Berserkers and a breather

The President’s fury at inept underlings made the evening news and was blogged extensively (one of the first to do so was Ang sa Wari Ko; while A Filipina Mom Blogger used it as a take off point for a discussion on stress management).

But it was Palace reporter Jove Francisco who put the exhibition of presidential temper in its proper context:

She’s naturally stern and “mataray” and I believe she’s been using this trait so that she’ll get things running and will make her officials more responsible and quick moving. Sabi nga nung sassy reporter di ba, being mataray isn’t really a bad thing.

But seeing her actions this noon.

The outburst?

The overflow of emotions?

I couldn’t help but compare it with past incidents.

Before, her taray ways surfaced for a reason, for an aim.

Today?

What happened, sadly, showed that she wasn’t able to control her emotions.

Sure, the outburst was borne out of frustration because of the inefficiency of her staff. (Pareho lang kapag pinapagalitan ang mga opisyales niya nuon di ba?)

BUT, it can’t be denied that this time, she looked like she was whining.

She knew that the media was there to see and cover the whole thing, but she continued with the histrionics. The drama escalated, it didn’t taper down.

She didn’t appear like she was in control.

I can even dare say that she appeared like she’s gone ROCK BOTTOM. (Just look at her resigned but angry look when she finally emerged to deliver her statement.)

And that is quite telling.

I agree with him. A president with a temper is nothing new, and it could even be argued that Filipino-style management seems to require a volcanic fury to get underlings to get things done. In itself, it is neither unpresidential or unseemly. She’s displayed her temper before. But what was different was that the President displayed a different kind of anger altogether.

Tempers are flaring. See The Geisha Diaries, and in Dumaguete, see village idiot savant. Though mercifully, the initial heat has given way to more sober reflection (see Techniquement, c’est art who responds to a previous entry of his).

One blogger, the cat is out, simply puts forward her grim personal experience in the past:

years back – as i kid i had witnessed and live through the horror of war in mindanao. i have been a refugee in my own country. not everyone is lucky enough to live through it . but there will always be the scar: physical and emotional that will keep on reminding me/us..of the pain we have suffered.

mindanao – the land of promise..or should i say broken promises..we are the bread basket of the phillipines, yet our people are hungry.. we are the only contiguous island the philippines has.. yet within, we are so divided in hearts and minds..year after year of conlficts have only produced military generals but not concrete resolutions to peace and development. not even a signed moa can end this violence i tell you..

i did not know how the war started back then…i do not know how it will end.

Today’s Inquirer editorial looks at the recent conduct of MILF troops and raises a question: if the violence in Mindanao was perpetrated by rogue or lost commands of the MILF, how, then, can it be deemed capable of administering the proposed BJE?

The editorial also points to this press statement by the MILF, while over at The PCIJ blog, Soliman Santos suggests the further radicalization of Moros if hostilities continue. He points to this commentary (“Reality Check” by Ibrahim Canana) that appeared on the MILF website (incidentally also validating my opinion concerning the importance of signing the agreement in the presence of representatives of foreign powers, including the OIC representative): it is a concise and lucid articulation of the Moro interpretation of their history and of the MILF position vis a vis the Philippine state. And it is uncompromising in its conclusion:

 

The political opposition to the MOA-AD that spurred the nationwide reaction against the MILF and the Bangsamoro people has dangerously transformed a peace process that is supposed to bring reconciliation to two peoples at war with each other into a grim scenario that allows no space for the Moros to have a breathing spell.

Through the MNLF, the Moros asked for a meaningful political autonomy in 1976. Instead they were granted a fake one by the GRP under the Marcos regime using the 1976 Tripoli Agreement which allowed constitutional processes to shortchange the Moros. In 1996, the Moros again under the MNLF demanded for meaningful political autonomy; and again what they were given in the so-called MNLF-GRP Final Peace Agreement (FPA) was the ARMM, which was created before the FPA and whose autonomy was clipped by the Philippine constitution. Inevitably, the ARMM ended up reduced to merely being an extension of the Office of the Philippine President. Later, it was even taken out of MNLF hands and became a political prize awarded to the Moro warlord most loyal and subservient to the sitting regime.

