Coup d’evil
President Aquino and Chief of Staff Ramos after a failed 1987 coup attempt. Her son, Noynoy Aquino was almost killed during that coup. He was shot five times.
I have to confess, I have not watched any coups from the front row before. They are not an American tradition as the people there seem to prefer elections over shenanigans.
I also have to confess that the coup that has washed across the Philippine tabloids threw me into one of those unending gales of mirth, wave after wave of roaring, teary eyed, side-splitting laughter.
ROFLMAO.
It took me maybe ten minutes to recover, and even then I would see the vision that set it off and snort another laugh. Maybe I should cut back on the coffee. Now I knew coups are serious business. But knowing that just made everything even MORE ridiculous, and funnier yet.
The vision?
I imagined all the rumored players getting together in a large room and the noise of the scraping walkers and wheezing geezers set me off. The ancient relics of time long past, in their guilded period costumes, were wheezing to the left and wheezing to the right. Generals of no particular distinction were all medaled up, chests puffed out, goose-stepping through the foyer in the way of arthritic octogenarians.
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pick on old people, even if I am one on really bad days. It was just a vision. I like the old, as they have more wisdom and character than youth, even if their knees don’t work so good any more.
I promise to go seek more humility as soon as I’m done with this blog.
The alleged billionaire backer of the coup was not wheezing, he was fuming because his Alphaland investment tanked when former Makati Vice Mayor Mercado revealed it was another Binay scam using the Boy Scouts to fund his 2010 election (“A quick look at what the Boy Scouts lost on the Alphaland joint venture”)
Here are a few of the coup d’evil cast of characters. I figure I am at liberty to use unverified random sources off the streets, as do the mainstream tabloids like the Daily Inquirer:
- Former President Ramos, assigned the mission of getting the PNP riled at the President. Divide and conquer. He is the poster boy for the coup d’evil, a rather pathetic icon symbolizing the loss of all presidential dignity. He should just go sit with Senator Enrile, a brother in pathos.
- Priests and pastors formerly loyal to Gloria Arroyo who are more than willing to thrust Jesus into the spotlight on the side of riots, instability, and reactionary revolution. Like THAT will care for the poor and give them solace.
- Juana Change and a pack of rabble who believe they know better than Mr. Aquino how to be president. More lunatics and not on the fringe. Fat broads in tights are now articulating the moral code of the Philippines.
- Shrill Gabriela malcontents and other leftists who can’t get popular backing at the ballot box, and so want to get it by destabilizing the nation.
- Vice President Binay, coup d’evil President designee, schmoozing up to families of the SAF 44 to make sure he has the wherewithal to use them for personal advantage.
- Unnamed old fart generals, fat and cranky in their waning years and aching for proof that their lives were not really pitiful for ruling over a military in such crummy shape.
- Bobby Ongpin, the billionaire who is close to both Arroyo and Binay. How unsettling to see him arm in arm with angel Senator Grace Poe, the two of them sponsors at the wedding of Senator “Say Cheese” Escudero. The passing of the baton of impunity to a younger set of trapos?
- Former defense chief Norberto Gonzalez is also a part of the coup group, evidently working the AFP side of the “hate the commander in chief” campaign. Senator Trillanes called him a “socio-path.”
There you go! The future of the Philippines, by golly!
Ahahahaha. Do you see why I cracked up? Is that not a hilarious set of national leaders? Crooks and geezers, leftists and lunatics? The only thing more ridiculous would be fat generals in tights. What a grand vision for our nation!!!
Boy howdy, how far the elite can fall.
May they land really really hard.
Anybody being seen with any of that crowd ought to be immediately labeled as irrelevant. I don’t care if they have good jobs or are angel Senators. If that is their standard of governance, get rid of them. They don’t understand democracy and are not loyal to it. Democracy is what gives us OUR freedoms.
A revolt against democracy is a revolt against Filipinos.
Normally, I suppose coups start out being righteous. Powerful people who are fed up with totalitarian yahoos hurting people take over so they can become totalitarian idealists helping people. Then, later on, they become yahoos, too.
Going outside due process – that being the wonderful democratic institution called VOTING – seems to have that result. It is not called conflict avoidance, but conflict assurance. It is the same idea the tabloids use, running one side of a story to stir up trouble one day, and the other side the next day to stir up even more. The time lapse of a coup cycle just takes a few years more to play out. Each iteration lasts until some other idealistic radical is bold enough – or desperate enough – to assert his self-declared wisdom.
Has anyone ever written a tune called “The Battle Hymn of the Banana Republic”? It seems to fit the style of these cantankerous old farts angling for a return to the days of Marcosian power mongering.
Well, look around, you can see why this is an evil coup. It’s seed is desperation that originates from jail houses and hospital incanceration wards. You can see it in the faces of the three jailed senators, the jailed ex-President, the family of the Vice President under huge legal pressure for years of Makati shady dealings, dozens of other officials sweating the straight path, and all their benefactors, debt holders and paid lackeys. It is a large crowd of malcontents and includes the wheezing generals who have seen a few of their ancient colleagues march their way to the courtroom at the end of a corruption subpoena.
This is the last dying gasp of the banana republic era, of the notion that personal favor is more important than elections.
You can tell desperation has set in when people can’t wait for an election that is just over a year away.
Full panic mode.
And thus, we have this huge national comedy playing out, an Asian version of a grand Kafkaesque absurdity, a hilarious and pathetic coup d’evil. A huge collection of irrelevant old men who can barely talk, walk and think want to impose their way on a youthful nation that is awakening to the hopes and opportunities that exist in a Philippines that is on the move. A Philippines rising to join, or even lead, the global community of modern nations.
And these old farts want to drag the Philippines back to bananaville.
It will make a wonderful stage play some day, guaranteed to bring down the house. We must suffer them because the cast of pathetic losers is given headlined space and air time at the pathetic tabloid media that have nothing more important to do.
So we will suffer them, and move forward.
Yes, we can do that.
We will do that.
O’ rise ye land of happy fools!
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
“They are not an American tradition as the people there seem to prefer elections over shenanigans.” Tell that to Salvador Allende.
That is a government shenanigan, not internal to America. The American people don’t have coups in their arsenal, nor does the military. The poisoned political partisanship is worrying, and dysfunctional, and potentially destabilizing for the acts undertaken. But Americans think highly of the electoral system, and are inclined to wait for it.
What, you’re telling me the US government does not represent the US populace and democracy is just a sham? Shock, horror!
Of course I’m not telling you that. The institution of democracy is a process in which the people elect and delegate certain responsibilities to government officials. Those officials have powers to defend the United States or otherwise operate in the nation’s best interest, according to national and international laws. Can we dig through history and find incidents that were poorly thought out or poorly executed or simply developed differently than expected, sure. We can even find cases where it would appear laws were not followed, and many things we don’t like.
But the institution of democracy, and voting, are held in great regard by Americans. Coups are not considered.
@micklively
Democracy is what is liberty is, no need for coup or war, it was finished a long time ago…hence Americans just wait for the election time to choose who is the next rightful person.
ok the tradition of america and phil. and mulim country is a verry difficult.that why some people cant survive ,his work in anothe country.
Question for micklively,
Do Americans call People from Latin America or in this case Chile, American?
I think Mr. Lively has departed. Americans would call someone from Chile a Chilean, or South American.
That is what I thought, so I got confused with the Salvador Allende reference.
These coup plotters are funny because the style they engage in – saying things contradicting their previous statements (not for coup, but would support people power (Cojuangco/ Gonzales); not for resignation, but then joins five other bishops calling for resignation (Vidal)) indicate an unwillingness to suffer discomfort from their advocacy.
Most of them are old and secure in their lifestyles; so instead of going underground like the leftist youth of the 60s, they keep on spreading contradicting statements, hoping it will trigger something.
There does not seem to be any foundation whatsoever for a coup to me, so all their rationalizations are self-serving justifications (fluid as you say). What, not attending the arrival of caskets is not a presidential option? What a battlefield loss is reason for tossing a President? God forbid what would happen if conflict with China breaks out. We’ll be changing presidents every week. By the way, all this coup talk plays wonderfully into China’s plans.
HI ,IF YOU NARE ENGAGE OF YOUR RANK TO YOUR SERVICE IN OUR COU7NTRY ,AND IF WE DONT HAVE PROBLEM OF OUR COUNTRY ,NOBODY MAKE SRIKE OR PEOPLE POWER .MAKE BEGIN .AND ALL THE CHURCH WILL SUPPORT AND ALL THE PEOPLE NEEDED TO SUPPORT OUR COUNTRY SO THAT NOBODY MAKE PEOPLE POWER.
huh??
I took her statement to mean that if we dedicate ourselves to the well-being of the nation, there will be no need for coups or people power movement. It is a very important point, and one I try to state by seeking more “positivism” from people. Like, what a better Philippines it would be if the church political bishops sought to stabilize and support the duly elected president, rather than threaten the president.
I rather think that Susan’s view reads like what mine would read like if I tried to express myself in Tagalog. I don’t have that kind of courage. She does. More power to her.
he he he he you are very understanding and cool Joe Am he he he hence I like you…
but I am not gay for sure he he he
Well, mac, I like you as well, and I’m cheerful but not gay. A little kindness goes a long way, eh?
Hi Joe, What a revealing comment, about who you are! Considerate, kind, tactful, sensitive, even insightful in view of the aside about what your blog would look like if you wrote in Tagalog. It was a good reminder to me to keep my ego in my shoe and put concern for others in my heart.
I’ve never noticed that you had an outsized ego, David. I think of you as “cerebral”, and don’t mind a poke now and then. I’d better read more carefully from now on, though. haha 🙂
I kind of wish that it is still valid to charge people with treason. In the days of Queen Elizabeth (the first), beheading used to be the standard punishment if treason was proven.
Oh well … the perils of democracy 🙂
How romantic your view on coups. I see something completely different.
It’s not about democracy, it’s all about rent in this country. It’s not about Filipinos, it’s all about my wallet. It’s not full panic mode, it’s full opportunity mode, the opportunity to benefit in cash from the progress made by this administration.
The dealmakers being old? It’s not about knees, arthritis or being unable to fight a fair battle, it’s about influence, networks, reputation and track records in setting up rent, to maximize rent for our alliance. The top in the Philippines is very small, deals simple to make. The “revolutionary” part is just a formality, engaging naïve marching recruits and busloads of squatters.
