The President’s fury at inept underlings made the evening news and was blogged extensively (one of the first to do so was Ang sa Wari Ko; while A Filipina Mom Blogger used it as a take off point for a discussion on stress management).
But it was Palace reporter Jove Francisco who put the exhibition of presidential temper in its proper context:
She’s naturally stern and “mataray” and I believe she’s been using this trait so that she’ll get things running and will make her officials more responsible and quick moving. Sabi nga nung sassy reporter di ba, being mataray isn’t really a bad thing.
But seeing her actions this noon.
The outburst?
The overflow of emotions?
I couldn’t help but compare it with past incidents.
Before, her taray ways surfaced for a reason, for an aim.
Today?
What happened, sadly, showed that she wasn’t able to control her emotions.
Sure, the outburst was borne out of frustration because of the inefficiency of her staff. (Pareho lang kapag pinapagalitan ang mga opisyales niya nuon di ba?)
BUT, it can’t be denied that this time, she looked like she was whining.
She knew that the media was there to see and cover the whole thing, but she continued with the histrionics. The drama escalated, it didn’t taper down.
She didn’t appear like she was in control.
I can even dare say that she appeared like she’s gone ROCK BOTTOM. (Just look at her resigned but angry look when she finally emerged to deliver her statement.)
And that is quite telling.
I agree with him. A president with a temper is nothing new, and it could even be argued that Filipino-style management seems to require a volcanic fury to get underlings to get things done. In itself, it is neither unpresidential or unseemly. She’s displayed her temper before. But what was different was that the President displayed a different kind of anger altogether.
Tempers are flaring. See The Geisha Diaries, and in Dumaguete, see village idiot savant. Though mercifully, the initial heat has given way to more sober reflection (see Techniquement, c’est art who responds to a previous entry of his).
One blogger, the cat is out, simply puts forward her grim personal experience in the past:
years back – as i kid i had witnessed and live through the horror of war in mindanao. i have been a refugee in my own country. not everyone is lucky enough to live through it . but there will always be the scar: physical and emotional that will keep on reminding me/us..of the pain we have suffered.
mindanao – the land of promise..or should i say broken promises..we are the bread basket of the phillipines, yet our people are hungry.. we are the only contiguous island the philippines has.. yet within, we are so divided in hearts and minds..year after year of conlficts have only produced military generals but not concrete resolutions to peace and development. not even a signed moa can end this violence i tell you..
i did not know how the war started back then…i do not know how it will end.
Today’s Inquirer editorial looks at the recent conduct of MILF troops and raises a question: if the violence in Mindanao was perpetrated by rogue or lost commands of the MILF, how, then, can it be deemed capable of administering the proposed BJE?
The editorial also points to this press statement by the MILF, while over at The PCIJ blog, Soliman Santos suggests the further radicalization of Moros if hostilities continue. He points to this commentary (“Reality Check” by Ibrahim Canana) that appeared on the MILF website (incidentally also validating my opinion concerning the importance of signing the agreement in the presence of representatives of foreign powers, including the OIC representative): it is a concise and lucid articulation of the Moro interpretation of their history and of the MILF position vis a vis the Philippine state. And it is uncompromising in its conclusion:
The political opposition to the MOA-AD that spurred the nationwide reaction against the MILF and the Bangsamoro people has dangerously transformed a peace process that is supposed to bring reconciliation to two peoples at war with each other into a grim scenario that allows no space for the Moros to have a breathing spell.
Through the MNLF, the Moros asked for a meaningful political autonomy in 1976. Instead they were granted a fake one by the GRP under the Marcos regime using the 1976 Tripoli Agreement which allowed constitutional processes to shortchange the Moros. In 1996, the Moros again under the MNLF demanded for meaningful political autonomy; and again what they were given in the so-called MNLF-GRP Final Peace Agreement (FPA) was the ARMM, which was created before the FPA and whose autonomy was clipped by the Philippine constitution. Inevitably, the ARMM ended up reduced to merely being an extension of the Office of the Philippine President. Later, it was even taken out of MNLF hands and became a political prize awarded to the Moro warlord most loyal and subservient to the sitting regime.
Now, under the MILF, the Moros want to recover whatever little is left of their ancestral domain and be given the chance to govern themselves as a sub-state entity within the larger Philippine nation-state. Peace on the basis of justice is about to be achieved under this formula. But even this does not sit well with the Filipino elite, the politicians, the Church and the Filipino colons in Mindanao. They have sabotaged the efforts of their own government. All, including those who claimed to be sympathetic to the plight of the Bangsamoro people like Senator Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel, Jr., have ganged up against the Bangsamoro people to prevent them from even reclaiming areas which they now actually occupy and where they are the majority. The result: back to square one. Mindanao again is on the edge of an all-out war.The selfishness of the Filipino ruling elite in general and the Filipino politicians in particular is dumbfounding. Their lack of sense of justice is appalling. They and their drumbeaters in the Philippine media can lie through their teeth and still have a nice sleep at night. Imagine telling the public the fantastic spin that Malaysia is arming the MILF and the Americans are behind the Moros’ desire to be an “independent Islamic State”. Why, they can’t even make sense of their allegations and lies! You can never find any mention of an “independent Islamic state” in the MOA-AD even if the pages were turned upside down. To even say that the Americans are behind the attempt by the MILF to create a “Bangsamoro Islamic State” is absurd. What fantasy! What ignorance! Hollywood hogwash has taken grip of the Filipino mind that it no longer knows what is real and what is imaginary. No wonder why the Philippine nation-state is moribund.
No wonder why tens of thousands of Filipinos are leaving this country for good. Now I can better appreciate the context of what Ustadz Salamat Hashim, the late MILF Amir, said when he stated that we should not believe the Filipino unbelievers even when they say that the crow is black!
