This is only a hunch, but the foreign blogosphere seems far more interested in Philippine rebels behead 10 soldiers (see grim photos published by the Mindanao Examiner) than Filipino bloggers, particularly when it comes to commentary (simply reprinting entire news stories doesn’t cut it). What’s particularly interesting is this:
The government initially blamed Abu Sayyaf or renegade MILF militants for the kidnapping. However, the Roman Catholic news agency AsiaNews said criminal gangs were probably responsible for the abduction.
“The theory that Abu Sayyaf is behind the abduction of Fr Giancarlo Bossi does not hold water,” the news agency said. “Rather, from what we know, he is being held hostage by a gang of criminals.”
Among non-Filipino bloggers, the mood among the interested is grim unsurprise, as shown by Little Green Footballs. The Perpetual Malcontent, for one, seems exasperated by the AsiaNews story. WuzzaDem.com doesn’t think the American media is going to give the story the attention it deserves. as Minnesota Central puts it, there is a global war going on but media (including Bush-friendly media) doesn’t want to admit it. PrariePundit points out that while perhaps not very well known to Americans, the American-assisted campaign against the Abu Sayyaf represents “one of the most successful counterterrorism/counterinsurgency effort of the post-9/11period,” although the killing of the marines represents “a serious setback.” The blog relies heavily on Peter Brookes’ “The Forgotten Front,” which says,
The good news?
U.S.-Philippine operations have significantly weakened the terrorist group. Philippines forces have killed two senior ASG commanders since last December. One was sold out by an ASG member-turned-informant, motivated by the State Department’s rewards program.
Once 2,000 fighters strong, ASG’s been whittled down to around 200 to 300 today. As a result, its trademark bus and local market bombings have dropped off, as has its once-lucrative kidnapping practice. The threat has clearly receded.
But why has this operation shown success?
Indirect Approach: The United States isn’t doing the fighting. Philippine armed forces are – 15,000 of them, with 300 U.S. troops “advising and assisting.” Our forces are not only teaching counterinsurgency tactics and nighttime operations, they’re instructing the Filipinos to collect, analyze and fuse intelligence – even when it comes from a high-tech U.S. Predator drone.
This puts the local Philippine forces in the lead – and gives them the training and battlefield experience to provide a lasting capability that will endure long after the U.S. troops head home.
Hearts and Minds: A significant effort has been made to win local hearts and minds. U.S. and Philippine civil-affairs, humanitarian aid and exercises are helping separate the ASG from the general population. During regular joint “Balikatan” military exercises, Americans and Filipinos build roads, schools, water plants and piers that allow locals to build a better future for themselves – and instill trust and confidence in Manila.
Defense Reform: In 2002, the Pentagon undertook a bilateral program to help the Philippines identify much-needed defense reforms and boost our ally’s armed forces’ professionalization.
That extends to unsexy but vital areas such as maintenance and logistics. In 2001, Philippine military helicopters were mission-ready just 15 percent of the time. Today, those helos are ready for counterinsurgency 80 percent of the time.
Stick-to-itiveness: Despite up and downs in the bilateral relationship (especially when Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo withdrew forces from Iraq), Washington stuck to eliminating the ASG. Resolve makes a difference.
But the real question, it seems to me, is whether 10 Philippine Marines died at the hands of the Abu Sayyaf, or fell prey to a criminal gang. Philippine Commentary points to TV reporter sees empty houses before all hell breaks loose and gives a rundown of what happened; he’s particularly irked that the MILF issued a statement that the whole thing was in the nature of a command and control snafu, that they bore no responsibility but were quite gleefully willing to pick up weaponry from the battlefield.
if they were slain by the Abu Sayyaf, then did the terrorist group intercept the marines as they actually went after the bandits who have the Italian priest, or are the terrorists in league with the bandits, or trying to grab the bandits’ hostage? Whichever way you look at it, it seems a case of bad leadership on the part of the marines.
Let me say I am not a believer in the “see, people are dead! for their sake, abandon all your misgivings about current policy to fight terrorism!” way of arguing or thinking. I believe that this sort of argumentation strays very close to a terrorist mindset.
The President’s been making fire-breathing statements: 1st targets: Rogue AFP men, Reds, terrorists when it comes to the anti-terror law, which yesterday’s Inquirer editorial said should be reviewed now, rather than later. Study the law before making dire predictions, Palace tells critics of Human Security Act.
To help you figure out whether the opposition is valid or misguided, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of Geronimo L. Sy’s efforts to explain the anti-terror law’s provisions.
Meanwhile, AFP troops back in NCR.
