Indeed, the newspapers almost forgot all about Christmas because they were all talking about Mark Jimenez and his accusations ladled out by the bucketful, right and left. Up to the last minute, there was even a ruckus raised by two congressmen scrambling to get seats on the outgoing airplane, so they could escort their idol on his outward journey. Surely, they weren’t using this as an excuse to visit Miami. Did they get to go? And what about their constituents – did they feel abandoned? Or, by the absence of their Representatives, would their constituents feel better served?
Anyway, Happy New Year!
And how can we hope to comply with their insolent demand that the "terrorist" tag rightly given them by the United States and the European Union be dropped? To begin with, our government – stupid as it is in its dealings with the NPA – cannot even attempt to "convince" the US and Europe to revise that view without looking ridiculous.
Indeed, the NPA’s various spokesmen whose predictable brags are characterized by the well-publicized Doublespeak of that media favorite, Ka Roger Rosal, continue to jerk us around. They still bluster about the "revolutionary armed struggle", when their main preoccupation is to collect millions of pesos in "revolutionary" or "progressive" taxes from the people they claim to champion, including hapless farmers, fishpond owners, tradesmen, business operators, logging firms, bus companies – and, of course, politicians.
Their collection technique is, as always, more effective than the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s: In short, they say, that if you don’t pay up, you’re dead. First, they burn out your business. Finally, they give you powderburn. Tigbak. Dedo. That’s the final sentence.
This writer cannot, incidentally, fathom the meaning of those "unilateral" two-day truces so casually announced by the GMA government. How can you declare a unilateral truce? Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two sides to declare a "truce". If the NPA attacks in the next day or two, how can the rebels be accused of breaking a "truce" to which they never agreed? Such wimpish and foolish government declaration merely serve to lull the unwary citizenry into a false sense of "holiday" security – when, in truth, nothing has changed. The NPAs can still shoot, bomb, and murder at will – while we’re blissfully singing Christmas carols, and our soldiers and policemen, perhaps, are going about seeking pamasko.
How could we ever expect those Communists – or alleged Communists – to "respect" Christmas, when they don’t believe in Christ? If they think of jingle bells, it’s only the jingle of the cash register.
Subsequent reports clarified that what Secretary Ople had said was that Philippine diplomatic missions in the Washington DC, New York City, and the Middle East had conveyed to the DFA the information that the US might attack Iraq by the end of January to the first week of February. How did they know? Why not after Valentine’s Day?
Even yesterday’s announcement that our government is deploying a team to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East to see to the safety and security of our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) isn’t even news. President Macapagal-Arroyo already outlined the details of that scheme in the speech she delivered last December 17, at the 50th anniversary dinner of the National Press Club in the Coral Ballroom of the Holiday Inn.
In that address, which, ironically, did not get much publicity despite having been delivered to an entire roomful of journalists (although many, admittedly, were of the vintage variety), the Chief Executive had pledged that the national government "is taking care of Filipinos in Middle East danger zones".
"Our OFWs and diplomatic missions in the Middle East," she said, "have been informed of the consequences of war."
GMA noted that in cooperation with "host governments" and the United Nations Office of International Migration, Manila was "ensuring the safety and welfare of Filipino nationals in the event of a crisis". She revealed that she had "reactivated a previous directive" to the Preparedness Team headed by Special Envoy (former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Roy Cimatu) "to relocate the remaining Filipinos in Iraq at least three days before the start of hostilities, upon a signal from the UN agencies of Iraq or upon receipt of reliable intelligence information".
Indeed, the above assertion suffers from the same infirmity as the "timetable" put forward yesterday by Secretary Ople. How can GMA, Ople, or Cimatu possibly know when it is "three days before the start of hostilities"? Remember Pearl Harbor!
As for the OFWs in Kuwait, the President disclosed she had two contingency plans: the first is for the estimated 90 percent of the 60,000 OFWs there "who may opt to stay even in the event of the outbreak of war", and a second "for the 10 percent who might (want to) be relocated". The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait had already submitted a detailed cost of the plans, "which shall be supported when the time comes". Wow! If the expenditure has to be approved by the Commission on Audit (COA), the war may have been over for years before the evacuation budget is okayed.
GMA stated that the Philippine Overseas Labor staff in Kuwait has been augmented, a defense attaché assigned there plus a team of Armed Forces experts in anti-biological and chemical warfare.
On the other hand, "OFWs in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran," the President announced, "will be allowed to remain. These countries are considered safe." (Sanamagan, Madam Commander-in-Chief: Even the Israeli Defense Forces or IDF don’t consider Israel safe!)
"Let me assure you," GMA told her audience, "that General Cimatu’s planning for Middle East preparedness is as meticulous as the planning that went into his capture of 40 MILF camps during his heyday as military commander."