Filipino leaders are heeding his plea – except the one most expected to do so as the son of two democracy icons.
Filipino political figures are heeding humanitarian appeals from jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. But the one powerful Philippine personality most in position to help out is not doing so – President Noynoy Aquino, ironically the son of democracy icon and Anwar’s friend, the late President Cory Aquino.
Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah visited Manila this week to seek help for the tormented freedom fighter. Izzah, a member of parliament, described Anwar’s health as deteriorating inside a filthy cell, to which he has been consigned for five years, on false conviction for sodomy just to destroy his political career and the opposition.
Suffering from shoulder injury sustained two years ago, Anwar’s spine has been affected, and needs delicate surgery abroad. A United Nations Working Group of human rights experts has declared his detention as arbitrary. Too, that his lack of medical care and maltreatment in prison constitute “torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading acts” that are prohibited by international conventions.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been turning down pleas from Anwar’s family and political associates for temporary liberty. He abides by the claim of the prison medical director that Anwar needs no special medical care. In Malaysian-style politics, that medical appointee also happens to be Razak’s personal physician.
First to consent to vouch for Anwar to be released for surgery was former President, now Manila mayor, Joseph Estrada. Also lending support and advice are reps of other political figures like: ex-Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, VP Jejomar Binay, Reps. Silvestre Bello III and Regina Ongsiako Reyes, and Governors Carmencita Reyes and Hermilando Mandanas, and the heirs of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.
In welcoming Izzah to Manila Monday, Estrada recalled that President Cory Aquino had introduced him to Anwar and wife Wan Azizah. Years later during Cory’s wake in Aug. 2009, Azizah eulogized her as the inspiration of freedom fighters in Asia. She recounted Cory courageously entering Malaysia’s prison complex to visit Anwar and check out his conditions, but was prevented by Najib’s guards.
In accompanying Azizah and Izzah then, Cory must have had in mind the similar degradation that her husband, democracy icon Ninoy Aquino, suffered under dictator Marcos. In speeches, Anwar often mentions drawing lessons from Jose Rizal and Ninoy.
Cory and Ninoy’s son Benigno III, “Noynoy,” is now President. He is apathetic to his mom’s friend and father’s admirer Anwar.
It’s not so much for the abject neutrality that ASEAN heads must assume over each other’s internal affairs, than for a fawning attitude towards PM Najib.
Early in his tenure, P-Noy gave in to Najib’s wish for Malaysia to continue dominate the peace talks between the Philippines and its internal separatists Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Despite Najib’s internal meddling, P-Noy allowed Malaysian generals to run the truce monitoring bodies. In the recent Mamasapano Massacre of 44 police commandos by supposedly cease-fired MILF, the latter submitted its version to Malaysia.
When Malaysian con man Manuel Amalilio ripped off $240 million from 15,000 poor, mostly Muslim, Filipinos, P-Noy only feebly tried to have him extradited. Anwar, through this column, consequently exposed Amalilio to be the nephew of the Sabah Chief Minister, Najib’s top financier. P-Noy did not raise hell when men of that corrupt Najib associate snatched Amalilio from NBI agents at the Sabah airport moments before they were to board a flight to Manila for trial. P-Noy kept quieter when it was further revealed in this column that the Sabah top official was the brother of Najib’s Foreign Minister and cousin of his Solicitor General, both also involved in preventing Amalilio’s extradition. P-Noy spokesmen claimed that the Philippines has no extradition but only a mutual legal assistance treaty with that next-door neighbor. But so with Australia, yet it made Malaysia return an ambassador with diplomatic immunity to face criminal charges in 2014.
In 2013 Najib and Filipino political opportunists fooled ignorant Sulu natives into crossing over to Sabah to receive land supposedly for their Sultanate. Najib’s security forces massacred 134 of them at Lahad Datu, Sabah. P-Noy did not protest. The Philippines and Malaysia have been contesting Sabah since the latter’s inception as a federation in 1962. No Philippine President has given up the claim to Sabah, except P-Noy.
Last July Najib was exposed to have received a mysterious $700 million in his personal account in Kuala Lumpur. The corruption has spurred huge demonstrations and calls in parliament for his resignation. Boldly Najib has not denied the existence of the illicit deposit, but merely says he “never personally benefited from it.” He has hinted that at least half the money has gone to parties in the Philippines involved in the MILF peace talks.
Malaysian banking rules require movements of at least $20,000 to be reported to its Central Bank. No such thing has been done in the case of Najib’s deposits and withdrawals.
Malaysian MPs are forbidden from investigating financial transactions of the Cabinet. Thus the opposition is unable to trace deposits and withdrawals to and from Cayman Islands secret accounts.
Anwar had captured a majority of parliament seats in 2008, but through gerrymandering lost the election. His opposition still got 88 of 212 seats in 2013, provoking Najib to jail him. Thirty opposition leaders, including Izzah, either have been jailed or are under prosecution for remarks made in parliament, for which they enjoy no immunity.
More than 300 Malaysians are in political prison, a third of them in relation to the supposed 2013 Sabah invasion by Sulu indigents.
These are events for which Ninoy Aquino would have gotten involved, as he did against the military coup d’etat of Indonesian Suharto against revolutionary leader and President Sukarno. His son prefers to be on the wrong side of history.
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