In political news, on the evening of my last entry, the Comelec had already made a sudden volte-face: after Comelec flip-flops on Zubiri proclamation, it became COMELEC defers Zubiri proclamation. And just when the public was already set to cheer or jeer (see Winners make losers. Losers make excuses and starfish hands and Tinkie Fantasy for contrasting views) now Comelec in a bind over proclamation (I don’t buy Sarmiento’s logic). Anyway, for now, Koko Pimentel gears up for final stand.
Also,even as JDV: Secret ballot you want, secret ballot you get, there’s a twist: JdV supporters oppose secret vote proposal in choosing speaker while Garcia: JdV lost moral ascendancy for Speakership (on related matters, De Venecia son hit on broadband deal and GMA presses JdV to make Mikey energy committee chairman); in his column, Efren Danao says he think de Venecia still has the edge, but also goes into an educational description of an oft-used political word, “caucus”:
A caucus is held mainly to prevent a bloody or protracted confrontation on the floor. It is not true that only members of the same political party can hold a caucus. Members of different political parties belong to a coalition, whether administration or opposition, can hold a caucus. It can also involve both the majority and the minority, as in an all-Senate caucus which is held quite often.
Any one who says a caucus to settle the speakership issue is redundant because the official balloting will still take place on July 23 ignores the real nature of a caucus. It is a parliamentary tradition that any decision arrived at in a caucus will be binding on every one present. If Pabling wins at the caucus, JdV’s supporters will go for him on July 23. JdV is being true to parliamentary tradition when he said he would personally nominate Pabling on July 23 should Pabling win in the caucus. Those who do not want to be bound by any decision contrary to their own sentiments usually avoid caucuses like a plague.
Here is an addendum to the issue of secret balloting for the speakership as proposed by the Garcia camp. In my column last Monday, Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City said that secret balloting is contrary to House rules that prescribe roll call voting. Rep. Arthur Defensor explained why the rules called for roll call vote. Art, whom I also covered at the regular Batasan, stressed that a roll call vote is needed to determine who should belong to the majority and to the minority. Those who voted for the winner will constitute the majority and those for the loser, the minority. Definitely, the members of the majority and the minority could not be ascertained in a secret balloting.
Overseas: China executes former food safety chief over fake medicines. And Dr. Enzo von Pfeil gets interviewed on whether and how another Asian financial crisis could take place. Elizabeth Wilner suggests that in American politics, there aren’t any second chances anymore.
My column today is You get what you wish for; my Arab News column for this week is Nuclear Option Is Back on the Table in Philippines.
A brilliant passage from Manuel Buencamino’s blow-by-blow account of how the administration targeted Gringo Honasan and then, when Honasan became cooperative, suddenly pulled a rabbit out of its legal hat:
Susmaryosep! If a finding can be pulled out of a hat to let Honasan off the hook, why couldn’t the same be done for Trillanes?
Was it because rather than doing a Gringo, Senator Trillanes swore he would investigate extrajudicial killings, reopen the Garci case and continue to work for Mrs. Arroyo’s impeachment?
No, said government mouthpieces. Under the principle of equality before the law, Senator Trillanes deserved the same treatment as a pedophile who was twice elected to Congress while in detention and who, recently, received a commutation of sentence from a close family friend, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
There’s no need to detail the absurd Trillanes/Jalosjos parallel. Suffice it to say that mounting an 11-year-old girl to satisfy one’s perverted craving is not the same as mounting a mutiny against corrupt military leaders.
There is a difference between patriotism and pedophilia; between a man who stands for his beliefs no matter what and a trapo who stands principles on their head whenever it’s expedient. There is a difference between “de jure” and “de facto” ; between the rule of law and the rule of outlaws. But this regime wants you to believe “there ain’t no difference.”
Time and time again, this regime has used the law to mock the rule of law. And it has never hesitated to substitute a putative sovereign’s will for the sovereign will of the people. But this regime wants you to believe “it ain’t so.”
The same Justice Gonzalez who pulled that rabbit out of his hat, is the very same Gonzalez in this news story: Justice chief relieves Velasco from Burgos case. More in Burgos prosecutor sacked after tagging Isafp agents.
As Erap trial judges reach consensus, there’s the view of Billy Esposo that the ads, etc. are actually an Estrada supporters’ plot. He says something I believe to be true:
How many out there will be willing to risk life, limb and fortune to fight and die for Joseph “Erap” Estrada? It is one thing to sympathize with Estrada the jailbird or vote for the candidates he endorses. But to suggest that millions, or nay, even just thousands of people are willing to confront the State’s armed and police forces over a guilty verdict for Estrada is stretching the limits of the imagination too far.
