It was vintage Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday morning as she broke her silence about having placed Maguindanao under martial law and her decision to lift Proclamation 1959 after one week.
She used the forum with educators to thump her chest and in a quite self-serving manner described how “my swift and decisive action” prevented rebellion in Maguindanao “from spreading to engulf other areas in lawlessness and the collapse of the courts and local government authority.”
“I had to make a though choice and I did take decisive action.”
She was gratuitously referring to the week-long declaration of martial law in Maguindanao which her military commanders have admitted “allowed us to fast track the arrest of those behind the November 23 massacre and the looming rebellion of followers of the Ampatudan clan.”
So indeed, the cat is out of the bag: the supposed rebellion was triggered by the operations to go after the massacre suspects!
So Malacanang declared MARTIAL LAW in knee-jerk fashion and we are supposed to say thank you.
But what is not being explained to the public is how it was possible for the Ampatuans to flourish, to amass munitions right from the National Arsenal, complete with a Barrett sniper rifle to scores of 50 and 60-caliber machine guns, mortars, recoil-less ricles, and oh yes, armoured personnel carriers enough to outfit an entire military brigade!!!
Who was the Frankenstein that created the monster. Pray tell us, Pres. Arroyo.
Also please tell us how and why the Ampatuans are widely thought to have ‘operated’ in the 2004 and 2007 elections to ensure zero votes for the political opposition.
Also now please tell us, will the supposed evidence obtained by martial law forces in Maguindanao on the basis of arrest, search and seizure orders stand as legally-obtained evidence in our courts of law?
“Our critics had no faith in our Constitution and perhaps even in our democracy.”
“We make no apologies for acting as we did as it was based on a sound reading of our Constitution and what had to be done to pusue justice.”
Who are going to answer for the apparent pilferage of government munitions collected by the erstwhile political bedfellows of Mrs. Arroyo she has now labeled as rebels?
The regime’s politics of expediency once again prevails but is genuine rule of law secure and sacred?
Popularity: 4% [?]
Governments legitimization of warlords. The PNP is directly under the DILG which is a direct line agency of the executive department.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091216-242266/Arms-dealer-I-thought-I-was-on-the-side-of-the-good-guys
GMA’s government is making war on itself as the supreme cover up. GMA is making the noises of destroying her own creation after they turned up to be monsters aided and abetted by her government.
She is the the proximate cause. No two ways about it. Wow these guys were issuing end of use certificates for weapons purchases. Even the guys in Afghanistan and Somalia do not have the privileges bestowed on these monsters by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
right on my man!
Indeed, it was classic GMA.(wink)
Let’s not forget earlier news reports about “supposed” election returns that were discovered during one of the ML raids. Later on, the story was changed, saying that voters’ ID’s (or something like that) were found instead. Worse, no follow-ups on this story by mainstream madia.
Something is definitely wrong with this picture.
Oops…I meant mainstream “media”.
My bad.
“GMA’s government is making war on itself as the supreme cover up. GMA is making the noises of destroying her own creation after they turned up to be monsters aided and abetted by her government.”-J_AG
GMA’s government is one sick body. And it’s resorting to self-medication/self-surgery.
Now it cuts its own gangrenous arm but the whole body is affected.
Will it cut its own head?
Let’s see.
Wow, and the screwed up part is that she actually wins
atleast here it was frankenstein who killed her own monster and not the other way around.
but we lost the bigger picture with our cacophony of misdirected soundbites. kidnapping for ransom, beheadings and of late wholesale massacre of people occured in Mindanao. No ordinary people in MIndanao graces FV to tell us maybe, GMA’s action in Mindanao was a spark of brilliance, though the Ampatuans local allies may share our pundits’ condemnation of GMA.
Me think, it was an act of brilliance to reign in the terror in Maguindanao by declaring a short-lived Martial Law. Yes, the Ampatuans were armed by the government to counter the MILF-Abbusayaf terrorism. What is so wrong with that? When they used their firepower to silence those who would seek the political process peacefully, that is where they made the greatest blunder. It was commendable act that GMA rose beyond petty party interest by jailing those who helped her win the 2004 elections.