A lot of new wealth is in the pipeline, and it should belong to the most cunning ones, not the most clever or the most hard working. This is the real constitution of the Philippines, ask the SC.
That’s an interesting view. Maybe there is a joining of interests, the economic power brokers (I don’t know that old generals have much to do in that arena), the crooks, and political opportunists (leftists). The leftists are seeking power for power’s sake, not rents. I don’t know that Juana is a mainstream player in the rent field.
Generals and leftists are just props in this play. Look at Forbes 10 riches people in the Philippines, add their wealth, multiply by an influence coefficient and you can feel the real power they have. With the help of a few you can increase your share. Setting up the coup is left to the acolytes.
This administration aims at increasing the cake, the previous only fought for share of the cake.
What you say is certainly consistent with Uncle “Peping” Cojuangco’s call for resignation, non-military, because of past financial conflicts with President Aquino’s policy. Throw in Ongpin, who is under some pressure, and I suppose you have two. Binay makes three, even if he is financially a lightweight. All speculation, but I don’t know who the acolytes would be that would have sufficient power to get anything done. Coup, resignation, impeachment.
Where are the patriots who will speak up for the importance of stability? I would think stability would mean more to those rent-seekers than a change of government.
Stability is needed to grow the cake. Some (the very old tycoons, from a time when change and growth was slow) think that it is easier to fight for a lager share first or whenever opportune.
YES WE NEEDED TO GROW UP- THE CAKE .AND WE NEED TO FIGHT WHO MAKE LAGER, OUR OPPORYTUNENITY
Dear Susan,
I wish there are more Filipinos with your positive outlook he he he…so economy can grow and grow and grow…
The only capitalists in the Philippines with a long-term view that I see are the Zobel de Ayalas. Yes they think of making money – which is not a bad thing per se – but they have done a lot to grow business in the country through long-term investments.
There are to ways of doing business – in a sustainable way and in a non-sustainable way. Even in gated communities, rich people do breathe the same (in Manila, polluted) air and depend on the same water supply – which in Manila is already polluted.
You don’t even have to be patriotic to see that stability is important for business nowadays, just smart in the long term. OK, patriotic maybe in the sense that you don’t want the place you call home to go to the dogs. Patriotic in the sense that you want to be able to show your hometown to visitors with a sense of pride and not of shame. Patriotic in the sense that you want to be able to walk among your neighbors without needing security guards all the time. Sorry patriotism is a word that I have seen misused so many times.
It isn’t really wrong to want a good life, in fact people wanting to improve their lives has always been a motor of progress since time immemorial – if it is done in the right way. This comes from someone who is tired of hearing leftists and other wannabe Filipino “patriots” say that we who left the Philippines are greedy and self-interested for not staying in the Philippines and letting ourselves be used by their kind for their own power interests.
That part is just warming up a little more for my guest article, the economic forces behind change being one its the major themes. Thanks for inviting me to write it. You will receive it on Sunday evening European Central Time, meaning Monday morning Filipino time.
About the water supply in Manila – it is not only polluted but not enough in the long run.
Enticing warm up, and I look forward to receiving it.
will keep it short on pollution.
Philippines 3rd worst marine polluter.Primary cause water pollution or even perceived water pollution which lead to add infinitum buying of bottled water. Proposed solutions heardare: bring bayong,bring own plate,spoon fork,etc, but nothing yet heard regarding bottled water.
We are against any form of incineration. In Europe, they recycle a lot,but they also incinerate a lot. (correct me if wrong)…that’s it
They incinerate a lot, that is true. Looking out of my window, I have a view to a very modern garbage incineration plant. The river water heated there helps heat my apartment.
I see a bit of white smoke sometimes but not much more. Filters keep things clean.
Other incineration plants are used for power generation, so you always hit two birds with one stone. In fact they cut down a bit on recycling on purpose, because people were recycling so well that some power plants did not have enough garbage to burn anymore.
As for water quality, in large parts of Europe the tap water is potable. Except in cities where French companies own the waterworks. Some people suspect a French connection, meaning vested interests, a lot of bottled water is sold by French companies Evian etc.
Europe ain’t perfect, no country is. In Southern Italy for example, there are reports of the Mafia earning huge amounts of money on illegal toxic waste disposal. In a Northern European city they just last year caught a gang of workers at a municipal recycling facility selling electronics from the facility on the side. In southern Europe for example Spain, forest fires are often set on purpose so that putting up buildings can be allowed. In Berlin they have huge problems with finishing the new airport, politics and mismanagement.
BTW Greece’s Moodys credit rating is far below that of the Philippines. I was surprised. What I have known for quite a while is that many expressways have been built, that BPO is doing very well and I do observe that there are more affluent Filipinos travelling abroad.
HAIL, HAIL, the gang’s all HERE ☺
miting de abanse agad, pero susi daw ito para umatras ang bayan. so it is miting de atras.
well said. and quite true, i think.
don’t you think that this so called peace process with the milf is of the same backdrop as your thesis? instead of the forbes 10 riches what we have in the muslim region are feudal leaders (warlords and political lords).
The sad thing is that Ramos was actually a good president. In fact, he was probably the best president the Philippines has ever had (yes, better than Aquino). Seeing him in this situation makes me feel uncomfortable. Knowing his good contributions to the country, I feel that this could ruin his reputation among the people.
Another group I’m disappointed at is Gabriela. I used to like them for standing up against women’s rights. Unlike other partylist groups that have tended to do little to nothing in Congress (they do author bills, but only a handful have passed, as with the case of Kabataan or Bayan Muna). Gabriela has sponsored many good bills and laws, perhaps the most notable being the RH Law. They also support divorce, which is something that I feel is long overdue in this country, as well as LGBT rights. Seeing them morph into another generic leftist communist front made me lose respect for them. They were the only partylist group that I supported, and that support went away because of one incident: the Laude incident, where they were rallying for justice for a transgender woman killed by an American; however, similar cases of women being murdered by Filipinos and other non-American nationalities went almost unnoticed by them. In fact, at least one member of the LGBT community came out and was disappointed that the cause of the LGBTs was being hijacked by leftist interests.
Also, don’t call the newspaper here tabloids. Inquirer at least tends to make sense, except for the article that are obviously written by paid hacks.
I agree that Ramos is a shame. I think he undermines the power of the OFFICE of the presidency by diminishing the holder. I also share your dismay about Gabriela because I had the same positive view of their social agenda. That changed when pictures ran with their group shrilly demanding hand-over of Pemberton as already declared guilty of murder. What, fair trial is not among their high-minded social advocacies? It is strange when a group that prides itself on principle so easily tosses it for political expedience. So that group to me is lost and will have a hard time rebuilding any credibility.
The Inquirer to me IS a tabloid under the definition of sensationalizing and editorializing news content to jack up readership, rather than being underpinned by generally recognized journalistic ethics. I’ll be doing a blog next week making this case. The Inquirer disappoints endlessly, for it is the best of the lot. But they don’t specialize in objective information. They specialize in emotion. It sells more papers.
Inquirer is bad by your standards, but compared to the Star, or perhaps the worst, the Standard Today, it’s pretty tame.
Also you may want to take a look at two leftist online publications: Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly. Apparently communist sympathizing (they once interviewed known commies and praised Joma Sison), they have written several anti-Aquino articles, but never released even one anti-Binay article. At least Inquirer does.
you forgot the tribune
Forget Filipino papers. It’s no wonder that Pinoys worldwide are all over blogs and forums. As intelligent people, we can use papers as a source of information and put together our own picture. Just a we Pinoys are used to putting together our own picture when our own people make their usual tsismis. Which is what most Filipino papers are – tsismis by different groups within the ruling classes or those who want to be. OK, newspapers in more advanced societies also have their point of view, but at least they try to be pros. And even there you have very biased media like Fox News on the US side or Russia Today which is Putins mouthpiece. So I think there is hope for the Pinoy inspite of everything.
I actually believe that Pemberton is guilty and should go to jail. I believe that, as what happened happened in Philippine territory, he should be tried by a Filipino court. But Gabriela’s treatment of him, and their treatment of other alleged killers of women, killers who weren’t American, makes me sick. Just recently, there was a young Filipina who was married by an Australian, but not once have I seen them make any form of statement against this Australian.
I personally share your readout on Pemberton, but there is a process, called fairness, that ought to be followed before a declaration is made. Especially by a group that advocates principles of human rights.
O0K FOR PERSONALLY SHARE ,WE NEED TO FAIRNESS AND JUST FOLLOWED THE DECLARATION AND OBEY THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
Try not going all-caps, dear — we have eyes, and we can use them perfectly well.
Those are excellent standards, for sure.
There is no such thing as Human Rights or Environmental groups in the Philippines, Joe. Have you heard the statements made by the Kalikasan group? They want a suit filed against US/USN for, ahem, damaging a protected reserve & VIOLATING SOVEREIGNTY. Something which you usually don’t hear them demanding.
Yes, there are also no notable consumer action groups, just a few people here and there working on vested interests. I’m not sure how an accident violates sovereignty. Indeed, I have a hard time relating to how sovereignty is defined here. It clearly has little to do with protecting the well-being of the nation, but instead is attuned to assuaging peoples’ hurt feelings from times long past. To me it means the Philippines is master of her own destiny and territory, and as master is empowered to put together defensive alliances to preserve independence and territorial rights.
Kalikasan, “People’s Network for the Environment”. I wish they would not get distracted and would do the hard work of environmental protection in a nation that, from all evidence, has precious little of it. I think poor-performing stewards of the environment are more a threat to sovereignty than various ships trying to find their way safely through 7,000 islands.
Just like I wrote somewhere else, fairness is a concept not understood by many Filipinos. This has historical reasons and they have to see that it exists to get a grasp of it. People used to Hobbesian my group against yours conditions do not believe in impartial justice.
Leftist groups in the Philippines have clearly defined ideas about who is the enemy. My experience with them is that most of them are just plain hard-headed and stupid, sorry. Like Pawlowian dogs who bark when they see Joes.
More intelligent nationalists in the Philippines understand that in the game of thrones that international politics is, you need partners and if you are weak you need senior partners. How weak you are relative to the senior partner determines your status in the relationship.
My vocabulary does not work here leading to some measure of frustration.
My emulating Miriam in that post was unintentional. Good I did not start using my Latin.
Time to go for lunch, I am getting too worked up to continue writing well – cu.
🙂
I personally believe Pemberton should go to jail in America, if found guilty.