Then he goes on to suggest that
Before the ad came out, no one had really challenged the fairness of the Sandiganbayan in handling the Estrada plunder case. Up to that day, the public had generally given the Sandiganbayan the benefit of the doubt that Estrada will get a fair trial and verdict.
But after the ad came out, the Estrada camp went to town to claim that a guilty verdict has been rigged. This tends to erode the public’s trust in the capability of the Sandiganbayan to render an impartial verdict. It leads the public to conclude that the Arroyo regime had already gone out of its way to force the court to render a guilty verdict.
In a way, the brand of justice that Secretary Raul Gonzalez had accustomed us to expect has conditioned the public to become cynical of court verdicts in the Arroyo era. Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had cast the seeds of that kind of justice that Gonzalez sows, so she only deserves to reap that sort of public cynicism.
But think again – did you really believe that the Arroyo regime would be so stupid to place that kind of an ad? Common sense will tell you that ad creates an information environment that bolsters only the kind of thinking that the Estrada camp would want to promote.
A point to consider, though I’ve never been keen on the “they’d never be so dumb to do that!” argument. You really never know. For every act of brilliance, or at least breathtaking boldness, a political player’s capable off, there’s always the chance that a blunder can take place. Tony Abaya thinks the middle class has been permanently antagonized by the Estrada camp (I agree):
Given Erap’s past history of colluding with the comrades – not out of ideological commitment, but out of his personal desire to be freed from detention and cleared of the plunder charge – whatever violence is generated by a guilty verdict will not elicit support from the middle class, which avoided earlier efforts to entice them in 2003, 2005 and 2006, no matter how unpopular President Arroyo has become.
A not guilty verdict would embolden Erap and his entourage to try again, for the fourth time, to topple the Arroyo government, but such an enterprise is not likely to generate sympathy and support from the middle class, especially since the economy is doing fairly well and very few, if any, would want to do anything to muddy the economic waters, at least not for such undeserving persons as Erap and his communist allies.
Today’s Inquirer editorial says the trial’s been political from the start, but that the court’s handled things fairly well; see also the views of Marichu Lambino. Personally, I think people have made up their mind either way, but that one court people will end up respecting will be the Supreme Court -and the Sandiganbayan verdict will most likely be appealed, anyway.
An interesting column by Connie Veneracion on how she teaches.
In the blogosphere, even as columnists like Nestor Mata weigh in (pro Villar) bloggers ponder the Senate merry-go-round: big mango wonders which matters more, romance or practicality.
Placeholder on how giving up anonymity doesn’t necessarily mean one has to give up privacy.
Thanks to J. Dennis Torres and fmontserrat for the endorsements.
Technorati Tags: Blogging, elections, human rights, ideas, media, military, politics, president, Senate, society, war, Washington DC
The Philippine government had several peace agreements in relation to the problem in Mindanao. Since then, time and again another group/organization comes out and starts another type of attrocities/offensive towards the government. The government in turn agrees to negotiate with such new group.
In the 70’s we only have MNLF under Nur Misuarri. The government enlisted so many returnees into the AFP as part of peace agreement. Next we have MILF, the Abus, what else.
Some of us says that the problem in Mindanao is a good business. I agree. What will happen to the AFP when we have a peaceful Southwestern Mindanao and other troubled areas? It is just disheartening that so many Filipino families are becoming part of the collateral damage. We have this problem more that 30 years ago.
I consider myself an “anti-gma cynicâ€Â, though not rabidly so. So, I consider the statement below unfair and a hasty generalization.
“the usual anti-gma cynics, which dominate this blog, couldn’t care less about atrocities when government forces are at the receiving end of depraved cruelty.â€Â
You are basically doing something which you chide anti-gma cynics for, i.e., shooting their mouths off without being certain. Silence may mean many things, Ben. Although, I have to give it to you, it sometimes means indifference.
From what I’ve heard from first-hand accounts from friends in the armed forces, these things are of common occurrence in Mindanao. Just last year, several soldiers were killed in an ambush and mutilated. Some of them had their penises cut-off and stuffed in their mouths. “Iniwan para tukain ng mga manok,†my friend said. Their comrades were able to recover the dead and the AFP successfully kept it from the press. This most recent ambush would probably be hidden by the AFP if not for members of the press who were with the troops.
Why keep it from the press? Terrorists delight in the fact that they inflict not only the deaths, but also a “moral victory†because of the propaganda value of such an act. To express excessive outrage only pushes our mindset where these depraved souls would want it to be, on the edge of fear and fury. So, forgive me and others of my ilk if we don’t express our outrage by tearing our clothes and putting ashes on our heads for all to see.
