While the public in Metro Manila are preoccupied with the controversy surrounding the pork barrel and the leaked sex tape of Parokya ni Edgar singer Chito Miranda, it seems that the Philippine central government based in Manila can only look on and react belatedly at five (5) recent bombing incidents that occurred in Mindanao.
An explosion which rocked the LimKetKai Rosario arcade in Cagayan de Oro city (CDO) was the first one last July 26. The initial death toll was 6, but is now reported at 8;
The second bombing happened in Cotabato City on August 5, and the death toll has also reached 8. Although reports have come out that a few suspects have been arrested, the police are currently not confirming this report yet;
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The third and fourth incidents, reported to have occurred August 7, happened in Midsayap town in North Cotabato and Maguindanao province respectively. In the Maguindanao Province incident, a bomb supposedly exploded on a passing military convoy in Shariff Saydona Mustapha Maguindanao town around 9:30 am;
An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on a bridge in Barangay Lintokan, Datu Piang, Maguindanao Province. Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) are suspected to be behind this particular plot;
And what have been examples of statements so far coming out of our “honorable” government officials?
Mar Roxas – was reduced to stating the obvious, that the blasts in Cotabato and CDO were intended to kill many. And that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III (BS Aquino) is closely monitoring the CDO bombing probes.
No, Mar, the perpetrators just wanted to see how loud they could make the explosions, or could be they were practicing making cars blow up for a planned movie shoot there. As for BS Aquino being on top of the probes, what does that mean? Closely monitoring doesn’t necessarily mean planning a swift resolution, does it, Mar?
BS Aquino – the bombings were meant to derail the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Right, it’s all about BS Aquino and his conspiracy theories first and foremost, forget about assuaging the public’s fears which should be the most important priority of his government. If it is indeed true that some groups are out to derail the peace process, well, your government should have thought of all of that before you focused on the MILF and ignored the other interest groups in Mindanao. Now, it seems your Nobel Peace Prize aspirations have gone up in smoke, why did certain parts of Mindanao have to also?
Juan Ponce Enrile – “The bombings may spill over to Metro Manila.”
Aside from heightened security measures in malls (an obvious solution), what else is being done to improve intelligence gathering so that there’s a bigger possibility we can stop these before they occur?
Cotabato city administrator Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi believed herself to be the target of the bombing on August 5 as a result of “their campaign against crime syndicates.” However, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Mujiv Hataman downplayed the bombing in Cotabato City and said it would have been better if Guiani-Sayadi had not immediately claimed that she was the target of the attack.
Unless these politicians have any pertinent information they can share with regards to investigations, I’d say they’re just grandstanding. That simple.
Poor Mindanao; the second largest island in the Philippines only seems to attract attention from the “honorable” folks at Manila whenever they want something from the region; or whenever something dire like natural calamities, or bombings, happens there. Other than that, the citizens in Mindanao are pretty much on their own. Bahala kayo sa buhay niyo, so to speak. Now, not only do Mindanaoans have to deal with rising prices of goods there and the problem with electricity, now they have to deal with threats to their security and wellbeing, seemingly on their own, again.
I like the following statement below by Danilo Suarez in his Manila Times column:
Although we cannot yet ascertain if the attacks were made by the same group, I believe I speak for the whole nation when I say that this administration should start to move with a sense of urgency. Let us not give our brothers and sisters in Mindanao another reason to think that the Philippines is comprised only of Imperial Manila. It is high time that we conclude that our security and intelligence bodies have failed us and that heads must roll immediately to prevent another disaster.
Sad to say, when it comes to Mindanao, “Imperial Manila” doesn’t have the political will (a term being used often nowadays) to respond to their needs with a sense of urgency.
The term Philippine intelligence is an oxymoron. There is no intelligence involved in being reactive to events as they occur. There is a lot to be gained from being proactive and scouting out possible threats before they occur. However, the value of intelligence seems lost on the Filipino people because they collectively lack foresight.
Weren’t intelligence funds for various agencies a sort of issue a few months back? I guess now is a better time than ever for the people to really ask where the money their government is entrusted with really goes, what with all the other controversies coming out.
[Photo courtesy: Sunstar]
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
The national government won’t spare appropriate time, effort much more money to allocate for the the provinces.
Obviously most of them and perhaps including Pnoy and his pack of suckers in Malacanan could not spare considerable amount of money to be spent to resolve or prevent more bombings because it will surely deplete the money for themselves.
“Political will” in the government means how much money would they spend away for the benefit of the country which would ultimately reduce what they can keep for themselves.
Distractions all over. The country as a result can’t focus on what it should do.
At the risk of sounding insensitive, I think our dear President isn’t going to do anything substantial the same way he dealt with the Kiram incident in Sabah…until a suicide bomber strikes at the Pandacan oil depot…
Par for the course in my country… :p
pnoy and idiot mar roxas only jump if it is an ayala property.
they must protect their sponsors and masters at all costs
I have a theory that could possibly tie up a couple of things here but I would also like to add something to what anonymous (dulz blog post) said regarding the relationship between the bombings and pork barrel scam. Some of us speculate or, are probably convinced, that the recent bombings were state sponsored for the purpose of distracting us from the pork barrel issue.
