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Sarah

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015 Ellen Leave a comment

The tragedy in Mamasapano, Maguindanao claimed the lives of 44 of the country’s elite policemen, 18 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and some civilians.

One of those who died was an eight-year old girl named Sarah.

I learned about Sarah from Hussein Macarambon’s heart-rending post in Facebook:

“ At a forum organized by advocates of peace for Mindanao, the room started to get filled with a terrible feeling of sadness. Stories evoked tears when people who have followed the Mamasapano incident, on the ground or from afar, attempted to describe the pain and grief felt by many, especially the bereaved families of the 67 casualties- families of the 44 SAF troops, of the 5 civilians, and of the 18 MILF combatants.

“One of them lost the youngest victim, an eight-year old girl called Sarah. Her family was roused from sleep by the sound of bullets that had hit them. They survived. Sarah did not.

“Sarah’s story made me sad not only because she was killed, but also because she could not speak. She had speech impairment, a muteness that must have caused her life to be quite difficult. She must have had a difficult time being a young girl, being teased at school or by the neighbors. She could not tell them that what they were doing was hurtful, just as she was not able to express the physical pain that she felt right before her final breath. I did not know her when she was alive and was not told if she could hear, maybe she had hearing disability as well. If she did, then she was spared from the screams and wails by her mother and her father that drowned the thunderous sound of gunfight that dreadful early morning on January 25.

“ The saddest thing about her story was the lack of a face to remember. She never had a photo when she was alive. Her parents could not afford a camera to snap a shot to remember her by. They could not give news reporters or government officials a photograph of her to put a young girl’s face on her story.

“And I weep for her. I weep for her parents who will one day only have traces of memory of the contours of her face, of that youthful smile and of those longing eyes. Her parents would never want to forget about her, but without a picture, memory will one day fail them.

“To many of us, Sarah, the faceless girl from Mamasapano, will be forgotten.”

No, Sarah will not be forgotten.

Share and let Sarah’s voice be heard.

Senators asked the wrong question

February 15, 2015February 15, 2015 Ellen Leave a comment

Sen. Grace Poe chairs hearing on Mamasapano carnage.

It was President Aquino who informed Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang and the rest of the presidential party in Zamboanga on the Mamasapano debacle on Jan. 25, a source close to Malacañang said.

That’s why in the hearings in the Senate and the House of Representatives the three and Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of Western Mindanao Command said they didn’t inform Aquino of the dawn carnage that left 44 members of the Special Action Force dead when they were with him throughout the day.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Defense Secretarty Voltaire Gazmin say they didn’t tell the President even if they were getting reports of the debacle.

They all looked and sounded stupid or they thought the senators and the public were stupid to believe what they were saying. Gazmin said that when he learned of the encounter at 11 a.m., he felt no urgency to tell the President. Besides, it was a police matter, he said.

Catapang also said he did not inform the President. Roxas said he didn’t realize the urgency of the incident.
Only suspended Police Chief Alan Purisima did not take the “I did not tell him” line. He asked that he be given time because he needs “to seek clearance from the President to answer the question.”

Suspended PNP Chief says he needs permission from the President to answer the question if he told the President about the Mamasapano ‘incident’ and what time.

That’s because it was Purisima who informed the President of the debacle before he left for Zamboanga that day. He arrived there past 10 a.m.

This information surfaced when I remarked to a friend/source that it was obvious that everybody is covering up for the President, who should be made accountable for the death of the 44 SAF commandos.

The source said, “The senators were asking the wrong question. They asked Mar, Gazmin, and Catapang when they told the President. The persons they were asking did not inform the President about the Mamasapano incident. It was the President who informed them.”

Oh.

So that was it. Roxas, Gazmin, and Catapang were not lying. Perhaps if they were asked the right question, something like , “Did the President inform you or mention to you anything about an operation against two high-value terrorists?,” they would have answered truthfully. Perhaps.

Let’s see if they will be truthful when the senators ask them the right question in the next hearing.
***

The President tells SAF he knew of the ‘incident’ early.

This is what the President told members of the SAF at Camp Bagong Diwa early hours of Jan. 30 which confirms that he knew of the Mamasapano tragedy early:

“Bago pa lang sinabihan na ako ng resulta kay Marwan.

