Yvonne Chua and Luz Rimban’s Radio error did Marines in: Reinforcements can’t contact troops on the ground, makes for horrifying reading.
You may want to take a look at the PowerPoint presentation of Cielito Habito, NEDA Director-General during the Ramos administration, on the state of the economy. The data he discusses comes from official figures:
PDI Talk.ppt
Food for thought.
Technorati Tags: military, philippines
Food for thought.
One of these days that’s the only food we are going to eat.
how did you come with that idea? your such an intelligent one! someday i’m gonna be like you!! your my idol!!! good job!! i found this site very interesting!!
Okay na sana yung ppt presentation e. Except that when it came to the end, the message is less-impressive; i.e.,
– PGMA must convince us that real change is at hand
– Quality appointments (tap real talents)
– Right policy decisions (greatest good for greatest number)
– Shed partisanship & vindictiveness
– True & sincere reconciliation, with justice
– Political will (is much more than E-VAT)
– PGMA can still redeem herself… but does she know how? (Or does she care?)
If it takes a NEDA director to come up with “imperatives” like that, then it’s hardly surprising that our country is in the bung hole that it is in.
I’ve got a more in-your-face and, more importantly, TIMELESS presentation on the REAL issues here:
http://www.getrealphilippines.com/tour/slide01.html
Kung baga, it’s not the governance, nor the economy.
It’s the PEOPLE, stupid! 😉
Love you ppt presentation, Benigno!
Your critics may find it pinoys bashing but its the real situation though. Just like you I belive its really more on the people than Gloria or the government.
I havent seen Habito’s ppt though. Im having a hard time downloading it. dont understand why.
One tends to wonder, whether with such mistakes, it might be more cost effective for the Philippine troops to use globe or smart cellphones, and just text their coordinates? (smart aleck).
How much did the armed forces spend on their radio network? With such errors, maybe its time to evaluate their communications infrastructure?
The AFP leadership can’t tell its ass from a hole in the ground.
And these are the people that DJB assures won’t fuck up the Anti-Terror Law.
i don’t buy the story! The AFP uses only a very limited number of frequencies. It is most suspicious too, that the radioman supposedly responsible for the radio frequency error even executed an affidavit confessing to it!
Then, there is this quote, buried deep in the rimban chua article:
The same senior officer also learned later from the brigade’s After Battle Report (ABR) that the troops fired only six rounds of 105-mm howitzers because, one of them said, “it was the ceasefire committee who ordered them not to fire because they were engaging friendly forces (the MILF).â€Â
Maybe it wasn’t a radio frequency error, that got the Marines killed, but a radio message to the helicopters also, from the ceasefire committee, shrieking about peace talks, ordering THEM not to fire.
Funny the deskman didn’t make this the headline.
I have to agree with DJB here. The ‘wrong frequency’ story smells.
One of the biggest mysteries about the Basilan incident is that although the “firefight” lasted between 8 to 10 hours (beginning at 10 am tuesday morning july 10), there were no reinforcements, no air support and no artillery from the home base of these Marines, not far, really from where they were massacred and killed.
Why were the Marines killed?
First it was the dud ammo. now the “wrong” radio frequency (a transparently false claim since even the decapitators later texted the relatives of their victims).
But really, why did an 8 hour gunfight not attract more help.
Occam’s razor really favors this new explanation: Howitzer batteries, helicopter gunships and other possible reinforcements were ORDERED to stand down by the “ceasefire committee” because they were engaging “friendly forces.”
Tourism:
Ba’t hindi tayo magpatayo nang sangkatutak na Language Learning Centers dito para sa mga Tsino?
We could easily have billions of dollars flowing into our economy if we market our English-based education to China’s English-hungry population.
Ba’t panatin hihintayin na i-pirate mga English teachers natin nang China. Chinese nalang papuntahin natin dito, pati cost of living nila atin pa.
Baka maunahan pa tayo nang Malaysia.
I just hope the 105-mm rounds weren’t duds.
If the AFP uses a very limited number of frequencies, couldn’t the radioman switch channels?