She should be commended for her last act of statemanship but our deep distrust of her blinded us of her greatest achievement of her tenure.
i totally agree
No sir, The Pandak blinked because there was widespread outrage, local and foreign, in the gruesome massacre of civilians and journalists. Three days after the massacre, The Pandak was still professing friendship and alliance with the Ampatuans. Only when there was growing calls to serve justice on the victims and holding The Pandak accountable for her coddling of the Ampaws and a gathering of protests that threaten The Pandak’s grip on the throne did she decide to break away from Ampaws.
An act of statemanship? More like an act of self-preservation.
i totally agree. creating a clan of murderous ampatuans is her latest act of statesmanship, her greatest achievement of her tenure so far.
ay mali. parang sarcastic ang dating, heheh.
the ampatuans with or without GMA will be the same. these kind of personalities are a game changer like a traitor or balimbing. If we have a different president, they are still capable of killing people. It’s just their nature and their style of living life in hell. GMA has no proximate or direct relevance to their personalities. Their foundation and background from childhood to adulthood are not the same as GMA. Their personalities are unique to their kind, driven by blood and past traumatic event. Making money is not about the BS of business and politics but it must be won by terror and guns. It’s no longer an acceptable personalties even for a third world country. They must go down by Martial law… (wink)
You create the Problem. Then, you try to solve it by Martial Law. Which
is unnecessary. Then, you praise yourself for doing it.
I have not seen such self centered and incompetent leader in my lifetime.
the milf/abu sayyaf problem were there long before GMA become President. see, she does not create the problem. she was even willing to parcel out mindanao to MILF/Abu Sayaff, but the SCORP said that the MOA-AD was unconstitutional.
JCC,
That reminds me that the SC decision came after scrapping of the mOAD by the GRP.
JCC, forget your gripes with the SC and the whole judiciary for the moment. Can the SC decide on the unconstitutionality of the ML even when it is already lifted?
Ideally KG, No. Because it is moot. No more live controversy. But SCORP is not so ideal. Remember that it has ruled that the MOA-AD constitutional when it has already been scrapped by the GRP. Gripes? No just an unadulterated expression of reality, Philippine judiciary, that is.
What is the principle behind it? The Judicial Branch has no mandate and it should refrain from rebuking the other two branches, Congress and Executive, whose members have the mandate from the people if such can be avoided. Standing, mootness, political question, lack of judicially manageable standard to review the acts of Congress/Presient are some of time-honored constitutional principles designed to put in check the tendency of the judiciary to become overbearing and make legislation from the bench.
Abuse of the members of Congress and the Executive are easily redressed comes election while the members of the Judiciary are life-tenured and they are beyond the reach of the sovereign people… It is time now that Congress adopts the practice of most States in the U.S. where State Supreme Courts are elected for six years or appointed for a fix term.
Thanks for your reply, JCC.
Happy holidays.
Merry Christmas KG!!
I mean the Warlords and the Private Militias. Who armed them to the
teeth?
yes, as a counterweight against the MILF-Abu Sayyaf. otherwise, Mindanao had long been overrunn by these violent groups of people without these warlords being armed.
So why not give these supplies to the AFP enlisteds, instead of the local militias?
what a relief that JCC has not been a president! Me thinks his policy will be worse than GMA’s otherwise. Yes to warlordism? sigh! You’re putting AFP and PNP in a bad repute because of inutility. Don’t even think JCC can conceive such a weird idea.
its a no man’s land there fellas. has anyone of you gone into the gauntlet of a warzone, that is Mindanao? you talk of best option and better stragegy in Mindanao while you were miles away from the conflict zone. the military/government armed the militias because its cheaper that way, but when these militias turned their guns on those who would participate in the political process peacefully, that’s foul and the government which armed them should disarm them and put them behind bars. so what is your option to contend the abu sayyaf and the milf the cheapest way?
1. I’d start by promising lofty amnesty deals, and the minute they finally start popping their heads out of the undergrowth, we blast them.
2. Carpet bomb and napalm them off the map.
You said cheap, not ethical XD
On a more serious note
jcc, I still fail to see your reasoning behind the military arming local warlords to help fight the ASG. You’re making it sound as if CVOs are the only valid cost-effective solution to handling the local rebels. Wouldn’t that be a false dichotomy?
