Our government peace panelists, like former Cabinet member Silvestre "Yoyong" Afable, and the usual suspects, have been so eager to secure a "peace agreement" when talks resume next month in Kuala Lumpur that they’ve given away too much ground on the dangerous question of "ancestral domain", a concession demanded by the Moro insurgents.
If we pursue this thought to reductio ad absurdo, the Bangsamoro rebels, meaning the MILF and other Moro "liberation fronts", can claim most, if not all of Mindanao as their "ancestral domain" or ancestral lands, in their ambition to establishment a Caliphate of Mindanao.
Right now, one of their talking points is a return to the boundaries set by the "Moro Province" established by the American colonial administration, run in the old days by Gen. John J. "Blackjack" Pershing – who later rose in military stature to become commanding general of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe when the United States entered World War I. Harking back to the former American delineated "Moro Province" is a sneaky fastbreak concept, since it included towns – some of which are now cities – and provinces which, even then, were predominantly Christian and Lumad.
Most of the time, alas, we, the general public, don’t know what our government peace negotiators are giving away when they traipse off to Malaysia for talks with the rebel bunch, sponsored by the Malaysians, or make happy-happy with them in Mindanao.
As for those peace talks in general, La Presidenta says she received assurances from Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi when she was in K.L. for the ASEAN and East Asia talks that they would be on track. Much as Mr. Badawi is charming, he was an apprentice for too long to the more hardlining, though even more charming, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, and when it concerns Mindanao, my old friend Mahathir, with a wink, always spoke with a forked tongue.
The Malaysian obsession, I kid thee not, is to keep us off balance in the rebel-infested regions of Mindanao, so we won’t remember to rock the boat on the issue of Sabah (North Borneo), which was "given" to the Malaysian Federation by the departing colonial Brits, but had only been leased in 1878 by their British North Borneo Company, and rightfully belongs to the Sultan of Jolo. If you look at the map, that portion of North Borneo (which doesn’t include, by the way, the capital of Sabah, the city of Kota Kinabalu) is much bigger than Mindanao, a vast area of 73,600 square kilometers, which is well-forested, and mineral as well as oil rich, at that.
If you’ll recall, it was the late President Diosdado Macapagal who had resurrected the Philippines’ claim – through the Sultanate – to North Borneo (Sabah). Former President Fidel V. Ramos, reestablishing very chummy-chummy relations with Mahathir and Kuala Lumpur, literally deep-sixed any talk about that frustrated claim, and so here we are: even Cong Dadong’s daughter, La Gloria, is depending on the Malaysians to broker peace between our government and the MILF rebel movement. Guess the Sultanate’s "claim" is not only in the deep freeze, but close to extinction.
Yet, a few days ago, I bumped into the current Sultan of Jolo, His Highness Jamalul Kiram. He told me that just a few weeks ago he had received the usual "rent" for North Borneo (Sabah). In short, the Kuala Lumpur government is still paying "rent" for Sabah under the terms of the old British North Borneo Company – yet, by their reckoning, Sabah belongs to them? Gee whiz. Why in heck then do we trust the Malaysians to broker "peace" for us with those well-armed Muslim insurgents who are obviously being financed by Islamic irredentist funders from abroad?
Remember the MILF’s name is uncompromising: Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Their goal has always been to "liberate" Mindanao from us non-Muslims – meaning Christians, Lumads, and other Infidels.
General Adan, and Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat (who’s also been complaining) are right. The MILF, for all their denials – why should they admit it – are recruiting, rearming and training "freedom fighters."
Those recruits are not training to become Boy Scouts.
According to a report in another daily yesterday, the NPA’s spokesman Ka Roger Rosal – whom radio and television crews can always find while the armed forces and police cannot – bragged that a company owned by the Chinese government which is building the NorthRail heading north from Manila to San Fernando, Pampanga, had been compelled to pay "revolutionary tax" to the NPA-Communist Party of the Philippines. This guy who ambitions himself, perhaps, as the RP’s version of Mao Zedong or Ho Chi Minh, scoffed that the Chinese Communist Party is no longer an ally, but has become, like Russia, "revisionist" and "stinking capitalist."