At least he won’t get blow-up dolls, jacuzzis and cellphones. LMAO.
🙂
Memo to Joe: FVR demanding that Noynoy hold himself accountable as commander-in-chief for what happened in Mamasapano is not tantamount to asking for a coup. It may be wrongheaded and redundant given that I think Noynoy has taken responsibility for the bloodbath on his own shoulders (at least I think it is, but of course a former general and president has to have his sources), but it is not below him to demand it.
(I do admit to a certain bias in FVR’s favor, but it will be said that it’s hard hating a guy who seems so charmingly jolly in private — at least my sister says so while seeming to confirm my earlier estimate of him, having had some time spent with the ex-president as part of her OJT.)
I appreciate the balancing view. Many hold him in high regard, so I suspect you speak for them. I just don’t understand the need to contribute to instability when stability is the great hope of the Philippines. His comments almost seem to suggest he does not know of the many heavy decisions a president must face, and an expectation that Mr. Aquino will get them all right.
I suppose I ought to grant him the right to make mistakes, too, as a retired president. It would be easier to do if I saw some corrective words coming from his direction . . . as President Aquino has been working diligently to show the families of the SAF44 that he does really care.
I don’t think Ramos wants to have a coup. My personal take on this is that Ramos – a good leader – is just showing the “grumpy old man” syndrome. During Cory’s time, he was the kingmaker and her guarantee that no coup against her succeeded. Probably he had a pretty powerful role behind the scenes even before he himself became president. He probably thinks Cory’s boy should listen me, the old man and is a bit pissed off he isn’t. But who knows, I always suspected that many of the coup attempts in Cory’s time were typical Filipino moro-moro, I’m not saying Ramos was behind them but he may have just let them happen to save Cory just in time to make sure she doesn’t forget whom she owes.
Back to today: I believe that the coup rumors are just a way for certain groups to test the waters, find out how much support they have or they don’t. What surprises me – or make me a bit happy even – is that a large part of the Filipino public seem to have grown up. They are still very emotional – this is simply our tropical nature – but at the same time they have wisened up, they will no longer let themselves be pulled in by people who use them. Even if there were a call for another People Power now, people would not be fool enough to go there. Many have understood – something I understood when I left and that was for a very good reason – that these are just games the powerful play among themselves.
If Ramos really had cared about the son of Cory, he would have advised him to be at the airport. What it looks like now is that he let Noynoy run into an open trap, hoping the boy would come running to him for help – which could have been what his mother did before. Except the “boy” did not, he went his own way, insensitive and hard-headed as he is. Which I guess he has to be to survive in his situation – and not simply go totally nuts, Filipino politics being what it is. Anyway I do not see Ramos as a bad person either, just an old-school political player who is a bit out of touch with the way things have changed. Which can happen to old men over time, especially those who are used to power.
Para 1, very interesting. He could have attained his wish to be well thought of by sticking up for the Office of the President rather than degrading it. Para 2, I hope so; we’ll see what happens at the leftist rally on the 25th. Para 3, a tad sad.
I agree Joe. This all boils down to the kind of “Food” Filipino brains are “eating”. Inquirer is considered ‘The Iron Chef’ and it’s been feeding everyone emotionally driven, politically motivated articles instead of presenting fair and objective. Same with our TV stations.
Yes. Next week I’ll be dissecting one of the Inquirer front pages, and that point becomes perfectly clear. It could be any front page any day. Even today. If the choice is support a strong and healthy (objective, mature) dialogue and nation, or stir up anger, the Inquirer will go for anger just about every time. And anger undermines the nation’s health, harmony and rise. And the Inquirer is the BEST of the lot.
And now Joe, here comes Manila Standard stirring up people’s anger anew with their banner headline, “Pnoy Scolds SAF Widows.”
There you go! That is beautiful for its representation of the manipulations and bad faith demonstrated by Philippine tabloid media. Thanks for that forehead slapper.
At some point, people will wake up to the notion that they are being played for fools, and start laughing at the crass manipulators as being dishonest creeps.
🙂 They are desperate and would stir people’s anger anew so that people would attend on the 25th rally.
Well, we need an alternative name to the rally than whatever righteous tag they give it. Like “Whacko Rally”. Or “Demonstration against stability”, or “March of a thousand fools”.
I’m sure our creative wits here can come up with some better ones.
Just looked at the article, the supposed scolding was Noynoy saying: “Anong gusto ninyo, kunan namin ng fingerprints ang lahat ng MILF?”. Probably some widows got impatient and emotional and pissed him off, but the article did not say what comment caused that.
Anyway, the source was not first-hand, but “a representative of one of the families told broadcaster Anthony Taberna of radio station dzMM” about it, and “the remark, Taberna said, angered the families who were growing impatient at the slow pace of the investigation.” And the same report admits that “journalists who were barred from covering Aquino’s dialogue with the families said they could hear loud and heated words from women from behind the closed doors of the PNP Multipurpose Center.”.
So basically no first-hand sources at all, just he-said she-said. The only thing that is sure is that there was a heated discussion and even if the comment was real, the context in which it happened is important.
The headline is totally wrong though, I can imagine that Noynoy got mad about something and really said that, but scolding is something else. In the end what matters how justice is served.
The moment people lose faith in justice, they seek revenge, which is exactly what rule of law intended to prevent in the first place. It will be the government’s job to find out exactly what happened – in whatever way they decide to – and decide on consequences – whatever they are – for whoever they decide did wrong. And communicate it to the people when the time comes – that is the challenge for the present government, an occasion it has to rise to. That’s what I hope for – the other stuff is just plain bullshit if you ask me.
After leaving Malacanang, Ramos has never stopped meddling. He planned and directed Erap’s ouster from the get go to install Gloria-Mike with whom he forged a long term power sharing contract. When Hello Garci happened and a Gloria meltdown seemed imminent, He
rushed to Malacanang to put things back in control. But when PNoy, who was privy to his tntc financial shenanigans, won the presidency, Ramos had to tone down his meddling a little bit. Until now – when Binay’s future has been seriously imperiled.
At 87, what motivates this man to remain very aggressive in Philippine politics? Many billion reasons globally as well as many more domestically, says many in the know e.g. global/Asian investment bankers.
“… Ramos was actually a good president. In fact, he was probably the best president the Philippines has ever had (yes, better than Aquino).”
Nope.
*******
From what little I know, I second the conclusion.
And history will bear us out.
*****
That’s a bit of speculation you have there. Say I play ball — source?
*******
1. Love the title.
2. From Wikipedia:
“Coupe de Ville (North American, with silent “e” in “coupe”) or coupé de ville is one of a large number of terms used to describe an automobile with an external or open-topped driver’s position and an enclosed compartment for passengers.”
2.1. Open-topped driver’s position. That means exposed. Not sure if this refers to the target of the coup or the replacement. Both I guess.
*****
Very good, Edgar. It plays several ways, the coup of evil, the coup of the devil, the Coupe de Ville, which had no great significance other than my great amusement.
I only saw Vaudeville, I never knew it had something to do with cars. 🙂
In denial.
Noli de Castro denied,Norberto Gonzales also denied, Peping Cojuanco denied and most importantly Binay denied.
Gonzales and Cojuanco admit they want him replaced but not through a coup. Binay said he still supports the president.(cough)
I had to get this article out in a hurry because I think the coup is pretty much a dead duck, and I didn’t mind stomping on it some more. But a lot of people have certainly demonstrated they are NOT for democracy. They are for instability and whatever advantage they can pull out of that.
And again, we can witness the great silence from people like Poe, who more and more seems to represent a new class of impunity, and the destabilizing rhetoric of people like Santiago who seem fairly unprincipled to me, in a patriotic way.
If people can’t wait 16 months for a legitimate election, they are pretty desperate. And not so very patriotic.
You know things are getting wrong when an American who isn’t even a Filipino citizen (correct me if I’m wrong though, Joe) supports the Filipino interest more than actual Filipinos.
You are right I am not a citizen by paperwork. But in every other respect, I live it. I don’t think it is true, actually mk, that I am “more” supportive. I just “write good” and have developed a platform. The blog is getting more popular because so many Filipinos DO share the values I try to articulate.
I already had too much to say abut FVR, it is more about disappointment..
To the other players, then.
The last thing Poe said a few hours ago was about the Mamasapano(sp) incident that the closed door sessions would be good for Pnoy. always have mixed That is her investigation what about the Binay investigation? On Mirriam, I still don’t know if I like her or not, but her mentioning of the coup help in turning off people(a significant number of people with coup fatigue.
The old generals
My dad served under FVR as ASEC DND for a few months,before FVR;s term ended. That does not stop me for saying what said about FVR.
and blog comment threads is a bad place for butthurt sentiments.
I don’t support coups, my dad doesn’t even when he was accused before, and we support PNOY.
Speaking of democracy, that blog of ben helped me a lot in understanding institutions.
The institution of Democracy should be paramount when we talk about institutions.
Democracy is a very fascinating institution, vibrant, alive, argumentative, organized, fair (in the main), and rich with freedoms and responsibilities. I kinda like the old gal.
Kudos to you and your father for high values and patriotism.
Good point about Santiago. I think she did turn people off.
Thank you Joe! Kudos to you for being a voice of reason!
I hope you realize, as confirmed by many affluent and connected families, that Poe is the daughter of Marcos and FPJ’s sister in law. She is still a Marcos, and you can see that based on the people around her. She is being groomed for a presidential run, and the clowns behind the curtains remain the same.
Actually, I wrote a couple of blogs defending Grace Poe’s right to stand on her own merits, but, alas, those merits do seem to put her squarely in the culture of impunity, not the path that would break it down. I don’t think it blood, though. It is social connections and the inability to break from them to operate as a truly independent woman, ala Robredo.
Three senators are in jail for corruption charges. Gloria Arroyo in hospital arrest. Binay exposed as a scheming kleptocrat. Corona had been impeached. In most gov’t transactions, it’s not business as usual anymore.
That’s revolution. Real. Tangible. And most of us don’t even recognize it.
Forget the coup rumors. Old farts. Sociopaths. Malcontents. It will die down as soon as the campaign season starts. I think I’ll vote for Cayetano if he decides to run.
I posted this as a status message in facebook. As I said there Raissa and joeam’s blog are the last two places of sanity in the internet, if you are Filipino.
Wham! Bam! Nailed it, man. You could probably sell Cayetano to me, as best.
Don’t count them out yet. Remember this is Marcos’ Goebbels we’re talking about. They have more tricks up their sleeves. They are master manipulators and propagandists!