“its a no man’s land there fellas. has anyone of you gone into the gauntlet of a warzone, that is Mindanao? ”
====================================
It’s seems that the most prominent commenter here who is probably in Mindanao would be Danilo Ignacio.
danilo,
Go back to Jose Crisol’s strategy. The reason why the NPA and the MILF/Abu Sayyaf group cannot make much headway in their struggle against the national government because these are local insurgencies which is pitted against local militias and the technic is very much effective. Look at the AFP as a national component with diverse membership. Their effectiveness lies only in one operational objective, such as pursing the rebels where there is an actual conflict and leave the area after the conflict has subsided. The local militias know the terrain, speak the language of the locals and can easily blend in the populace and therefore this is the effective way of “checkmating” the rebels.
Now someone asked why not provide the arms to the AFP instead that of the MIlitias. I think the above par. answers the question.
so military schooling is of no use, eh? and One Army is but a hoax? had you been a military JCC, i would believe you of your proposed “military strategy.”
on the contrary, joe crisol is a westpointer.
i agree with using private/public militias against the rebels.
i disagree with creating warlords to use militias to insure zero vote for opposition during election.
it turns warlords to monsters.
and the creator of the monsters resorts to Martial Law when normal police functions will do.
and, the creator congratulates herself for a job well done.
amazing!
JCC,
yes the military is per operation basis.
The PNP law initially assigned internal security to the police force. Guess what? It did not work.
By by the time the pNP law was crafted, Civilian homedefense unit of Marcos was scrapped by president Aquino.
Internal security was the main driving force or the rationale for the PNP law. We all know what happened the next president revived the civilian home defense unit and called it cafgus and little by little internal security was returned to the AFP.
For the twentieth century private armies existed as a supplement for the constabulary and the army from north to south you know the last names of the prominent ones who held private armies since WW2.
The information above is not as trivial as it seems, because some still maintain vintage firearms and you can’t trace the serial numbers of those, because thy don’t have any.
For the newer ammo with tampered serial numbers you need a certain chemical,gastos na naman yan.
===================================
About cheap alternatives, I got to acknowledge your point.
The Military is spending 41 billion out of the 57 billion budget of the dnd for personnel services.
The police spends about the same amount because di naman nagkakalayo ang manpower nila.(115,000 for the military and about 120,000 police more or less)
but what do we have for modernization? a measly 5 billion a year.
kailangan talaga ng force multipliers. blueguards in the cities and cvos for the provinces . Mahirap sagutin yan cheaper alternatives. Dahil walang tamang sagot dyan.
And hear this from The Pandak :
That’s coming from the mouth of a moral pygmy.
an act of statemanship by jailing the people who helped a “distrusted” president…what? eh!
GMA used MILF/ Ampatuans to control the 2004 and 2007 elections in Mindanao…where did the Ampatuans and MILF got their arms and ammos?…how much money did Ampatuans and MILF got from a blood money of the dirtiest election of all time in the Philippines?…imagine…Maguindanao is one of the most poor region in the Philippines…and the Ampatuans can buy guns and ammos worth of millions of Pesos…there’s a lot more than guns and goons in Maguindanao…illegal drugs, human smuggling, white slavery, child prostitution, and many more that were tolerated by the so called Honorable President “kuno” pwe!
nosi
no amount of figurative speech can rescue the Pinoys from the rut they are in. GMA is Pinoy’s own Frankeinsten Monster. A FJP or Erap could have been worst.
Hey, Pilipinas is a free country, but a few Pinoys-in-Pinas will beg to disagree.
Pinoys vote their congressmen into congress, their votes, their congressmen. [But Pinoys will say "... but we were not informed, we did not know, we were "not free" when we voted.... we are not responsible.]
Just look at the Padaca-versus-Dy. That province is split 50/50 as to who they want to be governor, so a lot of folks hate Dy/Padaca take your pick.
Just look at NoyNoy-versus-Gibo-vs-Erap-vs-Jamby-vs-Gordon-vs-Villar. A few folks on this blogthread will say “… but if you can truly count, then you’d know that NoyNoy has the better surname.”
