Category: Local Government

SAF survivor: #FightForPeace

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

Mamasapano survivor pushes for continuation of peace process

“The true face of war is not that dead soldier or rebel on the battlefield. It is a mother fleeing home with a cartload of offspring, amid sounds of gunfire.”

A MEMBER of the elite Philippine National Police-Special Action Force who survived the clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province has initiated an online petition calling for the continuation of the peace process in Mindanao.

“I was part of January 25 Mamasapano operation to capture the terrorist Marwan,” the SAF trooper, who used the pseudonym Jason Navarro, described himself in the online petition uploaded on the international petition platform Change.org.

“I am a Special Action Force (SAF) officer. I lost 44 of my comrades and was wounded in battle. I will carry physical and emotional scars for life,” he said.

The clash killed 44 SAF troopers, 18 MILF rebels, and eight civilians, and left scores more wounded.

“Even so, I grieve to hear demands for “all-out war.” For I, too, am a child of Mindanao. In childhood, I watched the flight of thousands of people from nearby towns. Entire families desperately seeking safe haven, war having obliterated their communities.”

Click on the image below to view the petition on the change.org site.

PHOTO from change.org petition of Jason Navarro

PHOTO from change.org petition of Jason Navarro

 

One dream: Remembering Ka Pepe

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

“There is one dream that we all Filipinos share: that our children may have a better life than we have had. To make this country, our country, a nation for our children.” — Jose W. Diokno

Do not forget: We Filipinos are the first Asian people who revolted against a western imperial power, Spain; the first who adopted a democratic republican constitution in Asia, the Malolos Constitution; the first to fight the first major war of the twentieth century against another western imperial power, the United States of America. There is no insurmountable barrier that could stop us from becoming what we want to be. – Jose W. Diokno

EXACTLY two days after the first year anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolt, a nationalist died.

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Photo from www.diokno.org

Today, February 27, 2015, is the 28th death anniversary of Jose Wright Diokno – human rights lawyer, senator, nationalist. Yesterday, he was supposed to turn 93.

Starting today, we will be featuring the three-part video of the PCIJ on the life and times of Pepe Diokno. This video was first aired on the PCIJdotOrg Youtube Channel on February 2012.

Pacquiao on the scales

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

WE ARE reposting this article originally titled “Pacquiao’s other ‘sideline’” first published on the website of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

The article reads in part:

Cheers to the Philippine press for being consistently on the lookout for boxing champ and politician Manny Pacquiao’s physical presence — or the lack thereof — during House of Representatives sessions.

“4: Number of days Pacquiao reported in Congress in 2014,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran in its Jan. 14 front page.

“Boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao showed up for work at the House of Representatives only four days last year,” the report’s lead said. It went on to explain in detail about his absences, as well as other top absentee representatives.

Click on the photo to read the full article on the CMFR website.

PHOTO from Manny Pacquiao Facebook page

PHOTO from Manny Pacquiao Facebook page

 

 

From a distance

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

WE ARE REPRINTING this article originally titled “MILF guerrillas watch from a distance as PNP Board of Inquiry visits encounter site” first published on the website of MindaNews on February 25, 2015.

SITIO ALILING, Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 25 Feb) –“Tingnan nyo, basta may coordinate,wala talagang problema(See, if there’s coordination, there is really no problem), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Haramen said as he and his men watched from behind a row of banana plants on Tuesday while members of the Board of Inquiry of the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by Director Benjamin Magalong walked across the cornfields where 35 of the 44 slain members of the Special Action Force (SAF) were found on January 25.

Unknown to the newly-arrived visitors, Haramen, operations commander of the 7thBrigade of the 105thbase command of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), and his men – all of them armed – were, earlier that morning, mingling near the river with members of the PNP who were serving as the advance security team. By noon, across the river, elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who helped escort Magalong’s team would line up to stand guard when the BOI team arrived.

Click on the photo to read the full article on the MindaNews website.

A MEMBER of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces watches from a distance from under the shade of a banana plant the arrival of the Philippine National Police's Board of Inquiry on Tuesday, February 24, at the cornfields where the bodies of 35 of the 44 slain SAF members were found. MindaNews photo by TOTO LOZANO

A MEMBER of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces watches from a distance from under the shade of a banana plant the arrival of the Philippine National Police’s Board of Inquiry on Tuesday, February 24, at the cornfields where the bodies of 35 of the 44 slain SAF members were found. MindaNews photo by TOTO LOZANO

From a distance

Julius Mariveles Leave a comment

WE ARE REPRINTING this article originally titled “MILF guerrillas watch from a distance as PNP Board of Inquiry visits encounter site” first published on the website of MindaNews on February 25, 2015.

SITIO ALILING, Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 25 Feb) –“Tingnan nyo, basta may coordinate,wala talagang problema(See, if there’s coordination, there is really no problem), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Haramen said as he and his men watched from behind a row of banana plants on Tuesday while members of the Board of Inquiry of the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by Director Benjamin Magalong walked across the cornfields where 35 of the 44 slain members of the Special Action Force (SAF) were found on January 25.

Unknown to the newly-arrived visitors, Haramen, operations commander of the 7thBrigade of the 105thbase command of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), and his men – all of them armed – were, earlier that morning, mingling near the river with members of the PNP who were serving as the advance security team. By noon, across the river, elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who helped escort Magalong’s team would line up to stand guard when the BOI team arrived.

Click on the photo to read the full article on the MindaNews website.

A MEMBER of the MILF's Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces watches from a distance from under the shade of a banana plant the arrival of the Philippine National Police's Board of Inquiry on Tuesday, February 24, at the cornfields where the bodies of 35 of the 44 slain SAF members were found. MindaNews photo by TOTO LOZANO

A MEMBER of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces watches from a distance from under the shade of a banana plant the arrival of the Philippine National Police’s Board of Inquiry on Tuesday, February 24, at the cornfields where the bodies of 35 of the 44 slain SAF members were found. MindaNews photo by TOTO LOZANO