It was hard to get past the first paragraph of Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino’s speech delivered during the recently-held ceremonial turnover of weapons and so-called “decommissioning” of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters without feeling disgust. He started out by narrating how even when he was younger, he was already aware of the atrocities committed by Christians against the Muslims in Mindanao – how “opportunists saw that those tilling the land were uneducated, which allowed them to have the lands titled under their own names.”
PR stunt: Ceremonial ‘decommissioning’ of weapons used to terrorise Mindanao for many years.
(Courtesy Interaksyon.)
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Likewise, a lot of people were shocked to hear no less than the country’s head of state disrespect those who died during the conflicts in the past – the civilians and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who fought Muslim extremists in the last three decades. Yes, BS Aquino was being his usual callous self when he dismissed past efforts to achieve peace and order in Mindanao. He is blinded by his mission to get his way by bullying Congress into passing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) just to please his newfound friends in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In his speech, he was also trying to shame the people who were against the BBL, saying that those against it are against peace. Nothing can be further from the truth.
In his misguided thinking, BS Aquino failed to consider the consequences of what he said in his speech. He seems to think that it is okay to put Christians under a bad light just to make the members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front look good in comparison. He even justified why they had to take up arms and “go against the system”.
“If you had been in the position of those whose lands were stolen from them back then, wouldn’t you have been discouraged when, after seeking recourse with all authorities, you were told that “Nothing can be done?” Think about it: Because of the disagreements on agrarian issues, which led to injustice, they were forced to bring matters into their own hands, and private armed groups became a growing presence.”
One can be forgiven for thinking BS Aquino was talking about Hacienda Luisita when he mentioned the words “agrarian issues”, “injustice” and “private armed groups”. He should be the last one to talk about these things lest he bring attention to the agrarian issues his family is involved in and how the Philippine Supreme Court had ordered the distribution of almost 5,000 hectares of land to some 6,000 farmer beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), the sugar plantation owned by the Cojuangco side of the family of President BS Aquino. The courts decision came “seven years after the Hacienda Luisita massacre. Seven protesting farmers died at the Hacienda Luisita on November 16, 2004 in a clash with security forces”. But I digress…
BS Aquino said those words as if previous governments did not carry out successful peace agreements in the past with the leading Muslim rebel group back then, the Moro National Liberation Front. In fact, the agreement with the MNLF under the leadership of Nur Misuari, who even became the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) during the Ramos years, was supposed to bring “peace” to the region. But alas, corruption and the conflicts within the ranks and other Muslim rebel groups – one of which is the MNLF breakaway group that formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front – resulted in the resumption of instability and bloodshed in the region. In other words, what happened next was not the result of “Christian atrocities against Muslims” in Mindanao.
BS Aquino and his speechwriters could benefit from reading up on the recent history of Mindanao. They seem to be stuck with what happened almost 400 years ago, back when the Spanish colonizers came to town. A lot has happened since then. The President and his advisers only need to review what happened a few decades back to understand the real situation. Once they have analyzed it well enough, they will realize that the reason why progress keeps eluding Mindanao has a lot to do with the atrocities committed by Muslim rebel groups including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who have terrorized the region for decades. Their activities include but are not limited to, kidnap for ransom of locals and foreigners, bombings, and killing of government troops with the most recent incident in January 2015 that resulted in the deaths of 44 Special Action Forces in Mamasapano.
The bottom-line is, a lot of moderate Filipino Muslims do not need the Bangsamoro Basic Law to lead fruitful and fulfilling lives in the country. One just needs to go to Manila’s shopping malls to see how Muslim commerce thrives in the country. Besides, the Philippines is supposed to be a secular country. It is quite baffling, the way BS Aquino seems to favor one religious group over others and even rewards them with cash and government incentives.
Families of fallen SAF officers left hanging as President BS Aquino doles out incentives to Moro rebels.
Indeed, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s sincerity is still questionable. They should have surrendered the killers of the SAF officers and the weapons stolen from the fallen troops instead. What they surrendered “ceremoniously” comprised a measly 75 weapons. There is no way of knowing how many high-powered weapons they actually still have in their possession. They are probably laughing knowing that they could easily replace the weapons using the funds the Philippine government is going to give them if the BBL is passed. With a budget of 27 billion pesos annually, they can buy a lot of weapons more powerful than what they now have!
The good news is, most Filipinos are not fooled by BS Aquino’s latest stunts. They know that the “decommissioning” is just for show. After all, if the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is really after peace, they should not demand an outrageous amount of financial compensation from Filipino taxpayers and feel they are entitled to take ownership of something that belongs to every Filipino, Christians and Muslims.
No, the Filipino people do not owe the Moro Islamic Liberation Front money or any part of Mindanao. Congress should scrap the BBL!
In life, things are not always what they seem.
The Islamic Radicals, use :Autonomy and Land, as a stepping stone, to get more of what they want. Look at when Israel, gave back Gaza, to the Palestinian. It is now being used, as a base, for Rocket Attacks on Israel, on a daily basis.
Aquino showed a “good photo ops” of arms being surrendered. After the photo ops, Aquino gave them back…tor the MILF…
The Aquinos have the “GENES” of being Traitors. Begining at their grandfather: Benigno Aquino, Sr., who collaborated, with the Japanese Imperialists. To, Benigno Aquino, Jr.; who was an ardent supporter of the NPA.
Aquino should be tried of TREASON. He is an willing supporter of MILF/ISIS/Al Queda.
Aquino refuse to understand the Islamic Radical ideology. Or, he is just plain, Mentally Retarded…”mahina ang ulo…walang Utak”…
Did Aquino ever think of the feeling of those farmers/serfs of his Hacienda Luisita? He deprived them of their lands…
YOU TELL ‘EM ILDA.