Pinas is NOT a free country. Which is why I say the key to Pilipinas growth is better education. so folks have better job opportunities as well as better thinking skills.
the admisnitrations budget for Maguindanao was intended to benefit the people. The Ampatuans were supposed to allocate it and spend it accordingly. If they have used some of it to buy guns then it was to protect the province from rebels and other insurgents but their intentions were not in line with what national government are doing. Corruption is common from top to bottom and bottom to top but murdering innocent people is a simple definition of terrorism which is an element of rebellion. Martial law was therefore a high class strategy of defense. As benigno said, a world view not wowowee. I would declare it anytime if I have the power. Who cares about the old Constitution? The country is poor therefore the policy and procedures written in the old constitution can no longer support the needs of the country. Chacha is next…( wink)
strong reaction is welcome..
MARTIAL LAW, GO, GO, GO!
Sige ka, if you declare martial law thinking of constituionality, baka sina Ding Gagelonia, schumey, manuel Buencamino at mga iba pa ay sumali doon sa mga kabataan for a “….surge the Malacanang gates”.
The major reason GMA remains in Malacanang is because Pilipinas followed the constitution. Removal via impeachment. Which became por Nada wa-epek because GMA knows how to do politics.
No, The Pandak knows how to steal and lie and destroy.
That is not politics. That is mafia-tics.
Mike H,
it’s fun to have some people doing the ” surge the gate” that’s the beauty of democracy. Everyone’s opinion must be supported by ACTION. Yeah let them surge the gate while I drink a champagne at the comfort of my home… happy holidays everyone.
Turning off my filipino channel because I can’t stand this wowoweee and all the sad news about my beloved country.
Tranquil,
As long as Gloria does not command to kill people, let her do her mafia tricks. Sooner or later, rule of law will get strengthen and who knows??? she can get sued by anybody only if there’s “ANYBODY” in philippine society…
Martial Law for another week in some Mindanao province??? why not… Go Go Go Martial Law. heheh
@Mike H
I find myself agreeing with you on the fact GMA stayed in power because we followed the constitution.
Or rather, her lawmakers always found some sort of technicality or (pardon the gamer-speak) exploit in the law that could be abused repeatedly.
Such as intentionally letting half-baked impeachment complaints pass and then fail, forcing her real critics to wait a full year before mounting a proper complaint.
Mike H,
Alam mo kasi, hindi naman lahat mg disagree sa iyo. Yun mga well informed sa pagboto dyan sa Pinas, are free, to litigimately choose decisively. But, for the rest of Pinoy-in-Pinas are subjected, or to put in perspective, let’s just say they are oppress of making their own decision to cast ballot.
“Pinas is NOT a free country. Which is why I say the key to Pilipinas growth is better education. so folks have better job opportunities as well as better thinking skills. Mike, I do agree with you on this one.
For the better thinking skill. I need to address COMELEC’s judgement, on the part of their CONCLUSION knowledge. For example, ERAP, this individual is an ex-con or CONASS for that matter. Why did Comelec give him permission to be part of the Presidential Candidate. And D.Q’d (disqualify) the rest, that has better moral standing that ERAP.
For Gibo. Well, I like guns you know. As long he does not hand out granades, rocket launchers and what have you in the military cache vault. The Ampatuan’s, are O.K. with it, also, COMELEC!
I was really wondering… she declared martial to prevent anyone there from exercising their writ of habeas corpus? Isn’t the writ of habeas corpus used to call up people suspect or witness to the court?
Gibo says the bullets and weapons in the Ampatuan cache can be easily traced, but to whom? To him? Ooops! :P
With no information, one can just rant that maybe a box of ammo was stolen from the PB Dionisio Davao store, or some weapons were gifts to Ampatuan from Satur. Now with the serial numbers on weapons or boxes of ammo, one can for sure determine who was supposed to get the armaments. Maybe some of them WAS via Satur. Maybe via General this-or-that, maybe even the Presidential Security Group.
Freedom-of-Information-ACT needed and maybe the Inquirer can spend some money to track down the serial numbers. Ooooops, but that will mean work.