Now, under the MILF, the Moros want to recover whatever little is left of their ancestral domain and be given the chance to govern themselves as a sub-state entity within the larger Philippine nation-state. Peace on the basis of justice is about to be achieved under this formula. But even this does not sit well with the Filipino elite, the politicians, the Church and the Filipino colons in Mindanao. They have sabotaged the efforts of their own government. All, including those who claimed to be sympathetic to the plight of the Bangsamoro people like Senator Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel, Jr., have ganged up against the Bangsamoro people to prevent them from even reclaiming areas which they now actually occupy and where they are the majority. The result: back to square one. Mindanao again is on the edge of an all-out war.
The selfishness of the Filipino ruling elite in general and the Filipino politicians in particular is dumbfounding. Their lack of sense of justice is appalling. They and their drumbeaters in the Philippine media can lie through their teeth and still have a nice sleep at night. Imagine telling the public the fantastic spin that Malaysia is arming the MILF and the Americans are behind the Moros’ desire to be an “independent Islamic State”. Why, they can’t even make sense of their allegations and lies! You can never find any mention of an “independent Islamic state” in the MOA-AD even if the pages were turned upside down. To even say that the Americans are behind the attempt by the MILF to create a “Bangsamoro Islamic State” is absurd. What fantasy! What ignorance! Hollywood hogwash has taken grip of the Filipino mind that it no longer knows what is real and what is imaginary. No wonder why the Philippine nation-state is moribund.

No wonder why tens of thousands of Filipinos are leaving this country for good. Now I can better appreciate the context of what Ustadz Salamat Hashim, the late MILF Amir, said when he stated that we should not believe the Filipino unbelievers even when they say that the crow is black!

What needs to be stated here for the record is that we Moros are not inclined to abandon our homeland to these vultures. We will fight for it as our ancestors fought for it. The mestizo leftovers of the Spaniards such as the likes of Teddy Locsin and Lobregat, and Filipino colons in Mindanao like Piñol as well as their capitalist patrons ensconced in Makati can go hang themselves from nearest lamp post for all we care. The Moros will fight. MILF Base Commander Ustadz Amirul Ombra Cato will not be alone. A war in Mindanao will drag down this pathetic, artificial country and its government to perdition. Perhaps this time we will no longer settle for a sub-state or a federative arrangement with the Filipinos. It’s useless anyway because they would never grant it. They would always insist this is ‘secession’ even if we do not have the intention to secede. So let’s give them a dose of their own medicine. Let’s aim for independence this time. For real. Like what the Algerians did when their clamor for autonomous rule was repeatedly and violently denied by the French colons. Given the Filipinos’ hostile attitude to anything Moro and Muslim, there is no other option left. This is now the reality facing us.

The mention of Algeria is signficant. It had been considered an integral part of France; de Gaulle, faced with a nationalist uprising, decided to abandon the French settlers and recognize Algeria’s independence; at one point, the French armed forces tried to mount a coup against de Gaulle. Yet independence hasn’t prevented the rise of Islamic extremism in Algeria. The problem is Arroyo is no de Gaulle.

The frustration of the writer quoted above with suggestions the Americans are in league with the MILF (or that the MILF is being armed by the Malaysians, when obviously political and even financial support is plenty of help and there are many AFP members willing to sell arms to the MILF anyway) isn’t about to change the mind of say, Tony Abaya (who says it boils down to the MILF being, in American eyes, more dependable than Christian leaders) or blogger Philippine Politics 04.

And the thing is, if one presents a narrative, even a counter-narrative, it will never end (if Moros can assert they achieved a “higher plane” of political existence with the sultanates, then by any measure a republic trumps any hereditary principality in terms of political evolution) and be trumped, always by what wars always end up being about: real estate.

In his column today, Manuel Buencamino points to the problem on focusing too much on the past as a justification for the present:

Why did the Arroyo administration agree to the MILF’s self-serving historical timeline?