What needs to be stated here for the record is that we Moros are not inclined to abandon our homeland to these vultures. We will fight for it as our ancestors fought for it. The mestizo leftovers of the Spaniards such as the likes of Teddy Locsin and Lobregat, and Filipino colons in Mindanao like Piñol as well as their capitalist patrons ensconced in Makati can go hang themselves from nearest lamp post for all we care. The Moros will fight. MILF Base Commander Ustadz Amirul Ombra Cato will not be alone. A war in Mindanao will drag down this pathetic, artificial country and its government to perdition. Perhaps this time we will no longer settle for a sub-state or a federative arrangement with the Filipinos. It’s useless anyway because they would never grant it. They would always insist this is ‘secession’ even if we do not have the intention to secede. So let’s give them a dose of their own medicine. Let’s aim for independence this time. For real. Like what the Algerians did when their clamor for autonomous rule was repeatedly and violently denied by the French colons. Given the Filipinos’ hostile attitude to anything Moro and Muslim, there is no other option left. This is now the reality facing us.
The mention of Algeria is signficant. It had been considered an integral part of France; de Gaulle, faced with a nationalist uprising, decided to abandon the French settlers and recognize Algeria’s independence; at one point, the French armed forces tried to mount a coup against de Gaulle. Yet independence hasn’t prevented the rise of Islamic extremism in Algeria. The problem is Arroyo is no de Gaulle.
The frustration of the writer quoted above with suggestions the Americans are in league with the MILF (or that the MILF is being armed by the Malaysians, when obviously political and even financial support is plenty of help and there are many AFP members willing to sell arms to the MILF anyway) isn’t about to change the mind of say, Tony Abaya (who says it boils down to the MILF being, in American eyes, more dependable than Christian leaders) or blogger Philippine Politics 04.
And the thing is, if one presents a narrative, even a counter-narrative, it will never end (if Moros can assert they achieved a “higher plane” of political existence with the sultanates, then by any measure a republic trumps any hereditary principality in terms of political evolution) and be trumped, always by what wars always end up being about: real estate.
In his column today, Manuel Buencamino points to the problem on focusing too much on the past as a justification for the present:
Why did the Arroyo administration agree to the MILF’s self-serving historical timeline?
Islam is no more indigenous than Christianity. The Spaniards were not our first colonizers. Luwaran, the MILF web site, does not deny that Moros are products of an earlier colonization:
“Ameen [secretary general of the MILF Central Committee] recalled that the history of the Moros and IPs [indigenous peoples] is one and inseparable, but noted that the former were always the ‘bigger brother’ while the latter [was] the ‘younger brother.’ ” Moros “have developed a higher plane of political existence” than lumads because they converted to Islam and adopted the sultanate system.
In that same Sona, Gloria Arroyo lamented that although Mindanao was a food basket, “it has some of the highest hunger in our nation.” For this sad state of affairs, she blamed “the endless Mindanao conflict.” Her solution to ending the endless conflict was to capitulate to the MILF.
Arroyo knows the BJE does not fit into the 1987 Constitution, so she asked Congress “to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.”
Unfortunately, a “just and lasting peace” through a refitting of the BJE into our Constitution won’t be possible during or after her term of office.
There will be conflicts between the lumads and the MILF, between Christians and the MILF, between Manila and the MILF over jurisdiction, ownership of lands, mineral rights, natural resources and a host of other irritants that come from drawing lines on a map without regard for its inhabitants.
There will be power struggles among self-appointed Moro leaders – the Maranao-dominated MILF, the Tausog-dominated MNLF and the traditional politicians of Mindanao – over control of the BJE.
“Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost,” counseled Gloria Arroyo in her Sona.
Unfortunately, talking nonsense will lead to loss not only of sovereign value but also, and more important, of property. And for that, most people will fight to the death.
For the Christian (Ilonggo) side, HabagatCentral Republic offers up a personal reflection buttressing Buencamino’s insight:
There were cases of outright land grabbing from the ancestral domains of the Moros and Lumads who were then ignorant about the Western concept of “private property” as the lands were considered “communal” and for all people to share. Land grabbing that lead to land conflicts. Land conflicts that lead to bloodshed, my grandfather himself was a victim of this trechery.
I have relatives in Mindanao who have hated the Moros. They are backward, backstabbers and barbarian. Di daw dapat sila pagkakatiwalaan. Di ko rin sila masisisi. They’ve seen their love ones slaughtered by the Moro raids of the towns especially during the 1970’s. The very foundation of Ilaga, a vigilante group composed of mostly Kristyanos and some Lumads, was borne out of reaction against the Moros. They sow terrorism in the hearts of the Moros as they kill them with reported cannibal activities. As a reaction, the Moros established their own vigilante group known as the Blackshirts/Barracudas. So the question, is terrorism a Moro problem?
MNLF/MILF & AFP has instigated a somewhat revolutionary violence. The former is for the seperation of the Mindanao that they claim is rightfully theirs, and I understand them. They weren’t subjugated by the Spaniards and was never converted to Christianity as what they define as “Filipino.” They are fiercely independent and will fight for what is right. The latter on the other hand defends the Philippines and its sovereignity. Their causes are noble yet the effects to ordinary civilians were catastrophic. Casualties have reached over a hundred thousand for years of war with each other in Mindanao. No matter how noble their causes are, it is still somewhat politically-culturaly motivated. In the end, the civilians still suffer.
In my opinion, I would still uphold MILF as a revolutionary movement still. Abu Sayyaff on the other hand is just pure banditry using Islam as an excuse to their savagery. The latter in my belief is the salot. The former on the other hand has still a handful of options to sit and talk what is necessary. For the betterment of their own peoples.
Ewan ko lang pero parang hindi ko maiwasan na ibuntong ang sisi sa Pamahalaang Arroyo sa mga pangyayaring ito ngayon na muling gumigimbala sa kapayapaan ng Mindanao at Pilipinas. I went there several years ago and I was seeing optimism that finally, Mindanao can move on towards peace and progress. That the government is seating alongside with the rebels. But because of the sudden declaration of the signing of the Memo of Agreement for the Bangsamoro Judirical Entity, Mindanao was thrown into state of panic, may it be the Kristyanos, the Moros and even the Lumads.
I’ve restrained myself from looking into other blogs of the Kristyanos and even of the Moros… Its really frustrating. Parang sumulpot muli ang inate hatred towards each other. I got frustrated with this notion but I couldn’t blame them why. I understand them. But is violence or war really the solution to ever-lasting peace in this island or in this country? Care to look at Palestine perhaps? You may have crushed the rebels but you haven’t ceased yet the root of struggle. Hanggang dahon at sanga lang… pero yung ugat di pa napapatay. Purging Moro ideals to the point of genocide is of murder, that is outright savagery! So what do we do then? How can we help to stop the vicious cycle.