But Aquino is being told what to do, take a look at the guy standing to his right in the picture above(WTF is that guy doin there, and who the fuck EXACTLY is he,HHMMM…sum sum stinks yo!). There is a country that needs a training ground for ‘terrorists’ to ‘pop-up’ just about anywhere, and at anytime, and for various reasons……and that is why this BBL law is going to pass. And guys like the guy standing to Aquino’s right, in the picture above, are going to be the ones to see to its happening. Sadly, it has little to do with the Philippines or Filipino’s at all.
You are right.
This is utter BS. Some of my Muslim friends want it passed, with one even attending some kind of training on Sharia Law within a Philippine context. She earnestly wants the BBL passed. I think she’s a kindhearted lady, but pretty much misguided due to her religious zeal.
Scrap the BBL, if they don’t want to live under flag, and law, gtfo.
That’s unfortunate. I hope she comes to her senses.
Ilda, yes, Senate should put the BBL to trash.
Sad to say but, we just voted another terrorist that can destroy our own country piece-by-piece just by giving a LOT of money to a SINGLE terrorist group. *sigh* Then he fully sides to terrorists just to have ‘peace’ in Mindanao. *sigh* I think we have to pressure the Senate to stop the passage of the BBL. At least we got some trustees there.
This is for the safety of all people within Mindanao, regardless of how persecutors would go out and stop these anti-BBL activists. 🙁
I’m beginning to doubt if the senate is still in the position to stop anything, considering the executive’s momentum. Right now, there is only 1 senator that’s vocally against BBL, and he might just fail. I feel the common pinoy on the street is still largely apathetic to the issue.
If the Senate will not Act…we, the Filipino people must Act. This tyrant , Aquino must not have his ways…the BBL Law must not be FORCED on us.
Imagine, your Taxes is being used to finance MILF/Al Queda/ISIS terrorists.
It is like paying people to kill you. Do we want to commit National Suicide ? Just to satisfy the EGO of Aquino? We are being led by a Madman. Like , during the time of NAZI Germany. Hitler was mad…but, the German followed him, because of disinformational propaganda…
There’s more than one. Santiago, Ejercito, Sotto and Cayetano are also vocal against BBL. Hopefully, they won’t change their stand.
The part I don’t like about PNoy’s propaganda is when he paints anti BBL folks as against peace. That’s how you know he is into dirty politics.
Instruction Manual:
How to earn 5 million pesos + 70 billion pesos, your own army, your own police and eventually your own country:
1. Fight the government and kill tens of thousands of its police, soldiers and civilians
2. Bomb as many crowded places as you can
3. Engage in piracy, extortion, kidnapping, beheading, smuggling, gunrunning.
4. Demand independence from an idiotic government
Warning: Do not try this in China or any other normal country to avoid certain execution. This only works in The Philippines, nowhere else.
@Ray Langit
Thanks for the tip. I wouldn’t be surprised if some members of AFP joined the MILF instead due to the “benefits” they will receive from the government.
Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something
from an active status.
Disengagement is the action or process of withdrawing from involvement in a particular activity, situation, or group.
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons.
We GRPs need to kick BS Aquino on his sorry ass and dick to make him understand these simple terms to his pea-sized brain.
Thanks for the lesson but they might have used the term “decommissioning” on purpose so they can easily say “we didn’t promise disarmament”. 😉
TRAITORS! FAILURES! FOES!
I am from Mindanao, but I am not a muslim. That fool, Aquino, has glossed over the fact that the indigenous peoples of Mindanao, the lumads, outnumber the muslims and were here before the muslims came. When the muslims came to Mindanao, they tried to destroy the lumads by driving them out of their lands and extracting annual slave tributes from them. To this day, a lot of bad blood exists between the lumads and muslims.
Now we have a president who is once again stoking the fires of enmity. He is giving a clean slate to a terrorist group that represents a narrow and dangerous set of interests.
While Christians and lumads have succeeded in coexisting peacefully, Aquino is now empowering a group that has divided the muslims by enabling them to further their dangerous agenda.
Make no mistake about it. Mindanao isn’t the only thing the MILF wants.
Thank you for your comment, Eric. It is always good to hear the views of people from Mindanao. The pro-BBL folks who live in Manila think the BBL is the answer to the region’s problems. They are very gullible, indeed. They think just because PNoy said it will bring “peace”, it’s good enough.
i like the lumads, they value and protect nature. i’m not so sure if they are egalitarians.
Am not suppose to check out GRP on a busy day as today, but I really had to take a peek as I knew there was going to be an article on that desperate propaganda called decommissioning. Well, it didn’t disappoint; 5star Ilda is spot on again. And I will not add to the great comments above esp ones from Ray Langit and Eric.
Have a good day, guys, just count the weeks now when PNoy will be decommissioned.
Well, good of you to drop by despite your busy schedule, Add.
I am busy as well but I could not let the day end without writing about the PNoy’s latest PR stunt. His claims are simply outrageous!
When I listened to his speech at Maguindanao, it’s like I’m listening to a child having a tantrum and rambling irrationally. Just like any of Noynoy’s speeches.
I’m just anticipating how many times he will cough up and excuse himself on every speech he will deliver.
It’s cringe-worthy, indeed. He doesn’t let facts get in the way of his motherhood statements.
this president should have been John Snow’ed
hahaha!
It’s always been about the money hasn’t it, never mind the thefts, rapes, murder and the other human forms/expressions of mayhem … just show/give them the money and be ready to hand out some more … or there will be war!!!