Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The New UN-IPOC
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Man-Made Global Warming Cooking is Cooling
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Impending Tearing-Off of the Philippines
The Arroyo administration almost torn-off the Philippines in recognizing the Mindanao Independent State. Without the intercession of the Supreme Court through the issuance of a temporary restraining order, the Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) relative to Bangsamoro Juridical Entity could have been appropriately stamped “a done deal.” MILF could have shouted aloud and declared into the whole world that “Mindanao was won” and is legally authorized as an independent nation. This may become another case of non-stopping hostilities as being experienced by the Palestinian State in Gaza Strip and areas of the West Bank or the Hezbollah of Lebanon enjoying the status of independent state agitating a neighbouring Israel.
Why did GRP negotiating panel led by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Eduardo Ermita and Presidential Adviser on Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales let the MILF to win substantial portion of Mindanao and gave in to this separatist group much better concession when this group was almost wiped-out and disabled during the capture of Camp Abubakar in July 2000? The position of GRP was now carried by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Hermogenes Esperon Jr., and the same; they acceded to the demand of the Islamic separatist group in its claim to establish an independent Bangsamoro Republic in the pretext of lasting peace. Can it be called peace when majority of the inhabitants in Mindanao are at stake of being evicted? How did they got the authority to put in their hands the fate of the people of Mindanao and the future of a United Philippines without due consultations and evading constitutional processes? What are the hidden agenda behind this one-sided compromise?
What will stop the MILF to annex Davao City or Cebu City or even Manila which was formerly headed by a Muslim Chieftain -Rajah Soliman, the last native ruler of Maynilad, a Muslim Kingdom on the southern delta of the Pasig River and was considered as the "greatest king of Manila" and most important native chief when Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo landed there in 1570. (Cultural Heritage) They have tried to include Davao del Sur but were rejected in ARMM plebiscite. They’ve tried Davao City and any other areas by just pointing those lands and verbally claiming it that those were their ancestral domain. What ancestral domain they are talking about? The whole Philippine Islands is the ancestral domain of the Filipinos and no one shall ever claim or touch it or “repay with death” as the words of Rajah Soliman spread in the Spanish community.
We have overcome all the tests to dismember the Philippines except for Sabah on North Borneo. Malaysia has annexed Sabah and they have reason to campaign for a separate Mindanao to lessen the pressure inserted by the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu in reclaiming Sabah or to increase the rate of rent being paid by Malaysia. It maybe deduced that when Mindanao is separated, there is a chance that they can annex it when they are already economically capable to court or entice the poverty burdened Mindanao through the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Conference or of foreign entities.
This government should be vigilant in the conduct of negotiation which tends to dismember the Philippines. Many groups will try to organize, particularly the Muslim separatists, to sow hatred, hostilities, and insurgencies to attain their objective of an independent Moro Nation. MILF have gained the support of communist-NDF and has been very cordial to terrorist Abu Sayyaf-Al Qaeda-connection in accommodating them in their camps when the police are chasing them. Nur Missuari, the organizer of the defunct MNLF, was from the University of the Philippines which is believed to be the lair of the local communist party –now evolved to green environmentalist group. It is presumed that he was inspired by the NDF to organize and campaign for a Muslim separate state and it is rumoured that he will be the President of the Bangsamoro Republic. These separatist groups will do everything, promise the moon, and employ treacherous undertakings to win their cause. And there is the reported “undue interest” on the side of the US and their role with the MILF pact as shown by the presence of her ambassador on the scheduled MOA signing in Malaysia. Every Filipinos should be on guard as there are foreign interests lurking on the sidelines ready to swallow when opportunity is at hand.
We are still in a primitive class in spite of decades managing our sovereign state. Our subservience to minority rule is still a chain we have not been able to loose. We haven’t been able to free ourselves from the caprice and strangulation of foreign colonizers. We continue to be lame duck majority and unable to overcome the manipulation of the privilege few. We are still afraid to say “No!” They still dictate our existence and impede our development as a prosperous state. When will we ever learn?
Read more on this article...Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Mindanao Conflict: An Internal Problem of the State
The state has been very soft in treating the Muslim separatist rebels. Organized in 1970, conspiring with the leftist organization and then its resistance to the declaration of Martial Law, the rebels have all the reasons for uprising as well as all freedom loving Filipinos. But martial law has ended and there is no justification for any group to isolate themselves but to seek unity as a Filipino race instead.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) succeeded in furthering their cause with the establishment of Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in l996 during the Ramos Administration. Meanwhile the disintegrated Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gained prominence after the collapsed of MNLF. President Fidel Ramos gave the rebels a room to stretch their arms when he let the formation of a camp and a territory for the rebels. President Estrada in his time forced the rebels out of Camp Abubakar, the MILF Central Headquarter, in July 2000, and almost wiped them away. However, he angered other law-abiding Muslims when “he treated the brave soldiers by feasting on roasted pig, where pork is forbidden among Muslims.” (Manila Times, June l9, 2002) But President Arroyo gave back the camp thru the advice of Ramos and the intervention of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) that gave the rebels a chance to regroup and strengthen their position. The MILF rebels continued to gain support. The Bush Administration link MILF to Al Qaeda terrorist in its fight for independence. MILF succeeded in gaining Indonesia and Malaysia to be on their side in the negotiating table. Today the Arroyo government is on the brink of giving the rebels their own controlled domain, giving off almost one-third of the Philippines.
Filipinos regard their Muslim brothers as their own. Although they differ in some aspects of culture and religious beliefs, they are one in their heart and with the same blood they drained in their struggle for identity and as a nation. Only the separatist group are leading the move to gain power and prominence. The creation of ARMM did not deter the rebels to pursue their aims as they did not win in an election to head the Region. Their plan to create a separate and independent state may not be appropriate in the region of diverse political infirmities and where the majority of non-muslims are the inhabitants.
The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was scheduled to be signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was issued by the Supreme Court upon request of Mindanao officials whose residents staged a protest upon learning that their barangays or municipalities were included in the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
If and when the MOA is signed it will be submitted to the people of Mindanao in a plebiscite. And there is no assurance that the people will vote for a self-governing region as the leaders of the affected provinces are against the MILF separatist ambition and that they were not consulted when their territories were included in the expanded autonomous region. It is noted that the government panel may not be construed that it was their sign of weakness when it conformed to the desire of the separatist rebels for self-rule. They know fully well, that in any referendum or plebiscite involving its adversary group, the rebels will never win considering the records of Filipino politicians rigging the election results. But the rebels will not stop and may stage more armed attack to expand their territories and disrupt the scheduled ARMM election on August 11. The rebels may spread out the hostilities in Southern Mindanao as there are reports that the MILF is linked with Al Qaeda terrorist and their secessionist movement will be further amplified. They have employed the support of Abu Sayyaf as well as the armed movement of communist insurgents.
Treatment of Muslim rebels will require an extraordinary caution and persistence. Muslims in the Philippines have a record of non-submission. They are comparable to the rebels of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their record of resistance to pressure more especially to outside rule may be traced to the Bud Dajo Massacre where Filipino Muslims, instead of giving up, took refuge in a volcanic crater on the island of Jolo and were massacred by American troops under General Leonard Wood on March 7, 1906. (See “What Happened at Bud Dajo” at www.boston.com)
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