Islam is no more indigenous than Christianity. The Spaniards were not our first colonizers. Luwaran, the MILF web site, does not deny that Moros are products of an earlier colonization:

“Ameen [secretary general of the MILF Central Committee] recalled that the history of the Moros and IPs [indigenous peoples] is one and inseparable, but noted that the former were always the ‘bigger brother’ while the latter [was] the ‘younger brother.’ ” Moros “have developed a higher plane of political existence” than lumads because they converted to Islam and adopted the sultanate system.

In that same Sona, Gloria Arroyo lamented that although Mindanao was a food basket, “it has some of the highest hunger in our nation.” For this sad state of affairs, she blamed “the endless Mindanao conflict.” Her solution to ending the endless conflict was to capitulate to the MILF.

Arroyo knows the BJE does not fit into the 1987 Constitution, so she asked Congress “to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.”

Unfortunately, a “just and lasting peace” through a refitting of the BJE into our Constitution won’t be possible during or after her term of office.

There will be conflicts between the lumads and the MILF, between Christians and the MILF, between Manila and the MILF over jurisdiction, ownership of lands, mineral rights, natural resources and a host of other irritants that come from drawing lines on a map without regard for its inhabitants.

There will be power struggles among self-appointed Moro leaders – the Maranao-dominated MILF, the Tausog-dominated MNLF and the traditional politicians of Mindanao – over control of the BJE.

“Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost,” counseled Gloria Arroyo in her Sona.

Unfortunately, talking nonsense will lead to loss not only of sovereign value but also, and more important, of property. And for that, most people will fight to the death.

For the Christian (Ilonggo) side, HabagatCentral Republic offers up a personal reflection buttressing Buencamino’s insight:

There were cases of outright land grabbing from the ancestral domains of the Moros and Lumads who were then ignorant about the Western concept of “private property” as the lands were considered “communal” and for all people to share. Land grabbing that lead to land conflicts. Land conflicts that lead to bloodshed, my grandfather himself was a victim of this trechery.

I have relatives in Mindanao who have hated the Moros. They are backward, backstabbers and barbarian. Di daw dapat sila pagkakatiwalaan. Di ko rin sila masisisi. They’ve seen their love ones slaughtered by the Moro raids of the towns especially during the 1970’s. The very foundation of Ilaga, a vigilante group composed of mostly Kristyanos and some Lumads, was borne out of reaction against the Moros. They sow terrorism in the hearts of the Moros as they kill them with reported cannibal activities. As a reaction, the Moros established their own vigilante group known as the Blackshirts/Barracudas. So the question, is terrorism a Moro problem?

MNLF/MILF & AFP has instigated a somewhat revolutionary violence. The former is for the seperation of the Mindanao that they claim is rightfully theirs, and I understand them. They weren’t subjugated by the Spaniards and was never converted to Christianity as what they define as “Filipino.” They are fiercely independent and will fight for what is right. The latter on the other hand defends the Philippines and its sovereignity. Their causes are noble yet the effects to ordinary civilians were catastrophic. Casualties have reached over a hundred thousand for years of war with each other in Mindanao. No matter how noble their causes are, it is still somewhat politically-culturaly motivated. In the end, the civilians still suffer.

In my opinion, I would still uphold MILF as a revolutionary movement still. Abu Sayyaff on the other hand is just pure banditry using Islam as an excuse to their savagery. The latter in my belief is the salot. The former on the other hand has still a handful of options to sit and talk what is necessary. For the betterment of their own peoples.

Ewan ko lang pero parang hindi ko maiwasan na ibuntong ang sisi sa Pamahalaang Arroyo sa mga pangyayaring ito ngayon na muling gumigimbala sa kapayapaan ng Mindanao at Pilipinas. I went there several years ago and I was seeing optimism that finally, Mindanao can move on towards peace and progress. That the government is seating alongside with the rebels. But because of the sudden declaration of the signing of the Memo of Agreement for the Bangsamoro Judirical Entity, Mindanao was thrown into state of panic, may it be the Kristyanos, the Moros and even the Lumads.