Mindanao is running with lawless elements of all kinds. There are
leaders in the area. But, they themselves are part of those lawless
elements. National politicians have not done a significant thing or
action to curb the lawlessness in the area. Some people in the
civilian and military are in the trade of arms and ammunitions. To
curb the lawlessness. Is not good for their business. So called Rebels
who are in truth Bandits kidnap people. They get the money. People in
the arms business offer them arms. The bandits pay with the money earned
from kidnapping. It is a business, coming out of the chaos in Mindanao.
Somalia replicated in the Philippines!
The Militia Strategy originated from the Kibutz Strategy of Israeli
settlers. The settlers have to be armed against Arab terrorists and
marauders.
The danger of this is: How can you distinguish between true people
trying to defend themselves, and criminals? How can you be sure if
you not arming the insurgents themselves?
There are no definite and working guidlines of who we are arming. No good accountability of those people armed as militias. So, the results
are: warlordism; banditry ; proliferation of armed groups and the Maguindanao massacre/other massacres.
the bandits are not professional soldiers either, they might as well meet their own kind.
Hyden,
As much as I could posture myself, to listen intensely, to what GMA has to deliver to the mass crowd of educators. To used the forum to her advantage, is a self proclaiming revelation on her part. The statements she delivered, was strong and enduring, because of Maguindanao tragedy. GMA is also affirmed [teachers/educator], public, that these massacre will not go unpunished or without just cause with the laws. “I just hope she[GMA] does not release these bastards back into the society”.
I know what might be said in answer to this; what the objections might be. But this is not the place to exhaust a controversy of this nature. I wish merely to observe here that this controversy over universal suffrage (as well as most other political questions) which agitates, excites, and overthrows nations, would lose nearly all of its importance if the law had always been what it ought to be. In fact, if law were restricted to protecting all persons, all liberties, and all properties; if law were nothing more than the organized combination of the individual’s right to self defense; if law were the obstacle, the check, the punisher of all oppression and plunder, is it likely that we citizens would then argue much about the extent of the franchise? (“what franchise, you might say[...]“, “it’s those mass weapons of destruction that they have unearth and recovered.”) Yes! who is the one that franchise these armaments to these Ampatuans. HELLO!
Under these circumstances, is it likely that the extent of the right to vote would endanger that supreme good, the public peace? Is it likely that the excluded classes would refuse to peaceably await the coming of their right to vote? Is it likely that those who had the right to vote would jealously defend their privilege? If the law were confined to its proper functions, everyone’s interest in the law would be the same. Is it not clear that, under these circumstances, those who voted could not inconvenience those who did not vote?
Food for Thoughts:
What i meant about this quote “…those who voted could not inconvenience those who did not vote?” is baecause clans[Ampatuans] was forcing their legitimate votes, upon other individual for their own gain.
Ooops,
can’t even spell the word “because”
…is baecause clans[Ampatuans] was forcing their legitimate votes, upon other individual for their own gain.
my bad, LOL!
The Ampatuans are the sources of CAPTIVE VOTES for Gloria
Arroyo. A stupid War Strategy also for Gloria Arroyo is to
franchise the War against MILF to this Clan. I think the
Generals and the War Strategist in the AFP are also incompetent. They cannot formulate a working and comprehensive
strategy to win their WAR against MILF. An incompetent President plus incompetent Generals. Produced the Maguindanao
massacre and lawlessness in the area.
Do we deserve these leaders?
hello Tasyo este Hayden, I like your way here.
Do Filipinos deserve these leaders?
BongV will say “… why are you complaining when you elected those leaders to power?”
I think Pinoys elect the same-type leaders into power because Pinoys have short memories.
Here is a short quiz. Leytenian won’t remember, leytenian is in USA. Now who remembers December 20, 1987 when over 95 Filipinos died in a single day? So what happened?
Dona Paz happened on december 20,1987
and 4000 died.
Hi Ding,
Glad your back… happy holidays to you and family and of course the rest of FV.
Happy Holidays, guys!
JCC has a point when he says that we Manilans — I myself haven’t set foot there — are naive to apply our comfortable, middle-class presumptions to a place different to us culturally and economically.
Nevertheless, let me hazard my two centavos’ worth.