I have all sympathy for the AFP. If not for a twist of fate, I’d probably be one of those soldiers in Mindanao right now. So, don’t think that because some assail GMA and the AFP for abuses they commit in the name of national security, they have no love for the government and the armed forces. For some, that is the unkindest cut of all.
I think the problem with Liberals is that they like hearing themselves thinking but most of them have not found anything to devote their lives to, and don’t know what they really, really believe. Yet. When they do figure it out, that is when they become…………..conservative!
The lives of these men, or rather their deaths, will convince many Filipinos how wrong they are to tolerate evil in the name of political correctness.
But the “savage terrorists,” the decapitators, the jihadists working for Allah’s paradise, they are not the big ideological problem. It is the “sophisticated terrorists” the ones who are working for a Workers Paradise and have evolved all sorts of adaptations and survival strategies, that are the bigger problem.
The latter cannot be rooted out militarily because their presence in Philippine society is not even primarily military, but ideological, social, cultural. They are not so much in the hills as they are in Media, Academe, and the Street. Their protracted struggle has little to do with actually taking over the reins of government, which they would be unable to do, and more to do with parasitism.
They have erected and assiduously maintain a permanent protest culture and propaganda machinery that trumpets a people’s revolution that has been on the verge of victory for over forty years. Themes are eternal: imperialism, feudalism, bureaucrat capitalism, as unassailable as any religiousd cult, they have this Anti-Divine Trinity from which flows an anti-position no matter what issue or epoch. The Left have a Religion as compleat as Islam, without an Allah but just as compelling and brutal.
The Anti Terror Law is the MEME we are deploying against such formidable FOES. It is the IDEA we wish will get into a cockfight with MLMTTJMS and THEO.
Oh how mortally our Champion has been weakened by Nene Pimentel. Encumbered our Warrior with handicaps and tied one hand behind its back.
Make no mistake folks. The War on Terror is a War of the Memes.
True..very true:
“I think the problem with Liberals is that they like hearing themselves thinking but most of them have not found anything to devote their lives to, and don’t know what they really, really believe. Yet. When they do figure it out, that is when they become…………..conservative!
The lives of these men, or rather their deaths, will convince many Filipinos how wrong they are to tolerate evil in the name of political correctness.”
In this War of the Memes, the territory being contested is an archipelago of hearts and minds.
Territory is won or lost by direct occupation of the brains that contain those hearts and minds.
It is a complete mystery why certain memes thrive or even survive. Take the meme of Suicide. It is present in every human generation, yet it’s prime objective when attained, annihilates it’s strongest proponents.
This observation proves that the sheer longevity of an idea is no guarantee of its benevolence or moral legitimacy.
The Left is wedded to such a Labour already long in the tooth when I first met it in my youth.
I suppose the old saying is apt: if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!
Okay, okay! I give you guys and galz until 39!
“I think the problem with Liberals is that they like hearing themselves thinking but most of them have not found anything to devote their lives to, and don’t know what they really, really believe. Yet. When they do figure it out, that is when they become…………..conservative!”
“I suppose the old saying is apt: if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!”
Said like a true neo-con, leftist/communist roots included.
bencard,
welcome, but I don’t know what to call my youngest sister, and her husband (both mds in N.Y) since they are Pinoys, Canadians and now Americans. And truly the are just as proud Americans as they are Canadian and Pilipinos.
anyway I long made a statement that we may had left our birth country for any particular reason or reasons, but we can Never Leave being a Pilipino.. thanks…
Vic… I know that you say “…Canada has only one Class of Citizenship, however it is acquired” but my understanding is that racism is quite endemic in Canada. Case in point — Canada puts little value on credentials earned from non-Canadian universities/ colleges.
And racism is particularly strong in Western Europe. European countries do accept foreign workers/etcetera, but they are not assimilated at all into the social thread of the individual countries. I think it was CNN or Yahoo-news which mentioned that the behavior that Europeans want from the the African-, Asian- and other foreign-workers is that they come, they work, and when they are done with their contracts or nearing retirement, that they go home to their original countries.
Rom, regarding your question to me (at July 12th, 2007, 3:02 pm), the reason why i had to give that warning about ‘bum advice’ (at July 12th, 2007 2:55 pm) is because i expected that statements like the above would eventually crop up. Notice the shift in emphasis (and targets) as well as the emphasis on ideologies (‘memes’).
Wow, so many comments.
