A Day In The Life Of RJ

It was a long wait. Was it two years? And now Joc-Joc Bolante, the alleged “mastermind” of that “fertilizer scam” issue is finally here. And just like our “very optimistic” expectation before that Romulo Neri will spill the beans on the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal, I must say that we are none the wiser to assume that we can ever get something out of Joc-Joc’s mouth or head. If it took him two years to evade questioning, what guarantee do we have that the man came back here after much “reflection” of the grave offense he has done to this country and its people? So the guy did not tell the truth, what were you expecting, really?

Personally, I think we simply gave the man a chance to fabricate and weave a “good” story that would be fool-proof or looking at it from a different angle, we may have just given the guy a chance to “toughen” himself up and train himself to lie straight-faced. Two years is a long time, and mind you, for some people, guilt feelings wear-off over time. And for all we know, that is exactly what happened to Joc-Joc. We should have been more vigilant, more persistent and more “concerned” to not have let two years pass us by without grilling the guy while the guilt feelings might still be there and where “Freudian slips” may have given us the truth we’ve always wanted to know. There’s an adage appropriate for that — ah, yes. “Strike while the iron is hot.” So now, however you strike the guy, there’s no way you can mold him to what you want because he’s now “too tough” for any possible “strike”. Our senators can grill him all they want, stress him out, scrape-off his ulcers, turn him backwards and inside out and hang him by a pole for all he cares, but the guy — to my mind — will never “talk” or “sing” for that matter. (more…)

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“There is nothing easier than lopping off heads and nothing harder than developing ideas.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky

“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of their way and let them have it.”

“Wars are seldom caused by spontaneous hatreds between people, for peoples in general are too ignorant of one another to have grievances and too indifferent to what goes on beyond their borders to plan conquests. They must be urged to the slaughter by politicians who know how to alarm them.” Henry Mencken

“There is no such thing as a good war and there is no such thing as a bad peace.” Benjamin Franklin

“Short-circuiting the long-established principles of patient negotiation leads to war, not peace.” Jimmy Carter

I miss the good old days — when things weren’t as complicated as they are now. It seemed rather peaceful then (or so I thought). Fact is, the world in general has not been truly peaceful at any time. Wars are as constant as change. And this world has seen one too many wars. There will always be small wars fought in certain parts of the world for all sorts of reason. I think humankind has a penchant for wars — probably part of what makes us human — to be hostile at times when certain boundaries are crossed. (more…)

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I find it inexplicable why the BJE MOA on AD is being considered at odds with our constitution, hence this TRO and oral arguments, when a member of the MILF peace panel, MOHD. MUSIB M. BUAT in his article “A new formula in resolving the Mindanao conflict—Mohd. Musib M. Buat” at the abs-cbnNEWS.com website, said:

“But subsequently in February 2008, information was received by the MILF Peace Panel through the Malaysian facilitator that the GRP had decided to have the draft MOA-AD first reviewed by a panel of legal experts to ascertain whether or not the draft agreement would meet a constitutional test if challenged before the High Court. It took the government more that 100 days to conduct the “due diligence review” of the draft MOA-AD.”  (more…)

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Today’s article at abs-cbnNEWS.com “From Brink of Peace to Brink of War” by Atty. Soliman M. Santos, Jr. brings to mind my long-held stand on the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (BJE MOA on AD). (more…)

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I need not elaborate. I’m sure any of you reading this have heard the news — endless and hopeless as it may seem. Fighting continues in Mindanao. Ambush here. Strafing there. Evacuations here and there. Oral arguments re: unconstitutionality of BJE MOA (which, by the way, has been extended Firday once more, August 29) happened today. Sol. Gen. Devanadera submitted a petition for the SC citing GRP’s decision not to sign the MOA, thereby rendering the petition filed against it “moot and academic”. Torion, the petitioner’s counsel, on the other hand insists on a court decision saying regardless of the BJE MOA being signed or not, SC’s ruling is important so as to create a “guideline” for the GRP on it’s expected “renegotiation” or “furthering of negotiations” and subsequently assure compliance to the constitution.

