This is the last and final column for the Year 2015 and so allow me to give you a summary of the major incidents that happened this year and we discuss the impact and the magnitude of those events in the lives of the Filipino people and for us in Cebu… and we hope and pray that these incidents will never happen again as we all look forward to the New Year 2016 with a fresh round of hope and a prayer that God will not forsake this nation that has shown its love for the Lord.
There is no doubt that the most tragic incident that ever happened to the Filipino people is the infamous Mamasapano massacre by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) where 44 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) were killed in Tukalinapao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao. We have long suspected that this police operation (where the Philippine Army was purposely blinded) was a CIA operation, where we suspect that two American operatives were killed and secretly moved out of the country.
Oplan Exodus targeted Malaysian terrorist Zulkifir Abdnir “Marwan” who had a U$5 million prize on his head. While Marwan was killed, it resulted in an all-out battle that ended with the deaths of 44 SAF troopers. What was especially painful to us was that photos and videos of this dastardly deed were downloaded to Facebook, which showed the viciousness of the MILF and BIFF. Add the fact that Pres. Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III made an extra effort not to attend the arrival ceremonies of the dead soldiers, thus this infamous incident resulted in the demise of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), the backbone of the Aquino regime’s pet program.
By April, Filipinos woke up to the reality that the People’s Republic of China was reclaiming an island on the disputed West Philippine Sea, this time we saw intelligence photos of the runway that could accommodate Chinese fighters. This reclamation is without any doubt a threat to the national security of the Philippines because it would be easy for the Chinese Air Force to attack Philippine military installations because it is just too close to our country for comfort. It’s no different from the Soviet Union installing short-range missiles to Cuba in 1962. We hope and pray that the United Nations would put a stop to this reclamation project.
Also in April was the news that the Supreme Court voided the agreement between the Commission on Elections and Smartmatic-TIM for the P300-million diagnostics and repair of the 80,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) for the 2016 polls. What is disturbing here is that the Comelec still pursued its partnership with Smartmatic-TIM this time purchasing the Optical Mark Reader (OMR), which many of us strongly believe is merely putting a new collar on the same dog… and it is time to warn the Comelec that if there will be massive electronic cheating for the 2016 Presidential polls, we might just have a revolution for the Year 2016. God forbid!
Last July, we saw the sinking of the MB Kim Nirvana, a motorized banca that was leaving the Port of Ormoc for Camotes Island. It carried 173 passengers and was obviously overloaded and capsized just 80 yards from the wharf of Ormoc Port, killing 62 passengers.
I’m giving importance to this story because I took a fast craft from Cebu to Ormoc that morning and arrived in the Port of Ormoc just 15 minutes after the MB Kim Nirvana capsized and I took many photos of this incident. Later I learned that the motorized banca was in full passenger capacity… however they had a huge cargo of cement… obviously the captain of that vessel did not realize that the weigh of a cement bag is like an adult person. This is why the vessel capsized.
By August, Filipinos especially those overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were distraught to hear that the Bureau of Customs (BoC) were inspecting all balikbayan boxes purportedly on the suspicion that they were used to smuggle many banned items. This caused a nationwide howl and during a Senate investigation, BoC Chief Alberto Lina had to apologize to the Filipino people for the inconvenience they caused and Pres. PNoy Aquino ordered the BoC to stop the inspection of Balikbayan boxes.
By November, once more Filipinos, including many OFWs were targeted by the “Tanim Bala” scam, which was reported no less by the United Nations (UN). This caused a massive shame on the Aquino Regime especially those running the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Let’s hope that those involved in this scam will be thrown to jail for this injustice! Finally for Cebuanos, last December 9th, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama was slapped a 60-day preventive suspension because he moved a small island along Katipunan St. This was a grave injustice done by Imperial Manila!
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com.