MILF, Fallen 44 and Napenas, Part 5

I am reposting these three short but erudite essays by a friend, Raffy Aquino, in his fb wall.
Meanwhile, my unsolicited advice to the following:

PNP Director Getulio Napenas -- you apologize to the public and the families of the 44 dead cops, or you commit suicide. You bastard liar.

President Aquino -- you also apologize to the public and the families of the 44 dead cops. You tolerated a suspended bureaucrat to run the show for a highly risky but ego-tripping show.

Nonoy Oplas
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Three short essays by Raffy Aquino

TEMPLATE

(February 19, 2015)

The intrusion was a catastrophic failure. The Board of Inquiry convened by government to look into it would conclude that the fiasco was due to the early inability to realize that success was impossible by covert means, insufficient ammunition, and the inadequacy of air cover brought about by attempts at plausible deniability.

An independent audit group within the agency that organised the mission would later report that the following factors significantly contributed to its tragic results: (a) the agency’s own failure to realistically assess risks and to adequately communicate information and decisions internally and with other government principals; (b) poor internal management of communications and staff; and (c) lack of stable policies and/or contingency plans. While the audit findings were contested by the agency’s top management, its head and other key officers were all forced to resign.

As a result of the fiasco, the President was compelled to publicly declare that "victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan ... Further statements, detailed discussions, are not to conceal responsibility because I'm the responsible officer of the Government ..."

I refer of course to the CIA, JFK, and the Bay of Pigs.

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* This news from PhilStar, February 20, 2015)

Medyo bastos na ang pangangatwiran ng pulis na 'to.

You plan a covert commando-style intrusion into MILF territory premised on your classification of the MILF as "enemy forces" and then conveniently substitute "time on target" for "prior coordination." Then you feign surprise that the MILF fired on the armed intruders you sent into their villages under cover of darkness.

You conveniently substitute "time on target" for "prior coordination" and then expect the army to provide artillery cover at a moment's notice. You had months to plan and train yet were unable to provide information adequate to guide artillery.

You conveniently substitute "time on target" for "prior coordination" and then expect the CCCH and IMT to order the insurgents to cease firing on your men at a moment's notice. "Prior coordination" through the CCCH was agreed upon precisely because it is not possible for it or the IMT to just walk into a firefight that had already started and miraculously stop the firing simply at the wave of a hand. You did not know this?

You blame the army for not mobilising to reinforce your men at a moment's notice but you yourself cannot account for the failure of the 300 plus cops you had in reserve very near the encounter sites to help their besieged comrades, other than saying they had to make way for the CCCH and IMT (who were not moving fast enough according to you) who were trying to diffuse the situation you created.

You stand with pride and accept responsibility yet you refuse to acknowledge the actual, specific mistakes you yourself -- not the MILF, not the AFP, not the CCCH-IMT -- made. You create this horrific mess that kills your people and then blame everyone else except yourself.

Yet you are no naive simpleton and scapegoat manipulated by cleverer and bigger men and then left twisting in the wind. The assumption is that there is a good head to accompany those two stars you have on your shoulders.

Matalino ka pero hindi ka marunong gumalang. Ano ba ang tingin mo sa mga kababayan mo? Tanga? As I said, nakakabastos na ang pulis na 'to.

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DINAGA

(February 21, 2015)

Parang yung mag-oovertake ka sa highway, palapit ng tulay o sa kurbada o sa paahon na hindi mo tanaw yung parating. Dahil nga alanganin, sa kalagitnaan, habang nasa oncoming lane ka na, pinanghinaan ka ng loob. Bigla mong naisip na medyo eng-eng yung desisyon mo. Isip -isip. Preno ka ng kaunti para makabalik sa likuran ng bus na uunahan mo sana. Pero bumagal din yung bus para paraanin ka. Aarangkada ka ngayon pero meron nang parating na nag-fla-flasher na. Papano na ngayon?

