When the MOA-AD first came to light, Father Joaquin Bernas, S.J., assured everyone that it was “just a piece of paper.” That was mighty big of Fr. Bernas, although I wonder if the Palace actually showed him the MOA-AD’s opening line: “In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful…” ; which might’ve tipped him off to the fact that it sets up a State within a State and dismembers the Republic. It seems his esteemed legal opinion was sought by the Palace. Now that war has literally erupted in Mindanao, he might not render so breezy a legal opinion about the MOA-AD if asked again. Technically, I suppose Fr. Bernas was right since the MOA first needs changes to the Constitution which also is “just a piece of paper”.
***
In the Box called Irony, I note a singular lack of enthusiasm on the part of the police and the military to use the supposedly fearful and potent Anti-terrorism Law, the Human Security Act. Well, I can’t blame them, they don’t call it the Terrorists Bill of Rights for nothing, you know. I think it’s a booby-trapped law, with all those fines, penalties and prison terms laid out mostly for law enforcers. I think Law Enforcement will be safer from cunning Human Rights Lawyers by sticking to the Revised Penal Code violations like murder, arson, kidnapping, mayhem, etc. Truth is, though the Human Security Act was first sponsored by Juan Ponce Enrile (no terrorist patsy he), way back in 1997, by 2007 when it finally became law, the last to lay hands on it were Senators Nene Pimentel and (gasp!) Jamby Madrigal. Consider the facts. It actually became infinitely harder to do intelligence surveillance on bona fide terrorist suspects because under the HSA you have to get permission to do wiretapping from a special division of the Court of Appeals, whereas the old anti-wiretapping law required permission from a Regional Trial Court. Then there are a plethora of “human rights guarantees” — requirements on the wiretappers that boggle the mind. First there is 30 day limited time period during which such surveillance may be authorized. If the cops do not detect terrorist communication activity enough to file cases in Court within that time, they must <b>inform</b> the person in writing about the activity, supply logs and records of the recorded conversations, and be liable for not crossing every tee and dotting every eye. Not keeping, or losing log books of wiretapping operations can get you 8 to 12 in Muntinglupa!
***
The MILF almost made it to the US-EU-UN lists of Foreign Terrorist Organizations and “Excluded Personalities” in 2007, but GMA saved them from it by assuring everybody she had Mindanao handled. In retrospect, it was a big mistake to let her carry the ball for so long. The ambush by MILF forces of fourteen Marines who were looking for the kidnapped Fr. Giancarlo Bossi near Tipo-tipo Basilan in July, 2007 was admitted and crowed about by the MILF’s own website at the time, though the subsequent beheading and mutilation of ten of the Marines, was blamed on “outside forces” — conveniently “the Abu Sayyaf Group.” But something very strange happened last year. After the MILF Ambush cum ASG Beheadings, the Regional Trial Court of Basilan issued about 120 Arrest Warrants against a large number of suspects identified by witnesses and informants as having participated in the barbarous acts against uniformed Marines trapped in the rain and possibly ignored or even abandoned by headquarters. Many of the suspects were reportedly MILF personalities. Miraculously steps in Jess Dureza and Rodolfo Garcia of the GRP MILF Peace Panel, waving the Cops away with their arrest warrants and announcing a “special independent investigation” of the beheading incident. A week later that investigation supposedly completed, but the report was never released, the arrest warrants were never served and no one of any significance has been arrested and prosecuted for those heinous crimes. Clearly, the peace panel members whitewashed the incident to save their preciousssss peace processsss. Sure enough, by August, 2007, the President started talking in public about a “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity”–which smelled to me like the pay-off in a kidnap for ransom incident–the biggest one, in which we are all hostages!
It’s gonna be a long tough clean up. But like the ASG and the NPA, the MILF really deserves to be designated a FTO. Their reported tie up with the NPA is one more reason to consider them birds of a feather. The rampages against innocent civilians of the last few days by lost-and-found commanders like Bravo and Cato only shows what Commandments they follow. Starting with her handling of the Sipadan and Dos Palmas hostage crises in 2001-2002, President Arroyo has demonstrated a singular willingness, or even preference, for paying whatever ransoms are demanded to make the problem go away.
***
I think Vice Gov. Manny Pinol is right. Ceasefires and peace talks that don’t actually lead to disarmament are useless.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Certainly, that caused bloodshed in Mindanao!!!