I was thinking then that this animosity of ours will be brought towards the end of human civilization.
Ano kaya ang tamang solusyon sa Mindanao/Bangsamoro Problem? Ridu rin ba kaya o ubusan ng lahi?
As far as making sense of events, As blogger smoke asks what many are asking: was the President even thinking?
The thing is this – the President’s men (and therefore the President herself) dangled the idea of the BJE in front of the bandits and sold themselves on the idea that it would work. This played them right into the bandit’s hands: by putting all their eggs in the BJE basket, the President’s men gave the bandits the opportunity to set up an ultimatum – give us the BJE or we start shooting again.
When the BJE was scuttled the bandits got their casus belli. Now admittedly its a flimsy rationale for the resumption of hostilities, but it is just solid enough to rile up the cannon-fodder and convince them that they’ve been shafted and therefore need to avenge their slighted pride. It’s Moro psychology 101, if anyone had bothered to check.
And that’s the point: the Commander-in-Chief is supposed to be able to take in the whole picture; to understand how various factors all contribute to the outcome. In this case, because the President’s men were allowed – perhaps even encouraged – to formulate a do-or-die solution, it is clear that there were critical factors that were ignored, not the least of which is the very well known tendency of Moros to exaggerate insults to their pride.
In hostage negotiation, one of the most basic lessons is to never say no to the hostage taker. But then again, this also covers situations where saying ‘yes’ sets you up to say ‘no’ later. Let me clarify: by saying yes to the idea of a BJE, the President’s men were committing to an outcome that was not in their control. It was stupid for them to imagine that the BJE would slip through unnoticed. More to the point, the President’s men simply failed to anticipate a negative outcome, i.e., the BJE would be challenged and stopped. So, by saying yes, to the BJE, they were blindly rushing into a future where – when the Supreme Court invalidates the MOA for instance – they would have no choice but to say no to the BJE. And there you go, they said NO to the hostage taker.
This turn of events led the hostage taker – the bandits – to now feel backed into a corner. The only way out of that corner would have been a MOA for the BJE. But with no MOA forthcoming, and the additional insult of the ARMM elections being conducted, the bandits embraced the belief that there would be no other solution than to come out with their guns blazing. No solutions. War.
But using Occam’s razon, blogger Tongue In, Anew returns to the blogosphere and puts forward this thought-provoking analysis of the situation: it was all, and remains, simple, really. According to the blogger (who, while anonymous, has had very interesting entries in the past, suggesting an individual who is plugged-in), it’s all a charade:
Assperon’s appointment to the Peace portfolio was suspect way back… Not to mention the Ass was then joiningGen. Boogie Mendoza, a former Razon protege, and an “acclaimed anti-terrorist expert”…
On the other side of the fence, a separatist front of freedom fighters on Mondays, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers on Tuesdays, Jemaah Islamiya trainees on Wednesdays, lost command on Thursdays, devout Muslims on Fridays, and plain farmers and merchants on weekends. Overseen by their provisions suppliers from Malaysia.
Now what do we have? A highly volatile cocktail made up of an administration struggling for perpetual survival, high-profile GWOT freaks looking for an opportunity to expand their military control and a wayward army of bandits all of them intelligent enough to know that peace was doomed in the first place but insist that they might just be able to pull it through.
No, Gloria didn’t plan to dismember the country via the MOA-AD, she knows it’s unconstitutional, luckily, the legit opposition saw through her, she even had to use her allies to petition for a TRO which her SC appointees readily obliged to. She was expecting widespread retaliation but the MILF hierarchy surprisingly held back, her emergency rule cannot be imposed! No martial law, no chacha either. Doom! The Ass’ loyal generals immediately had to scramble for the “Lost Commanders” Kato and Bravo who have been burning villages left and right in the past yet no sincere effort to bring them to justice was ever taken (You now have an idea why Kabalu insists these commanders were not ordered by MILF to do so). They needed them to jump start this stage of the war to put Plan B into action. Funny but Eid Kabalu hasn’t announced an all-out offensive yet. Nor has Puno and Teodoro. Who wants to really finish the war after all? Even Misuari’s MNLF are now wearing their old uniforms to defend their own territory. Against whom? The gov’t? MILF? Or the Lost Command?
Gloria’s “Defend every inch of the territory” spiel was predictably looking for just the right moment to be announced so she blew her top after finding out her staff had not even prepared the teleprompter.
This view puts forward the possibility that the administration wanted to maneuver the country into a situation permitting a state of emergency, while others in the military hierarchy quite possibly, refrained from cooperating fully, and the MILF command declined to do the government any favors. Offering a reward, accompanied by statements that only individuals, and not the entire MILF movement, will be deemed outlaws, provides an opening for tensions to subside. And all the while, the jitters continue. Blogging from Iligan City, preMEDitated recounted, yesterday:
Panic struck the city center earlier this night. People flocked to the City Hall for protection by military forces stationed there. Text messages soon followed warning of imminent MILF attacks.
Much of the rest of the populace is now in anticipatory mood.
General Luna of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has issued his statement for the populace to remain calm and to trust in them. He has also appealed to the citizens not to forward these messages as they only bring more harm than good.PS I just heard this piece of news. It seems that this incident was sparked by a drunk who shouted,”M-I*.”
*A word used around here for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) terrorists.
See also My Life, also writing on Tuesday:
Early tonight many people got panic because of that rumors that there were sightings of MILF in Iligan City. My family and neighbors freak out because they said that MILF are already in the near barangay Abuno and a lot of jeepneys from the City went back when they reached Tubod Bridge, going to south because they said that MILF is on the way. Many people were on the city streets because they wanted to evacuate. And this is confirm as a false alarm by our city mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz, that is was just the soldiers that was seen and they thought that they are MILF. He said that there are many soldiers around the city that some mistaken them as MILF already maybe its because of the happenings in Lanao del Norte. He just stated on a news break at ABS – CBN that Iligan City is still safe from MILF and asking those who left their homes to go back already. I hope all this conflict will stop soon.