BrainB,
Depends on what the Chinese would find cheaper.
One interesting effect is that there have been almost ZERO articles, editorials, columns written against the anti terrorism law.
Instead there is a profound concentration on the impending doom said to be imminent in the inexorable drying up of Angat Dam, or deep philosophizing upon the significance of romy neri moving to ched.
Brian,
“ Tourism:
Ba’t hindi tayo magpatayo nang sangkatutak na Language Learning Centers dito para sa mga Tsino? “
Good idea Brian. We can also say the same with medical tourism. Here’s why I think were lagging way behind our neighbors: The country’s private and public sectors are not creating the environment suitable enough to bring in the foreign students and patients. Philippine students have been accustomed to going through a school enrollment process that feel like one is applying for a marriage certificate, and I don’t think this will fly for foreign students shopping for an education abroad. I don’t think we have a product sharp enough for this market. For some reason our schools, hospitals and even some banks mimic the inefficient and idiotic way government offices operate; ( going through windows A-Z so each window can issue, check, cross, circle, staple, file, authenticate, duplicate, formulate and validate but not during lunch hours of course because they close ) These foreign students would also have to go through the BI. That will be torture not to mention embarrassing. I almost hung myself when I was going through that hellhole agency. Sorry if I’m just giving you another thing to be mad about.
…almost hanged myself…
I think DJB theory or analysis ( call it what you want) is more credible, since nobody knows the aftermath, meaning the “beheading and mutilation of the Marines”. Had the aforementioned acts not happened it will be just another encounter, with the Marines sustaining the most losses and will surely plan for a better result next mission…
PTT
agreed. you cannot attract tourists and students when you greet them with red tape. a very long red tape instead of a red carpet.
same with business investments. if domestic investor confidence is low, that is only bec these investors aren’t assured of a stable environment for their businesses. and GMA’s actions aren’t at all reassuring…
Criminal and/or administrative charges will be filed against those responsible for the radio error in Basilan by the Marines Inspector General, Maj. Gen. Ferdinand Bocobo. Any relation to DJB?
Big red tape!
“OFWs are forbidden from leaving the country without the necessary certification and clearance from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.”
What is the purpose of the POEA? Why can’t Filipinos just go wherever they want to go?
A “Radio error” just doesn’t sound right. A radiotelephone operator would do a radio check during pre combat inspections. He would do radio checks before deployment and during patrol. It’s hard to believe that an AFP element can be that incompetent.
supremo:maybe because that would put filipinos at risk from fake employers and warzones. sure, there are a lot of filipinos victimized by the day, but if the whole thing were unregulated, there would probably be more.
brianb:i saw a poster in a restaurant once. it said “if we don’t serve the customer, someone else will.” i was reminded of this when i read “Ba’t panatin hihintayin na i-pirate mga English teachers natin nang China. Chinese nalang papuntahin natin dito, pati cost of living nila atin pa.”
why would the chinese come to the philippines if there are teachers -other than filipinos -willing to move to china to teach?
The POEA, DFA and OWWA are as worthless as a Philippine Embassy for an OFW.
…or deep philosophizing upon the significance of romy neri moving to ched. – from DJB
Funny, but as far as I can tell, Romy Neri is most probably the most apolitical member of the current administration’s cabinet.
He would go most anywhere the president assigns him and would not care much about his personal ambitions or comfort.
I know personally that in the past he had been asked to do other stuff that most probably did not generate much media coverage. And I yet have to hear relayed to me about any complaints he may have had.
Rom,
So protect the millions from a few hundred crooks.
Rom,
So protect the millions from a few hundred crooks.
Are not they among them crooks? just asking….
“The POEA, DFA and OWWA are as worthless as a Philippine Embassy for an OFW.â€Â
I remember the time when the Philippine embassy collects “taxes” from overseas Filipinos renewing their passports. The amount that you pay depends on your haggling ability.
Language Tourism
What I’m thinking is something altogether bigger than what people here must be thinking. I don’t even know if it belongs to the DOT or Dep Ed. If an entire department must be created, so be it.