And what is this call for justice on fallen SAF troopers?
They went to Maguindanao fully armed, anticipating resistance in their mission to apprehend a wanted criminal. They trained for such an operation. That’s their chosen profession. The risk of getting fired upon comes with the job. We should honor them for bravery in the line of duty, yes.
I just don’t see where the injustice part came from.
@Micha, I’ve been looking for words about them seeking justice of SAF troopers. And you said it right.
The Filipino soldiers go to war when lost they ask for investigation and sue in court for justice. Weird Philippines
ah, there you are, I felt asleep looking MRP he he he
War Zones…collateral damage…Casualties of War…
….directed by Director
starring: Marwan….
True Story….
…this will be a block buster….after media papers have earned thousand in a couple of weeks…
Cinema is also a form of media, communicating to people….
In Philippines, media means business…
Chizmoso y Chizmosa around the globe…merging in fiber optic hubs…hello, hi, its me…
Texting capital of the world…
weirdos and weirdaz he he he
too much badings and gays (i was almost but found a hole, made me like Samson)
..it might be true as predicted in the Bible, a lot will be save that comes from Far East…
the farthest is Philippines…he he he see you in Heaven MRP…insha Allah (In Gods Willing)
Yes, well put. I think the injustice many talk about is the idea of revenge, sure to perpetuate more caskets. For others it is the idea that the MILF appears to act as enemies of the State and that is not in conformance with the core meaning of the peace agreement. So justice will be served when MILF demonstrates that it is indeed a part of the nation. But for those seeking justice from the President, or the commanders? No, maybe fire somebody for incompetence, but there was no injustice. I agree.
The whole idea of justice was to allow people to get some form of satisfaction for the wrongs they feel have been done to them without resorting to revenge. Once faith in justice is lost, people seek revenge.
The other part is about respect – there is a feeling that MILF does not respect Filipinos, this is an old score about the perceived Moro attitude of looking down upon the Christian Filipinos as weaklings who were conquered and Christianized by the Spanish plus the attitude of contempt that many Islamic terrorist groups show towards ANY outsider – the SAF 44 and how they died is seen as a symbol of what could happen to any Filipino.
The third part is about the perception that the President is a wimp or possibly even a traitor for not being more clear about demanding satisfaction and respect from the “other guys” which the MILF is perceived to be – and actually admit they are, because it is a fact that Mohaqer Iqbal said in the Senate hearing that Moros are not Filipinos, not having been conquered by Spain. Filipinos are emotional and impatient, Noynoy is not getting his message across to the general public too well and the “papers” (tabloids hehe) are not really helping him. There is a lot of fear that if one gives in, the other will walk all over you.
The challenge for the present government is to prove to the people that everything will be clarified and those who made mistakes will face real consequences, whoever they are.
The challenge for Noynoy is to prove that he can be fair AND firm towards the MILF. Make them face the music for what happened, not let them off the hook easily but still give them a chance to prove they are acting in good faith. Tough balancing act. I am Pinoy as well and emotional about this, otherwise I would not be writing in this blog, even if I have the benefit of being far away. But I will also wait for proof of Noynoys leadership in this matter.
Yes, I suppose this is one instance where being tough by not bending to popular emotion is not quite tough enough. I sense another presidential speech coming on soon. I wonder if it will be tough but not distant, too cerebral.
The emotional part is not everything, just wrote about that below, there are real issues to be addressed in relation to the conflict in the south. Emotional people do not manage to address the issues in a way that logical people understand them, but do feel about them from the gut. There are also people who appear cerebral but this is just a defence mechanism to keep them from blowing their top – I suspect Noynoy is this kind of person, a lot of geeks are like that seemingly quiet and cool but freaking out inside.
What Noynoy has to communicate – in whatever way he does it does not matter to me – is his vision for the future of the nation. Especially as defined by the way he deals with the Moros as a part of the nation. This in no trifle as it will define everything else.
Just like slavery or no slavery was an issue which defined the future of the United States. Abraham Lincoln rose to the occasion, even though he was actually an akward man. One short speech – the Gettysburg address – summed up his vision and his principles.
This is how I would say it if I were Noynoys speechwriter, another guy would have to translate it into good Filipino:
“A country is a community formed by fate. Some of us were conquered by Spaniard and became Christian, some were not and remained Muslim or stayed native. But that is the past. We seek to fix past injustices, which is the solution we are looking for.
But we will not tolerate those who work with international terrorists, who in fact seek to destroy all nations and are blinded by fanaticism. This is were we fairly demand cooperation from the MILF, in return for our being forthcoming to them. Only then can we trust you and see you as a part of our common Filipino nation, helping us all work toward a common and better future.
To those who seek to use what happened to the SAF 44 to gain power – I say one thing – you are also betraying the nation you pretend to serve. Give me and my government time to do the job of finding out the real facts and then decide what to do. Then let history – and my employer the Filipino people, decide how to judge me and my government.”
I hope that somewhere, Noynoy is thinking about what his message will be, and how to make sure it is clear, that it is conveyed to the people and that he follows through on it whatever it is. That is also a part of being a leader – rising to challenges. McArthur also failed to act promptly on the Japanese invasion, left a large part of his people to die on Corregidor and the Bataan death march – but he made a promise with three simple words “I shall return” – and delivered on that promise which is why people forgave him, including General Wainwright.
Excellent speech. I especially like the opening, and the close. Well, actually, I like it all. “Some of us were conquered . . .” “We will not tolerate . . .” “Then let history . . . judge . . .” Hits the tone of firmness right.
Thanks Joe. Just noticed a few typos, which is because it was written in passion. If I were back home – somehow deep in my heart the Philippines is still home – I might have been caught in the confusion of emotions that is the Philippines. That is why I do not want to judge my folks back home because I am just like them, only luckier. And I had the luxury of being able to watch things from a distance while still being able to understand them.
You Joe have the advantage of being from elsewhere and having some emotional distance from everything, while being in the middle of everything and able to observe.
The anonymity of this blog is very good, because I am sure a lot of people would want to give all of us here hell for being such “smart-asses”. In a country and a culture which is split-level, which has a hard time seeing what it really is, which is the first step to being able to improve, people who call the emperor naked – not Noynoy that is too easy, the whole system – are not really well liked. And even worse, we are not just destructive like some others which is way to easy, we actually are looking for solutions, super pilosopo!
Super pilosopo!
One of the things I learned at my job in the States doing odd one-off projects of some significance (buying this, selling that) is that it is rather fun dealing with things that are new and complex and challenging. Maybe that is why I enjoy this “job” so much.
Bravo Pinoy. I love your speech :)!
@Pinoyineurope, I wish you are the speech writer of the President. Maybe all these squabbling about his handling of the SAF 44 would have been avoided.
Ella, I wonder if I would last long in the Philippine political environment. It’s a jungle, I KNOW. Won’t say much about my background because I don’t want my identity revealed.
Joe, I notice that you enjoy it, and that gives me a ready answer to my old man if he finds out I am writing on your blog. I know what he would say, the old nationalist: “how do you know that Joe is not CIA?”. “Tay, I know because he obviously enjoys what he is doing”. 🙂
🙂 🙂 🙂
The issue about MILF is larger – how can we be sure they are acting in good faith, how can we be sure they will not want more after being given BBL? Many people will say “the Moros” have ARMM and were not satisfied, now will they be satisfied with BBL?
If there is BIFF inside their area now and they cannot deliver those from BIFF who killed Filipino cops, how can the Filipino state be sure that Bangsamoro will be able to control BIFF and others after BBL? If they really protected, not Marwan I think but possibly Usman (being one of their own), how can the Philippine state trust that they will not harbor terrorists in the future, even more with their own substate? What happens in the future if criminals flee to Bangsamoro and Filipino police want to arrest them – or even worse, are in hot pursuit over the “border” and get shot up again like the SAF 44?
Even more, how can one be sure “these guys” will not claim the whole of Mindanao based on history? “They” claim it was theirs after all, before all of the Christian settlers came, which I think is not true because most of Mindanao belonged to animist tribes and both Muslims and Christians were landgrabbers. It is not just about one incident, it is about this entire complex of issues that people are worried – but are not able to articulate it well.
I think these concerns, over all the emotional stuff, are legitimate and should be addressed by Noynoy and the government. It is about the future of the country.
BTW does BBL address the issue of how non-Muslims are to be treated in Bangsamoro? If one group demands fairness it should be able to be fair to others as well. I seriously doubt that Christians and Lumads would be treated well by an MILF government. Is it true that the BBL allows the MILF to impose the Sharia or is that just a rumor? Bad enough that so many Filipinos have to work in Saudi Arabia and endure that kind of system. Worse if that system actually is allowed to be imposed back home. These fears of the common people, the taong bayan, should be adressed. The worst fear people can have is fear of losing ones home, one’s usual way of life. These are legitimate human concerns.
There are initiatives to address non-Muslims, for example with non-Sharia courts and recitations of human rights standards. But there are holes, as was pointed out by Yvonne. What happens if the plaintiff is Muslim and the respondent is Christian? I am only part way through the document, having gotten bogged down in the hearings here. I’m not sure what provision for amendments or delegation of lawmaking exist. My guess is there will be a LOT of learning going on, lots of opportunities for friction to arise. I think the BBL document has been worked out diligently to try to skirt the constitutional issues, but it does not seem like a sophisticated document to me. More mundane and functional. It’s not like the ITLOS filing done by the best legal minds in the world on international rights.
Don’t really believe in too much sophistication when it comes to primary documents. The Ten Commandments are very short and were Mose’s response to a crisis in his people The American Constitution is MUCH shorter than the 1986 Philippine constitution, but it has worked for over 200 years with surprisingly few amendments. Basic Laws, Constitutions, Commandments are about principles and should therefore be general and built to last over generations, interpretations are a thing for laws and lawyers, priests and imams and the Society of Honor among others.
In fact I actually believe that it IS wrong to give Muslims another law. You should have the same law for everybody in a liberal democracy if that is what you are for. Sharia or any religious law is in contradiction to liberal democratic principles.
Giving minorities more rights is no longer affirmative action or restitution. And if the Philippine state gives away the rights of non-Muslims within its jurisdiction, it is failing them. In this case Duterte is right, what if Christian militia rearm because they feel that they are losing their rights? There goes peace, and they would be using the same justification as the MILF has used. What if the Tausugs and Samals (MNLF clientele) feel they are being screwed by the Maranao and Maguindanao (MILF clientele) and take up arms even more? I don’t quite believe that the BBL will bring peace. All groups involved – all tribes in the area, whether Muslim, Christian or native, would have to be at the table.