From Dipolog City, jOnAviE’s Site writes (today),
M.I.L.F or Moro Islamic Liberation Front is on war against Arm Forces of Philippines..As a girl who lives Mindanao (a place where there are many Muslim, but I am not one of them) it’s usual to hear news that Mindanao was that, was this, but you know August 2008 War was the only war that makes my province Zamboanga del Norte and my City, Dipolog to be afraid… Afraid because the whole Mindanao was really involve, the MILF want all the regions in Mindanao to be included in MOA or ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) to expand their teritory… Everybody was really panicking.. Even in my city, we receive Bomb Treats and War Rumors, and what did we did..? We packed up our things then really really get ready for what would happen. Last night we sleep at 1 a.m. because of it..
Returning to Tongue in Anew’s suggestion that the Palace was operating on simple assumptions -that it’s hands would be tied by predictable behavior on the part of the opposition and the MILF, which didn’t pan out as the former was caught napping and the latter more subtle and cunning than expected.
So it strikes me as possible there was a clumsy effort to promote war jitters to try to get the country to rally around the President: because it explains why the Palace proved so tolerant of the demagoguery of Pinol, etc. who, considering the administration’s intolerance for dissent, could easily have been slapped down, taken aside, or simply bribed to pipe down at a delicate time when the administration was claiming to be seriously behind the RP-MILF agreement.
What complicates the situation is that the public, unaware of the plots-within-plots on both sides, or the factions that exist within the ranks of the leadership of both sides, or that the leaders either do not believe their own propaganda, or worse, believe it- has its passions inflamed by the increasingly martial rhetoric of leaders who know the game of posturing quite well and who can therefore discount it.
Certainly this seems too quick a surrender: MOA deal off, SolGen tells high tribunal.
And it may be that this time, the MILF leadership, beholden to Malaysia, etc., is being more responsible and trying to defuse the situation while saber-rattling, than the government: we forget that the MILF command had a choice to fully endorse the attacks but it did not, equivocating its official response might have been (but even equivocation is understandable in terms of the factional dynamics of any revolutionary organization). And other groups are trying to restore the momentum to reestablish at least the semblance of a brittle peace.
At the heart of these efforts are three simple ideas:
1. That if one side will insist that it is negotiating sincerely for peace, there must be a corresponding assumption the other side is also negotiating sincerely. That furthermore, national interests aside, it is in the regional interest of foreign countries to help foster peace in Mindanao.
2. That all lose when fighting resumes and all sides gain so long as discussions are ongoing, which provides a venue for differences to be threshed out, compromises arrived at, and a consensus reached.
3. That both sides have extremists who not only do not represent the majority view, but who have also figured out how their constituencies can be agitated by withholding information and an overall lack of confidence in the authorities.
As Earthly Explorations puts it (who is not for a separate Moro homeland),
The government is trying to make it appear as it was the Moro rebels fault that they hit the first strike but if you hear other sources especially the locals they were just protecting their properties. Who was taking what from whom? Or someone is maneuvering into something to make it appear as a religious war diverting the people’s attention?
Mon Casiple warned of the administration “playing the emergency card”:
The scenario is one where a justification for a state of emergency happens. Violent incidents increasingly happen and spread. The AFP is increasingly forced to defend towns and villages. The MILF, in turn, increasingly turn to its own offensives in order to defend Moro communities. In no time at all, we are into a deepened conflict until the military is convinced to agree to a declaration of a state of emergency.
For a national state of emergency to happen, there has to be demonstrated to exist a credible threat to the national seat of power in the National Capital Region, a nationwide state of war or terror, or attacks on national political leaders. The level of the resurgent conflict in Mindanao — even if it spreads to other areas in Mindanao — cannot yet justify this drastic option.
However, the next days or weeks bear watching because of the political scenario of charter change that requires neutralizing the opposition and terrorizing the people. With the recent show of widespread opposition to Malacañang’s charter change plans, only the emergency card is left to play.
Let us hope that desperate people do not cross the line of sanity.
Beyond hoping, this is a time to add your voice, not in endorsement of one particular proposal or another, but to voices opposed to conflict. Charo Logarta, a military wife, puts it this way:
Whatever it is, there’s gotta be a better option to this. The majority must be allowed peace and harmony. We have to end decades of strife and conflict. We, the majority, deserve better. Military wives and kids do not have to endure loss. Soldiers don’t have to die for causes that don’t even matter to many average Filipinos who simply want a better life.
Just think how optimistic most people were in Mindanao a year ago. And how, now, plans involving Mindanao are all on hold. See Stacy Nelson.
“there is an audience who finds it worth their time to listen/watch a report like that..”
Isa pa itong Liam boy na napaka-presumptious.
Duh, in the online world, there is such a thing called “CLUSTERING”… online commentators (that’s us, look in the mirror) gravitate towards the topics that interests them
…so who is to say this is the only thing the audience finds worthy of their time…(baka nagbabasa rin sila ng FT along with pep.ph)
“Now try putting in national policies to fit all three….”
Failure of liberal concepts like considerations for “hundreds of years of evolving feudal communities that had already forms of representative governments” is obvious. Universal liberties of men (and women) need to be established, even if it means they’re all assumptions (Manolo;s favorite word, I’ve heard). A civil philosophy based on secular ethics should be imposed to all members and visitors of the state.
Liam, watch the actual report of jove (and the other palace tv reporters’ reports on youtube also) … i don’t think the reporter(s) were isolating the MILF or Lanao issue from the incident. It was even their “lead”. Hindi kaya tayo lang kasi ang nag focus sa outburst issue, tapos sila ang nakita nating mali ang ginagawa? When in all fairness, they actually touched on the more pressing issue?
Leytenian, being someone with the audacity to insult a veteran malacanang reporter so bluntly, I find it hard to believe you value education over anything else when you yourself can neglect being educated with your statements.
“Create a new generation with as little bias as possible”
This seems to be a solution that has no proper measure, yes?
It is true, the future rests with the youth. Yes, educate them as much as we can about peace, love, unity, and what not, but to my opinion, we should never teach them to turn their backs on what is wrong around them.
