I’m appalled at the feeble response of President Aquino on the dastardly massacre by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) officers in Tikanalipao in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao in a firefight that lasted for almost 12 hours. What gets my gall was the statement of Mohagher Iqbal, chairman of the peace negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who said that the SAF Elite Force fired first and they only fired back in self-defense.
Worse, many Aquino allies are saying that that incident was a “misencounter.” In my book, a misencounter is when someone starts firing… then minutes later someone from either side would stop firing. But this incident was no misencounter! It was a 12-hour massacre, where the MILF had the advantage of knowledge of the terrain and used that advantage to the hilt. Now we have the second Massacre of Maguindanao!
This reminds me of the Presidential campaign in the Year 2010 when former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. was seeking the Presidency. Most of the young Filipinos questioned him, “Why was it that as Defense Secretary you could not disarm those armed groups roaming the hinterlands of Mindanao?” Well, nearly five years into his term, it is time for us Filipinos to ask P-Noy “Why is it that under his watch the armed groups are still roaming many parts of this country?”
Now the armed services of the Philippines, especially the Philippine National Police (PNP) have experienced the biggest loss of soldiers in a single encounter! I saw the video and the footages of the dead soldiers. You will notice that the bodies were desecrated by the MILF terrorists. One dead soldier even had his pants dropped down to his knees. Pray tell me what the Commander-in-Chief of the AFP has to say about this incident?
Government of the Philippines (GRP) chief negotiator Teresita Deles is asking Filipinos to be calm and sober, while Supreme Court Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno said that “any talk of war should not be taken lightly.” We’re not talking of war here, but if that is what the MILF is looking for, I dare say that it is time to take the fight into their turf because whether you like it or not, the MILF believes in the rule of the gun, not the rule of law!
I dare say to the Malacañang sycophants to check the social media and they will see that Netizens are extremely angry that this has happened to the SAF. Mind you, I have written columns that this peace accord signed by the GRP and the MILF was doomed from the start because they did not include the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to sit down in the negotiating table. Worse, the Aquino regime accepted Malaysia as a power broker, which in my book was totally wrong because of the Philippine claim to Sabah, which until now has yet to be resolved.
Another person who’s been silent about this dastardly deed is Human Rights Commission (CHR) Chair Etta Rosales. This incident happened last Sunday, yet we have to hear a peep from the CHR… more so that the bodies of the dead soldiers were desecrated and personal belongings stolen. What say you CHR? Surely you will not say what everybody says about CHR… that soldiers do not have human rights???
Before I wrote this article, I was tuned in to my car radio on DySS’s Super Lloyd Suarez “Saksi Evening Edition” and he mentioned the countless text messages sent by his listeners who are angry at President Aquino for not getting mad at the MILF for killing those soldiers! Just reading what the Netizens are expressing in Twitter or Facebook or what the radio listeners are texting their radio commentators, you can say that a great majority of the Filipino people are angry that 44 soldiers had to die because the Aquino regime signed that peace deal with the MILF who now has turned their backs on that peace deal.
A lot of these angry people are happy that the Senate has stopped plans to discuss the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as nobody wants to reward the MILF for killing our soldiers. With this information we’re sharing with our readers the Aquino regime is now put on notice that those dead soldiers must be given justice. Surely that’s not asking too much?
What has happened in Maguindanao is proof that the reality in the Philippines today is that, we really have a country where certain parts of the territory of the Philippines, our law enforcers just cannot enter without the “permission” of the armed groups that control these areas…whether they are Communists, NPA rebels or Muslim separatists. If P-Noy wants to salvage anything for his Presidency, he still has time to rid our nation of all the armed groups roaming freely with high-powered guns in many places in our Republic. If he doesn’t, then he has lost his right to lead the Filipino people.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com.