Waiting For The Basilan Fact Finding Committee
Politics was definitely a factor in the delay on the serving of the arrest warrants for the Basilan Attack. The ASEAN MINISTERIAL MEETING WAS taking place, how bad would it have looked if at the same time, there was an all out war within a region of The Philippines, clearly The Philippines would have been highlighted in the Asian Media. But the ASEAN MINISTERIAL meeting is but one of the reasons, I believe, that there has been a lack of swift action against the terrorists in Basilan.
In her State of the Nation Address, Gloria proudly touted that she would rather be right than be popular. That may be so when it comes to her own people, but not when it comes to other leaders of the ASEAN, and that’s definitely not so when it comes to international media. Popular is what she craves in the international arena, while she probably doesn’t give a damn to what her own people say about her.
Thus, I believe, we have had a lack of action with regards to the Basilan Attacks.
Was it a coincidence that the impending Basilan War was delayed, then delayed once more, just in time for the ASEAN MINISTERIAL MEETINGS?
These are not coincidences, believe me. No matter what this administration will try to tell everyone, each and every decision is made with politics in mind.
With this decision, she was neither right, nor popular. The investigations into the attacks have already pointed to local politicians, Abu Sayyaf, and even elements in the MILF. All these characters seems to have been in collusion with each other or maybe independent of each other. But whatever the case, I think that a fact finding committee that involves the MILF doesn’t make sense. The MILF was involved in the attacks, and yet they will also be part of the fact finding committee.
I wonder if this committee is for fact finding OR fact hiding?
Whatever the situation, since they have taken this long, the suspects may already be far far away. And whatever the situation, if the search for these scumbags do push through, will the information and the intelligence be reliable? Can we trust this fact finding committee, and entrust that with this information, our military won’t once again be fed to the wolves?
There are many aspects to the Tipo Tipo Basilan investigations and the lack of action thereof. Local Politics, national politics, and even international politics are playing a big part. And what’s even more scary is that the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf are in the thick of this situation.
tags: (none)
Nick,
“Was it a coincidence that the impending Basilan War was delayed, then delayed once more, just in time for the ASEAN MINISTERIAL MEETINGS?”
Perhaps so! The best gauge is when those ministers are gone - will it be teka teka again?
My position on the issue of the MILF is simple: no parallel army; talks are cheap; time to get cracking.
@ADB, excellent excellent point. As always, actions are far more substantive than mere words.
You must be in the cross-hairs of the Palace vipers. How else would you explain the laconic pop-up warning to use another email address whenever I try to link to your access form (from my own email)?