Being educated doesn’t seem to go hand in hand with being numb…at least that’s how i feel about it.
‘Crame sends shotguns to villagers in danger areas’ – Manila Standard
“THE government is sending 1,000 shotguns to Mindanao to arm ‘‘auxiliary police,’’ who will help defend villages against invading members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_aug21_2008
‘National Police spokesman Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said the auxiliary police, which have yet to be recruited, would be similar to militiamen that the Armed Forces arm and train.’
grd,
Thanks for the info on the Blackshirts. Are the above guns for the ‘Ilagas’?
Shotguns are only to scare the MILF not to kill them. It has maybe twenty feet of range. But at least with shotguns, the moros won’t find hacking innocents that tempting anymore.
So what do you guys think of my theory that this BJE catastrophe was a ploy to get the US and other interested countries off our backs on the Mindanao issue?
The Muslim leadership for the BJE states that they are for peace and that they will be capable leaders over a large geographic area that includes a large number of lumads and Christians. A sign of good-faith on their part will be to for them to immediately disarm Kato and Bravo.
I don’t think “disarm Kato and Bravo” will happen because Kabalu-and-company’s cause benefits from the deaths and village-burning that these 2 commanders inflict. Just as important, Kabalu-and-company are weak leaders unable to control these “lost commands”.
nash,
“Si Anthony Scalia naman is lost… “But must you report it? Upload it to Youtube?â€Â….Duh, youtube is a FREE video sharing site, no one is forcing you to go there. Turn off your computer.
cheers”
haay naku. iho, sablay ka na naman, as always.
ikaw ang lost. Should Jove have to upload it to YouTube? does a journalist have to report anything and everything? – yun ang puntirya ko
Oh yes, i dont have to go http://www.youtube.com, as i saw the clip in Jove’s web site already (and can watch it all over again there if i want to)
***yawn***
***turns off PC***
Jeers
manuelbuencamino,
“Jove’s piece on Gloria ! It made me laugh.”
actually, me too
“Ot’s called infotainment and there’s nothing wrong with covering what is called the lighter side.”
yeah, there’s nothing wrong, but the reporter is not obliged to print/air it.
“Besides it adds a another dimension to Gloria’s image. Now we know she’s not only a troll, she’s also a bitchy troll.”
agreed
“If I were Jove I would have titled the segment on Gloria’s tantrum – “Tempest in the chamberpot†”
buti na lang you’re not Jove!
“And was it not fun to watch her eunuchs scrambling around the chamberpot looking for her prompter?”
agreed
“does a journalist have to report anything and everything? – yun ang puntirya ko”
Is a journalist NOT allowed to have personal life outside of the field? Kaya nga sa youtube niya inapload at hindi sa news site ano.
the last time i checked, you tube is NOT a news site so Jove is not reporting the news! It’s a video sharing site.
pwede ba
what a waste of digital space. as they say, if you don’t want the show, turn off your tv. but in the case of a blog where some real gems could be found, it is hard to turn of your pc off and deny yourself of those gems though you have to wade through a ton of garbage to find them… but this is democracy where everyone should not be faulted for being comic, but when GMA made a comic act we easily responded with our own infotainment and comickry, and the sad part, we do not even notice them. 🙂
case of double standard?
to Sonny Fernandez as you defend Jove and Manila-based newsbroadcasters (and YouTube posters)…. maybe the disenchantment of a few Pinoys is that they want are hungry for information and coverage of the MILF’s rampage — (i) what is happening to those displaced by the village burning, (ii) that Kabalu-and-company leadership protects Bravo and Kato; (iii) govt-Pinas military actions; (iv) lumads… please, show a story about what is happening to the other tribes, (v) what does the foreign diplomatic corps think of what is going on, (iv) the 2-year old murdered.
The last ten days saw the resurgence of terrorist acts worlwide: Algeria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, today Pakistan to name a few. All have been blamed to Islamist extremists.
The timing of the MILF’s own atrocious acts was accidental, or not: in the name of the political Islam.
“We are already a nation at war in a world at war.” Plaridel Garcia, courtesy of KG
The Philippine government will surely confront yet a big disaster: if while fighting a seccesionist war in Mindanao, an unexpected global war breaks out in the Middle East given the Filipino migrant worker disapora in that part of the world:
Saudi Arabia – 2,000,000; UAE – 450,000; Kuwait – 150,000; Qatar – 60,000; Bahrain – 40,000; Israel – 40,000
It’s a scary thought.
Anthony Scalia
“ikaw ang lost. Should Jove have to upload it to YouTube? does a journalist have to report anything and everything? – yun ang puntirya ko”
Hijo, journ 11. A journalist covering a public official, ,nay, a prominent figure should report anything and everything. Ano ka ba?
“pwede ba”
talagang ‘pwede ba’!
you still miss my point – why does he have to report it? upload it there? (though i enjoyed it)
“Is a journalist NOT allowed to have personal life outside of the field?”
????????????????????
in case you haven’t noticed, Jove wasnt in the clip. so its not Jove’s very own ‘personal life’ that was meant to be shared with the rest of the earth with net access
further, in case you have not noticed, Jove was able to record the clip because he’s a Malacañang reporter. in other words, he got the clip while in the line of official duty
“the last time i checked, you tube is NOT a news site so Jove is not reporting the news! It’s a video sharing site.”
korek!!!!!!
however, you may want to visit “By Jove” and read the text just below the video window in the middle of his post on gloria’s antics,
“Video grab of my news report for TEN The Evening News at TV5 (10:30-11:00PM M-F)”
sa madaling sabi – pang report at naireport na nya ang clip! its an official news clip! that was later uploaded to Youtube!
kaya ‘pwede ba’ is really more suited to you my friend
frombelow,
“Hijo, journ 11. A journalist covering a public official, ,nay, a prominent figure should report anything and everything. Ano ka ba?”
hello?! “anything” and “everything”?!?
its obvious “ethics in journalism” must be higher journalism (journalism 99 perhaps) and not journ 11
kaya “ano ka ba” is really more suited to you. iho
Sonny Fernandez,
you are in media, so understandable yang comment mo.
self-restraint is never a trait of Pinoy journalists.
medyo understandable pa if the ‘outbursts’ were in the midst of an intense meeting of the national security council or cabinet meeting, then that qualifies sa “the public needs to know what is happening to the president, especially if it concerns her state of mind and state of health”
but ‘outbursts’ due to petty mundane things? does the public need to know that still? the only reasons for airing that is it will grab viewers and ‘we have to air it ahead of the other stations!’
