. MILF is a dummy.”
Very very plausible…
Gloria ever the master of deceipt and subterfuge managed to con the MILF big time.
The americans are quite adept and are actually experts in using euphemisms and good words to hide their actual intentions. remember the “EPIRA” and other “REFORM” legislations? be careful of the word “Reform” since most often it is used to hide the exact opposite of what a proposal is meant to achieve. Instead of “Reform” what the people will get is more poverty, oppression, abuse, plunder – and in this case – territorial sell-out by filipino traitors led by arroyo, esperon, dureza, ermita, et al!!! but this time, instead of the word “reform” they are using the word “peace”!!!
Excellent input bitchevil… Thanks.
Thanks AdeBrux. I just quoted and posted them for all of you.
Owning a real estate in Malaysia does not mean the Filipino owner can have it annexed to the Philippine territory. As simple as that. Well, unless we have the guns and C130s and gunboats and the MILF is on our side.
To Ellen,
Please take a glance with the MILF’s propaganda to boost the moral of their own illiterate fighters:
The grim costs of the joint operations of the government forces, including their auxiliary forces, starting August 9, 2008 to date against merely two Base Commands of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) headed by Ustaz Ameril Umbra Kato and Commader Bravo could be listed down as follows:
A. Casualties
1. In North Cotabato , more than 60 were killed on the part of soldiers, CAFGUs and CVO.
2.In Maguindanao, more than 50 were killed on the part of the soldiers and CAFGUs. No figure was
3. In Maasim, Saranggani, 58 soldiers were killed
4.In Lanao del and Lanao del Norte, more than 20 soldiers killed were reported to luwaran and still counting.
5.On the part of the MILF, more or less 10 fighters were killed.
6.No figure on the wounded in action was reported.
B. War equipment
1.Four tanks were destroyed and several military vehicles were also damaged
2.Several high powered firearms were also captured by the MILF
C. Air strikes / artillery and mortar shelling
1.OV 10 bomber planes was estimated to have dropped indiscriminately at least 150 bombs which cost P250,000.00 / bomb
2.Double body fighter planes had launched indiscriminately more than 200 bombs amounting to more than P100,000.00 per bomb
3.Helicopter gunships launching bombs and firing machines guns for more than 20 days
4.105 artillery shelling approximated to have reached to more than 1000 rounds with each shell costing to P35,000.00
5.81mm mortar also fired for more than a thousand rounds with each shell amounting to more than P10,000.00
D. Fuel and Oil Expenses could be pegged to millions of pesos also
E. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) reaching to more than 250,000 civilians – men, women and children.
F. Suspension of school classes, farms and crops destroyed, civilians killed, investments and economy severely affected. Civilians taking up arms and government providing firearms and ammunitions. Houses destroyed, farm animals killed. Human rights violations, looting of properties by soldiers in Maguindanao. Civilian residences raided. People getting killed in evacuation centers and poor-conditioned makeshifts. People overwhelmed by fear and refusing to go back home. Muslims and Christins relationships starting to divide. Peace process at the brink of collapse.
G. So on and so forth. What else and what’s your calculation? How can we recover from all of these catastrophes?
H. What’s the right thing to do now? Ask your self first?
I think this is a clear proof that the leadership of the MILF is twisting the minds of their misfortunate fighters who are fighting the government for unknown reasons.
May our brothers and sister in islam will notice these…..
Salam…
BE,
I have been keeping an old Inquirer article by Noralyn Mustapha, a descendant of the Sultan of Sulu. But my old computer crashed and the file died with it. But in one of the more salient points there, Mustapha explains that Ferdinand Marcos is considered by Princess Tarhata as a cousin and hence, was probably deemed responsible for taking back Sabah for the Sultanate. That could explain Jabidah. Marcos was even named Datu-something.
I guess Marcos was light years ahead of everyone else in these Moro issues. I see wisdom only recently why Marcos wanted to change the name of the Philippines to Maharlika. I actually saw it in Encyclopaedia Britannica – which says, “Philippines – Name yet to be changed to ‘Maharlika’…” He knew then that the name Philippines carries the connotation of Spanish colonialization which Moros will always claim to have successfully resisted and prevented. The name change would also strip the Moro secessionists of one valid argument. Maharlika could have been a uniting name for the country.
Yes indeed. Maharlika sounds a lot more like Filipino. The name “Philippines” came from King Philip of Spain, the country that colonized us. Marcos was a genius. He had so many plans and visions for the country. His declaration of Martial Law and alleged dictatorship could have been made to pursue his visions for the country. But somehow, somewhere…greed led to abuse of power not only by him but most especially by his wife and cronies.
His plan to take back Sabah would have succeeded if not for the tragic Jabidah Massacre. It was Ninoy who exposed it. The Philippines then was in a position to take it back. Militarily, the Philippines was at par with Malaysia. The US at that time was as usual backing the Philippines. Today, we are no match to Malaysia and most of our neighboring countries. Taking back Sabah is not only very difficult, but has become close to impossible.
Maharlika. Noble blood ang pinoy sa dating. Saka malapit sa Mahalkita…’uniting name’ nga iyan, Tongue. Ang hirap murahin ng royalty at ng minamahal, heheheh!
chi,
Yung Mahal Kita, paborito yan dito sa Pasay.
(Mahal Kita – isang mumurahing Motel sa EDSA-Taft Rotonda mismo pero pamatay ang pansit canton, may kasama nang fried chicken at ham sandwich sa isang malaking paper plate P200 lang)
Ooops. Hindi kailangang mag-check-in para bumili ng pagkain. Just clarifying. Whew!
Habang nasa topic tayo ng motel… Sa banda roon sa Cuneta Ave. kung saan sangkatutak ang motel, merong isang hindi gaanong sikat na lugar na ang pangalan ay Monaco.
Pag naka-taxi ang magsyota at nag-shortcut ang driver sa Cuneta Ave. galing ng Baclaran Church o Roxas Blvd., pinababasa ng lalaki sa syota ang karatula ng malakas. Pag binasa ng bababe yung “Motel Monaco” ng malakas, inililiko ng driver bigla yung taxi sa akalang inuutusan siya.
Moral of the story: sa mga dalaga nating bloggers, ingat sa ganitong modus operandi ng mga ma-el na boyfriend, ha.