No one wants to move to China.
Government initiative.
Buying the story or selling a different story, like stand down orders or whatnot, does not change the fact that command and control fucked up because they are fucked up to begin with.
You can’t have an armed forces led by a Garci general and his minions, And you can’t put an anti-terror law in their hands.
We must count our blessings! I’ve checked. In the last two weeks in the MSM…not a single one of those fuzzy-wuzzy, woolly headed slogan-pockmarked diatribes against an Anti-terrorism law none of the authors had read before they regurgitated some stuff they read elsewhere about it.
Ye Gad. Even that Chief Justice Puno…sorry to say…I’ve reread his Commencement Speech at UE and as a former school teacher of very young fudgers for years, I can say without fear of contradiction, the CJ had NOT read the law before he made his speech. He had not done his homework, and like Davide, got away with it all through fancy costuming and the prestige of his high office.
But before July 10, everyone had the luxury of claiming that the definition of terrorism is VAGUE and can be applied to just about anybody.
Do you still want to make such claims, MB?
No. You have to think of something else, because real events on Basilan have defined the crime of terrorism for us, in the flesh as it were.
I like it when my opposition must next argue with Reality!
But I tell you. All those wrong arguments and ideologocillay-motivated omments about the law have been settled in the fact their proponents can’t repeat them very effectively now.
In any military unit, assigned frequency is always monitored. All assigned freqs in an area are known to the Net handlers (normally in secured areas). There is also the single channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) for most armed forces. Thus, no excuse for the error. I agree with DJB and Jeg.
As Detective Columbo would, say, “See, there’s just this lil problem, I’m having with your story, M’am”…
It’s to do with that TEN HOUR gunfight at Tipo-tipo. We must try to reconcile the facts with what we are fed via headlines.
Why did re-enforcements not arrive for evacuation and fire support? Support helicopters and Howitzers fired a total of SIX rounds in TEN HOURS according to the After Battle Report. (Wrong radio frequency?)
It is surely improbable that their location was unknown since their cell phones were working even after some of them were beheaded.
There is something fishy to me in that the FIRST public official I heard talk about this was JESS DUREZA, secretary of the peace process, then at length Gen. Rodolfo Garcia a week ago saying their INVESTIGATION started Friday and would release “major findings” in three days. But their report, completed after five days and after ASEAN, is now “classified” and basically says the Abu Sayyaf did it.
I say Tipo tipo is a CRIME SCENE. Even govt officials must be careful about HSA though, especially the ones who really don’t abide by the Rule of Law. There’s room in the law to prosecute ACCESSORIES and ACCOMPLICES.
If there were STAND DOWN orders given, the Public should know about it. And so should the Anti-Terrorism Council.
dib, you forget that tony abaya has been criticizing the law in his column for some time now.
Because it is just like saying why don’t we put up Mathematics School here for the students from the US so they would not recruit our Math teachers.
I would not be surprised if you will recommend for the patients of other countries to come so our nurses and doctors will not go abroad.
Where did you get the “Garci” tapes for the Basilan marine beheadings, Dean?
And reinforcements were ordered to STAND DOWN in Basilan? Parang replay na naman ito ng pullout sa Lamitan.
So the AFP command screwed up. So what! Will heads roll(no pun intended)? Most likely not. They will just continue to rock n roll with gloria. Even if gloria wants to do the right thing, which is to sack the sobs, gloria is so fucked up she can’t.
The thing to do is to charles bronson those sobs.
later:
Hindi mo ba naiisip dean ang possibility na one of the reasons why the higher ups allowed the massacre to happen (ala Mogadishu w/ beheading) was because they want to use this incident to “outrage” the public and silence the critics of the Anti-Terrorism bill (na alam natin ay usually gagamitin lang sa mga political opponents ni Arroyo, especially after what we know now re the orders to STAND DOWN vs the real terrorists.)
