Last week while I was in Paris, visiting the opulence and the grandeur of the Palace in Versailles, which has become one of France’s most important tourist destinations, I couldn’t help but ponder how things were in the glory days of France, when the monarchy was extremely extravagant in their spending, while the French people remained poor. Reading the history of France brings us back to the famous French Revolution, which began on July 12, 1789 during the fall of the Bastille.
The Bastille was a prison known in Europe as a symbol of cruelty and arbitrary power by the French monarchs. It only held a few prisoners, but the mob that marched to the Bastille won the day and it marked the beginning of the Reign of Terror that would ensue in the next few years. In the days of the French monarchy they had absolute power ruling France for many centuries. But a new social order was emerging, assaulted by radical left-wing political groups marching on the famous slogan, Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité. Come to think of it, it is a similar left-wing radical political groups that still pose a threat to our democratic society in the Philippines.
Thus began a Reign of Terror from 1793 to 1794 where some 40,000 people were killed, most notable amongst them is King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette and Maximilian Robespierre who were guillotined in the spot that is now called Place de la Concorde. While the violent removal of the French monarchy may have ended with the beginning of the French Republic in September 1792, it still ended with the dictatorship of Emperor Napoleon I who was eventually defeated in Waterloo.
We too had our famous EDSA Revolution in February of 1986, which if you compared it to the French Revolution was totally bloodless. This is why our late STAR publisher Sir Max Soliven once lamented in his column that we Filipinos got our revolution to remove the Marcos Dictatorship at such a cheap price (meaning no blood was spilled) no wonder nothing much has changed since the days of the EDSA Revolt.
If you ask me, things are even getting worse than ever before. I was still in Paris looking at the Philippine STAR news reports through the Internet when I learned that P-Noy admitted last Oct. 26 that he had given a check of P5 million to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Murad Ebrahim. I was totally and completely aghast at this report and when I told the group about it, they could not believe what I told them.
As the report said, Chief Peace Negotiator Marvic Leonen gave this check to Ebrahim during the formal exploratory talks held in Kuala Lumpur last August 22. This was a month ago and no one knew it. Clearly, some kind of deal was hatched between P-Noy and Ebrahim during their secret meeting in Tokyo last Aug. 4. No wonder, no report about that meeting was given to the media on what transpired between the President and Murad. Just imagine if we knew back then that the President would have given our precious tax money to the enemy… we would have cried foul!
No matter how they wanted this report kept secret, someone blurted it out in the open and has now caused the Aquino administration untold embarrassment more so that the MILF has killed 19 soldiers. Ask the people around you whether giving money to a known terrorist group is right or wrong? The ones I asked even told me that this was a treasonous act!
But as usual Palace sycophants like spokesman Edwin Lacierda justified the President’s giving of this P5 million check by saying that it was for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Management and Leadership Institute (BLMI) in order “to train future Bangsamoro leaders.”
Using their misplaced logic and reasoning, therefore can we expect President Aquino to also give a similar amount to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or National Democratic Front (NDF) using the same argument; after all, their leadership has not changed in decades. It is still headed by Chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and Fr. Luis Jalandoni. Perhaps Mr. Lacierda should tell us how much money was given to the Liberal Party in order “to train future Liberal Party leaders?” Lacierda probably thinks we Filipinos are so stupid we will accept his total bull?
As if that were not enough, Malacañang clarified reports that they did not give a P31 million grant to the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) a vicious killer group within the New People’s Army (NPA). Given the transparency of the Aquino Administration, I tend to believe that the opposite is true. After all, Pres. PNoy’s sycophants belong to the radical left and are sympathetic to the enemies of the state. So we are waiting for a Senate investigation on this highly treasonous act, lest our angry people take the law on their hands!
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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through http://www.philstar.com.