Ang patakaran mo, peace process, cease fire, at prior coordination. Official policy mo yan. Tapos dahil sa sulsol ng suspendidong pulls na kaibigan mo o ng Amerikano, tatalikuran mo young sarili mong policy. Magbibilin ka sa kaibigang pulis na siguraduhing matumba yung mga target at bilang afterthought, na siya na ang bahala sa coordinate-coordinate na yan.

Nang magkaipitan, biglang naalala mo yung policy ng gobyerno mo - peace process, cease fire, prior coordination. Shit, sabit. So taktika mo na lang, damage control - awatin na lang ang artillery, lalo na air cover, hinay-hinay na lang sa reinforcements. Pulis naman yang mga yan, handang mamatay para sa bayan. Plausible deniability na lang kahit hindi masyadong plausible.

So, dahil inconsistent ka, napasok ka sa alanganin. Head-on collision. At dahil kinapos ka ng tapang at dangal, deny-deny na lang, fudge-fudge na lang, spin-spin na lang.

Yun na nga - dinaga.

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See also:

MILF, BIFF, PNP and the Fallen 44, February 02, 2015

MILF, BIFF, and the Fallen 44, Part 3, February 03, 2015

MILF, PNP SAF and the Fallen 44, Part 4, February 16, 2015 

War War is Stupid, February 16, 2015

MILF, PNP SAF and the Fallen 44, Part 4

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

MILF, BIFF, and the Fallen 44, Part 3

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

MILF, BIFF, PNP and the Fallen 44

This is a continuation of my article yesterday, MILF, Fallen 44 and Rule of Law. I am posting some comments of my friends in my fb wall  on  the subject, and my discussion and rejoinders to them.
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1.  Bakit nga nung I ambush mga SAF andun naman pareho ang MILF and BIFF...?  Ano pinag kaiba nila?

It  was not an ambush. 392 special action force (SAF) officers, there are strike teams and blocking teams. They flew from Manila to Maguindanao armed to the teeth, ready to kill and be killed. It was a clear firefight but the terrain is something the policemen are not familiar with. A corn field which the Fallen 44 ran to may have hidden canals behind them.

I ask again, Supposed there was no or minimal death among SAF officers, does it make that huge operation without coordination with the AFP and MILF justified?

For me, a Yes answer to that question is a suggestion that the PH government should officially discard the peace agreement. Then PH government, whether through the AFP or PNP or NBI, can enter anytime anywhere, in huge numbers with full armaments, with zero recognition of the political, administrative and police/military jurisdiction of the MILF as stipulated in the peace agreement.

Is this the scenario that the pro-war people want?

2.  “they mutilated the bodies of the dead SAF".

Prof. Bong Mallonga Mendoza has an answer to that when he wrote, "a human body hit by either a 0.50 caliber or a special Barrett 413 bullet will be mutilated. No need to mutilate the same bodies after they died."

3. kailan naging territory ng MILF /BIFF ang area na hindi puede pasukin ng law enforcers without asking their permission?

I think Mamasapano, Maguindanao, is not a territory of MILF. It has no territorial jurisdiction, it is still under the PH state. What the MILF has under the peace agreement, is political and administrative jurisdiction. Thus, the public education, public health facilities, police forces, autonomous legislative body, etc. in areas under the peace agreement are with the MILF.

That is why for such huge operations involving nearly 400 PNP special force, with dozens of trucks and APCs, I think an official coordination with MILF and AFP is needed, if we want the peace agreement to be respected. Otherwise, kanya-kanya na lang, throw away the peace agreement, PH armed forces can enter anytime, anywhere, in areas supposedly covered by the peace agreement.

4. Painful as it is to say this to what our Fallen44 went through, I'm leaning on pursuing this peace agreement with these rebels for the last time and give peace a chance in the region.

Precisely. Five or 6 decades of war in Mindanao is not enough? Some people want 1 or 2 decades or more of war in the south?

Since there is already an existing peace agreement with the MILF, an international agreement actually as the meetings and place of signing were held in Kuala Lumpur, witnessed by many foreign government representatives, the PH govt should have respected it. Learn to respect the MILF's political and admis jurisdiction there.