That’s the problem with you Rom. You ask a question, I answer, and you want all the world to know how witty you are. So maybe the best thing to do is to ignore people who likes to twit and outwit others. I like intelligent exchange of opinion, but not comments like “they must be trembling in their little booties by now.” Comments like these don’t add to the sum-total of knowledge; they don’t add to the clarification of issues.
manolo,
why is my comment still on moderation?
why is my comment still on moderation?
One of the quirks of MLQ3’s comment box is that it moderates comments with links in them. Did yours have a link to another site?
Even with no links, Manolo’s comment moderation software also targets a specific set of words, i think with possible commercial content. I think that’s why my comment on S*M cards (for the ph*ne) was previously moderated.
I suppose the old saying is apt: if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!
Okay, okay! I give you guys and galz until 39!
——————————————————
He he he so funny but so true!!!!
Anyways, this thread has gotten so long. Almost all the posted comments are really good especially that of DJB and Bencard. However Im still very confuse. Siguro tulugan ko na muna….
yes. manolo’s blog is quite good in screening spams. moderation also aims to prevent potential badware proliferators or sites that unknowingly links them, hence links are moderated.
on DJB’s previous posts:
wow. memes. i had to wiki that.
cvj, what is the “bum advice?” that the LEFT is more of a threat than TERRORISM?
it is laughable, considering terrorism’s propensity to start the next world war.
DJB:
Let us be
Set us free
From sappy poetry
14 dead on 14 sleds
Set free
Let Heroes rest
Devils, that’s right. Hitting back at the [liberal- or communist-] left when the culprits of the ambush are the Muslim rebels/bandits follows the now familiar American strategy of hitting them where they ain’t.
Sir MLQ3,
I also want to write about the MILF beheading but it’s too violent. I cannot even make a mental picture of it. Even if I soak myself with Quentin Tarantino films, the reality of this one is too hard to imagine.
By the way, Sir, I posted the answer of our Team Chiz administrator regarding Chiz’ stand on the senate presidency issue. It kind of fits Billy Esposo’s article. It’s not Chiz yet, but it’s the next best thing. Malapit siya kay Chiz at alam niya ang nangyayari sa opposition backroom.
Jowana
MOWEE,
I like “small poems” too.
Here is a favorite:
Four ducks on a pond.
A grass bank beyond.
A blue sky of Spring.
White clouds on the wing;
What a little thing
To remember for years–
To remember with tears.
cvj,
Are you a “Leftist”?
DJB, i took the ‘Political Compass’ quiz and i posted the results in my blog. On the Economic Scale, i’m more to the left (‘collective’) side while on the Socio-political scale, i’m on the libertarian side. As far as historical figures are concerned, i’m supposed to be in the vicinity of Gandhi and Mandela. As far as fellow bloggers are concerned, Abe Margallo (redsherring) and Arbet (awbholdings) is to my left while Jeg (versimillitude) is a bit to the right. Fellow commenter UPn Student is further to the right.
…but the furthest to the left/bottom (who took the test) is blogger Torn (tornandfrayed) who i think is approaching ‘V for Vendetta’ territory.
cvj,
Here is part of an editorial published today on the Basilan incident:The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) remains on the losing end of the war for hearts and minds; we find it telling that not a single resident tried to send a warning to the military convoy.
Also, the lines that divide anti-AFP forces are porous indeed: MILF, Abu Sayyaf, “lawless elements†— in certain villages the differences may not make much of a difference, or may not exist at all.
This lack of public support at the local level and the ambiguousness of the “enemy†make it difficult to root out the causes of insurgency, terrorism, even crimes of opportunity like kidnapping. All the more reason to forge a fair deal with the MILF. Those we smoke the peace pipe with have less incentive to lie in ambush, in the pouring rain.
This just shows the heartlessness of intellectuals who are also bleeding heart liberals!
How does the editorialist know that no one TRIED to send a warning message to military convoy, or that ANY resident knew of the ambush plan. Maybe they don’t own cellphones in Barangay Ginanta, Tipo tipo, Basilan. Maybe they had no load.
But it is fallacious for the editorialist to conclude that the military is losing the battle for hearts and minds from their own manufactured assumption.
This editorial is just as stupid as when Raul Gonzalez blamed Julia Campbells for getting herself killed by hiking alone in the Ifugao Rice Terraces.
Even if it were true that the military is losing the propaganda battle on the ground, it is idiotarian for the editorial to make that seem to be the proximate cause of this atrocity, rather than a cold, calculated ambush and massacre with mutilation and decapitation for dessert.
The cheek of the editorial too in blaming the incident on a “lack of public support at the local level”!
