Is peace so dear that we are giving up our sovereignty?
The privilege speech of Senator Allan Peter Cayetano last Wednesday, the eleventh of March, should rock the whole nation and conscienticize the national leadership, the party in power, and above all, the head of state, the head of government, the President of the Philippines. The way I look at it, by cruel twist of fate, Senator Cayetano is emerging as the new Ninoy of the Philippine Senate, and PNoy, ironically, is fast becoming the new Marcos. In Cayetano's Senate expose', we recall the famous Ninoy privilege speech exposing the Jabida massacre. And the rest is history.
Because of that explosive Ninoy speech, a great top secret mission was exposed. President Marcos ordered a certain Colonel Martelino to train special forces, comprising mostly of Muslim troopers, in the historic island of Corregidor. But the troopers were subjected allegedly to too much hazing that the Muslims felt they were maltreated unfairly by military officers from Luzon. And so, one of them who was badly mauled escaped by a small boat and landed in Cavite. He ended seeking the help of Congressman Delfin Montano, who was a Liberal Party member like Ninoy. Having been informed of that incident, Ninoy delivered that famous speech.
The mission that Marcos wanted to embark on was to take back Sabah from Malaysia by conquest. The expose caused a major diplomatic row. Malaysia broke diplomatic ties with our country. The Marcos government then had to recall our ambassador and all consuls and diplomatic staff, and we closed our embassy in Kuala Lumpur. In contrast, our present government has negotiated away a large portion of Mindanao, to be called a BANGSA MORO, or a nation within a nation. While Marcos aimed at increasing our national domain, this government is giving it away. And yet, Ninoy is the hero and Marcos is the villain.
In the name of a euphemism called '' peace process'', the government is giving a lot of money to the MILF via the BBL or the Bangsa Moro Basic Law, but, according to Cayetano, the MILF is strengthening its own armed forces, manufacturing high-powered weapons, and are gearing up for war. In the name of peace, our government is allowing the Bangsa Moro to have its own police force, its own Ombudsman, its own COA, COMELEC, and Civil Service commission. Therefore, by the BBL, we shall be giving birth to a new state, complete with all the elements of people, territory, government, and a virtual sovereignty.
They say that President Erap is a college drop-out and thus does not understand the nuances of politics. And yet, Erap clearly and unequivocably declared time and time again that, as a public official, he has sworn to defend the Constitution and he shall oppose with all his might and powers any attempt to dismember our territory and any step to undermine the sovereignty of the Republic. How come a college drop-out fully realized the importance of keeping the Republic intact, and the need to resist any attempt at dismemberment of our national domain?
Are these fundamental principles too hard for Secretary Ging Deles, Chairman Miriam Ferrer, and the President to comprehend ? A case of treason has been filed by former assemblyman Homobono Adaza charging the President of such a high, impeachable crime. We do not necessarily go to that extent. But then, we really could not believe how and why is peace being used as a decoy to allow the undermining of our national sovereignty. The people are confused. And that, definitely, is not good for the nation.
Clarification
Atty. Josephus B. Jimenez's column entitled Bail for Ampatuan, suspension for Binay and resignation for Bello, which came out last March 14, was erroneously attributed to Nigel Paul Villarete. Our apologies.
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