“Nang sinasayasat naming ang nangyari sa Zamboanga, dumadating ang mga report. May mga imbestigasyon na ginagawa. Gusto nga natin malaman paano tayo makasiguro na hindi tayo magkaroon ng ganung sakuna, ganitong insidente, ganitong kaso at least na napakabigat para sa inyo.

“Malaking bilang talaga sa mga Pilipino damang- dama talaga ang nangyari sa inyong mga kasamahan.”

SAF44 stirred public interest on BBL

February 11, 2015February 11, 2015 Ellen Leave a comment

Norwegian William Hovlan, operations chief of the International Monitoring Team,

There was something amusing in the narration of Mamasapano Mayor Tahirodin Benzar A. Ampatuan that reflects a trait common to many Filipinos.

Mayor Ampatuan (yes, the Ampatuans of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre are still very much a force to reckon with in Maguindanao) said that at about 1:30 in the afternoon of Jan. 25, members of the joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) arrived to stop the battle between the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police on one side and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on the other side.

The fighting had been raging since dawn. The SAF was about on their way out of the area after they accomplished killing one of their targets, Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir alias ”Marwan”, high in the terrorists list of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. Marwan had a $5 million price of his head.
Their other target, Basit Usman, a bomb expert was able to escape.

Ampatuan enumerated the nationalities of the members of the CCCH who came. He said one was “Amerikano.”
The mention of the name “Amerikano” sent alert signals because the past days there have been reports, denied by government officials, about the direct involvement of Americans in the operation that cost the lives of 44 SAF and 18 MILF fighters.

Americans in civilian clothes help in retrieval of casualties in Mamasapano carnage.

Pictures of American soldiers helping in the retrieval of the dead and the wounded have raised questions if they are allowed to be in the combat area in the country.

Immediately, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles corrected Ampatuan saying the guy was “Norwegian.”

Sen. Loren Legarda asked Ampatuan why he thought the guy was American. Ampatuan replied, “Kasi maputi at matangkad, (Because he was white and tall.)

Legarda looked amused.

Mayor Ampatuan is not the only who thinks anybody who is “white” is American. (What about African-American?).
Legarda asked SAF commander Director Getulio Napeñas Jr. why they gave Marwan’s cut off finger to the FBI instead of the National Bureau of Investigation for DNA testing. The suspended SAF commander requested for an executive session for him to answer the question.

The answer to that could be the reason why Aquino was gung-ho about Oplan Exodus to the point of making a mockery of the basic principle of chain of command, so vital in governance.
***
Feeling public anger,the House of Representatives suspended indefinitely the deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, head of the ad hoc committee, said they will wait for results of the investigations on the Jan. 25 carnage, which had been mishandled bigtime by Malacañang. “We want to know first what really happened in the incident and what should be done in relation to the provisions in the BBL… so we will not have this kind of occurrence again,” he said.

The indefinite suspension is bad news for Malacañang, which sees the law as the ultimate solution to the problem in Mindanao and didn’t want the tragedy to get in the way.

Peace Agreement signed March 27,2014

In fact, a week after the tragedy, while the 42 of the 44 SAF heroes were lying in state at Camp Bagong Diwa, the committee continued deliberations after a one day, just One Day, suspension.

A member of the committee, who wanted indefinite suspension to honor the 44 SAF, said they were surprised to see Malacañang allies attend in full force, something which they didn’t do in earlier hearings.

The first statement that came out of Malacañang the day after the tragedy was not a condemnation of the massacre but a declaration Mindanao peace process will push through.

“Ang pananaw ng pamahalaan ay hindi nagbabago. Mahalaga ang peace process sa Mindanao, mahalaga ang pagpasa ng Bangsamoro Basic Law at patuloy pa ring itinataguyod ang prosesong pangkapayaan,(The government’s view is unchanged. The Bangsamoro Basic Law is important in the peace process in Mindanao and we will continue to carry it out.),” Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said.

The suspension of deliberations derails the original timetable for the BBL which was passage by the House in March and signing into law by December.

Not only is the timetable derailed. Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, former AFP chief –of-staff and member of the ad hoc committee, said if it is passed, it will be a watered down version. “We need to satisfy two issues: One, the constitutionality issue, and two, reconciling the different interests of different groups.”

Biazon further said, “There is a need for us to examine more closely the issue of territorial boundary definitions. There are many provinces not part of the current ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) that are vying to be part of the Bangsamoro.As regards the coordination provision, do the Navy and Coast Guard have to coordinate whenever they move within what is our territorial waters? If the Air Force needs to fly over the Bangsamoro, do they need to coordinate? There are so many questions.”