Here: Are some things I realized.
1.
Up to this point, none of the rebel groups: NPA, Abu-sayaff, MILF etc. claim responsibility to the bombings because they almost always do. The government just straight up blame them for the bombings. If these groups have really organized, they could have at least picked up much more sensible targets like the government buildings or churches. I mean of all places, a restaurant (or was that a cafe?). As to why they haven’t denied the accusation, I don’t know yet.
2. The series of bombings happened after the whole pork barrel issue came up. [We all know this now].
3. The sudden change in Manila’s traffic scheme. There is no question that it widened the roads but should a bloody revolution of any sort happen, the military can easily move in with tanks and humvees to stop it.
I’m still not sure about the third point but I just have a gut feeling and this is the theory I want to stress. The traffic scheme did not make any sense at all no matter how you look at it. The supposed objective is to decrease the traffic but thousands of people delayed so it’s pointless. The traffic scheme also poses a bigger threat to the public because these can be a delicious target for whoever is doing all these recent bombings since those are huge crowds moving along the street.
Can you handle the truth?
There will be a Coronal Mass Ejection sometime in Nov-Dec 2013 that will pretty much change life as we know it. Most of the global governments know this which is why they are preparing for the chaos that will ensue. Part of this requires an authoritarian structure (martial law) and distractions (war here and there) so they can divert attention from their preparations of saving a part of the population they have decided to save (social and intellectual elite).
Don’t be afraid if you won’t make it. Reincarnation and Karma are real. Think of this event as a global “reset”.
just like the disatrous 12/12/2012 MAYAN PROPHECIES? Yes, that was pretty bad.
Anyone in the armed forces and intelligence who tries to act with an iron fist could end up like Jovito Palparan. Who would risk it?
it is estimated that 50% of the GDP of the entire country goes un-accounted for annually. if that is true, just imagine the kind of military the country could have had. It could have been a regional power-house rivaling Japan, in manufacturing capabilities ,economy and a larger military as well, but no. Now, its too late and the country has to be relegated to laughingstock/whipping-boy/lap dog status in terms of a military, economy etc…. The standard of living is more equal to Bangla-fuckin-desh than Japan.
Dismal is not the word. TRAGIC is more like it.
these bombings will never be solved. not because no one cares(well MAYBE that too)but because the people that did it are not going to talk about it to anyone.
Cold-blooded killers are not the boastful types and do not need the street cred.
The bottom line is the terrorist bombings are intended to strike fear into the populace. Destabilization also raised its ugly head in Mindanao. BS Aquino should have done the following:
1. Instruct the GRP peace panel to protest these violations and at the same time suspend indefinitely the peace talks.
2. Put the AFP/PNP on high alert in Mindanao and the NCR.
3. Threaten the MILF/NPA with military action in order for these enemies of the state to stop these bombings.
4. Final option of total war should these attacks escalate and spill over into the NCR.
BS Aquino is apparently for peace at all
costs. His “friendly” relations with the MILF goes back to the secret talks in Tokyo, Japan. He gave the MILF funding. He approved the Framework Agreement and practically gave all the lion’s share of wealth sharing to the MILF. I shit you not… he is for the fragmentation of our territorial integrity and the destruction of our sovereignty. I repeat, the enemy is already past the gates and within. BS Aquino is the cause of it all!
The source of the bombings is the MILF/BIFF. The MILF has a Special Operations Group (SOG) that trains bombers. They have bomb training facilities within MILF base camps. Every military and police operative knows this in Mindanao. The NPA have a formal alliance with the MILF. They also have IED bomb technology. Remember the Morong 43? Nobody admits to the bombing? The finger points to those with the training camps and IED bomb technology. I rest my case.
HA HA HA, LMAO….in the WEST a MILF is a “Mother I’d LIKE to FUCK”, usually a hot housewife!!! hows that for a terrorist organization to be named after? A HOT HOUSEWIFE,LMAO!!!
After reading various posts regarding these bombings it is clear that the majority of filipinos are lost in the usual govt. bashing..they steal this and they steal that bla bla. The deeper issue is that the philippines as a country has never matured and despite many being convinced that a democratic process had been initiated during cory aquinos period in power up until now, this never occured. The truth is that nothing has changed because the people’s mentalities have not changed and that is the true ‘desgrazia’ of the philippines. Furthermore, when the philippines were ruled by marcos, the issue was more about how many shoes imelda had not so much the benefits marcos had brought to the country. After which, even a movie actor i.e. estrada became president and today aquino the 3rd continues the family legacy!?! The philippines is like a cheesy ‘telenovela’ and it seems the people don’t have the depth, intelligence, discipline or maturity to analyse what is really necessary for the country’s interest. Don’t forget dear pinoys…you never negotiate with terrorists..never!!!
People and politicians in manila dont give a fuck on mindanao even if it is nuked or in any provinces in the ph when its not on luzon 80% of the people there are sheep.They would rather care when is lady gaga coming back on concert in manila than the bombings in the cities on mindanao.