Enough of war. Enough of double talk of talking peace while pursuing war and unilateral attacks.

5. the bloodshed and the encounters could have been avoided if they were sincere in seeking peace and arrested the terrorists themselves kaso di nila ginawa e.

The wanted terrorists are said to  be in the BIFF-controlled area. Perhaps the MILF can storm it but it would take huge amount of bloodshed as they do  not  have choppers, fighter planes, tanks, other equipment. An ideal scenario  is PNP + AFP + MILF. But the PNP-SAF implied, “we  can do  it on  our own, no  need for AFP or  MILF. No coordination or  information  sharing with them needed.”

So, sino ba nagsimula ng barilan last January 25? The MILF or BIFF stormed Cotabato or Davao or Manila? No. It was the PH govt’s PNP that stormed a village in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, 392 elite forces. No coordination even with the AFP. The PNP only cried for help when their smaller blocking team was trapped until they run out of ammo to fight back.

Here's a good food for thought:

'The source said there had been no encounter between the Army and the MILF since 2010, “which means the MILF is faithful to the peace agreement.”

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669698/dont-blame-the-military?utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=social&utm_source=twitterfeed

No encounter between MILF and AFP for the past 5 years, from 2010, entering the 6th year this year. Peace is possible. No shooting coming from the MILF or from the AFP.

Now enters the SAF. To get Marwan and the $6M or so bounty from the US government, to enforce the rule of law, to make the planet safer, what have you. And shooting has resumed.

6. "How can peace be possible with a group that coddles terrorists"

Five years of no shooting was not peace? It was 5 years of war? Weird.

"coddles terrorists" is a hypothesis. The same way that a statement, "AFP and PNP coddling coup plotters and thieves in their ranks", "Congress coddling plunderers" are also hypothesis, possibly verified theories.

The MNLF has burned bridges with the PH govt a long time ago, they can rampage anytime and they feel they are not breaking any existing peace agreement.

7. That treacherous attack by the SAF, knowing that there was a ceasefire in place, was very wrong...it sabotaged the peace process.

Yes, I agree with this assessment. Confidence building requires building trust with the people you signed officially with to have peace, to stop the shooting from  both sides. For me there  is treachery on the part of  the PNP leadership, or a faction of its leadership, that puts a big dent, big distrust, on the peace agreement.

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See also: 

Criminals 5: One Year of Maguindanao Massacre, November 23, 2010 

Criminals 12: R. Ecleo, A. Ampatuan, J. Reyes, June 02, 2012 

MILF, Fallen 44 and Rule of Law, February 01, 2015

MILF, Fallen 44 and Rule of Law

The Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) assault in Maguindanao province in Mindanao last January 25 without coordination with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was wrong. It should have not been initiated in the first place. A total of 44 elite police officers were killed in that armed encounter with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the MILF. A friend, Prof. Rommel Banlaoi, said that many of those fighters were also members of the Justice for  Islamic Movement (JIM).

Another friend, Jojo Garcia, noted that  "It is Umbra Kato's former command, before he split from the MILF to form the BIFF and continue his jihad. If there is any unit of the MILF still confused as to whether it is a peace partner or radical extremist, it would be this unit."

The peace agreement between the PH government and MILF (brokered and facilitated by the Malaysia government, most  of the peace talks were held in Kuala Lumpur) is only a few months old. Trust and  confidence on  both  sides is not  very high at this time, there are still hang over of small distrust. Confidence building will take years, not just months.

I do NOT and will NOT support a new war in Mindanao. To have peace with MILF, no armed intrusion should be done by the PH government without proper coordination the MILF. 

Now, some people are suggesting that the PNP should have prepared a reinforcement plan from the AFP when it entered that village in Maguindanao province to arrest Marwan, a wanted international terrorist by the US and PH governments  These people are suggesting an expanded war that day. PNP + AFP vs BIFF + MILF. People use "peace" hesitantly because  what they really want is war.