Heck, how about a lack of support at the level of the national media, who are the number one promoters of hate and enmity against the Military?
Arlyn de la Cruz, once Janjalani’s squeeze, today bylines a story in the Philippine Daily Innuendo, headlining her idol’s successor, the new Abu Sayyaf leader, a certain Yaser Igasan, VERY SPIRITUAL.
Yeah, tell that to the Marines.
But Dean, you too were once a leftist, weren’t you when you were playing activist, that’s why Marcos put you in jail?
While at that time, I was pro-Marcos all through and through, absolutely backing Marcos and military policy then to round up all those communist students and activists, shall we say, like you…
I’m inherently still anti-left when that left threatens my way of life but I do believe that the left today (not where I sit) no longer espouses the downfall of my ‘capitalist’ life although I will never adhere to the UK Labour Party with or without Tony Blair, not even the UK’s New Labour dogma nor to the French Socialist Party dogma – never!
While you, it seems, & correct me if I’m wrong, followed the traditional path just like you said, “if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!”
Isn’t it rather uncanny that those who were once leftist become more conservative, nay worse than the conservatives, than the traditional conservatives the moment they turned around? So, perhaps, given that, inconsistency is progress, wouldn’t you say?
Ooops, I meant “but I do believe that the left today (WHERE I SIT) no longer espouses the downfall of my ‘capitalist’ life…”
Hmmmm – says, ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.’ so will try to re-post:
But Dean, you too were once a leftist, weren’t you when you were playing activist, that’s why Marcos put you in jail?
While at that time, I was pro-Marcos all through and through, absolutely backing Marcos and military policy then to round up all those communist students and activists, shall we say, like you…
I’m inherently still anti-left when that left threatens my way of life but I do believe that the left today (not where I sit) no longer espouses the downfall of my ‘capitalist’ life although I will never adhere to the UK Labour Party with or without Tony Blair, not even the UK’s New Labour dogma nor to the French Socialist Party dogma – never!
While you, it seems, & correct me if I’m wrong, followed the traditional path just like you said, “if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!â€Â
Isn’t it rather uncanny that those who were once leftist become more conservative, nay worse than the conservatives, than the traditional conservatives the moment they turned around? So, perhaps, given that, inconsistency is progress, wouldn’t you say?
Re: Arlyn de la Cruz, once Janjalani’s squeeze,
I think the poor girl is still suffering from the Stockholm syndrome even after many years of her capture, kidnapping by the Abu group. (Or was she reallly kidnapped?)
Arrrrgh – my comment still awaiting moderation.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Hmmmm – says, ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.’ so will try to re-post:
But Dean, you too were once a leftist, weren’t you when you were playing activist, that’s why Marcos put you in jail?
While at that time, I was pro-Marcos all through and through, absolutely backing Marcos and military policy then to round up all those communist students and activists, shall we say, like you…
I’m inherently still anti-left when that left threatens my way of life but I do believe that the left today (not where I sit) no longer espouses the downfall of my ‘capitalist’ life although I will never adhere to the UK Labour Party with or without Tony Blair, not even the UK’s New Labour dogma nor to the French Socialist Party dogma – never!
While you, it seems, & correct me if I’m wrong, followed the traditional path just like you said, “if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!â€Â
Isn’t it rather uncanny that those who were once leftist become more conservative, nay worse than the conservatives, than the traditional conservatives the moment they turned around? So, perhaps, given that, inconsistency is progress, wouldn’t you say?
cvj,
Re Even with no links, Manolo’s comment moderation software also targets a specific set of words, i think with possible commercial content. I think that’s why my comment on S*M cards (for the ph*ne) was previously moderated.
But my comments re DjB’s comments do not have any commercial contents unless of course, branding Djb a leftist as once is commercial content, yet these comments are still moderated (my oooops comment passed though.)
Hmmm – maybe I should delete “capitalist” in my comment…
See what I mean? Well, will try again…
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Arrrrgh – my comment still awaiting moderation.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Hmmmm – says, ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.’ so will try to re-post:
But Dean, you too were once a leftist, weren’t you when you were playing activist, that’s why Marcos put you in jail?
While at that time, I was pro-Marcos all through and through, absolutely backing Marcos and military policy then to round up all those communist students and activists, shall we say, like you…
I’m inherently still anti-left when that left threatens my way of life but I do believe that the left today (not where I sit) no longer espouses the downfall of my ‘capi£££££talist’ life although I will never adhere to the UK labour party with or without Tony Blair, not even the UK’s new labour dogma nor to the french socialist party dogma – never!
