Othman's bias merely reflects KL true color

KL NOT NEUTRAL: Replacing the Malaysian intelligence chief as facilitator in the government’s negotiations with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front is just skimming the surface of the problem of the moderator’s bias for the MILF.

Malacañang has announced that Kuala Lumpur has agreed “to address” Manila’s request for the replacement of Datuk Othman bin Abd Razak, Malaysia’s intelligence chief, as facilitator.

Even if “to address” means “to grant” the request to have Othman replaced, that is no assurance that the talks will not be manipulated by the host country in favor of the rebels.

Manila should not be naïve to think that Othman has been acting on his own. We have to assume that he has been merely carrying out instructions of his government.

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LOCAL ISSUE, LOCAL VENUE: The correct and patriotic thing to do is to drop Malaysia as the honest broker — everybody knows it is not a neutral third party — and to discuss this domestic problem in the Philippines instead of in a foreign tourist spot.

Stalled since August 2008, the talks should be reconvened in an easily secured Visayan town or city situated between Muslim Mindanao and Manila.

We should stop this bad habit of living off others. We have to decline Kuala Lumpur’s invitation to host the meetings (to make it easier to facilitate them in favor of the rebels?).

This mendicant posture cheapens us. It strips us of our self-respect as a nation. It also guarantees that we will end up with the short end of the bargain as “facilitated” by Malaysia.

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WHO FOOTS BILL?: Malaysia is reportedly ready again to pay for the hotel and related expenses of the negotiators. Never mind if records will show that the Philippines has allocated funds for its panel.

We can assume that Malaysia will also bankroll its team, the MILF, which will take its place at the table with the same or equal status as the Philippine Republic in a glaring mismatch.

In past talks in Kuala Lumpur, Othman and his intelligence operators reportedly refused to give official transcripts of the discussions. Just because they paid the hotel bills and whatever else?

It would not be surprising if Malaysian intelligence even bugged the rooms and phones of Manila’s negotiators.

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DEMEANING: That is how low we now stand in the esteem of the world, especially to individuals and entities negotiating with Philippine officials.

Compared to the Philippines years ago, most of Malaysia used to be an undeveloped provincial setting. But now that they have overtaken us in terms of development, they look down on us as “buyable.”

They and everybody else dealing with Filipino officials probably think we behave in the same shameless style of General Carlos Garcia and his wife who even brag about being bribed and bankrolled by contractors and suppliers of military materiel.

Although our moral degradation came before them, the Garcia family has become an icon of Philippine official corruption.

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ACT HONORABLY: The honorable thing for President Aquino to do is change not only Othman, Malaysia’s chief spy, but Kuala Lumpur as the broker.

Our peace panel members, who I understand already have their travel papers ready and their bags packed, should be hypnotized (ordering them at gunpoint may not be enough) to banish the notion that they are going on a holiday tour.

They should be told by no less than the President, that since the matter on the table is a domestic issue — and in line with his vaunted policy of cost-saving — the venue for the talks will now be the Philippines.

In case we accept another country’s kind offer to host the talks, the President should order our team not to accept any money from it and that the government will pay for every centavo its panel needs to accomplish the mission.

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BASIC POINTS: We all want peace and progress in Mindanao and all parts of this benighted land. We truly want justice for our brother Muslims, as we want fairness and a decent life for other ethnic minorities.

But not at any price or by any means. Before rushing into a resumption of the talks, Malacañang should put to rest, and not evade, these basic questions:

• Why are we talking only to the MILF, when it has not presented acceptable credentials that it is the democratically chosen voice of the Muslims in the MinSuPala region?

• Are MILF negotiators Filipinos? Do they recognize the Constitution? Do they bind themselves to abide by any decision of the Supreme Court in case a legal issue arising from the talks is raised?

• Which foreign power has been pressuring us to talk to the MILF about granting it its own Bangsamoro?

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SINGSON CASE: As a parent, I understand the emotional state of Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson as he bewails a plan of the House ethics committee to investigate his son Rep. Ronald Singson who is facing drug charges in Hong Kong.

But there is ample basis — including the congressman’s reported plan to plead guilty to possessing illicit drugs — for Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. giving the go-signal for the committee investigation.

Like President Aquino saying the Supreme Court was singling him out for persecution, Singson also accused the House of selective investigation.

The governor noted that while the House wants to look into his son’s case, the Senate is not moving similarly in the case of Sen. Ping Lacson, who has been linked to the murder of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver.

The Senate is not the House. The two chambers can move in different directions on similar matters. They are not each other’s keeper.

The House inquiry and possible disciplinary action should go on.

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