ILIGAN CITY AND GMA

After Muslim rebels seized several towns and barangays in three provinces in the south, the next move was supposed to occupy Iligan City. Why Iligan? There are two schools of thought:

1) To embarrass the President and 2) teach the Iliganons a lesson for defiance.

Historical notes say, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo grew up in Iligan City. For the city to be overrun by any rebel force is already a nightmare; but how about a city so close to the heart of the Commander in Chief being seized by forces currently talking peace with the president? Boy, only hardened rebels wouldn’t know the repercussion to such an aggression.

Iliganons, on the other hand, have given a big NO NO to the MOA-AD. The strong objection parrarells that of North Cotabato and Zamboanga City. And all three provinces suffered the same wrath of the raging bulls.

So far, we have to credit the President for not getting too personal about her birthplace being threatened by rebels. She has not said a word about it. But governors of the three provinces and the Mayor of Iligan City have openly opposed the signing of the MOA_AD, leading to arming themselves up in defense..

The personal feeling of the Commander in Chief on the threat against Iligan may be irrelevant but thinking animals should have considered that before plunging into viol,ent belligenrency. The same thing should have been done before even offering the MOA-AD for approval. Peace talkers should have consulted and secured the blessings of the local residents and officials before dismembering their territories?

To a large extent, this lapse in judgment caused the MOA-ADs untimely demise. And ressurec ting the dead can only be an act of God.

FLUSH AND FLUSH

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) now wants a cessation of hostilities in Mindanao. Probably, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, its Chair, now feels the sting of government’s unexpected punitive action against MILF forces who mercilessly killed innocent civilians young and old, looted their belongings, burned their houses and grabbed lands driving away legitimate tenants.

The atrocities perpetrated by the rampaging rebels, (renegade, splintered or legitimate members of the umbrella organization), are absolutely inhuman, barbaric and unthinking. And surely, it was a product of a treacherous mind that has no regard for enduring peace and general welfare.

Calling for cessation of hostilities or ceasefire now should be the least concern of the government and military officials..This is not to say that we put the peace process in the back-burner. No, we must flush out the common criminals, the trouble makers, the rebels, lump them up in a sink and flush them out to kingdom come.

It’s about time the government re-establishes its position of strength. If this government thinks of peace, it must be done not through the instigation of a rebel group but on the basis of equity, justice and Philippine laws.

Neither should the government succumb to international pressures. It is common knowledge in the International Community that Malaysia has a tacit bias for its colleagues in the MILF; but so does Washington’s sudden closeness with the rebels following their dumping of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Abu Sayaff terrorists. Remember that Washington never branded the MILF rebels as terrorists.

Peace is possible in Mindanao without foreign intervention or manipulation. The non-implementation of the MOA_AD is a clear proof of how too many cooks could spoil the broth.

In the meantime, Philippine Sports has proven inadequate if the Beijing Olympics is the gauge. 5 athletes with a zero gold performance each. The worse part of it is that almost every athlete failed in his first try.

This is not to say that the Philippines just participated this year! No, we’ve been in the Olympics since day one of olympism and that’s over a century ago. Obviously, our current crop- of sports officials are a dismal failure and therefore, they must be flushed out and lumped into a sink and flushed out to kingdom come, too.

This time, there should be no alibis, no justifications necessary. A total revamp must immediately be implemented and all top officials from the Philippine Sports Commission down to the National Sports Organizations (NSO) shall be replaced even if we have to start from square one. The leadership and management of the USA’s “Redeem Team” is worth emulating