While you, it seems, & correct me if I’m wrong, followed the traditional path just like you said, “if you arent a communist at 19 you have no heart. but if your still are a communist at 29, good God, you have no head!â€Â
Isn’t it rather uncanny that those who were once leftist become more conservative, nay, “worse” than the conservatives, than the traditional conservatives the moment they turned around? So, perhaps, given that, inconsistency is progress, wouldn’t you say?
(Djb seems to be a living proof!)
In all the comments here, Manuel Bunecamino’s comments stand out – well reasoned, his recommendations are doable and are pragmatic. As I’ve said, it’s the backbone that’s needed to solve the Mindanao problem.
The Muslim, Christian, Chinese warlords in Mindanao ought to be disbanded – these bandits will use Dean’s HSA to wipe their asses with.
manuelbuencamino :
Fear makes men do terrible things. And fear mongering is a terrible thing to do to man.
Dean said the attack could have been prevented if we had an anti-terror law because the military would have been able to bug cell phone messages etc.
Our side cannot gather intelligence without an anti-terror law?
A parallel army without the help of American and Australian technology could do it and was able to ambush our troops.
What is the anti-terror law, some kind of brain pill ?
Are those fucking idiot commanders playing golf in Camp Aguinaldo going to become tactical and strategic geniuses because of an anti-terror law?
Adopting the rationale for the anti-terror law serves to:
(1). legitimize Bush’s insane war; and (2). allow Gloria to stifle dissent. It won’t do anything more than that.
Let’s fight bandits the good old fashioned way. It worked against Kamlon, Nur Misuari, and against the MILF and Camp Abubakar.
Good intelligence on the ground, just like what those bandits used against the marine convoy, will go a lot further than the Deanie’s futile law.
As to solving the muslim insurgency…the problem is not in Manila. The problem is in Mindnao itself. It’s those warlord political dynasties in Mindanao who have stolen money meant for development and who have kept their constituents under their heel since time immemorial. Get rid of those warlords and you will democratize Mindanao and the MNLF/MILF/ASG won’t have a leg to stand on.
DJB, maybe you’ll get less worked up if you re-read the opening lines of that PDI editorial that you called ‘heartless’:
The paragraphs you cite in your comment are preceded by three observations which laid the predicate for their conclusions. You can dispute the editorial’s conclusions and predicate but the conclusion itself, i.e. the military is losing the battle of hearts and minds, is not necessarily heartless. After all, it could be the same conclusion the military could reach after they conduct their own investigation. Better the cold hard truth than happy illusions. As a scientist yourself, wouldn’t you agree?
MBW, i’ve long accepted that for all practical purposes, this blog has two owners, mlq3 himself and spam karma (the moderation software). Unfortunately, the latter is sometimes quirky and we have no choice but to defer to its wisdom.
Thanks for the explanation, cvj.
cvj,
Leaving aside “heartless” the editorial admits that the ambush was in pursuit of “separatism”. That makes it a terrorist act.
And how in the world one is to respond with both an “iron fist” and an “open mind” escapes me.
Why? Is the gov’t being “closed minded” somehow? And what does the editorial mean by saying the govt must push peace negotiations with Moro separatists to a fair conclusion? Why is the govt being unfair in these talks?
And if their conclusion is that we are losing hearts and minds, isn’t that exactly like saying Julie Campbell was killed because the people of the Cordillera hate US imperialism.
Then the same paper publishes a headline claiming that Yaser Igasan, the new leader of the Abu Sayyaf is “very spiritual”.
Why do I get the feeling that the paper supports the Abu Sayyaf even if it agrees to call them savages?
UPn,
I understood completely about the dilemma of foreign graduates getting qualified here, I am one. I never had a chance to practice my profession here, although opportunity abound, just to keep up to their standard. I have mentioned before, that the demands for foreign trained professionals dependent upon the need of the country and the requirements needed since all professions here are self regulated. During the years when nursing was badly needed my two sisters needed to pass only the French language test and the other one Nothing.
As I mentioned also my youngest sister who came later and her husband had to migrate after becoming Canadians (under NAFTA) to the U.S. to practice their Medical Professions. Skilled workers like Mechanics, plumbers and electrician have less problems, because they are government regulated and may need only to prove their skill. My other sister a medical Technologist has to do a year upgrading before eligible for entry to the society of Laboratory Technicians.
The only difference is we are quite at home here, because of our Multicultural society. And when we retire, we rather be here, because it’s living free, or we can still work until we decided to quit. No more compulsory retirement (for latecomers and for those who have a few to support in their home country that need to work while taking their pensions).
