Its fine that Rico was much-admired. He was a clean-cut young man who represented earnestness and clean and honest values in a profession notorious for cynicism, debauchery, scandalous behavior, and many forms of vice. Yet, at about the same time, 16 Filipino overseas workers were killed in an accident in Dubai (a flooding of a drydock in which they worked) and that tragedy merited only a brief mention in the inside pages. Wednesday night, the bodies of the first nine victims arrived without fanfare, although its notable and admirable that President Macapagal-Arroyo met the Emirates Airlines flight on which the "remains" arrived and condoled with the families of the victims.
How many people went to the funerals of those OFWs whom we always call our countrys "heroes"?
He also reminded TV listeners that for the NDF and NPA, "surrender" was never a part of the peace negotiations and had been ruled out even before any talks began.
If the Communist rebels wont stop their extortion and blackmail (amounting to millions of pesos), which they call "revolutionary taxes", and have no intention at all of "surrendering" to the government, why on earth is our government conducting "peace talks" with them at all? They dont promise peace. All they obviously are promising is more trouble if we dont surrender to their wishes.
The "taxes" imposed by those ruthless NPA outlaws are what ruin business, destroy agricultural progress, and scare away "investment" (whether domestic or foreign) all over our archipelago. If owners of fishponds, farms, or plantations dont pay up, they get murdered. If bus operators dont pay up, their vehicles get torched by the rebels, costing them losses in millions of pesos. During election time, if politicians dont cough up the required "fees" in NPA-dominated bailiwicks, theyre not even allowed to campaign. If they defy this prohibition, the penalty is a bullet in the head.
Since the NDF and the NPA have signified that they wont give these vicious activities up, whats the use of our government peace panelists returning to any prospective talks, whether in Oslo or Timbuctoo?
Its good that the Oslo peace talks broke down. Lets not be so stupid as to strive to revive them. The rebel leaders, or bandit chieftains as its more appropriate to call them, have everything to gain in the form of concessions while theyve already nixed giving anything in return. Theyve already gained one thing from our over-eager government: "recognition". What they want is that the government also recognize that the territory they "occupy" belongs to them, and that theyre a parallel "government" in the places where they "rule". That, shorn of all the frosting on the cake, is what theyre demanding.
Were just wasting our time and, worse than that, squandering our hopes. Theyre not discussing "peace". What they insist on is winning. In that case, we have no choice: either we cave in, or we fight. Only after weve beaten them on the battlefield will those troublemakers and blackmailers be ready to plead for peace.
Among the hotbeds they identified were some municipalities in Zambales, and the Samal area in Bataan. One colonel, whos a veteran as well of the Mindanao wars (including Basilan), and another colonel (who had led the armored column which rushed to the relief of Ipil town in Zamboanga when it was attacked, pillaged and burned by 200 Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front mujahideen), said that the NPA continue using children as "human shields" whenever they retreat. The rebels, when being pursued, seize nearby kids and drag them along to prevent the Army pursuers from firing on them.
While attention is focused on Basilan, Zamboanga, and other trouble-spots on the Mindanao mainland, lets not forget that our armed forces are embattled elsewhere in Luzon and the Visayas. Ill bet that some of the cadets whove just graduated from the Philippine Military Academy already find themselves in combat situations today. The PMA is one college whose graduates are assured of full employment in the business of shooting, and sometimes dying.
Theyre underpaid, of course.
At the shrine, which was put up after the terrible 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption, the President prayed for guidance, for our people, for unity, and that "spiritual values" be paramount in our nation. She also thanked "Our Lord of Love and Redemption", whose 13-foot high statue dominates the open-air shrine for the opportunity to visit the shrine on the occasion of her birthday.
When a President prays, were confident, she speaks right into the ear of God. For she represents the hopes and fears, the aspirations and needs of our people.
GMA, who arrived by helicopter from the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Angeles, Pampanga, also prayed to "Our Praying Blessed Mother of Mt. Pinatubo", who accompanies her Son at that hilltop dambana, which stands just above the lahar-covered riverbed nearby.
The shrine has been described as "the altar of the nation." Now that the Chief Executive has offered her prayers at that altar, we trust that she has been "energized" to solve the problems of today and the challenges that lie ahead.
Sure, as Ive said in this corner for weeks, the belligerent Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is both a "hawk" and lets face it a jerk. But that having been said, can the Israelis be bullied by "world opinion" into withdrawing their armed forces from rampaging in retaliation and rage all over the West Bank and Gaza and anywhere else they believe the "suicide bombers" and Palestinian gunmen are coming? The Israelis, even though many will say its through their own fault and hubris, feel they have their backs to the wall. Theyve no other option except to hit out, even if their military offensive wont deter (they also realize that) the suicide-bombers.
As for the Europeans, I dont believe anything they say or any threats they may make will cut any ice with the Israelis at this desperate stage. The Jews believe the Europeans dislike them anyway, and, besides, major Western countries have large Muslim immigrant populations capable of mounting big anti-Jewish rallies and even "hits" on synagogues as well.
Dan Rather of CBS, a veteran analyst of world affairs, was quite accurate in his assessment, made from Jerusalem the other day, that what the Israelis worry about is not European opinion, or Arab opinion, or anybody elses opinion, but of what Americans are thinking. By the same token, the US cant get away from it: the Americans are classified as Israels only friends.
Perhaps the reason Washington, DC, for its part, is waffling over the question of forcing Israel to withdraw its IDF and agree to a "ceasefire" is because, deep down, the global "anti-terrorist" George W. Bush knows that when the chips are down only the Israelis will side with him in the Middle East. Its not a happy situation for Dubya Bush and his crew, but thats how to use that hackneyed expression the cookie crumbles.