Language Tourism,
It’s also one way to improve our educational system. Education is dying right now because a lot of people in the upper classes see it as a financial black hole. Now, with language tourism, profit and education will have a direct relationship.
brian, i disagree. from what i hear, the upper class views education as a sure-fire way to make money. lucio tan buying feu, yuchengco buying mapua, are signs that education seems to them, a fail-safe investment.
john,
That is a very sinister and complex conspiracy theory. you mean like they plotted with the milf to stage an ambush and beheading, just so they could do what? to prove that terrorism really does exist and that the Human Security Act is needed? Then they sent helicopter gunships to circle around for a while without shooting, later on concocting the story about the wrong radio frequency to hide the real plan to let the Marines get killed? Really evil way to kill 14 marines, John. Beguiling, and not impossible. But is it the SIMPLEST explanation that explains all the known facts?
That is what Richard of Ockham always asks.
Or is there a standing order to stay away from firefights with the friendlies of the MILF, peace talks going hot n heavy like musk in a forest full of rutting deer?
mlq3,
I don’t want to deal with anyone about hsa 2007 anymore who hasn’t ACTUALLY read the law, not just read about it. Please point me to someone who, when they write about it, does not immediately state something that tips me off to another instance of someone cussing out Leonardo da Vinci for inventing some kind of sacrilegious code.
Now with over 60 provisions, an honest reading of the law and some attempt at English Comprehension at the level of senior high school, might take the average person a couple of hours, but most of hsa’s critics have never made the investment.
I think they are afraid of being disabused of certain preconceived delusions.
there’s one fly in your ointment john. if they orchestrated a wholesale beheading, why didn’t they at least do it AFTER July 15 when the HSA went into effect?
seems like a terrible waste of savagery in the service of fascism.
djb, i think tony’s done his fair share of reading:
http://acabaya.blogspot.com/search/label/Human%20Secuurity%20Act
I don’t think the military collaborated with the MILF to stage an ambush vs the Marines.
But the marines under attack radioed for help, but no help came because the people in charge were more afraid to kill the MILF civilian than to save their marines under fire. And that’s why what happened happened.
you forgot your scare quotes. shouldn’t it be MILF “friendlies”, djb?
Again, I don’t think the AFP staged this ambush, but they allowed it to happen. they knew their soldiers were dying over there and they did nothing. now, that’s the scandal.
I guess related itong comment mo sa usapan:
That’s a nice effect, Dean. But who do we blame for the screwup?
John,
the stand down order, if true, is not a screw up but a crime against HSA 2007, under the provision on accessories and accomplices, and should be prosecuted along with those who may have harbored the fugitives.
Even if the component crime occurred on July 10, I claim the greater crime of terrorism associated with it is a continuing crime and can be prosecuted under the new statute.
My gelling position is that enforcing the anti terrorism law should be independent of any diplomatic activities that happen to go on or not go on. I frankly don’t give a flying f. what dureza and his peaceniks think they are doing. Good luck and God bless.
But the peace talking tail must not wag the law enforcement dog.
mlq3,
looks like tony abaya has read the law and a lot more, maybe even Philippine Commentary. I like his take on HSA, but honestly today was the first time I’ve read tony abaya in some time. Ive said the same things for months, like the fact that the law is more like, a terrorist bill of rights. Someone coined that term. was it Dave Llorito? can’t remember. But I really wasn’t referring to anti communists like tony abaya. There is not a peep on the Basilan beheading from the Left…but conversely they’re mum on HSA compared to b4 July 10.
“lucio tan buying feu, yuchengco buying mapua, are signs that education seems to them, a fail-safe investment”
It’s a fail-safe investment because the public education system is a shambles — more so when you factor in the risk that continuously hangs over the youths’ heads that someday, Tagalog-articulated education will eventually reign supreme in that system.
Maybe it does make business sense to do a bit of hedging in the private education business. For one thing, you’d pretty much control one of the key means for Pinoys to seek their fortunes abroad. Given that the haemorraging of the best and brightest of Pinoys from our tired old islands is a trend that sees no tapering in the next 10 to 20 years.