Re Why do I get the feeling that the paper supports the Abu Sayyaf even if it agrees to call them savages?
Dean, I have a feeling that it’s your fear (as ManuelB had written above), that’s causing you to feel that way!
And I quote (from ManuelB’s piece) “Fear makes men do terrible things. And fear mongering is a terrible thing to do to man.”
Re Dean’s reservation on the PDI (not my favourite paper so can’t accuse me of being bias, besides, haven’t read the said edito) “Why? Is the gov’t being “closed minded†somehow? And what does the editorial mean by saying the govt must push peace negotiations with Moro separatists to a fair conclusion? Why is the govt being unfair in these talks? ”
Perhaps, it’s because the paper feels that this govt has all but physically surrendered to the MILF, thus paper believes that the conclusion is being unfair (to the govt)?
Btw, just asking here, was Campbell killed by the NPAs? Is there sure proof that they did it? I thought she was killed by an individual who turned out to be schizophrenic?
cvj,
The editorial uses all the right buzz words, but it is dripping with insincerity, disingenuity and manages to blame the authorities for the tragedy. The motivation of the editorial is to embarrass the govt and excuse the terrorists.
The Philippines has SEVENTEEN decapitations to its name just this year alone. We now have a terrible distinction as the beheading capital of the world. Not even in places where they stone the women for adultery in darkest Africa and chop off robbers hands and women’s clitorises, as in the House of Saud, have they had ten of their soldiers beheaded by “bandits” and then have the biggest newspaper call for more and fairer peace negotiations with the cutthroats that did it!
Now mercifully they didn’t take video in Basilan, but in the world of horrors, nothing horrifies like for example those head choppings done by what look like teenage boys sawing off another human being’s head.
We are now automatically in the big leagues of that subterranean class of savages.
We are the Porno Stars of the Real World of Snuff films.
We are National Geographic material.
We are head-hunters, as of old.
We are savages and amoks worthy of having new calibers invented to deal with our savagery.
These are the ineluctable messages about us going out into the world.
They are not true!
And this is what I hate the most about the Abu Sayyaf.
They have convinced strangers that we are all Abu Sayyaf.
“We are National Geographic material.”
One consolation – a country being featured in the National Geographic normally is a sure way to bring in tourists (and the income!) and would surely bring mercenaries from Iraq who are on R&R or people like them who have nothing to fear of countries featurd in National Geographic.
We are all Abu Sayyaf now!
DJB, for a conservative, you sure have a penchant for deconstruction. On the incongruence between an ‘open mind’ and an ‘iron fist’, i suppose it means that hunting down the savages is fair, but we should not lose sight that a peace settlement (not a condition of permanent war) is the ultimate objective. The conclusion that we are losing hearts and minds is an empirical one. It has no implication on Julie Campbell’s murder at all, whether real or symbolic. Maybe your feeling that the paper supports the Abu Sayyaf is colored by your past association with the PDI. I’m just a reader.
No one is disagreeing with you that the decapitations are apalling to say the least. I share your disgust of the Abu Sayyaf. However, in the hierarchy of priorities, our being featured in the National Geographic takes a backseat to ensuring that the killings and collateral damage stops. Try to get past your thoughts of wounded pride and focus on those who face the real threats – the soldiers in the field, their families and the residents of Basilan (Muslim or otherwise) so you can look at the situation with a level-head.
Re Dean’s “We are all Abu Sayyaf now!”
Easy now, Dean! Friendly reminder: If you keep repeating that to yourself because you believe it, you run the risk of thinking and acting like them.
We are all savages now. Strangers who know nothing else about the Philippines, know that now, if nothing else.
We are the Beheaders of the World. Call it prejudice or distortion, but that’s the Morning News all over the planet.
You folks who are stateside, may I request YouTube postings of the inevitable Filipino jokes on Jay Leno, David Letterman the next few weeks.
You’ll see what I mean. “Level head”…hehe!
MBW: Et tu, brute!
DJB,
oh, quit all the flaming. you are not goading anyone into anything…
“We are now automatically in the big leagues of that subterranean class of savages.
We are the Porno Stars of the Real World of Snuff films.
We are National Geographic material.
We are head-hunters, as of old.
We are savages and amoks worthy of having new calibers invented to deal with our savagery.
These are the ineluctable messages about us going out into the world.”
aside from exhausting your methaporically addicted mind, do tell me this rant has pointed out something profound. i noticed you have a penchant for cheapening poetry and prose, using high words to sound, err — better.
word of advice. simpler words carry more power used in a sincere way than a dozen high falluting ones used in a — cheap manner.