So PGMA was caught ‘off-camera’ being mataray. So, what’s the big fuss???Presidents are humans too; with real emotions.
As I said above, the Bush-capades: calling a reporter a SOB, tellng off the Iranian leader, calling Hillary Clinton a bitch, etc. If you try to find out all presidential gaffes and outbursts, you will be amazed.
Common, Mr. Jove! As you claim that you have covered PGMA that long, you could have been more understanding. And these blog posts:
“She didn’t appear like she was in control. I can even dare say that she appeared like she’s gone ROCK BOTTOM. (Just look at her resigned but angry look when she finally emerged to deliver her statement.)
And that is quite telling.”
Now, I realize that journalists who get official accreditation as reporters should be limited in their blogging.
Readers beware (caveat emptor): in this world, there’s so much Schadenfreude, the German word for deriving pleasure from others’ misfortunes.
There is a lesson about Jove……… . . . If you have not learned it yet, know it now…. Jove is a voyeur… be around him at our own risk.
Jove… a voyeur…. be around him at your own risk..
and then, there is d0d0ng. Seek another, not d0d0ng, as babysitter….. dod0ng likely to offer your 2-year-old as sacrifice to his friends who seek ancestral domain, then explain the event to you as “…. the way his community does things…. your loss simply a cost of doing business”.
it’s like a reality tv show ala pinoy big brother… nangyari sa bahay ni ate. baligtad lang ang eksena… sa halip na si ate ang kumukuha ng video, siya yung kunukunan ng bisita.
kung makapag react kayo kala nyo alam nyo ang nangyayari sa mindanao! well good for those who had first hand experience pero most of you are not. you are either on your couch or at the comforts of your home while people in mindanao are running for their lives!
cheeeeeeeeeeeeeh!@!!!!!!$@#%$^%&*
PSI:
I agree with you that the president is still only human…but the president of our country nonetheless. Though all the reasons for her outburst are shady, I believe integrity is a prerequisite in being the leader of a nation. And in this instance, I think our president was quite lacking.
As per Jove should’ve been more understanding, maybe…but I remember last year’s SONA when our president ended with “a president can be as strong as she wants to be” (or something to that effect) seeing her outburst, you’d have to wonder, was that a sign of weakness or exercising how strong-armed she could be?
I’m not a journalist, a reasearcher, or someone all knowing. Just an average Joe keeping myself informed of where our nation is headed. Did seeing her “vulnerability” deem informative to me? Yes it did. At least now I know that the leader of our nation can bare claws and fangs when things aren’t going as planned.
I’m just afraid that that same exhibit of anger could incite enough obedience from other people to do what she wants regardless of what it is.
Ok, I’m in danger of going off topic, but I hope you get my point.
UP n student:
Hmmm…voyeur is defined as someone taking sexual pleasure from observing naked bodies in a hidden location. Maninilip kumbaga. If you feel that showing GMA’s anger is connected to something sexual, I am astounded by your…uh….unorthodox way of thinking.
If you’re aiming for the reason that this seems like obsessive reporting, or maybe a covert operation of sorts…be reminded that Jove’s job IS to follow the president around and observe her.
Besides, the president knew that there were cameras on her, and not just Jove’s, yet she still exhibited such behavior. That alone defies the very definition of being a voyeur.
The president is a public figure. ‘nuf said.
Honestly, it’s easy to hide behind an online nickname and throw flames and sometimes the most outrageous criticisms on a person. See things as YOU see them, and don’t act like it’s already a scientific law just because that’s how you feel.
It saddens me that blogging is sometimes tainted by “omniscience” when it should be simply accounts from the points of view of people on their experiences. Yes, a person’s point of view.
Whoopie-f’ing-doo…isn’t that what these journalists are doing with their blogs?
anthony scalia:
Uhmm, The Evening News on tv5 airs at 10:30pm…so I doubt Jove was aiming to be the first to air it.
Does the public need to know or see the president’s outburst? Who knows? I wanted to see it for my own reasons…you saw it distasteful for your own reasons…I don’t think none of us know what the rest of the public thinks of it. I’m not saying that what the public thinks is immaterial to journalists, but you can never know or conclude what others may think about a particular report. It could be good to me, but bad for you…and vice versa.
I believe these journalists deal with this conflict with each of their stories…else, if you want to play it safe, you won’t need journalists…just a cameraman.
Petty mundane things…a missing studio prompter didn’t seem like a petty mundane thing to the president. Though it is to you…are you implying that the president is wrong to be mad that the taping of her important statement about what’s happening in Mindanao was delayed by such a petty mundane thing? Hmmmm….
Hey…the reporters did mention that her wrath came out when the taping of her important statement got delayed. I think you focused on the fact that her anger was shown on tv too much and neglect to take into consideration the other factors and details surrounding what happened.
It was an important presidential statement to tape wasn’t it?
to BrianB: the 12-gauge shotgun is deadly effective. in fact, it was used for jungle warfare (by Brits against Malay communists and by GI’s in Vietnam).
#1-buckshot has ten 7.60mm (.30-cal) pellets — each pellet packs more energy than a 357-magnum.
Deadly for 10-meters or less…. effective even at 20- to 30-meters…. But you have to practice if you hit your target.
psi,
i really don’t know if those guns are for the ilagas. i’m not an expert with guns and have not fired one actually, but i don’t think shutguns can match the high-powered weapons of the milf. maybe in a way it can deter attacks but more problem if they are used against civilians. i really hope it will not come to that… back to the 70’s.