Given the way Mindanao works, my suggestion would be to keep ARMM and augment it with a sort of council of tribes were they could discuss and iron out their interests and differences instead of fighting it out all the time. That would be much more realistic.
Punish the tribes that go to war instead of discussing things with suspension from the tables of discussion and power. Actually that might also be an idea to solve the Philippines general problem of always having people who want coups and uprisings. Make clear rules about how people are to air their concerns in the right places and temporarily exclude all who break these commonly accepted rules. There is for example a good reason why in the British House of Commons, the distance between the government and opposition benches is exactly two sword’s length – guys you can debate here but not fight. Or why Swiss democracy has the old rule that the entire town can vote about issues that concern it – in the town square and without weapons. It’s because democracy evolved as a mechanism to keep people from fighting things out all them, it’s an evolution the Philippines still has to go through.
I hope our resident expert on Mindanao, Steve, stops by to comment. My bookie Sal is going nuts with the odds calculations on the BBL. Today BIFF said they want their own Islamic state and nothing else. And MILF said they may not be able to comply with turning over people involved in the attack on the SAF. The tote board is down to 28% probability of an agreement, the lowest its ever been. Your approach may end up being the default position. Doing all that can be done to improve relations by extending out from existing structures and laws. And intense fighting with the warriors.
About our emotions and debating without fighting. We can do that, hardly any rumbles in congress,shouting yes, being held tight by a seargent at arms yes , but a fist fight not much unlike in Turkey, Japan, Korea,as for the British House of Commons,let’s see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_incidents_of_grave_disorder_in_the_British_House_of_Commons
http://www.quora.com/Have-there-ever-been-fist-fights-in-the-British-Houses-of-Parliament
Karl, you are right – I almost wrote fight… hoy gago, susuntukin kita diyan! 🙂
Human nature is what it is. Modern institutions are about taming our imperfect nature. As you just demonstrated, even in advanced countries they do not always work. Human beings happen to be just a more intelligent species of apes if you as ask me.
JUSTICE tames our natural desire for revenge when we are wronged.
DEMOCRACY tames our desire to bully others into doing what we want them to do.
It also is supposed to tame the desire for power and money among politicians.
Institutions don’t work, however, if the underlying culture does not accept them.
In the Philippines, many institutions are not used the way they were intended.
This is because they were mostly given to us by colonial powers.
We made our own thing out of them, not always for the better.
Just like out of the American jeep, we made jeepneys.
In the Philippines, you have institutions that are lived in an overly formal way, often to the point of ignoring reality on the street. Outside the institutions it’s every group for itself. These groups do not feel represented by the institutions. The solution is to give them a voice but to tame their desire for all sorts of bullshit: coups, People Power, impeachment, armed struggle. Let them fight it out using words and institutions like everywhere else.
The thing about democracy is that it is a contract. You elect officials and keep them until the end of term, you let them do their job. You can criticize, but you should stick to facts. You can express yourself, but you have to listen to the other guys and give their position a thought – which is something I believe most people in the Philippine Senate do NOT do. The majority wins, but there are safeguards to prevent it from oppressing the minority.
Same thing about justice – you submit your complaint to a court instead of going the old way, but you respect the court and humbly bow to its decision whatever it may be.These attitudes are not yet fully established in the Philippines.
By letting institutions meet halfway with existing cultural attitudes, you start a two-way learning processes. Until the institutions embody the culture and the culture supports the institutions. Once you have that, a country is strong and can handle nearly anything.
Thanks for not punching me. Hehe
Read an February 2015 article Inquirer.net, Ilaga is reviving in Mindanao. Couldn’t find the link anymore though.
QUOTE Manila Times editorial today:
Yesterday, at the Balitaan sa Rembrandt Forum, Abraham Idjirani spokesman of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo voiced the thinking of most Muslim Filipinos who are not of the Maguindanao ethnic community or MILF camp followers. He reminded Filipinos that in pushing for the BBL, the Aquino peace process people and their MILF counterparts have not bothered to consult other Mindanao stakeholders, including Muslims who are not allied or sympathetic to the MILF. He urged all Filipino people’s organizations espousing change and peace to bat for the active participation of the Sultanate and other Muslim and non-Muslim Mindanao stakeholders in the peace process. Or else, he warned, nothing will be achieved, just as what’s happening now to the Bangsamoro deal. END QUOTE.
The BBL is not the right path for peace and justice. We need more comprehensive agreements with all stakeholders in Mindanao. But the base needs to be, one nation, one secular law for all and the UDHR.
pinoyputi,
Our approach of dealing with them one by one might not work afterall
.MNLF done, but still there is MILF,after MILF, there is still BFF plus other alphabet soups then back to the communist insurgency.
Why not one peace pact where all stakeholders are involved, gather everyone in the largest arena,and settle things,or launch a crowdsourcing one size fits all peace pact project in that gathering.
@PinoyinEurope:
The response is very short for Muslim like me…”Insha Allah..”
If the place will develop, say in 5 years after the approval of the Peace process, say the economy of that place is more than the whole of Manila…no more war then, these rebels will resort to earn for their children…
@Micha, you have the balls to say what is true and what is right. They are only using PNoy as a scapegoat.
Peping Cojuangco is the very reason, why our sports program is in disarray.
Juana Change is a member of a group aching for some morsel of attention designating Juana as front man or is it front woman merely for her size and shape nothing more and its working.
I think it is working for a small segment of outspoken advocates.
I was at a Filipino restaurant held hostage by blaring TFC news channel (‘toopid Filipino Channel). I choked when I heard of another coup. “Sir, are you OK? samting wong wit awr food?” It snapped me back from de javu` to reality. “Yes, I am OK!!!! nating wong wi da food, IT IS THE NEWS!!!”
I do not need to worry about coup in the Philippines. There never was a successful coup in the Philippines. They were ALL FAILURES. EDSA Revolution was not a coup or a revolution. It was just people massing and milling about to witness the squabbles between Honasan-Ramos-Enrile and Marcos so they can write Affidavits of dal-dal and pang-damays.
One good thing about Philippine-style coup are:
1. Everybody knows it, the date, time, coup plotters, etcetera
2. After coup failures, coup plotters become congressmen, senators and Presidents
3. The peso devalues. Good for me. Good for OFWs and Good for anyone receiving foreign exchange stipends
4. When peso devalues, Starbucks coffee becomes out of reach to peso-earning Filipinos. I can have Starbucks or Bo’s to myself and internet connectivity is faster because there are few customers
WHY ARE POLITICIANS GANGING UP ON BENIGNO AQUINO? Because he means business. The crooks being named-and-shamed are in never ending investigations. Mamasapano is a good excuse for these greedy crooks. Scratch all the alma mater of these greedy crooks, they came from these two public schools.
“One good thing about Philippine-style coup are: … etc”
MRP, it is one or all of the above and many more, I think. It begs the question, “which ones are mine?” 😦
Mariano, you mean the NEWS FEED ☝
Ah, thanks for the enlightenment. I need to adjust to a pro-coup position, as the coup d’evil is likely to accomplish nothing and I can drive up the value of my dollar-heavy retirement fund. Maybe I should write a sequel . . .
Ah, thanks for the enlightenment. I need to adjust to a pro-coup position, as the coup d’evil is likely to accomplish nothing and I can drive up the value of my dollar-heavy retirement fund. Maybe I should write a sequel . . .
Nice pun on a famous Cadillac model
Hail to the master of satire. Stern, Stewart and Colbert is no match.
Many question why Filipinos fail to grasp satire, what are they talking about?
I don’t know what is left if satire doesn’t work and sense doesn’t work. Let us endeavor to expand appreciation of both satire and sense.
Trillanes doubted the groups would succeed, pointing out that the usual motivation for plotting a coup would be corruption, oppression or discontent.
I agree.
Corruption, oppression or discontent wrapped in abuse of ideals like “justice”.
These coup attempts could also be a very hopeful sign. It seems that the disappearance of two of the most dominant power brokers on the Filipino chess board is real, Enrile and the FG, due to their shifting priorities as health, legal… Estrada’s camp feeling lonely. Tagle listening to the Pope and staying out of the way. The children of the traditional tycoons are all American educated, they seem more focused on growing business through strength, integration in the global market, innovation, not as their parents on brute arm wrestling for political influence and rent.
This created a total new situation on the chess board. Some of the smaller and less clever pieces on the board feel as if they can now benefit from the situation and try to checkmate the President. But they strongly underestimate The Presidents defense, his achievements so far, strong secretaries and key political supporters not wanting to risk it all.
This might be the time for the Philippines to roll up these negative forces and engage in a more mature way of playing political chess.
Splendid read. I never thought it was Ongpin for the naive reason that Enrile is his enemy. But Peping’s act re-arranged my dreamy world of blood thicker than Maynilad. Then I recall Peping revealed that he had wanted Cory to run anew in 1992 to preserve the gains — the nation’s or his, whatever. And his broomstick had wanted to be ARMM OIC post-2010. Strange country. Re bishops, I do not follow their issues. When I see them old and fat and smiling (like the smiles of people after eating in a banquet), I see people who do not want to relinquish their time, who still wave their entitlements with no humility. Vidal and Arguelles served as Lipa archbishops. Vidal used to be the bishop in Malolos when I was 6 years old and I don’t remember a thing. Though two of his successors there had been whispered about with money mess, one during GMA time.
Good of you to visit and add your shading to the absurd drama of aging malcontents striving for the vigor of youth. I suggest they start following sports or chase girls, or even read books to sharpen their mind beyond such simple ideas that their legacy needs to be lasting power and influence. As I read here and there, I understand that Uncle Peping is a rather pathetic, vengeful character, and it is probably he who should be the poster boy for this aging band of rebellious rapscallions.
Joe the system and structure of the U.S.A is different. Instead of a coup the attempt by Republicans to dismantle the beast that is the Federal government by depriving it of its power to tax and strict budget balance. Their analogy to balancing household budgets to the Federal budget which is a totally wrong analogy and putting the brakes to the power of the Fed is their version of a modern coup vs the Federal government. Returning power to the States and a strict originalist view of the Constitution is their methodology.
Right now these guys could be the most dangerous group of ideologues on the planet.