I’ve restrained myself from looking into other blogs of the Kristyanos and even of the Moros… Its really frustrating. Parang sumulpot muli ang inate hatred towards each other. I got frustrated with this notion but I couldn’t blame them why. I understand them. But is violence or war really the solution to ever-lasting peace in this island or in this country? Care to look at Palestine perhaps? You may have crushed the rebels but you haven’t ceased yet the root of struggle. Hanggang dahon at sanga lang… pero yung ugat di pa napapatay. Purging Moro ideals to the point of genocide is of murder, that is outright savagery! So what do we do then? How can we help to stop the vicious cycle.

I was thinking then that this animosity of ours will be brought towards the end of human civilization.

Ano kaya ang tamang solusyon sa Mindanao/Bangsamoro Problem? Ridu rin ba kaya o ubusan ng lahi?

As far as making sense of events, As blogger smoke asks what many are asking: was the President even thinking?

The thing is this – the President’s men (and therefore the President herself) dangled the idea of the BJE in front of the bandits and sold themselves on the idea that it would work. This played them right into the bandit’s hands: by putting all their eggs in the BJE basket, the President’s men gave the bandits the opportunity to set up an ultimatum – give us the BJE or we start shooting again.

When the BJE was scuttled the bandits got their casus belli. Now admittedly its a flimsy rationale for the resumption of hostilities, but it is just solid enough to rile up the cannon-fodder and convince them that they’ve been shafted and therefore need to avenge their slighted pride. It’s Moro psychology 101, if anyone had bothered to check.

And that’s the point: the Commander-in-Chief is supposed to be able to take in the whole picture; to understand how various factors all contribute to the outcome. In this case, because the President’s men were allowed – perhaps even encouraged – to formulate a do-or-die solution, it is clear that there were critical factors that were ignored, not the least of which is the very well known tendency of Moros to exaggerate insults to their pride.

In hostage negotiation, one of the most basic lessons is to never say no to the hostage taker. But then again, this also covers situations where saying ‘yes’ sets you up to say ‘no’ later. Let me clarify: by saying yes to the idea of a BJE, the President’s men were committing to an outcome that was not in their control. It was stupid for them to imagine that the BJE would slip through unnoticed. More to the point, the President’s men simply failed to anticipate a negative outcome, i.e., the BJE would be challenged and stopped. So, by saying yes, to the BJE, they were blindly rushing into a future where – when the Supreme Court invalidates the MOA for instance – they would have no choice but to say no to the BJE. And there you go, they said NO to the hostage taker.

This turn of events led the hostage taker – the bandits – to now feel backed into a corner. The only way out of that corner would have been a MOA for the BJE. But with no MOA forthcoming, and the additional insult of the ARMM elections being conducted, the bandits embraced the belief that there would be no other solution than to come out with their guns blazing. No solutions. War.

But using Occam’s razon, blogger Tongue In, Anew returns to the blogosphere and puts forward this thought-provoking analysis of the situation: it was all, and remains, simple, really. According to the blogger (who, while anonymous, has had very interesting entries in the past, suggesting an individual who is plugged-in), it’s all a charade:

Assperon’s appointment to the Peace portfolio was suspect way back… Not to mention the Ass was then joiningGen. Boogie Mendoza, a former Razon protege, and an “acclaimed anti-terrorist expert”…

On the other side of the fence, a separatist front of freedom fighters on Mondays, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers on Tuesdays, Jemaah Islamiya trainees on Wednesdays, lost command on Thursdays, devout Muslims on Fridays, and plain farmers and merchants on weekends. Overseen by their provisions suppliers from Malaysia.

Now what do we have? A highly volatile cocktail made up of an administration struggling for perpetual survival, high-profile GWOT freaks looking for an opportunity to expand their military control and a wayward army of bandits all of them intelligent enough to know that peace was doomed in the first place but insist that they might just be able to pull it through.

