Military – Page 18 – ellen tordesillas

How is democracy defended?

Published by Ellen on September 24, 2009

How does one defend democracy?

By aiding in the tampering of results of election so that your candidate will be declared winner even if she was not elected by the people? Or by joining the people who demand accountability from government officials who subverted the will of the people?

This is the question that face the panel trying the 28 officers accused of mutiny for something that did not happen in February 2006 after former AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon claimed “defense of democracy” in his decision to incarcerate the officers even as he continues serve an unelected president.

I caught up with what happened during the court martial hearing last Wednesday through the VERA files video report.

VERA Files video: court martial face-off

Published by Ellen on September 23, 2009

by Tessa Jamandre
VERA Files

The mutiny case against the 28 officers in connection with the alleged February 2006 plot to withdraw support from President Gloria Arroyo is on its final stretch.

The prosecution presented on Wednesday its last and most important witness. Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who was Armed Forces Chief of Staff at the time, had ordered the detention of the 28 officers—nine from the Marines led by their commandant, Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, and 19 Army Scout Rangers led by Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Click here (VERA Files) for the video and the full report.

It was a conspiracy to grab power, Esperon tells court martial

by Victor Reyes
Malaya

Former Armed Forces chief Gen. (ret.) Hermogenes Esperon, testifying for the prosecution, yesterday said the officers implicated in the alleged attempt to overthrow the Arroyo government in February 2006 conspired with other quarters to grab power.

Ang mga bakwet

Published by Ellen on August 17, 2009

Click here (VERA Files) for an article and podcast of Siti.

Nakilala namin si Babu Siti Sanday, 57 taong gulang na Maguindanaon, na ngayon isa sa mga ‘bakwet’ sa Datu Piang, sa 5th Mindanao Media Summit sa Cagayan de Oro noong Linggo.

Ang ibig sabihin ng ‘bakwet’ at naglilipat ng tirahan. Kadalasan ito ay dahil sa may tinatakbuhan katulad ng giyera.

Patapos na ang 5th Mindanao Media Summit na ginanap sa Marco Hotel nang dumating siya dahil mahaba rin ang kanyang binyahe mula sa evacuation center kung saan magda-dalawang taon na sila doon nakatira kasama ang mga 300,000 na kapwa bakwet.

The folly of a schizo policy

Published by Ellen on August 16, 2009

Here we go again.

Gloria Arroyo orders: “ Annihilate Abu Sayyaf.”

Is anybody taking her seriously?

We are not sure if the Abu Sayyaf, who’s capacity for terror has remained undiminished eight years after Arroyo boasted “Isang bala ka lang” is cowering in fear.

Dapat klaruhin kung kalaban o kaibigan ang MILF

Published by Ellen on August 15, 2009

Grabe itong nangyari sa ating mga sundalo sa Tipo-tipo, Basilan.

Ayon sa mga report, sobra 40 ang patay sa engkwentro ng pwersa ng pamahalaan at magkasanib na Abu Sayaff at MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) noong Miyerkules sa Basilan.

Sabi ng military na sa 23 na patay sa kanila, 19 ay Marines, tatlo ay Army (Scout Rangers) at ang isa ay pulis. Ang ibang patay ay sa panig ng Abu Sayaff at MILF.

MILF – Abu Sayyaf alliance causes heavy casualty on government troops

Published by Ellen on August 14, 2009

Update from the Inquirer:Dead soldiers mutilated

This statement by Dolorfino raises the question on the government’s policy towards the MILF:

Philippine Star:

Dolorfino later told a briefing in Zamboanga City that the government suffered 23 killed and 22 others wounded.

He added the Abu Sayyaf were aided by gunmen belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said 10 of the rebels killed during the firefight have been identified as MILF guerrillas.

The 1989 coup and the February 2006 non-event

Published by Ellen on August 4, 2009

by Tessa Jamandre VERA Files Now it can be told. On Feb. 24, 2006, on the 20th anniversary of People Power, former President Corazon Aquino…

O ano ngayon kung NPA?

Published by Ellen on July 28, 2009

Utak-pulbura talaga itong si Jovito Palparan, ang paboritong heneral ni Gloria Arroyo.

Sinabi ni Palparan, dating commander ng 7th Infantry Division sa Central Luzon kung saan maraming na-salvage na milyembro ng mga militanteng grupo at ngayon isa ay isa ng partylist representative sa Kongreso, na si Melissa Roxas ang Filipino-American na aktibista ay miyembro daw ng New People’s Army.

Si Roxas ay miyembro ng progresibong grupong Bayan sa Estados-Unidos. Ilang beses na siya pumupunta dito sa Pilipinas para sa malaman ang kanyang pinanggalingan at malaman kung ano talaga ang tunay ng kalagayan ng bayan ng kanyang mga magulang.

‘Oakwood’ and GMA Sona

Published by Ellen on July 26, 2009

July 27, six years ago was a Sunday, the day before the last Monday of July when the president delivers the State-of-the Nation’s address.

That was the day when some 300 soldiers took a stand against Gloria Arroyo’s misgovernance at the Oakwood Premier Hotel (now Ascott) in Makati.

The group didn’t have a name but a TV producer saw in the image of the sun in their red armbands a resemblance to the symbol of the Emilio Aguinaldo’s Magdalo faction in the revolutionary Katipunan. He called them “Magdalo” and the name stuck.

This year, July 27 is a Monday. As the Magdalo group marks six years of the ‘Oakwood incident’, Gloria Arroyo delivers her SONA, supposedly her last.

Ex-defense chief Nonong Cruz: Defy unlawful orders

Published by Ellen on July 23, 2009

Malacanang’s reactions:: Never did GMA think of declaring martial law

Hallucination

Cruz urges soldiers to stay loyal to Constitution

By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Warning about a “disturbing pattern” showing that the Arroyo administration will try to perpetuate itself in power, former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. Wednesday urged soldiers to defy “patently unlawful orders” for partisan political ends and for subverting the Constitution.

Speaking at a forum of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in Pasig City, Cruz accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of masterminding moves in Congress to amend the Constitution without the Senate’s consent.

Cruz, who resigned as defense secretary on Nov. 5, 2006, said he was confident that any attempt to usurp power would fail, but even a failed attempt could result in “bloodshed” and other devastating consequences for the country.

Category: Military