KG,
‘“special provinces†were formed rather than institutions to recognize the distinct cultural identity’
Is your father suggesting that instead of having a Tboli territory, we should just have an office like a Tboli Development Authority and course all resources through that agency? I think that is agood idea.
everyone was putting in his five-cents worth on the way the malacanang press relations office bungled up the press con by GMA. Mostly say it was unpresidential, and some called it “Tempest in a Teapot”, whatever that means.
i would say that GMA acted more presidential. i would have fired my entire press corps and every one wearing barong tagalog in that room for their ineptness and incompetence if i were the president. imagine calling the president in the room where she has to address the media without all the sound/teleprompter in place ! ! !
On Reality Check:
“So let’s give them a dose of their own medicine. Let’s aim for independence this time. For real. Like what the Algerians did when their clamor for autonomous rule was repeatedly and violently denied by the French colons. Given the Filipinos’ hostile attitude to anything Moro and Muslim, there is no other option left. This is now the reality facing us.”
there’s something wrong with the comparison. France is in Europe and Algeria is: there’s a huge continental barrier to use as comparison for independence. this do not apply to the moros…
To learn from other countries, the link below is a good a read: Ancestral Domain in Comparative Perspective. This may provide each one of us to understand our role as filipinos or moros.
http://doc.operationspaix.net/serv1/USIP_Ancestral_Domain_2005-09_-3.pdf
jcc,
I agree, I would fire jove francisco first for putting almost everyone in that room at risk of losing their jobs for being so disorganize.
why upload in youtube? she is still our president. Don’t he/ they have any respect left? even to the media’s reputation? That youtube upload is embarrassing to the world. Our reputation has never been protected by the media..
That was not necessary. Reporting it on local TV maybe appropriate but people don’t believe on those biases anymore. We have a PEACE issue.
Where’s ethics, professionalism, civic duty and social responsibility. Are these skills sacrificed due to too much freedom of speech and taking it for granted? which is which? what’s left among us filipinos? who’s really representing us? the politicians? or the media owned or manipulated by elites? or it’s really just us?
maganding gabi po…
John
“The total Islamized population of Mindanao
was estimated at 39.29 percent in 1903; but only 20.17 percent in 1975. The total Lumad population
was 22.11 percent in 1903; and only 6.86 percent in 1975…”
Meron akong stats nakuha sa UNDP isabit ko na din ang ibang stat. me napansin ako tungkol sa percentage of muslims.
Mukhang ang bilis naman nabawan from 1900 to 1903 ang pecentage dahil kaya ito ke pershing?
http://hdr.undp.org/docs/network/PhilHDR2005_Launch.htm
Estimated number of displaced people due to the Mindanao conflict since the 1970s: 2,000,000
Percent of people in Mindanao who were Moro in 1900: 76
Percent who were Moro in 2000: 18
Percentage of major Muslim tribes who now live in areas outside their ancestral homelands: 20-30
=============================================
CVj,
if that was a compliment, thanks.
no chance to ask him bout somalia,pero I tried .
ako me sariling opinion:
somailia has a central government, albeit weak.
if you are implying that their wars are US financed,because that is the info I got from the web.
tayo parang ganun na din because we cannot modernize using our own resoures. we have yet to implement our modernization law, but we aint got the money.
before we allocated 333 billion for modernization if I am not mistaken for fifteen years, that makes it 22 Billion a year ,again if I am not mistaken. No can Do. walang congressman o senator na papayag.
They even reduced it to 250 Billion.
That modernization law also says that we rely on Filipino technology:not feasible.
sidenote:where are the proceeds from the ft. boni sale?
So what we have left is to appreciate foreign assistance from US , Australia and the others.
for our AFP lets take the year 2002
the budget for afp/dnd was 69 B subtract 22 B taken from pension of retirees and vets that leaves you 47B
then subtact salriea and allowances of active personnel that leaves you 16 Billion
16 billion to operate afp/dnd yearly is not enough,IMHO
what is ou fallback, we say don’t worry help is on the way!
=========================================
Supremo,
thanks, as well
My own opinion.
I think by giving them provinces and bahala na sila sa buhay nila instead of an instituting them; is not giving them importance.when you institute them you recognize them.
Lalo yatang lumabo
Anthony Scalla
“its obvious “ethics in journalism†must be higher journalism (journalism 99 perhaps) and not journ 11”
I will send you a copy of the “Ethics in Jounalism” being “practised” by local and western journalist and you will be surprised to know that a journalist is actually violating the Ethics if “he will not do” what Jove did.
Journ 11. Wala namang journ 99. Ano ka ba ?
The whole world is treated to what Jacob Weisberg calls Bushism’s. Slate the online magazine owned by the Washington Post even has a link to a collection of the precious quotes of W.
At the bottom is one of my favorites. You will need audio to listen to it.
What Francisco did was excellent reporting and he added his personal commentary.
http://politicalhumor.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/top10bushisms.htm
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushism-uniquelyamerican.htm
At least Bush exposes himself to the press and takes questions.
GMA is soooooo paranoid that she communicates one way in a pre-programmed manner to the people.
That is not communicating that is propaganda and consistently trying to create what they believe people should know…. Never worked and never will work…
Many here love to talk about the practice of managing government in much the same way as one would manage business.
That is an egregious error. Business has only one rationale sustaining profits.
In modern societies, governments role is mediating and arbitrating the differing conflicting selfish interests of the people within the community.
Hence the so called chief executive of the state have to be cognizant of the intended and unintended consequences of how they communicate.
Just read the interesting article on Marcos and his trusted generals in today’s Inquirer concerning Ninoy.
This MOA-AD fiasco can be traced to incompetence at the very top.
She had to backtrack as she herself did not comprehend that one of her main support groups -the LGU’s were united in their opposition to this aborted agreement when it became known to them.
Karl, you’re welcome. Yes, on Somalia, i was referring to the dominance of warlords (with a weak central authority). And no, I was not referring to US funding as i did not know that Somalia’s wars were US financed.
frombelow,
“I will send you a copy of the “Ethics in Jounalism†being “practised†by local and western journalist and you will be surprised to know that a journalist is actually violating the Ethics if “he will not do†what Jove did”
please email it to [email protected]
“Journ 11. Wala namang journ 99. Ano ka ba ?”
i wrote “journ 99 perhaps.” so its either wala ngang subject na ethics in journalism or the course number for it isn’t journ 99.
Ano ka ba?