No, Gloria didn’t plan to dismember the country via the MOA-AD, she knows it’s unconstitutional, luckily, the legit opposition saw through her, she even had to use her allies to petition for a TRO which her SC appointees readily obliged to. She was expecting widespread retaliation but the MILF hierarchy surprisingly held back, her emergency rule cannot be imposed! No martial law, no chacha either. Doom! The Ass’ loyal generals immediately had to scramble for the “Lost Commanders” Kato and Bravo who have been burning villages left and right in the past yet no sincere effort to bring them to justice was ever taken (You now have an idea why Kabalu insists these commanders were not ordered by MILF to do so). They needed them to jump start this stage of the war to put Plan B into action. Funny but Eid Kabalu hasn’t announced an all-out offensive yet. Nor has Puno and Teodoro. Who wants to really finish the war after all? Even Misuari’s MNLF are now wearing their old uniforms to defend their own territory. Against whom? The gov’t? MILF? Or the Lost Command?

Gloria’s “Defend every inch of the territory” spiel was predictably looking for just the right moment to be announced so she blew her top after finding out her staff had not even prepared the teleprompter.

This view puts forward the possibility that the administration wanted to maneuver the country into a situation permitting a state of emergency, while others in the military hierarchy quite possibly, refrained from cooperating fully, and the MILF command declined to do the government any favors. Offering a reward, accompanied by statements that only individuals, and not the entire MILF movement, will be deemed outlaws, provides an opening for tensions to subside. And all the while, the jitters continue. Blogging from Iligan City, preMEDitated recounted, yesterday:

Panic struck the city center earlier this night. People flocked to the City Hall for protection by military forces stationed there. Text messages soon followed warning of imminent MILF attacks.
Much of the rest of the populace is now in anticipatory mood.
General Luna of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has issued his statement for the populace to remain calm and to trust in them. He has also appealed to the citizens not to forward these messages as they only bring more harm than good.

PS I just heard this piece of news. It seems that this incident was sparked by a drunk who shouted,”M-I*.”

*A word used around here for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) terrorists.

See also My Life, also writing on Tuesday:

Early tonight many people got panic because of that rumors that there were sightings of MILF in Iligan City. My family and neighbors freak out because they said that MILF are already in the near barangay Abuno and a lot of jeepneys from the City went back when they reached Tubod Bridge, going to south because they said that MILF is on the way. Many people were on the city streets because they wanted to evacuate. And this is confirm as a false alarm by our city mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz, that is was just the soldiers that was seen and they thought that they are MILF. He said that there are many soldiers around the city that some mistaken them as MILF already maybe its because of the happenings in Lanao del Norte. He just stated on a news break at ABS – CBN that Iligan City is still safe from MILF and asking those who left their homes to go back already. I hope all this conflict will stop soon.

From Dipolog City, jOnAviE’s Site writes (today),

M.I.L.F or Moro Islamic Liberation Front is on war against Arm Forces of Philippines..As a girl who lives Mindanao (a place where there are many Muslim, but I am not one of them) it’s usual to hear news that Mindanao was that, was this, but you know August 2008 War was the only war that makes my province Zamboanga del Norte and my City, Dipolog to be afraid… Afraid because the whole Mindanao was really involve, the MILF want all the regions in Mindanao to be included in MOA or ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) to expand their teritory… Everybody was really panicking.. Even in my city, we receive Bomb Treats and War Rumors, and what did we did..? We packed up our things then really really get ready for what would happen. Last night we sleep at 1 a.m. because of it..

Returning to Tongue in Anew’s suggestion that the Palace was operating on simple assumptions -that it’s hands would be tied by predictable behavior on the part of the opposition and the MILF, which didn’t pan out as the former was caught napping and the latter more subtle and cunning than expected.

So it strikes me as possible there was a clumsy effort to promote war jitters to try to get the country to rally around the President: because it explains why the Palace proved so tolerant of the demagoguery of Pinol, etc. who, considering the administration’s intolerance for dissent, could easily have been slapped down, taken aside, or simply bribed to pipe down at a delicate time when the administration was claiming to be seriously behind the RP-MILF agreement.