“I assure everyone, the Bangsamoro Basic Law will be watered down,” Biazon said.

The death of the 44 SAF commandos has forced Aquino to go slow on what he thought was his ticket to the much coveted Nobel Prize. Many of those who were apathetic to the peace process with the Muslim rebels are now interested to know more about the law that would create profound changes in life in the country.

Everything happens for a reason.

Nagdurugo ang puso ni Aquino sa pagbitaw kay Purisima

February 7, 2015February 7, 2015 Ellen Leave a comment

Aquino announces he accepted resignation of suspended PNP Chief Alan Purisima last Friday, Feb. 6.

Noong Biyernes ng gabi, lumabas si Pangulong Aquino (mga isang linggo din siyang hindi nakikita at naririnig mula nang pumunta siya sa lamay ng 44 na miyembro ng Special Action Force sa Camp Bagong Diwa) at nagsalita sa telebisyon tungkol sa trahedya sa Mamasapano, Maguindanao noong Enero 25.

Pangalawang pagsalita niya ito tungkol sa trahedya na hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa natutukoy ng opisyal kung sino tala ang may responsibilidad. Ngunit sa unit-unting lumalabas na balita, kahit mag-kakaiba nagkakaroon ng ideya ang publiko kung sino-sino ang may pananagutan.

Maliban kay Pangulong Aquino mismo, bilang commander-in-chief at nag-amin na alam niya ang tungkol sa operasyon at ang hepe ng SAF na si Chief Director Getulio Napeñas, may kinalaman din and suspendido na hepe ng Philippine National Police na si Alan Purisima.

Sabi ni Napenas kay Purisima daw siya nagre-report. Itinanggi naman ito ni Purisima.

Akala ng marami, may malaking sasabihin si Aquino na magbigay liwanag sa trahedya kung saan 44 na buhay ng ating pinagamagaling na pulis ang nalagas sa misyon na pagdakip sa dalawang terorista na nasa lugar na sakop ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Malalim ang pinagsamahan:PNP Chief Alan Purisima and President Aquino

Ngunit nag inanunsyo ni Aquino ay ang pagbibitiw ni Purisima na sinabi niyang tinanggap niya kahit mabigat sa kanyang kalooban.

Sabi ni Aquino:”Kaya nga po, siguro naman ay maiintindihan ninyo kung bakit masakit para sa akin na aalis siya sa serbisyo sa ilalim ng ganitong pagkakataon. Tinatanggap ko po, effective immediately, ang resignation ni General Purisima. At nagpapasalamat ako sa mahabang panahon ng kanyang paglilingkod bago mangyari ang trahedyang ito.”

Malaki daw ang tulong ni Purisima para mapatay paghuli at pagpatay kay Zulkifli bin Hir alias ”Marwan.” Kaya paslamat tayo kay Purisima?

“Naging malaking bahagi din po ng layunin nating tugisin sina Marwan at Usman ang papel ni General Alan Purisima. Marami siyang iniambag sa mahabang proseso at maraming operasyon na pinlano para dito,” sabi ni Aquino.

Ikinuwento na naman niya ang malalim nilang samahan ni Purisima:“Hindi rin naman po lingid sa kaalaman ng publiko na mahaba ang aming pinagdaanan. Noon pong coup d’etat, o iyong attempted coup d’etat ng 1987, panatag ang loob ko bago kami na-ambush na may sapat na kakayahan ang aming security personnel. Dahil nga po halos naubos ang mga kasamahan ko, nayanig ang aking kompiyansa. Si Alan Purisima po ang nag-design, nagpatupad, nagtrain sa amin ng isang modified VIP protection course; malaki ang naitulong nito sa panunumbalik ng aking kompiyansa. Mula noon, hanggang ngayon, marami kaming pinagdaanan; kasama ko siya sa pakikipagtunggali sa mga makapangyarihang interes na maaari kaming ipahamak. Noong mga panahong bahagi ako ng oposisyon, bagama’t peligroso sa kanyang karera ang pagiging malapit sa akin, hindi po ako iniwan ni Alan.”

Ito ang problema kay Aquino. Madali lumabo ang kanyang paningin sa kapakanan ng bayan kapag kaibigan ang sangkot.

