Private armies: PNoy's failed campaign promise

The second hostage crisis to hit the Aquino administration has finally been resolved with the release of the 12 remaining hostages by their kidnappers led by Undo Perez in the town of Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur. Thank God that none of the hostages were killed in this five-day-old stand-off unlike the Aug.23rd hostage-taking incident that ended in a bloodbath killing eight Hong Kong tourists in front of the Quirino Grandstand in the City of Manila.

 But unfortunately, we cannot say that all’s well that end’s well in the Agusan hostage-taking crisis because while the hostages may have been freed and released by the armed group, we still don’t know why all of a sudden Undo Perez freed them. Even stranger is the fact that none of the kidnappers were arrested or caught, which means that there was no rescue attempt which was earlier reported in the news.

 Even totally amazing is that the criminal Undo Perez and his gang of kidnappers disappeared into the mountains, which only tells you that the Philippine National Police (PNP) once more committed a grave error in not surrounding the area where the hostages were held. A security cordon around the perimeter where the hostages were held should have been standard procedure. So was Undo Perez and his gang allowed to leave quietly? Who negotiated this standoff and the release of hostages? DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo in support of the PNP said that it wasn’t easy to cordon the area.

 Meanwhile in another part of Mindanao, Gov. Ismael Mangudadato of Maguindanao blames the ambush of seven of his relatives to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) although MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denies this accusations and blames this to a clan war. Come now, how are we to assess as to who is right or wrong in this situation?

 Regardless of who is at fault in that incident, what is clear to me is that Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III has totally failed in his election campaign promise to rid our country of private armies. During the election campaign, PNoy’s media mouthpieces here in Cebu blamed presidential candidate, former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, Jr. for failing to disarm or dismantle those private armies. Well, it’s now 10 months into the PNoy administration and armed groups like the MILF or the New People’s Army (NPA) or Undo Perez and his gang still roam Mindanao with total impunity. I challenge PNoy’s mouthpieces to demand from PNoy the dismantling of those private armies or at least set a timetable when he can do this.

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 My heartfelt condolences to the family of the late Mr. Enrique Y. Diola who died last Mar. 31st at the age of 82 years old. He is survived by his wife Mrs. Elena Diola and 8 children and 23 grandchildren. His son, Fr. Carmelo Diola is one of our priests who teaches us in our weekly Sons of David Mass at the Cebu Country Club. Eking was a very friendly person, who once told me that he was a classmate of my late uncle Eng. Eduardo Segura and he was close to my mother Ascension Avila.

 I gathered from Fr. Diola that his dad Eking was the original member of the U.P. String Quartet after World War II. His classmate, the famous violinist Redentor Romero referred to Eking as “Heifetz” of the Philippines. My good friend, Jimmy Escaño also told me that Eking’s quartet played at his wedding.

 Eking was first assigned in Davao City and was instrumental in the development of Compostela Valley having initiated the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) and he helped in the development of GSIS low cost housing there. No wonder his advocacy to help the poor has also captured the heart of his son Fr. Melo who told me that his dad was one of the first volunteers of the Dilaab movement and was his source for quiet wisdom.

 In fact when his parents celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary in the year 2008, Eking started an endowment fund to support the efforts of the Dilaab movement’s advocacy to restore Christian values among public servants, providing accompaniment to public servants in their journey to integrity. These public servants include the police and Barangay officials, which Dilaab held many workshops to inculcate a sense of God fearing citizenship, which unfortunately many of our public servants have lost through the years of corruption.

 The other night, I attended the mass officiated by Archbishop Jose Palma and Arch. Lito Cortes at the Rolling Hills and it was the first time I was formally introduced to our new Servant Leader for the Cebu Archdiocese. Fr. Diola’s request is that, in lieu of flowers, to instead give cash specifically to the “Hello God” endowment fund of Dilaab. Burial will be on April 9 at the Cebu Memorial Park after the 2 p.m. funeral mass at the Gethsemane Parish. Lastly, may we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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