What complicates the situation is that the public, unaware of the plots-within-plots on both sides, or the factions that exist within the ranks of the leadership of both sides, or that the leaders either do not believe their own propaganda, or worse, believe it- has its passions inflamed by the increasingly martial rhetoric of leaders who know the game of posturing quite well and who can therefore discount it.

Certainly this seems too quick a surrender: MOA deal off, SolGen tells high tribunal.

And it may be that this time, the MILF leadership, beholden to Malaysia, etc., is being more responsible and trying to defuse the situation while saber-rattling, than the government: we forget that the MILF command had a choice to fully endorse the attacks but it did not, equivocating its official response might have been (but even equivocation is understandable in terms of the factional dynamics of any revolutionary organization). And other groups are trying to restore the momentum to reestablish at least the semblance of a brittle peace.

At the heart of these efforts are three simple ideas:

1. That if one side will insist that it is negotiating sincerely for peace, there must be a corresponding assumption the other side is also negotiating sincerely. That furthermore, national interests aside, it is in the regional interest of foreign countries to help foster peace in Mindanao.

2. That all lose when fighting resumes and all sides gain so long as discussions are ongoing, which provides a venue for differences to be threshed out, compromises arrived at, and a consensus reached.

3. That both sides have extremists who not only do not represent the majority view, but who have also figured out how their constituencies can be agitated by withholding information and an overall lack of confidence in the authorities.

As Earthly Explorations puts it (who is not for a separate Moro homeland),

The government is trying to make it appear as it was the Moro rebels fault that they hit the first strike but if you hear other sources especially the locals they were just protecting their properties. Who was taking what from whom? Or someone is maneuvering into something to make it appear as a religious war diverting the people’s attention?

Mon Casiple warned of the administration “playing the emergency card”:

The scenario is one where a justification for a state of emergency happens. Violent incidents increasingly happen and spread. The AFP is increasingly forced to defend towns and villages. The MILF, in turn, increasingly turn to its own offensives in order to defend Moro communities. In no time at all, we are into a deepened conflict until the military is convinced to agree to a declaration of a state of emergency.

For a national state of emergency to happen, there has to be demonstrated to exist a credible threat to the national seat of power in the National Capital Region, a nationwide state of war or terror, or attacks on national political leaders. The level of the resurgent conflict in Mindanao — even if it spreads to other areas in Mindanao — cannot yet justify this drastic option.

However, the next days or weeks bear watching because of the political scenario of charter change that requires neutralizing the opposition and terrorizing the people. With the recent show of widespread opposition to Malacañang’s charter change plans, only the emergency card is left to play.

Let us hope that desperate people do not cross the line of sanity.

Beyond hoping, this is a time to add your voice, not in endorsement of one particular proposal or another, but to voices opposed to conflict. Charo Logarta, a military wife, puts it this way:

Whatever it is, there’s gotta be a better option to this. The majority must be allowed peace and harmony. We have to end decades of strife and conflict. We, the majority, deserve better. Military wives and kids do not have to endure loss. Soldiers don’t have to die for causes that don’t even matter to many average Filipinos who simply want a better life.

Just think how optimistic most people were in Mindanao a year ago. And how, now, plans involving Mindanao are all on hold. See Stacy Nelson.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

317 thoughts on “Berserkers and a breather

  1. It is all about bias and perception. Pamatong’s platform for the inclusion of P.I as one of the US states may be funny from some people’s view, but not for one who had been in America and found that no American state has hit rock bottom as deep as the Philippines’.

    If you think of Pamatong’s desire for the inclusion of P.I. as one of the States is for the upliftment of P.I economy, you could see some patriotic flavor in such posture unlike the posturing of most nationalists in us who see only our capability to run our own government even if we continue to ditch our economy to the ground just to serve our own selfish interest and ego that we are independent and sovereign.

    If you go by the countryside and ask people if they would want economic security rather than political sovereignty, they would, to my mind opt for the former because political sovereignty is a concept that could not feed their stomach but more grains and bread will.

