“Faustian bargain”: the Agence-France Press description of the military-CARGU alliance.

Maguindanao massacre: a case of overlord over-reach in the scope of the elite bargain.

Martial law: a case of over-reaction on the part of Malacanang in addressing the resulting power imbalance.

The Puno principles (as a basis for Martial Law):
Warlordism + Paramilitarism – Nationalism = Rebellion

The Glenda Gloria recipe (for a coup d’etat):
1. Create a martial law solution. 2. Apply it to a combustible situation of conflict and corruption. 3. Mix it with idealistic young lieutenants. 4. Allow it to boil over for a few years.

I believe TV, radio, and newspaper personalities who are weighing in on this matter should disclose their personal assumptions on institutions they trust and not trust that warrant their goading the military to do police functions.

Then these lines to conclude the article

We want peace, no arguments about that. Personally, I agree that the best way to do it is for all of us to recognize the Highlander rule: There can only be One. There should only be one armed force in these islands. Every other armed force has to disarm or be disarmed for peace to a reality.

First the author is lamenting the military doing police functions then concluding that there should only be one armed forces.

I don’t know is this a suggestion for dissolving the AFP and replace it with Philippine National police Army, Philipppine national Police Navy,Philippine National police airforce,etc.

The that would be police doing military functions.

I am for doubling or tripling the police force and proper distribution,but I am against any suggestion to eliminate the armed forces just because they are part of the problem.

I know this is all about dismantling private armies,sure why not.

Let us not forget the time bomb of our funding our military retirees through budgetary appropropriations as
I have mentioned time and again. The meager budget of 1.2 Billion dollars that gibo is complaining about does not even include the the entire amount that covers pensions.

for 2009 dnd budget was 56 billion php

a whopping 41 billion goes to personnel services
I dare say almost the same amount go to pensions.

Increase the budget of the AFP and many will cry foul.
So I doubt that even if you add personnel to compensate for the private armies,that there budget would be increased as much.

on another note, our dear representatives are now asking each other to review the armm budget because of the many mansions, i doubt if that will amount to anything.

Kasi pag budget hearing ganito ang scenario
budget for so and so amounting to blah blah blah
any questions?

if none then let’s proceed.

tapos alam na natin closed door ang bicam ng budget so anong review review ang sinasabi nila?

Anong ginagawa ng COA display lang?
Yun ang reviewhin nila budget ng cOA at ombudsman.
makikita nila kakarampot lang.

It is easier to replace a corrupt colonel or general than it is to remove a corrupt warlord just as it is easier to discipline an erring soldier than it is to disarm a militia member. Despite the weak capacity of our army and bureaucracy to deploy resources as part of a peace strategy, there is no viable alternative as the present situation has shown.

There are some things that these militia can do that will make our soldiers cringe and vomit, and this “things” are needed to sow terror as a deterrent. Its like we’ve given up appealing to reason in enforcing peace and order (?) that we need people who can do inhuman things to keep everyone in line. Lets face it, who among us can do what these moros can do to each other?
Who among us can really say we will kill you, your wife, your unborn child, your mother, your grandmother, your yaya, and your mother-in-law (of course the last one would be a favor) and actually do it?

…not just the warlords…this has been going on for a long time, some people look forward to the benefits (monetary) that comes with position and the millions in retirement “pabaon.” Mess with this and you mess with the system, you become the odd-man-out and will be dealt with accordingly…put in the freezer…mess with this and you will be treated as one who threatens the institution…

Instead of propping up political clans as a counterforce to the rebels which has led to gun-running and all sorts of illegal activites, we should have used ground forces to “clear, hold and stand”, beefed up local law enforcement units and improved the delivery of services. The same infrastructure would have allowed for clean, honest and peaceful elections.

Had we done this years ago and not tried to fight a war on the cheap, there would be no need for the current “clean up operation”. The country needs to take a calculated risk in addressing the long-running conflict by financing an honest to goodness “surge” in security and development effort because in the long-run it will be more costly for the current state to persist.

So much development assistance has poured into the region, which might have ended up in the private accounts and palatial homes of these warlords. What we have lacked so far is a clear, comprehensive strategy and the political will to do the right thing by the people in that war-torn region.