Yes, I agree. Well, they have no power over the military, but they can deconstruct due process and can, on a political whim, crash the world economy. I agree they are a scary cast of characters, much moreso than the Philippine coup cast. They are WITHIN the power structure, not trying to get in.
Very well said Joe…Thanks to you.
Thanks, Marvin. Good of you to say so.
hilarious. it cracked me up. keep ’em coming, joe.
Why thanks, henry. You keep reading and I’ll keep writing. I enjoy doing the articles that are pertinent for being a little impertinent.
Who ever brings down the prices of electricity, Gas,food, education ,water is my Leader. To date BIR continues to extort us despite compliance. If Pullido Tan can be the leader , i will die to fight for such a person.
Arrogance is not an excuse of a righteous person. Who is clean?
Pullido Tan, chairwoman of Commission on Audit. I doubt that prices will come down, or taxes, because there are extraordinary demands on government to provide social services and public education and build infrastructure and defend against destructionist NPA and Muslim groups; think of how much money could be saved if we did not have to be defending against our own citizens. So I’m not so sure I see government as the culprit, other than the inefficiency and corruption within it, which is deeply established by people with little opportunity or skill who are just holding a place because there is no need to do more because there is no where to go.
As for arrogance, I think there are different kinds. There is an arrogance of confidence (we Americans), an arrogance of envy (crabs, tearing others down), an arrogance of power (Binay family), and an arrogance of position (educators, titled and entitled, wealthy people). Maybe some other kinds, too. Sometimes there is a presumed arrogance because someone won’t change their view to fit ours. I think it falls away if people are earnest and honest.
Who is clean? Well, it depends. If you ask Nancy, Johnny, Jinggoy, Elenita, Bong, Tiangco, Remulla, Peping, Ongpin, Gonzales, Junjun etc., and their lawyers, Binay is. What/how about you, anthony?
Binay has a clean face. His dark skin always looks very shiny. Ano pang gusto mo?
Agree, PinoyInEurope. Eh, si anthony kasi, pinabababa ang presyo ng tubig. Akala niya siguro hindi naliligo si Binay, eh, mayaman naman iyon. Tanong pa ng tanong kung malinis daw iyong tao.
I think that General Espina is clean. Not only looking like Mr. Clean.
:).
Espina for President. No more half measures. Buti pa iyong talagang bokal kaysa panot.
I know it isn’t really funny, but given the absurdity of Philippine politics.. can’t help it.
anthony,
I agree with you that Pulido Tan has potential to be a leader. If you will die, how could you fight for such a person? You must continue to live to be able to do that. But if that’s your decision, so be it.
anthony,
death of saudi king and new king doles out billions for his citizens. good for them bad for us.oil price roll backs stopped when saudi king died, now weekly price increases are back.
since we are one of the top plastic polluters, and there is a filipino scentist with a plastic to diesel idea why not support him? i remember those water powered cars later branded as hoaxes.
You do realize it was a failed coup by JPE and FVR that eventually turned into People Power that installed Cory and is the foundation of the current Presidency.
Some of your articles make sense, others betray the same arrogance that make the rest of the world coin the term “ugly American”.
It doesn’t matter how old you are if you are fighting for a cause. The fallen 44 could have been 22 or 62 years old and the responses of Pnoy would have been the same and those responses are the straws that are breaking those old camels backs.
Are they the same players from years back? Yes, just as PNoy is the same rehashed story of an Aquino/Cojuangco in politics.
We are a young nation that was influenced by our colonizer to follow their pattern of democracy. Something that they push throughout the world, because they think it is correct regardless of what the reality is. Maybe we should try a different pattern of democracy.
And I beg to disagree Mr. t. People power started in the dark years of Martial Law, during the first quarter storm where many young men and women died fighting for the cause and Ninoy’s death became the catalyst that woke Filipino patriotism. EDSA I is but the culmination of a decade-long fight for freedom and FVR and ENRILE just realized that Marcos is a goner hence, the switch. EDSA I is the tipping point Mr. t and don’t FVR and ENRILE take that away from us.
That’s why it is called opinion, t, so that people can disagree with it. Satire works sometimes, does not at other times. We are all ugly to someone. Age is a benefit not a handicap. etc, etc
As for a different pattern of democracy, I hope you read Ben Diskurso’s prior write-up on that, and the discussion that follows.
Amazing how we were able to preserve our YOUTH as a NATION for more than FIVE MILLENNIA !!!! No way are we young, WE are ANCIENT, as old as those majestic rice terraces in Banaue !!!! We might have embraced colonial influences yet we still remain
DISTINCTLY PINOYS, here or abroad.. .
“The fallen 44 could have been 22 or 62 years old and the responses of Pnoy would have been the same and those responses are the straws that are breaking those old camels backs.”—t
Ah, t, the responses of Pnoy, was it? What responses? His not being at Villamor to meet the caskets because he preferred to attend to an important prior commitment? What else, can you tell us what earth-shaking responses did he commit that you want to try a different kind of democracy by toppling down a legit government that might result to chaos? Are you ready to burn down your whole house and family because your father has a small tantrum?
What sickening proposition can some people have.
THEY died doing something, most people die doing NOTHING ♣
Wise words, Mercedes. You’re speaking, of course, of suicidal terrorists killed while slaughtering innocent civilians who has nothing to do with the conflicts.
The SAF commandos were NOT terrorists, SIR !!!!!!!
You’re describing terrorist who died while killing people, Ma’am. Not the SAF who died protecting people like you and me. You’re responding to this, remember?”:
“Are you ready to burn down your whole house and family because your father has a small tantrum?
What sickening proposition can some people have.”
Some people need to get a life !!! Is sarcasm DEAD ? How about IRONY????
Bert,
Prrrrrrt, timeout.
Okay, thanks, karl, you now have the title as The Great Peacemaker.
Mercedes, I’m sorry for my lapses, or ‘responses’ if you will. I guess I deserve a senate investigation in aid of…what?.. to be convened by our dear host Joe here. CHEERS!
.
. . . in aid of misunderstandings by two earnest people. No new laws required . . .
Joe, you are aware we can color code our dendritic discussion threads ready to be excised at jumpball arbitration time. 🙂
Have vocabulary, will challenge . . . dendritic, to grow in branches as trees or crystals. The tendrils are getting complex, I agree . . . and linguistically colorful.
WOKE UP this morning feeling fine, thinking PEACE on my mind. Must have placed
the thermostat too high. Blast this DEEP FREEZE !!!! Peace to y’all ☺
Mr. Joe, very good title for your blog and the cast of characters are the devils who thinks they can save the Philippines and Filipinos if they succeed with a coup.
Thanks, ella. I agree, they are causing trouble, not solving problems.
Hi Joe, I wish I had a good command of english as most of you here so I could articulate my thoughts and contribute in any little way I could for my beloved country.
I am a regular silent visitor here and your inputs somehow ease my despair and feeling of hopelessness resulting from the current chain of events here and the growing sentiments against reason instigated by the crooks infesting this country eversince the time of the King & Queen (Marcos & Imelda). Kudos to you and the others here for the objectivity I rarely see in other fora. More power to you all.
@ percival Joe will see your sentiment and believe it, he’ll fit it where it belongs. That’s the thing about things from the heart, they fit everywhere. Comment on, friend. Use words if necessary. 🙂
percival,
coming from someone who no longer cares if he has good command of english or not, i say go for it. here we don’t have to have a thesaurus handy. our resident linguist Sonny, even speaks in his native tongue(Ilocano) once in a while.
not to mention Latin . . .
Would only admit to Caesar’s Gallic Wars, Joe. ha ha.
Hi, percival, the content is what counts, not the form. But it seems to me you do fine on both counts, so I hope you will continue to offer up your views on things. I’m glad that you appreciate the blog. It is a rather impressive discussion, isn’t it? Good sense rules, and open minds, and a respectful welcome to respectful opposing views. I’m glad you follow us, and thanks for the encouragement.
sent you an email, Joe.
There! A new entry from Andrew! 🙂
Okay, andrew, I’ll dig it out this eve when our brownout is over.
Joe, the Philippines faces a huge array of pressing problems that all need to be addressed immediately. Hunger and poverty among the poor throughout the nation, the entire situation in Mindanao, terrorism, both domestic and imported, a failing education system, are only a few of the problems that demand immediate solution. By far the most serious and urgent problem to be addressed is that of corruption, in government where officials appointed to administer programs to benefit the nation divert funds for their own use, elected officials split their spoils equally with the criminals who make their thefts possible, leaving nothing for the poor who are the rightful beneficiaries and members of the judiciary who sell justice to the highest bidder. (Witness the dismissal of two cases against ex-mayor Binay in a matter of days, plainly insufficient to review the massive piles of evidence.)
Frequently in the past, the president of the nation has been among the forefront of those involved in corruption. Previous administrations were unable to address the rampant corruption because their own hands were not clean and they would not be able to stand up under a rigorous investigation of their own actions. Now we are fortunate to have a president who seems to do his job with integrity and honesty and the current turmoil is the result of his support of the prosecution of those participating and benefiting from the corruption at the highest levels..
Many people seem to fail to recognize that the revelations of official greed and theft that assault us on a daily basis are the result of cleaning up a long-standing mess. When you clean up a trash dump the initial result is to make things worse, as the mass of rotting debris is exposed and the stink of it spreads to assault our sensibilities. That is the state at which we find ourselves now, with the stench of corruption and the exposure of the individuals involved and the extent of their betrayal of the people they were elected to serve gradually being exposed.
What everyone needs to appreciate is that this is only the beginning of the clean-up. The work is long and arduous but the citizens must persevere and not allow themselves to be distracted until those currently exposed have been sentenced and punished appropriately. The case of others less culpable may be addressed when the “big fish” have been landed. My expectation is that once the culture of impunity no longer exists that many of the current practices among lesser officials, judiciary and bureaucrats will cease to exist. But it is a long process and requires continued vigilance by the citizens, for years and not for the two or three days that newspaper reporters’ attention span generally supports.
If corruption can be controlled and its extent greatly reduced (I do not dare to say eliminated.) many of the other problems confronting the Philippines, hunger, poverty, inadequate education and health care, among others, can be addressed and improved. And under these circumstances, the need for coups, evil or otherwise, will never arise.
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I find myself making a second second in hopefully just two minutes. Totally agree with this analysis.