    But we are still missing the point. We are not even sure that America will embrace us as one of their States. So wake, gentlemen and ladies. 🙂

  2. globalization and the war of terror….are they really connected.

    it has been a central task, in the post 9-11 era, for activists to demonstrate how the war against terror and the drive for corporate globalization are one and the same–how peace and global justice movements share vital common ground.

    Finally, activists have seen a connection between war and corporate globalization in the privatization of Iraq’s economy.
    Following what The Economist magazine called a “wish-list that foreign investors and donor agencies dream of for developing markets,” Washington instituted measures providing for the privatization of 200 Iraqi state firms, for 100% foreign ownership in Iraqi companies outside the oil production and refinement sectors, for full repatriation of profits, and for a 15% cap on corporate taxes.

    Particularly since September 11, 2001, Bush’s globalization policy has been quite different from what characterized the Clinton years. Actually, much of the business elite would prefer Clinton’s multilateralist globalization to Bush’s imperial version.”When Colin Powell gave the speech of his life, trying to win over the non-American delegates, the sharpest attack on his comments came not from Amnesty International or some Islamic representative–it came from the head of the largest bank in the Netherlands !”

    the Washington Post reported on March 23, 2003, that: “Discord over the Iraq War is putting uncomfortable strains on economic links between the United States and Europe, a relationship that many view as a cornerstone of global prosperity. Guardians of transatlantic harmony are scrambling to keep the diplomatic rift from poisoning economic ties.” The article continued, “the animosity that has flared of late appears almost certain to seep into transatlantic trade and investment issues.”

    In recent months, President Bush has scrambled to internationalize the occupation of Iraq and to temper his nationalism in trade talks, bringing institutions like the UN and IMF back onto center stage in his foreign policy.

    what’s Bush Policy now for corporate globalization?

  3. Threats and Challenges of Globalization to the Lumad People of Mindanao.

    The case in point now is globalization’s assault to nature and the country-sides in Mindanao. To the Lumads, this is an attack to their lives and livelihood while others see this as opportunities for job placement and employment.

    http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article3058

    Education is perhaps one of the most important social institutions in the world because it plays a major role in the development of man as an essential factor of the society. However, education has become complex, costly, and coveted over the years. Only the rich and advanced nations provide for it an array of institutions, while poor and underdeveloped nations spend little and provide few of no formal institutions. Although the Philippines, as a Third World country, adopts a utilitarian value of education, the rise of globalization has made it difficult for the government to focus on education. Globalization shows a very unique phenomenon, in which simultaneous with the increase in wealth is, the increase in poverty worldwide. Its adverse effects is seen in the progressive deterioration of the quality of life of the Filipinos as manifested in such symptoms as the poor quality of education and health services. Mindanao shows the unmistakable signs of underdevelopment and abject poverty, instead of development and progress. The government may have formulated a pro-poor agenda for the depressed regions of Mindanao, but it is unlikely for it to be implemented. A focus on education by the government is suggested.

  4. to leytenian: Bush’s actions over past weeks give good indications of Bush’s most current policies —- go sightseeing, watch fireworks, eat great Chinese food and watch live basketball games. RETIREMENT!!!!

    And the world breathes easier with each day that brings the Bush-Cheney combo closer to changing-of-the-guards January 2009.

  5. UP N

    true, enjoy life to the fullest.

    it would be the McCain and his VP on changing of the guards?

  6. With Abe Margallo’s vote for Obama getting nulled by the Bencard’s vote for McCain, it may again be someone from Florida causing things to happen.

  7. although i like the idea of PSI that first you have to fight, then you conquer, then you talk peace, and then you define whether it was a police action or war.

    I believe that giving the MILF room to condemn the lanao & saranggani perpetrators themselves is something that will hopefully be better for peace.

    if there is anything that we would like to prevent in this conflict, it is that we refrain from hitting emotional chords this time.

    if we declare an all out war, it would make the entire milf on the defensive. at least for now, there are people in the milf whose condemning the actions of the said commanders. that is a victory for the government right there. so i believe that puno et al should proceed with the POLICE ACTION stance.

    war should not be an option, well, at least not yet.