They are concerned with the backlash of the Fallen44. But what about the backlash if the PNP + AFP vs BIFF + MILF, CIM erupted into hundreds of dead combatants and civilians that day? Or expanding for several days? War is war, bullets and bombs do not evade civilians. Once you initiate armed intrusion, expect armed counter-intrusion.

If the PH govt does not trust MILF, then there should have been no peace talks initiated in the first place. Gyera lang ng gyera, barilan at patayan lang forever. Sana ang may gusto nyan, isabaka nila sarili nila.

We support the peace talks and peace agreement because ultimately we want zero armed intrusion by both sides, today and in the future. Now the PH government authorized huge armed intrusion without regard and coordination  with the MILF. 

We have been too deep in this war in Mindanao. Five, six decades of war, still  not enough? Some people want 1 or 2 more decades of war? 

If we have to uphold the rule of law, the PH government can still attempt to get Marwan, Usman, etc militarily -- but in coordination with the MILF. Then it should be a PNP + MILF operation. If it fails to get Marwan, then another attempt in succeeding months. The PH government should learn to respect international agreements and not be a violator of its own rules.

It is true that Marwan and other wanted terrorists can possibly escape if there was prior coordination with MILF. But that is the law, the agreement with MILF is that the AFP or PNP must coordinate with them. The same way that there are thieves and plunderers in govt now, stealing hundreds of milliions, yet we cannot just throw them in jail or burn them alive, there are laws to follow. 

Rule of law, let’s abide by it, not emotionalism or political populism.

Another friend suggested,

"The same Rule of Law also dictated that these terrorists be arrested or neutralised by the government. It can be argued that, coordinating with the MILF would have resulted in the failure of the government to uphold the Rule of Law. The objective here was not to attack the MILF, but to arrest fugitives from justice."

Here is an analogy:

"These thieves and plunderers be arrested or neutralised by the government. It can be argued that, coordinating with these thieves' minions would have resulted in the failure of the government to uphold the Rule of Law and not arrest them. The objective here was not to pin down the minions but to arrest thieves and plunderers."

There are rules to follow always. So another option in order to avoid existing restrictions is to scrap, officially dishonor, the peace agreement with MILF, and PNP-AFP can attack and arrest fugitives in MILF areas anytime anywhere. Is that a good scenario?

Here is another analogy. Suppose a leader has committed serious crimes (murders, rape, cultural destruction, etc.) in an MILF controlled area, then he fled to Davao or Cagayan de Oro, with 1 or 2 dozen armed men to protect him. The MILF wants to get him and his men, send several hundred armed fighters. The peace agreement says that the latter must coordinate with the PH government first and ask to get the said wanted criminal and  his men. 

Assuming that the MILF distrust the PNP or AFP because they think this wanted criminal has many friends at those government armed units. So the MILF would launch a military attack on the wanted criminal and his men without coordination with the AFP or PNP.

I am sure this is unacceptable to many Filipinos. And rightly so.  But the PH government sending 350 armed officers to get a wanted criminal/terrorist withour coordination with the MILF is fine and acceptable?

The MILF has the political jursdiction in ARMM areas and hence, PH government political and military coordination with them is required. Palpak si President Noynoy (PNoy) Aquino dito. He should apologize to the Filipino people, even apologize for breaking the peace agreement.

Rule of law is useful. The law applies equally to unequal people, the law applies to governors and the governed, the administrators and administered. No one is exempted and no one can grant an exemption. The PH govt should never have exempted itself in getting prior coordination with the MILF as stipulated in the peace agreement.

Now, supposed there was no death among SAF officers, government casualty was zero. Did it make the operation without coordination with MILF, AFP, LGUs, justified?

I would still say NO. Disrespect for the peace agreement, dsrespect of political jurisdiction, is wrong. The law applies to the governors and the governed. No one is exempted and no one can give an exemption, even unto itself. 

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See also: 

Criminals 5: One Year of Maguindanao Massacre, November 23, 2010 

Criminals 12: R. Ecleo, A. Ampatuan, J. Reyes, June 02, 2012