I have lived all my life in Metro Manila and currently live in Quezon City. Quezon City is now the country’s richest city — take that Binay! (I actually was born and raised in Makati and received a free and excellent elementary education there). Quezon City has that much revenue that a perfectly good road near my place was re-paved recently in what can only be explained by the weird, wonderful logic of premature campaigning. What can I say? Democracy works in mysterious ways.
Yet, Quezon City has its pockets of underdevelopment. While roads near my place get repaved by I don’t know how many times in five years or so, some places in this city still have not received the benefits of modern city living. It was a bit of a shock to me recently to see unpaved streets in a large Muslim community in Quezon City. I mean slums are probably explainable by rural to urban migration, but I’m hard put to explain how can streets go unpaved in this part of the city. In other words, you can’t stop migration but any self-respecting city should have modern road infrastructure.
How to explain this anomaly? This Muslim community is notorious for drug peddling. Now, drugs are everywhere a problem in Metro Manila and especially acute in poor neighborhoods. The drug problem is I believe both a symptom and a cause of this underdevelopment. My impression, however, is that this Muslim community has a bigger drug problem than usual. Months ago, I read in a newspaper that somebody was gunned down there in a drug-related violence.
Perhaps this part of the city is a microcosm of Mindanao and should remind us that peace and development are two sides of the same coin.
QC has beautiful ladies for rent…one of the source of income of the qc govt. :)…anyways parukyano din ako dun…
Sooner or later, we will become another Tijuana, Mexico. The Drug
Lords took over the city. The Mexican Army has to be called to
secure peace and order. Tijuana Police receive “lagays” from
Drug Lords. They cannot enforce law and order already.
Hyden,
We are not likely to become another Tijuana or Juarez in the near future because we are not near a huge market unlike those two Mexican cities. The increasing prosperity of the region may change the dynamics in the long term, but it will also depend on whether regional authorities will follow the USA’s aggressive, war-like strategy on drug interdiction.
Also, the likely candidates to host international cartels in the region would be the authoritarian countries Burma and, perhaps, North Korea.
correction: a part of the first sentence should read “I haven’t set foot in Mindanao.”
@leytenian,
Hi, thanks for the welcome. :) Warmest wishes of the season to you and yours…
merry x mas , Ding!
welcome back Ding :D
Yuletide cheers likewise, gents. Hi Coy, dear friend :)
“For example, ERAP, this individual is an ex-con or CONASS for that matter. Why did Comelec give him permission to be part of the Presidential Candidate.”-mario
mario,
So Erap can deduct votes from opposition presidential candidates during the election. Not to worry Erap becoming president again because the supremes will disqualify him after the election. This will work in Gibo’s favor, but Gibo will not become president as well because he’s sleeping in the basement. And Abalos, Garci and Bedol are in exile. And the ampatuans are in a corner. And the AFP and the PNP no longer in the clutches of the queen.
Two Words: Blanket Amnesty.
This was done in Africa when Foreign powers made proxy wars against the people of Africa. They let warlords fight against each other. Through this war weapons were bought (allegedly from the same source) sometimes funded by blood diamonds. Because the foreign powers owed these warlords through weapons purchase and and selling diamond them diamonds, they (using U.N. as a front) caught and tried them on the basis of “rebellion” having a blanket amnesty rather than crimes against humanity. Of course we know who the beneficiaries of these wars were: the arms dealers, and the diamond buyers. In short the foreign instigators.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091218-242753/US-arms-shipments-may-fall-into-hands-of-warlords-Arroyo-pals
http://balita.ph/2009/05/14/usd667-m-allocated-for-rp-in-proposed-2010-us-budget/
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091218-242735/US-devt-project-in-Maguindanao-to-resume-shortlyKenney
Bakit naman itong abugadong Fortun hindi pa umatras? Ang abugado’y may karapatan ding tumanggi ayon sa nasasakdal at uri ng kaso. Ang ibig ba niyang sabihin ay walang katarungan kung hindi siya ang haharap na abugado? Kung hindi niya tinanggap ang kaso, wala siyang nilabag na kautusang propesyonal, at sori na lang ang Ampatuan. Ngunit hindi sila napagkaitan ng katarungan dahilan sa bibigyan din naman sila ng abugado ng korte kapag sisimulan na ang paglilitis. Marahil may iba ngang dahilan ang pagtanggap ni Fortun ng kaso.