There are certain points in the oral arguments I’d like to comment on, as follows:

(more…)

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As the situation in Mindanao remains fluid, the people’s future remain uncertain.  The road to peace is now littered with grenade. Who would now dare tread that path? To say that it is difficult to talk peace at a time like this is an understatement. I need not reiterate the violence that has erupted which has claimed the lives of many people — mostly civilians.

It is this pressing concern that gave rise to a need — a need to be ready and and willing to fight when necessary. The citizenry of Iligan City (claiming their right to protect themselves and their property) have decided to take up arms. And this is supported by no less than their Mayor Lawrence Cruz. He says in an ABSCBNNews.com article, “We don’t want to be helpless like those civilians who were butchered, strafed, torched, and whose properties were looted and ransacked. We don’t want that to happen to us.”

I was never a fan of vigilantism or anything loosely similar to it. Taking up arms by the citizenry is something I only envision as last resort. And I say that not because I’m kill-joy or sissy or absurdly peace-loving but because I think the current situation, in my point of view — however others may see it — still does not warrant such an activity. More than anything, I fear for these people’s safety. While I understand that being the ones directly affected by the menace that is MILF — they are full of conviction to fight for a just cause, I also believe that “letting guns do the talking” doesn’t sound like a good plan at all. Besides, it is the state’s responsibility to secure its people. If the citizenry takes up arms, they overstep someone else’s mandate. And no, I’m not trying to be be objective, I’m trying to be practical. (more…)

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The situation in Mindanao seems to worsen by the day if not by the hour. It is clear to us that peace talks have gone completely out of hand, thanks to the bitter MILF renegade group. Just when we are ready to talk peace some self-righteous group whether from the government or from the MILF manages to screw things up and deliberately steal the spotlight. And well, I must say they have done so perfectly. Now, they have our complete attention and have diverted it to “firefighting” the escalating war in Mindanao. What lucky bastards! Now, it’s not just the “technicality” of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity on Ancestral Domain (BJE MOA on AD) that we have to worry about — we now have to manage a fight on the side. Can things get any worse than this? (more…)

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I dreaded writing or commenting about this. I knew a recurrence of hostility was possible in Mindanao even as peace talks are ongoing, but it never occured to me it will be this soon. As I was writing my last post “Winners and Losers“, I was oblivious of the brewing issue of evacuation in the affected towns of North Cotabato, starting with 16,000 and increasing to 80,000 as the last report says.

As it turns out, despite assurances of MILF leaders that they are willing to withdraw troops in affected areas  — which they rather call “repositioning“, they seem to have no “real” control of their troops. It’s either that or they’re just “playing” us all. This very moment that I write this post, there is consistent exchange of gunfire from the MILF and our government troops. The MILF admits to no fault while claiming that they were “repositioning” peacefully when some militiamen fired at them so they had no choice but to protect themselves. If this is true, it only proves how “taking up arms” by civilians is such a pain in the arse for the government! This peace process should be between two parties alone. A third “wheel” spoils everything! Indeed, whoever said “three’s a crowd” is a genius! (more…)

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I am moved to tears by a comment in Manuel L. Quezon III’s article “The March of Folly in Mindanao” in his and John Nery’s column “CURRENT” in Inquirer.net Blog.

The commenter, known only as “lumad” had this to say:

lumad Says:
August 7th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Bilang isang lumad ng mindanao, matuloy man ang kasunduang GRP-MILF o hindi, magkaruon man ng digmaang sibil o hindi or magkaroon man ng hiwalay na istado ang muslim at kristyano sa mindanao ang talo sa lahat ang mga lumad. Nananatilli sa kabundukan, nanatiling walang pinag aralan, nanatiling walang boses o representasyon sa ano mang larangan, nanatiling walang lakas o pagdepensa sa sarili sa anu mang digmaang magaganap. Ang lahat ay malinaw at kahit sa anong panig sa gobyerno, krisyanong mindanao o moro ang lumad ng mindanao ay baliwala sa lahat.

I don’t know if that comment caught me in a gloomy mood today — thus the sudden emotion, or maybe it’s just that the comment felt so real, so sincere and so melancholic all at the same time. I believe, however, that the latter is true. Such is the sadness that it etched in my heart the first time I read it that I had no other thought in mind but to write about it this instant. (more…)

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