C’mon Comrade Gregorio "Roger" Rosal: the revolutionary tax-collecting NPA – which growls, if you don’t pay up we’ll burn your buses, and, in NorthRail’s case, probably, their bulldozers, cranes, etc. – looks more stinking capitalistic than other rebel movements. The NPA rebels, while deadly, have in recent years begun to appear more predatory than revolutionary. And why should they surrender, or agree to a peace deal? They’ve got the cushiest jobs in the country: no official work hours, no dress code, lots of fresh air, no need to pay income tax (through some of our leftist Party List Representatives, it’s suspected, they may even get millions of pesos in additional "pork barrel" subsidy from the honest Filipino taxpayers). And they get to swagger around with guns to impress (did I say terrorize?) the local population. What more could any cadre, either male or Amazon ask? Why "come in from the cold" then by agreeing to a peace deal? They’re leading a comfortable life, even if they’re murderous and treacherous.
There’s little doubt that the NPA, instead of slackening its pace, on its 37th founding anniversary, is trying to become even more aggressive. Some years ago, after the NPA had ruled the area by a reign of terror and made Davao their "killing fields," the NPA thugs were expelled by the Alsa Masa, an "army" of angry, disillusioned ex-NPA vigilantes who were horrified by the merciless purges conducted by demented NPA chieftains within their own ranks. The Alsa Masa joined forces with our armed forces to drive the NPA berdugos and killers out of Davao and the surrounding province. Recently, though, we've gotten reports that NPA Sparrow killers have again been active in a municipality not far from Davao City. Maybe Davao Mayor Rody Duterte ought to mount an expeditionary force to root out these balik-patayan Sparrows and nip their murderous comeback offensive in the bud.
The only way to deal with the NPA is relentlessly with the gun – because they ruthlessly invoke the gun themselves, use the gun, and scorn any peace talks. As their idol Mao Zedong used to say in the old days: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Perhaps he plagiarized that maxim from Germany’s Iron Chancellor, Otto Bismarck. But, whoever said it first: it’s true.
The bad news is that Maxim Integrated Products, which manufactures those chips, had been planning a P2 billion expansion of its plant in the Philippines before the Cavite hijack took place. Now, those plans are "on hold", and may be scrapped. (I think, President GMA who’s vacationing in Baguio City – as well as our Investment Begging Bowl Chief, the very capable Finance Secretary Gary Teves, ought to take note). If you want to know, this same gang had hit shipments from Nestle, Inc., and NIVEA, among other capers.
The most recent "report" is that certain assets of the police are virtually in possession or can "acquire" the stolen MAXIM stuff – the cargo has gotten "too hot" to fence, even by the Hijack Czar and King of Fences in Cavite and Southern Tagalog. Guess who.
Certain elements linked to the police are already hinting they might "find" the goods if they get a $50,000 "reward."
Another possibility is that a notorious international fencer from Malaysia by the name of Bala (yes, it rhymes with "bullet") may be buying the MAXIM chips, re-packing them, and planning to smuggle them out to well-known blackmarket spots in Hong Kong and Southern China. This fellow Bala is known to law enforcers in the region as a major fencer of electronic products, prominent in Malaysian intelligence and INTERPOL files. In fact, Task Force VIPER, the anti-hijacking task force in Malaysia, headed by Asp Rahim, would dearly love to get hold of Bala and have "a talk" with him, but this elusive character has a way of sneaking in and out of Malaysia, and entering, and leaving, the Philippines through the southern back door.
In the past, Bala operated warehouses in Cavite and Laguna and transacted business cheekily in the Tagaytay area. Do he and J.B. have any relations?
The huge multinational company, INTEL, if you’ll recall, once bought into one of our industrial zones and established a plant. Despairing of the situation (hearing that some policemen and powerful politicos in Region 4 are protectors of the criminal gangs, not their nemesis), INTEL moved its operations to China.
Get the picture? If we don’t wake up and crack down, other firms may soon go packing. A word to the wise is in order. Otherwise, our country won’t have a happy New Year.