The MILF website luwaran is complaining about Nur Misuari MNLF and that Misuari . . . who is now against the inclusion of ARMM areas in the proposed Bangsamoro Juricical Entity
J,
“Uhmm, The Evening News on tv5 airs at 10:30pm…so I doubt Jove was aiming to be the first to air it.”
oh really? you doubt? if Jove aired the clip the following day, an eternity has passed. obviously you’re not in media
” “Does the public need to know or see the president’s outburst? Who knows? I wanted to see it for my own reasons…you saw it distasteful for your own reasons…I don’t think none of us know what the rest of the public thinks of it. I’m not saying that what the public thinks is immaterial to journalists, but you can never know or conclude what others may think about a particular report. It could be good to me, but bad for you…and vice versa.”
Right. The ‘holy grail’ of journalism, “the right of the public to know.” Actually it really means “i think the public would want to know this and i’d be given a bonus if my outfit will be the first to air it! Imagine the number of viewership!”
“I believe these journalists deal with this conflict with each of their stories…else, if you want to play it safe, you won’t need journalists…just a cameraman.”
maybe you should tell that to Jove
“Petty mundane things…a missing studio prompter didn’t seem like a petty mundane thing to the president. Though it is to you…are you implying that the president is wrong to be mad that the taping of her important statement about what’s happening in Mindanao was delayed by such a petty mundane thing? Hmmmm….”
my friend, we are talking about the reporting/coverage the outburst of the President on mundane things. not on the right of the President to be upset and let out an outburst per se (in short, the right of the President to be human) Hmmmmmmm
“Hey…the reporters did mention that her wrath came out when the taping of her important statement got delayed. I think you focused on the fact that her anger was shown on tv too much and neglect to take into consideration the other factors and details surrounding what happened.”
in case you have not noticed, a considerable time elapsed from the ‘outbursts’ to the actual announcement of gloria. the ‘outburst’ was given a separate treatment. it would have been different if the ‘outburst’ took place during the conduct of a presscon (something which took place in the past a few times)
“It was an important presidential statement to tape wasn’t it?”
for you
to TNT:
whoWhom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.trinitrotoluene,
“Yes. its quite obvious the scalias and the UPn lakwatsa studes do not know what they’re talking about.”
it takes one to know one, my friend
“Jove is light years away in terms of accomplishments and degree of commitment…”
****falls from seat and almost chokes on frapuccino****
“.. these guys can’t even get out of their nooky corners, just probably to eat and sleep.”
speaking from experience, eh?
“Guys, before you mouth off, make sure you’re doing something worthwhile also and get out of your mothers’ house…”
speaking from experience, eh?
one unsolicited advice –
iho, don’t desecrate manolo’s blog with comments such as what you wrote. yang mga ganyang tenor, bagay na bagay sa ellentordesillas.com. doon ka na lang
trinitrotoluene,
on randam na randam, yes randam ko na hindi lang si Gloria.. private investors too.
towards the end of your article , it says…
“Against these big negative numbers, private domestic investment growth has so far saved the day. Luckily for us, they have been large enough to more than offset the drop in government construction and FDI. Have private Filipino investors suddenly become much more confident of our economic prospects, then? I see no reason why this would be so.”
PROSPECT?
In 2006 there was RISKY BUSINESS, Crisis brewing in the Philippines ( Mindanao)
“The threat is very serious if you look at recent events, the intention of enemy forces, their collaborating with affiliates all around the region, and their technical skills, especially in bomb-making, their tradecraft skills.”
“This arbitrage was a significant factor behind the sharp appreciation of the peso, especially against the yen, in 2005. In addition to banks, foreign investors also targeted short-term domestic fixed-income securities in 2005. In the first quarter of 2006, heavy foreign portfolio and domestic bank arbitrage inflows continued.”
On your investment drought: Our constitution is not FDI friendly. ChaCha can be the answer. Amend those policies made by the old generation elites.
sorry: here’s the link…for Risky Business
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HH24Ae02.html
suddenly, jove, the supposed unknown and common reporter from the third rate channel is worth all your time, he must really be scaring the shit out of the powers that be.
Today, I learned something new. Who would have thought there are Jove groupies????
So will TNT do a Ninoy on Jove and start selling tShirts? I’ll donate the expression By Jove, I got it!!! to the business-idea.
The Free Press, LBJ and the Tet Offensive………..
Most of the pundits in this blog were probably not yet born when the Tet Offensive occurred during the Vietnam War.
That was when the messenger became the news. Walter Cronkite and the pictures of LBJ following the offensive was all that was necessary for the public and even the enemy then to think that the war was lost. The Vietnamese lost that series of battles but that was the turning point of the war. After the battle for the citadel at Hue, the marines started calling Charlie, Mr. Charlie…
The entire swagger and demeanor of LBJ from the early times of the war to that year was gone….All in color.
He then announced that he was not running for reelection after his landslide win earlier.
The leader of the so called free world appeared defeated.
Naturally Nixon then had to come in and raise the bar, so to speak of warfare, and started bombing Hanoi, shipping into their harbor and Cambodia. All for the U.S. to withdraw with the slogan peace with honor.
In a car show GMA announced a shift in policy with the MILF. No talks without laying down arms…. What that means is simply give up your armed struggle or else……
This fiasco has seriously damaged whatever she has left in credibility.
We shall see if this could prove to be a fatal wound …
Maybe the severed heads of Kato and Bravo would satisfy the blood thirst in the short term.
Let us see.
My understanding is that both Kato and Bravo had for many now been challenging (disrespecting????) the old-guys of the MILF leadership…. maybe an MILF-sponsored hatchet-job results in the severed heads.
A positve perspective in addition to UP n.. comment on
https://www.quezon.ph/1957/berserkers-and-a-breather/#comment-922776
“Forty-one Muslim religious leaders among them ulama and scholars have appealed for peace and justice in Mindanao amidst the seeming escalation of the renewed fighting between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).”
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2008/08/21/MAIN20080821133039.html
“as i did not know that Somalia’s wars were US financed.”
maybe they were ,and maybe they were not.
but washington posts says so.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/16/AR2006051601625_pf.html
one thing sticks to my mind:
The movie:Blackhawk Down