*****
Wow! @ David, this is the reason why I come back again and again to read and reread this blog. Thanks to Edgar, sonny, Bert, Steve, joseph, Andrew, Micha, MRP(!) and the others I forgot to mention. You have no idea that you are touching and teaching a lot of lives by writing and sharing your thoughts!
Of course Uncle Joe, thank you for continuing to write and inspiring a lot of wannabe writers to write even more.
Btw, what happened at Raissa’s blog? It’s a good thing you did not make “patol”. Just goes to show, you’re the one who has character. Maybe, you should ask Bert, sonny, or even Micha to talk to him.
What happened is the CPM crowd got tired of one person dominating the discussion in a negative way. He is a hyper-nationalist, and so my provocative blog language drives him nuts. He takes everything literally and as cement. I’ve taken to ignoring him and it is clear people there are aware he was damaging Raissa’s blog. His comments were suspended for a day, a little poke to say, kindly change the tenor of your discussion. I’m not sure he can, but I’m confident Raissa has about had enough of it.
Thank you,bauwow, for the kind words. Your contributions here in Joe’s blog are no less valuable than the rest of us and I can honestly and categorically say that Joe our host is happy having you with us here.
As to talking to the guy at Raissa’s, I’m sorry but I’m not going to touch him even with a ten-foot pole, or hundreds.
I second the motion.
Very nice and visual and odoriferous analogy, that trash dump, and you characterize precisely what the current yelling is about, and it is indeed discouraging that so many fail to see the context for the uprising, and their contribution to diminishing Mr. Aquino’s ability to keep cleaning up the trash.
You may also be interested in reading Disqus comments on the Inquirer. For one thing, it seems quite a lot of Disqus users there agree with your sentiments: that the quality of Inquirer stories has sagged. I’ve seen users criticizing article content. About the only thing I don’t agree with them is that a large portion of Inquirer’s readership wants Duterte to be President. I don’t, mainly because of his killing squads, but that’s another story.
Disqus comments are also interesting for another reason: from reading comments, you can tell what the newspaper’s audience is. Pro-Aquino users tend to hang out in the Inquirer (a known pro-Aquino paper) and Star (tends to be neutral but has lately been anti-Aquino and is rumored to be pro-Binay) Disqus threads, while anti-Aquino users tend to hang out in the Star, as well as the Standard Today (a known pro-Arroyo newspaper) Disqus threads. Also, it’s interesting to note that a good number of anti-Aquino users (regardless of location) don’t want a coup or Binay to take over, and would rather have Aquino finish his term. Seems, even when it comes to being anti-Aquino, the left are in a sticky situation in that they have little-to-no support.
Joe, would it be a good idea for you to write another article on the left, particularly their reaction to this operation and the possible coup attempt? After all, they want the President to resign when 44 SAF members were killed in a botched operation, but many more SAF troops have been killed by the NPA, and never had the leftists reacted to this.
Gud eve MR. MK03. I am doing an article tomorrow evening (Sunday) on the Inquirer. Yes, I have noticed as well the exasperation voiced there by readers. I’ll consider another piece on the left, perhaps after the rally on the 25th. It is also clear from Inquirer comments that people have them pretty well figured out, too. Saying nothing about Binay, but all over President Aquino. I think they (the leftists) are rather like the Church political bishops, so strident and out of order as to be readily identified as foolish.
You may also want to familiarize yourself with leftist news outlets, such as college publications like the Philippine Collegian and the Manila Collegian, web outlets like Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly, as well as the left’s official publications. They criticize Aquino and the administration at every opportunity they can use (even mole hills such as Drilon’s “overpriced” convention center), but are suspiciously silent on Binay and China. I don’t recall them ever saying anything about the Hacienda, for example.
Very good, thanks for the suggestions.
In my college days in the US, students were liberal and actively leading the human rights movement. Here youth idealism seems attached to a great deal of hot air, so many generalist complaints, archaic language, and bad knowledge (the US is after oil). I’ll study up on those college papers and see if I can find pragmatism in any of the causes.
I agree with your sentiments. Until now these leftists still spew out Mao, Stalin, Lenin, and Marx. I know, I have had personal experiences with them (once, I saw these leftists reading a book published by the CPP). It’s hard to see why they would still believe Stalin when the Russians themselves disowned him. Also, it’s funny how these leftists keep denying that they have no links to the communists, when several of their members have been killed in NPA encounters, they have been known to praise Joma and other communists, and some former leftists outright confirmed that many leftist groups such as the LFS and the KMU are communist fronts. No wonder these people can’t get much support.
Yep. I think they are just extortionist gangsters passing verbal gas.
I keep reading this widespread disapproval if not condemnation of people of leftist persuasion, here and at GRP and elsewhere; needless to say, I’m puzzled by all the potshots they receive, and I’m half-inclined to treat it as a Cold War hang-up on the same alley as them collegians quoting Lenin and Stalin as if communism is an ahistorical entity.
Suppose that I am a leftist (though in truth I am all drooling with ambivalence and so eat history with relish). What’s wrong with that?
You are not a leftist in the definition I use, you are liberal and smart, too, so it’s all in the definitions. A leftist in my book seeks to destroy without having an acceptable alternative, that is, whose alternative has been rejected over and over again by a wide swath of Filipinos. I like Waldo Bello for instance, because he thinks solution and injects a bit of pragmatism. He occasionally goes deep end, but its worth it for the insight he brings to arguments.
The sheer incompetence of Aquino’s actions in the Mamasapano incident that has produced a crisis of confidence in the country has naturally led to the rise of the fringe wing nuts all around.
This was a U.S. sponsored project but the heavy lifting was given to the SAF.
Aquino II must explain the U.S. role and why he remains detached to this whole crisis swirling around him.
He has a little over a year left in office.
The media including some very mainstream personalities from radio and TV have all been pandering to the wing nut crowds.
They have fueled in some part to this crisis and have made it almost impossible to discuss the complexities involved.
A crack has developed within the civilian command over the iron fist of the State. It has to be repaired quickly.
Incompetence of Aquino. I suppose we’d have to know more to judge that. And he is asking us to wait until all the facts are laid out before judging. I am inclined to do that. I greatly fear a preconception being made, and then fitting observations to that. The preconception of incompetence, for instance, demanding that all interpretive data be fed to support the preconception.
He was given information and advice from Purisima, and followed it. Did Purisima and Napenas know that 800 highly armed men would be lying in wait for them? I’d say not. So whatever intelligence they had was faulty. How do we hold President Aquino responsible for that?
Mr. Aquino ought not explain the US role if it is legal and a state secret and would compromise future missions, other than in very general terms. In my opinion. But then we probably have different readings on Snowden, too, hero or traitor. So there is no need to debate, for two bricks are unlikely to find compromise. A decision to honor Japanese investors over greeting caskets was a mistake, but not incompetence. To me, the “peoples'” hysteria over that is a mistake as well, and perhaps incompetence at grasping the demands on the President, and no small amount of self-absorption. Understandable for the families, for sure. But many other tragedies have been allowed to pass unnoticed.
I do agree the media pander to wing nuts.
Joe, the Philippines is not the 51st state of the U.S. Marwan was indicted by a U.S. court.
There is no extradition request from the U.S. So if the SAF were sent to capture or kill Marwan what court here issued the warrant of arrest? If they wanted it kept secret the whole process could have been made out of the limelight.
There have been numerous incursions to try to capture these nasty guys.
Umar Patek, the mastermind of the Bali Bombings, was arrested by joint forces of the CIA and Pakistan authorities in Abotabad, Pakistan. The very same resort town where the Seals found and killed bin Laden. He was sent back to Indonesia and tried and is presently in jail. The CIA has had long dealings with both the Pakistan intelligence services and the Indonesian military authorities.
The same holds true here in the Philippines but with the participation of the JSOGTF. The JSOG and the consolidation of all the intelligence services of the U.S. after 9/11 are involved in the war vs Al Qaeda and their allies.
In Maria Ressa’s column she clearly stated the role of the JSOGTF as one of operational intelligence.
You and the whole world know that the U.S. is the vanguard nation against Al Qaeda and its allies. The whole world also knows of the men who planned and executed the first and second attacks on the World Trade Center and their small connections to the Philippines.
We have an ongoing insurgency here in Muslim Mindanao. In some respects this has drawn in jihadist’s that take advantage of the situation as this provides them an incubator for expanding their ranks. Indonesia and Malaysia have problems with the rise of their own fundamentalist but they have effective military and police forces to deal with them.
We do not have the same luxury here.
Joe the intelligence officer of the SAF was involved in the preparation. You are telling us that he did not bother to confirm with our military intelligence and the American intelligence which is available for our government as is the mandate of the JSOGTF.
Napenas already confirmed that they were entering “enemy territory. ”
The mujahadeen insurgency against the Russians to a large extent provided Bin Laden and his cohorts a testing laboratory for their plans against Western interests. They knew their primary enemy would be the U.S. The first commandment of the insurgency handbook is to draw strength from their primary enemy. The CIA with the help pf Pakistani intelligence helped consolidate the insurgents vs the Russians. Al Qaeda which means the base, became the primary recruiter of Muslims from other countries for the fight vs the Russians.
http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/taliban-afghanistan/p10551
Aquino II just added more fuel to the fire for these jihadists….
Instability in Mindanao will provide more fuel for this jihadist movement.
What do you recommend the president do? And how would you solve the Mindanao problem, one of poverty begetting insurrection begetting response, alternately warmaking or peacemaking? If oppression is the enemy, in the minds of the Moro warriors, what is the solution? More oppression or peacemaking?
I don’t have enough information to answer the questions you pose, and am inclined not to make assumptions.
Poverty can never be the cause of anything. It is a condition arising from. maldeveloment and underdevelopment. There are more Muslims outside the ARMM which will comprise the Bangsmoro region under the BBL. The ARMM will no longer exist. The suggested system of representative government will be parliamentary. That would be more suitable to the area since the superstructure will be mainly tribal…
I must confess that for reasons I cannot divulge I have no confidence in Aquino II for being
able to comprehend the depth of the problems the country is facing…
The entire policy framework for economic development in the country is the problem and cause for the spatial development in the country…The population of the ARMM is approximately 3 million…
There is nothing wrong with the Muslim faith. Muslim majority Malaysia and Indonesia are far ahead of econ development.
The American revolutionaries decried the massive oppressive policies of the then English crown…
The entire policy framework being suggested for econ development in this area is to create agro-industrial big business to provide mass employment. The old Del Monte plantation model is the main business model….
