Juanito Itaas, a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) who was convicted of killing US Army Col. James Rowe in 1989, walked free several days ago from the New Bilibid Prison.
Itaas is better off or much safer in prison than out of it. He is now a dead man walking.
US military special operatives or agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) will surely go after him.
They can’t forgive the killer of a congressional medal of honor awardee who was chief of the Army division of the then Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) in the Philippines.
Rowe provided counter-insurgency training to Filipino troops. He also worked closely with the CIA and various Philippine intelligence groups. Both jobs made him a target of assassination by the NPA.
The US government had been asking our government not to release the convicted assassin.
Now that its request has been turned down, US special ops (operations) will most probably do what they did to members of the Mexican drug cartel who killed Enrique Camarena, an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
US government operatives went to Mexico, hunted down one by one Camarena’s killers. They also brought to American soil some of those who had participated in Camarena’s murder, to be tried in US federal courts.
After the Camarena murder episode, no other DEA agent was ever touched by the drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia. The drug cartels in both countries have learned their lesson.
The US always gets back at people who harm American citizens on foreign soil.
* * *
Why did the US government initiate the war games – dubbed Balikatan in Filipino – in the country?
Balikatan (meaning “shoulder-to-shoulder” in Filipino) war games are held regularly between Philippine and US soldiers, to prepare both countries for an attack by enemy troops.
But the real reason behind Balikatan was the beheading of Guillermo Sobero, an American tourist, by Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Basilan in 2001. Balikatan was just an excuse to go after the Abu Sayyaf.
Sobero, who was vacationing at the Dos Palmas resort, was kidnapped along with other guests, and taken to Basilan where he was singled out from among other kidnap victims because he was an American.
Abu Sabaya, the terrorist who claimed to have personally beheaded Sobero, was later killed by a combined unit of American and Philippine troops.
The US government paid off one of Sabaya’s companions, who placed a locator bug in his backpack. Satellites tracked down the flamboyant terrorist on a speed boat.
There are many other instances where the US hunted down people who killed its citizens in foreign countries, but there are too many to mention here.
* * *
Raul Lambino, the administrator and chief executive officer of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), has been charged with rape before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon.
I read about this case in other newspapers (such as the Manila Times and Abante Tonight), and it’s very disturbing.
The complainant is a 17-year-old girl who worked for the Lambino household as a maid.
The girl’s mother, who also worked in the same household, also accused Lambino’s wife, Marilyn, who is mayor of Mangaldan, Pangasinan, of grave misconduct, dishonesty and oppression.
Maricar (not her real name) alleged in her affidavit that Lambino raped her on Jan. 3, Jan. 9, Feb. 12, Feb. 18, March 7 and May 4 in 2019 at the couple’s house in Quezon City where she and her mother, Rosela Tabano, worked as housemaids.
The young girl said Mr. Lambino also repeatedly raped her on March 10, March 21, April 17 and May 3, 2021, at the couple’s house in Buenlag, Mangaldan.
Maricar and her mother alleged that Mayor Marilyn would kick them like they were dogs and sometimes would spit on their faces, slap them and pull their hair.
Maricar and Rosela attempted to leave the Lambino house several times, but their escape was prevented.
Mother and daughter claim they were given leftover or spoiled food.
The mother-daughter claim sounds fantastic, but if it is true then the Lambino couple need psychiatric help.
If the charges are true, then the Lambinos should be charged in court, dismissed from their positions in government, and sent to prison.
If the latest charges against CEZA Administrator Lambino are true, then he’s not only a rapist he’s also a thief of people’s money.
On Feb. 20, 2020, I wrote in my column in another newspaper that Mr. Lambino used money from CEZA for his personal and his family’s political gain.
I based my exposé on intelligence reports.
Before his appointment to CEZA, Lambino and his family were unknown political entities, according to intelligence reports.
During the 2019 elections, wife Marilyn was elected Mangaldan mayor and son Mark, Pangasinan vice governor.
Before I received the intelligence reports, some stakeholders from China had complained to me that they were being shaken down by Lambino.
I was then special envoy to China when I received the complaints from the Chinese investors.
* * *
Closing Berjaya Hotel, where that girl Chua stayed, was an act of overkill.
What if the hotel management didn’t know about the under-the-table deal – if any – of some of its staff with Chua’s parents?
The Makati City government should first have asked the management to explain how Chua was able to skip quarantine and attend a Christmas party where she supposedly infected other guests.
Authorities should have just pinpointed and punished the hotel staff who was (or were) responsible for Chua’s misdeed.
Why punish the other hotel employees with Berjaya’s closure?
It’s like burning down the whole house to kill a rat inside.