Masama ang loob niya na bitawan si Purisima. Kaya lang sinasabi sa kanya ng mga malapit sa kanya na tumitindi ang galit ng sambayanang Pilipino. Kapag hindi niya bitawan si Purisima, baka pati siya matumba.

Ang hinihintay pa ngayon ng taumbayan ay kung kaya niya manindigan laban sa MILF para Yan pa ang hinihintay ng taumbayan.

Let him finish his term

February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 Ellen Leave a comment

Militant group renews call for Aquino to step down.

I hold President Aquino accountable for the death of 44 Special Action Force commandos but I don’t want him forced to shorten his term which is due to end on June 30 next year.

I’m not joining calls for him to resign. I’m against a coup de’etat.

I want him to finish his mandate which the Filipino electorate bestowed on him when they elected him five years ago.

But he should shape up and take seriously his responsibilities as President.

He owes it to the Filipino people even to those who didn’t vote for him.

There are calls for Aquino’s resignation following the death of 44 SAF commandos last Jan. 25 who were in a mission to arrest two international terrorists in Mamasapano, Maguindanao controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its breakaway group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Aquino’s mishandling of the debacle (keeping silent in the first four days and not showing up for the arrival honors at Villamor Air Base for the 44 – he was at a Mitsubishi Motors plant launch) earned his widespread disgust.

The Makabayan bloc in Congress said, “Aquino lost his moral ascendancy and legitimacy to govern when he lied to the people on his responsibility and accountability in the botched police operation that led to the deaths of 44 police, 18 Moro fighters and 8 civilians. He covers up the role of United States and the unlawful participation of suspended PNP Chief General Allan Purisima. He broke the chain of command and violated the required coordination in the peace agreements with the MILF. The blood of the fallen SAF 44 and 26 Moros are on his hands.

“Aquino must resign! The President must resign for the sake of the nation, to save our nation from further disasters, moral bankruptcy, and massive poverty.”

The Makabayan bloc is composed of Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna, Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela, Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers, Fernando Hicap of Anakpawis, and Terry Ridon of Kabataan.
The secretary-general of the militant Bayan, Renato Reyes, said Aquino has become “the greatest stumbling block to truth and accountability…he has to go.”

Two Catholic bishops- Archbishop Romulo dela Cruz of Zamboanga and Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa have joined the calls for Aquino’s resignation.”I ask that he should step down…. He is not competent enough to run the affairs of government,” said Archbishop Cruz.

Archbishop Arguelles, whose 2012 comment about the President’s balding head was complained about by Aquino to Pope Francis during the latter’s visit in Malacanang last month, called on the people “to go to the streets and demand that Aquino step down.”

“I call for a revolution, but not the bloody kind,” Arguelles said urging Aquino to” step down to give way to a new government.”

Fr. Jun Mercado

Oblates missionary priest Fr. Eliseo “Jun” Mercado, a Mindanao peace advocate posted this in his Facebook: “Some experts claim that PNoy has ‘Nerd Personality disorder and Mild Autism’, he is psychologically not fit to govern the country, he should resign now before more and more people would die and suffer if another disaster strikes our country.

“He has his own world and at times or oftentimes this world is not in touch with the real world out there. (Those) close to the Aquino family has known this.

“There are people who exploit this reality and this made possible what we have been observing these past years…. DAP, Ouster of CJ Corona at all cost with the use of PDAF .. Reaction to Luneta massacre, Yolanda, and the botched Operation at Mamasapano that led to slaughter…

“I now believe this claim…. And I join my voice to the clamor asking for PNoy’s resignation and allow him to rest and privately live in his own world.”

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP President: voice of moderation.

The president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippine, Socrates Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, said “the CBCP cannot morally join in the calls for his resignation, leaving this decision to his humble and prayerful discernment of his capacity to lead and the support he has not only from officials of government but from members of Philippine society.”

The CBCP said it supports the creation of a credible Truth Commission or a fact-finding body to find out the truth about the tragedy.

Villegas has some words of advice for Aquino. He said: “The President of the Republic, the CBCP prays, should have learned from this regrettable tragedy that transparency and forthrightness are what are expected of him at all times. It will serve him well to listen to sound advice and counsel from truly wise, and not from those eager to curry favor! He has been roundly criticized for having absented himself at the arrival honors for the mortal remains of our heroes. He will, in the future, we hope, make better balanced choices and conduct himself as his high office demands. We pray that in all humility he would willingly accept just criticism rather than have his spokespersons concoct excuses at every turn.”
I share the prayer.