The same colonial model left by the American plantation economic model is the main policy framework…
Senen Bacani is a member of the peace panel with the MILF. He is a former Dole Man…
He used to be Aquino I ‘s agricultural secretary….
Underdevelopment and maldevelopment in the country reigns because the country is tied to the neo-liberal policy model….which contradicts the state led model of development of most Asian countries. The effect are off course spatial development and continuing poverty…
Your suggested solution is?
Start the move away from the neo-liberal model by moving to strengthen the critical agencies of the State.
Finance, Trade and the Agricultural sector. Change the laws on the independent BSP and include employment generation in a new BSP.
That for a start
Excellent start. I agree with those four initiatives, from the standpoint of initial impression. (BSP needs elaboration; it’s a big topic, probably too much for here.) Can we agree to dump cooperatives as the official business model for cooperatives . . . PLEASE? I think it is written into the Constitution even though it is horribly inefficient and makes it difficult to go from agriculture to agribusiness. Again, off topic, I suppose.
But I appreciate the tangible answer that gets us past ideology and generalities.
Joe one of the biggest hurdles to econ development in the Philippines is the government’s technological deficit on many levels. Science and engineering within the state bureaucracy is woefully weak…
That is a major hindrance…..
Yes, I believe that.
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Very strange reasoning.
We should indulge the presence of foreign jihadists because (a) they are wanted by the US and not by us; (b) we do not have effective military and police forces unlike Malaysia and Indonesia; and (c) we are adding more fuel to the jihadist movement.
Hmm. Perhaps we should not then resist the presence of foreign jihadists, invite ISIS and other radical Muslims with welcome arms, and offer every bomb-throwing jihadist, every beheading jihadist, every petrol-burning jihadist, and every corpse-mutilating jihadist a safe haven?
*****
Mr. Lores does the Philippine Republic control all of its territory in the midst of a Muslim separatist insurgency?
This is totally separate from the jihadist movement of Al Qaeda which is anti -imperialist
struggle that is on its last legs…
In case you did not know IS is a sectarian struggle between Shia and Purist Sunni sects in the M.E.
By the way the Philippines has been known as the safe haven for jihadists of the region for quite some time. Today foreign jihadists are streaming into Raqqa in Syria to be indoctrinated in ISIS deviant theology…There is a serious brutal civil war ongoing off course…the same goes fro Libya… The Sunni regions in iraq are the safe haven for IS in Iraq. In case any of you want to join simply go to Turkey and go through Syria into Iraq…
The victory of the mujahadeen in Afghanistan fueled Al Qaeda’s drive vs. the U.S. The highest number of U.S. casualties after the Tet offensive in Vietnam occurred in Beirut when two truck bombers from Hizbollah bombed the U.S. marine barracks in 1983.
The U.S. and France were then trying to act as peacemakers during the civil war in Lebanon…Reagan then promptly withdrew U.S. forces from Beirut….
The PLO then was in danger of being annihilated in Lebanon.
By the 90’s Al Qaeda took the fight direct to the U.S. culminating in 9/11.
The U.S. took the bait and invaded Iraq and dismembered the country allowing IS to grow…
The largest trading partner for the ME today is China followed by Europe and the U.S.
Oil can no longer be used as a weapon by the M.E. countries vs the U.S.
OPEC is no longer relevant since Saudi Arabia will have to keep pumping oil to gain market share in lieu of low prices. their cost is still the lowest on the planet.
Also they have to keep their people happy most especially the Shias who are based in the areas where their oil reserves are plentiful.
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R. Hiro,
The essence of your referenced post can be found in the last two sentences, to wit:
“Aquino II just added more fuel to the fire for these jihadists….
“Instability in Mindanao will provide more fuel for this jihadist movement.”
You made the following points:
1. There was no local warrant of arrest for Marwan. (In this you may have been proven wrong by Karl Garcia.)
2. The Philippines, unlike Malaysia and Indonesia, do not have an effective military and police force to go after jihadists (fundamentalists).
3. And in the last two sentences, you criticize the government — and specifically the President — for going after foreign jihadists in Mindanao.
In short, you are advocating a stance of accommodation and appeasement with foreign jihadists who have found safe haven in Mindanao.
I am criticizing your stance of accommodation and appeasement.
I am supporting the stance of the government and the President that the country is morally and legally obligated to uproot foreign jihadists in our midst.
Your response to my criticism is just black ink. Your (a) leading question whether the Philippine Republic controls “all of its territory in the midst of a Muslim separatist insurgency”; (b) your exposition of jihadism in the Middle East, Syria, Turkey Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq; and (c) your discussion of oil — all of these have little bearing on the moral and legal obligation of the government to uproot foreign jihadists in our midst. This… this rambling does not address my criticism in any way.
*****
Ah yes Mr. Lores the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim…
Which head of State just bungled the attempts to make peace with the MILF by ordering this incompetent incursion without regard to the Philippine military who had operational responsibility of the area.
The Chief of Staff had already on the record stated that a night helicopter raid for rapid insertion and extraction would have been his recommendation had he been made aware of the plans.
Now the same chief of staff wants a complete military police inquiry into this matter.
I am sure utmost in his mind is why his Boss bypassed the military….
Who created these divisions within the police/military structure? It all falls at the door of the Commander in Chief.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/humanitarian-crises-failed-states-by-david-miliband-2015-02
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/dec/02/isis-what-us-doesnt-understand/
The PLO used to be an outlawed terrorist organization. Today they are the Palestinian Authority.
The Marcos dictatorship waged an all out war vs the Moro insurgency…
His wife went to Libya’s Gadaffi for assistance in quelling the insurgency. (At one point in the past Gadaffi’s Libya issued the first arrest warrant vs Bin Laden….)
Somehow an accommodation was reached…
But the Marcos dictatorship practically bankrupted the country. We became slaves to the debt he left.
Filipinos left to seek employment overseas and today they keep the country afloat.
In the global war vs jihadists the Philippines is considered by the U.S. a non-Nato ally.
The Bali bombing was in the year 2002. Marwan was indicted by the U.S. in the year 2007. It appears from a news item that an indictment was done here right after…
The indictment in the U.S. had nothing to do with the Bali bombing.
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No, Mr Hiro, it is not that “the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”
The only deduction you can make from what I have stated is: foreign jihadists who seek a safe haven in Mindanao and continue to wage war must be brought to justice.
I am in favor of the peace process.
*****
Mr. Lores— The formal engagement of U.S. special forces is ending.
“Our partnership with the Philippine security forces has been successful in drastically reducing the capabilities of domestic and transnational terrorist groups in the Philippines,” Kurt Hoyer, the U.S. Embassy Press Attache, told AP. He said most terrorist groups in the region “have largely devolved into disorganized groups resorting to criminal undertakings to sustain their activities.”
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/02/24/15/us-special-forces-troops-leaving-philippines
The lack of cohesive planning of the tragic SAF operation from the Office of the President down to the actual operations reveal flaws in the Presidential appreciation of the whole plans which the President was privy to… He failed on one of the most important caveats…. Trust but verify…..
One of the most important part of any military operation is the force depletion report…. Risk analysis……
He had already casually informed the Chief of Staff months before about the impending operation about the need for coordination….
I have no problem with his depending on his trusted friend but administering and managing the armed component of the State cannot be left to chance….
Even in business and professional sports, both require planning and analysis and when the President is privy to the operational plans to send hundreds of men into harms way, risk analysis is primordial…..
Those unfortunate men sent in did not even know the harshness of the terrain they were asked to traverse.
So much for cohesion….
with all due respect RHiro, the warrant for the arrest was issued by a Kidapawan Regional trial court way back in 2007, the same year as the california Court. who issued the indictment.
May not agree entirely,but I very much agree that we need an effective police and military, which does not mean all out war advocacy, it is our only means to prevent war and maintain peace.
Kindly elucidate us all on this warrant of arrest with who are the complainants?
Who is the fiscal who filed the complaint in court?
I tried to look for other articles, but could only find these.(your question remains unanswered)
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/104236/miriam-sp-drilon-differ-on-liability-of-aquino-in-death-of-fallen-44
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/104091/marwan-is-dead—abu-sayyaf-leader-janjalanis-wife
“A Kidapawan City Regional Trial Court had issued an arrest warrant for Marwan in 2007 for murder, multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder in connection with several bombing incidents in Mindanao.”
“The SAF team was sent to enforce an arrest warrant issued by a Kidapawan court against Marwan and his Filipino cohort, alleged bomb-maker abdul Basit Usman.”
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/432474/news/nation/look-arrest-warrants-for-marwan-and-usman
The White House ALWAYS GO PUBLIC in droning out and killing mid-level Al Qaeda in Somalia and Yemen because they have evidences to the fact ….
To this day, WHITE HOUSE is still silent on Marwan’s death because the stories from tabloid press is just totally INCREDIBLE.
I’ve been living in the U.S. all my life and cannot identify the twinkling lights and outline of Drones but some Carabao Farmer who have never seen Cotabato City knew it was a Drone.
INCREDIBLE ! I BET YA THOSE U.P. JOURNALISM GRADUATES CANNOT EVEN KNOW A DRONE IF IT FLEW OVER THEIR HEAD.
@RHiro
Marwan is a wanted criminal for the Bali bombing which killed innocent civilians. He may also have been behind the spate of bombings in several cities in Mindanao, again killing innocent civilians.
Why does it matter that Aquino should explain US involvement in the project? Marwan is humanity’s common enemy, soaked in Al Qaeda’s culture of death. Life affirming Filipinos, Americans, Indonesians, Australians, and even Malaysians all have common interest to track him down.
We do not deny the heroism of SAF operatives. But for it to be used as a launching pad to destabilize the country is, to say the least, bizarre.
Thank Goodness the tabloid press has dropped the “Revolution” from EDSA anniversary. The columnists and tabloid press celebrates the anniversary by calling it SIMPLY EDSA. They must have been enlightened by their folly.
The Filipinos were at EDSA to WITNESS not to revolt. The real revolutionaries were Enrile-Ramos-Honasan. Enrile and Honasan became Senators. Ramos became President.
There was also EDSA Episode #2 that produced a senator: Trillanes
Then an EDSA #3 that ousted a President
A coup always produce a politician. PHILIPPINE POLITICS AT ITS BEST.
Oakwood,manilapenn si trillanes(baka nga naman nandun din sya sa edsa2 d k lang alam) pero sige na nga para tuloy ang momentum. Carry on MRP.