  8. Jcc,

    of course , you’re right, we should not kill noble ideas outright (no matter how absurd they may sound) specially patriotic ones and not the kind of posturing done by most nationalists in us.

    if you find the intension of Pamatong patriotic, I think the Comelec viewed Eddie Gil’s intension more patriotic the reason why they disqualified the former and upheld the latter’s candidacy.

    while Pamatong is espousing for the inclusion of P.I as one of the US states, Eddie Gil is offering to pay all the debts of the filipino people. these two have the answer to P.I. economic woes. their great ideas even escaped the minds of our posturing politicians.

    anyway, whom would you have chosen if you were the Comelec, Pamatong or Eddie Gil?

  9. It is all about bias and perception. Pamatong’s platform for the inclusion of P.I as one of the US states may be funny from some people’s view, but not for one who had been in America and found that no American state has hit rock bottom as deep as the Philippines’.

    Pamatong is a laughing stock in SF. I heard that he is in the Phils. for good. His crusade of making the Phils as one of the states had long been trashed by the US government.

    to people in the countryside and people who do not know what he did in the US, this promise made them become loyalists to Pamatong since they are assured of citizenship the moment the Phils become a state of US.

    Nababaliw na lang ang taong maniwala sa kaniya.

    Patriotic? Sheesh.

  10. yung anthony scalia, parang may kung anong galit dun sa reporter ng singko. nawala na ang isyu ng gloria eh, naging anti jove na lahat ng comment ah. hmmmm bakit kaya? oooops natanong ko pa, malamang may sagot na naman yan na hiding in the guise of whatever true journalism is. hahahaha. pero promise, anuman ang sagot nyan, ililiko at ililiko sa galit niya kay jove. hahahahahahaha. pustahan? pustahan promise, yan ang mangyayari… sasagot yan na ang point ng sagot, dagdag tira dun kay francisco. hahahahaha. mga sarcasm na the likes of: “kaibigan ka nga ni jove!” hahahahaha pustahan? pustahannnnnnnn!

  11. much as they are reviving cha-cha, let us also not forget the hello garci scandal. Actually before, the scandal came to fore people actaully believed that GMA cheated in the elections.

    Then the joc-joc bolante fertilizer scam, the cover up ups, zte-nbn etc etc. GLORIA RESIGN.

  12. oo nga, unethical-unethical si jove sigaw ng mga tao pero yung GARCI telephone call kalimutan nalang natin???

    alin at sino ang mas UNETHICAL???

  13. CEBU CITY – The Provincial Women’s Council (PWC), an umbrella organization of women’s group in Cebu, has sent its resolution to stations GMA and ABS-CBN urging the two networks to “dress up” the dancers in the noon time shows Eat Bulaga and Wowowee in order not to “poison the minds” of the youth.

    Gestopa said the dancers in the said shows “wear indecent and inappropriate” outfits that could trigger an impulse in the minds of the youth. She said these dancers should wear appropriate outfits considering that many teens and children watch their shows.

    http://www.cebuonlinenews.com/20080506/99233-women%e2%80%99s-group-petitions-tv-stations-vs-sexy-dancers/

    MANILA, Philippines — A day after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered her eighth congressional speech in front of lawmakers, women and lawyer groups expressed dismay over the alleged exclusion of the protection of women and children’s rights in her speech, saying Arroyo has “DISRESPECTED” these groups in society.

    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080729-151417/Neglect-of-women-childrens-rights-in-SONA-slammed

  14. “wear and indecent and inappropriate” outfits” … HA!HA!HA!

    Filipinos are fakking indecent …. look we are 99 million Flips … If Filipinos didn’t have indecent thoughts and minds we’d still be 20 million Flips.

    It takes pornographic mind to make 99 million Flips.

    GET REAL FILIPINOS!!!! GET REAL!!!! HA!HA!HA!

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