MILF – Page 3 – ellen tordesillas

Panggagago sa taumbayan

Published by Ellen on September 3, 2008

Erased na raw ang peace panel na nakikipag-usap sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front, sabi ni Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Ganoon lang ba yun? Paano na lang ang mga namatay at ang mga nawalan ng bahay na umaabot sa 250,000 dahil sa kanilang pinaggagawa sa Mindanao?

Ito ang statement ni Ermita:“President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has directed a new paradigm in the peace process by mandating that peace negotiations be refocused from one centered on dialogue with rebels to one of authentic dialogue.”

Hindi ko ma-translate sa tagalog dahil hindi ko maintindihan ang ibig sabihin. Ang nakukuha ko lang ay mas uunhain daw ang pakikig-usap sa mga taong apektado kaysa mga rebelde. Ngayon lang nila alam yan?

Is Ermita taking charge?

Published by Ellen on August 24, 2008

Amidst the disarray in Malacañang, it looks like Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita is asserting authority which had almost slipped out of his hands sometime ago.

Consider these confusion in Malacanang:

Last Thursday, Gloria Arroyo, in her speech at the 2nd Philippine International Motor Show at the World Trade Center, announced a policy shift towards the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with whom her administration had forged an agreement for the creation of a Bangsamoro homeland that would include the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao and more than 700 barangays from North Cotabato, Zamboanga City and Palawan.

She announced this supposed policy shift a few days after hostilities in North Cotabaro and Lanao del Norte that left more than 30 dead and some 70,000 homeless .

The road map to war

Published by Ellen on August 22, 2008

Malaya editorial:

What the hell is going on?

At the Supreme Court hearing yesterday on the petition to permanently stop the government from signing the memorandum agreement on ancestral domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, chief government negotiator Rodolfo Garcia said he had no authority from President Arroyo to sign an agreement on behalf of the government.

All he had, he said, was his original authority to negotiate.

What was he doing then in Kuala Lumpur for the scheduled signing ceremony on August 5 (the signing was TROed by the Supreme Court on August 4)? The Malaysian hosts had prepared an elaborate stage where Garcia and his MILF counterparts were supposed to sign the document. Set to stand as witnesses were a Malaysian cabinet official, representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference and ambassadors of a number of Islamic countries. Even US Ambassador Kristie Kenney was there for what was touted as a “historic” milestone in the march toward lasting peace in Mindanao.

Nobody’s listening to Arroyo

Published by Ellen on August 21, 2008

Gloria Arroyo has lost control. She should re-sign.

She has lost control not only of herself (look up her throwing tantrum video last Monday in YouTube) but also of the government.

She should resign to spare the country further destruction, not only in terms of loss of lives but damage to democratic institutions.

Calls for Arroyo to resign are nothing new ever since the “Hello Garci” tapes surfaced which exposed her to have masterminded cheating in the 2004 elections. But she has effectively placated her political adversaries. This time, however, she has expended her political capital. Derided by majority of Filipinos, Arroyo’s words have no value.

Even MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal is not taking her seriously.

The US role in pact with MILF

Published by Ellen on August 10, 2008

In the controversy surrounding the Memorandum of Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, many are concerned about the undue interest of the United States as shown by the presence of Ambassador Kristie Kenney in Kuala Lumpur in the aborted signing of the MOA.

It must be mentioned that Kenny was not the only non-Filipino diplomat in KL for the MOA signing. Ambassador Sayed ElMasry, adviser to Organization of Islamic Conference secretary general and special envoy for peace process in Southern Philippines was there. So were the ambassadors of Australia and Japan to the Philippines.

Esperon should stay

Published by Ellen on August 7, 2008

I vehemently oppose the call of Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Mar Roxas and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay for former Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon to resign as presidential adviser for the peace process.

Esperon should stay. He is doing the country a favor by fueling the people’s anger towards Arroyo’s illegitimate presidency. He may yet galvanize the people into action to end Arroyo’s illegitimate presidency, something that “Hello Garci”, NBN/ZTE and other scandals failed to do.

Tag: MILF