Politicos should not debate on military issues
Sen. Grace Poe, who chaired the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs in the 16th Congress when it investigated the Mamasapano incident, noted that Aquino was not able to explain his side during the probe since he was still president then. AP/Bullit Marquez, File
I’ve never been a fan of Vice President Leni Robredo for the simple reason that she was the creation of the Aquino Family who used their mother, the late President Corazon Aquino’s being the widow of the slain Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. to gain political power. When the Liberal Party was looking for a vice presidential candidate for then DILG secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas, they saw another widow in Leni Robredo and the rest is Precinct Count Optical Scan history!
That VP Robredo’s popularity has slid down dramatically, I think the latest was 61 percent, is due to the fact that she always makes useless comment at the wrong time. A case in point is her last pronouncement last Wednesday about the proposal of Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte to extend Martial Law up to December 2017. As if on cue, Leni issued a statement saying, “Any extension of military rule in Mindanao should be based on a thorough discussion in Congress.” Good heavens! What a stupid statement!
In my book, the issue of Martial Law should not be debated in the Halls of Congress because these are politicians who have mastered the art of grandstanding so that their faces and statements would end up in the newspaper the next day. Yes, when Pres. Duterte declared Martial Law on May 23, yes that was the time that politicians should have debated on whether or not Martial Law was needed. But for the extension, the issue should now be based on the reports by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the media as to what’s happening in Marawi City.
The trouble with VP Leni Robredo is that she is trying to act as the leader of the Yellow opposition. In the end, we shall see the political opposition block the extension of Martial Law, even if this move is a futile one simply because the Yellowtards have lost their numbers in Congress. Hence such a debate is pointless.
I fully support the extension of Martial Law up to December 2017 for the simple reason that it is necessary, plus the fact that the soldiers of the AFP have acted very professionally, and a hundred of our soldiers have already died in this fight against the Maute terrorists. If we allow politicians to debate whether we need this extension of Martial Law, we will only dishonor those soldiers who sacrificed their lives so we can enjoy our precious freedom.
What does Leni Robredo want us to hear in her proposed debate? The voice of Sen. Antonio Trillanes who already said that Pres. Duterte’s request for extension only shows his “authoritarian tendencies”? If indeed Pres. Duterte is an autocrat as what Sen. Trillanes wants us to believe, Pres. Duterte should have thrown him in jail a long time ago for the treasonous acts he committed against the government of then Pres. Gloria Arroyo during the Oakwood Mutiny. That he can speak freely is more than enough proof that democracy exists in this troubled nation.
I support the extension of Martial Law because many other parts of Mindanao still have a lot of problems. There’s the Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu and Basilan and, yes, the New People’s Army continue to attack the military. In fact the latest attack by the NPA happened in the town of Arakan, Cotabato, where they ambushed not just ordinary soldiers, but a convoy of the Presidential Security Group.
These PSG could have been an advance party of Pres. Duterte. The PSG were caught unawares because the 50 NPAs set up a checkpoint wearing military garb. With checkpoints very common in Mindanao, it was too late to verify the armed men wearing military uniforms whether they were friend or foe.
Because of these latest attacks by the NPA, a frustrated Pres. Duterte who has bended back to accommodate his leftist friends issued a directive to the members of the government peace panel last Tuesday night that the peace talks would not resume next month. Peace Panel negotiator Sec. Jess Dureza issued a statement in his Facebook page saying, “I am announcing the cancellation of backchannel talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF originally set within the next few days in Europe due to recent developments involving attacks done by the NPA.” If indeed the CPP/NPA/NDF want peace, they should stop the NPA from attacking our soldiers.
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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
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