Centrist Democracy Political Institute - Items filtered by date: June 2025
Thursday, 09 November 2017 12:35
IS in the Philippines
Part 1 – Genesis of IS
IN the afternoon of May 23, 2017, a joint police and military operation was conducted to serve a warrant of arrest on the terrorist Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), in what was thought to be merely a walk in the park. A heavy firefight ensued. National security adviser Hermogenes Esperon declared that “the AFP was in full control of the situation.” This was echoed by Armed Forces Chief Gen. Eduardo Año. This was not true! The government forces were clueless. That same evening, the IS flag was flying over parts of Marawi, considered the Philippines’ only Islamic city. It was a total failure of intelligence. DU30 cut short his Moscow state visit and declared martial law in the entire island of Mindanao.
Facts intermittently filtered out through the haze of battle. The Maute, a small terrorist group headed by two brothers led a series of attacks upon the failure of government to arrest Hapilon. This was a different ball game being played by the terrorists as they have shifted strategy; from the usual kidnap-for-ransom (KFR), extortion and bombings to an all-out control of territory. The same strategy the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (IS) employed in Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. The Maute and ASG combined under the leadership of Hapilon was to establish a caliphate in Marawi under the “Emir” Hapilon. This is the first major incident that saw the emergence of the IS. It was obvious that they have been preparing for months, digging tunnels between houses and buildings and stocking up on guns, ammunition, logistics and even cash.
The government was caught flatfooted and this exacted a terrible toll. Marawi was devastated almost beyond recognition and would take months if not years to rehabilitate costing billions of pesos: 168 military personnel gave up their lives; thousands of “collateral damage” of dead civilians; and hundreds of thousands more displaced Marawi residents called “bakwit.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby declare Marawi liberated, from the terrorists’ influence that marks the beginning of rehabilitation,” Duterte proclaimed on October 17, the 148th day of the Marawi fighting. This prompted former President PNoy to later gloat, comparing statistics. The Mamasapano encounter, on which Pnoy’s reputation was tattered, lasted 24 hours, exacted 44 lives of the Philippine Special Action Force (SAF) that went in to capture the terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir. No city was obliterated and there was minimal displacement of residents.
Al-Qaida and IS
According to a book co-written by US journalist Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, a Syrian political analyst, the pedigree of IS comes from various strains of faith-based Islamic groups, various terrorist fundamentalists and nationalists of many shades coming from the Levant around the Mediterranean basin.
In the aftermath of al-Qaida’s September 11, 2001 attack on New York’s Twin Towers, America with its NATO allies decided to invade Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden and destroy his al-Qaida network. They failed but toppled the terrorist’s sponsor, the Taliban government. Subsequently, a US-led coalition in 2003 invaded Iraq, the region’s sponsor of terrorist groups, although it was not involved in the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks, under the pretext that it had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the fear that it was going to farm these out to international terrorists like al-Qaida.
After the blitzkrieg invasion, Iraq was tragically managed by the conquering armies. The collapse of the Ba’athist government and the execution of President Saddam Hussein produced a vacuum that precipitated sectarian violence between the minority but politically dominant Sunni (Saddam was a Sunni) and the Shias. Saddam’s disappearance from the scene wreaked havoc on the fragile balance of political accommodation that for years had kept the peace between the two major Islamic strands. In the chaos, various Sunni, Shia and other ethnicities formed sectarian militias principally to protect families, clans and tribal interests against the others. The expulsion of the invading US-led Western “infidels, unbelievers and enemies of Islam” (jihad) was a common goal. But later, the appearance of a deadlier extremist Islamic jihadist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, working in tandem at first with Osama bin Laden, expanded Islamic extremism and reoriented their targets. IS champions Sunni minority in Iraq, the persecuted Sunni majority against the Alawite dictatorship in Syria and the encroachment of Russia, the Gulf States and the US, the Shias in Iran and “Iran’s satrapy in Baghdad.”
IS was bent on the elimination of national boundaries, redrawing the map and bringing back the 13th century idea of the Sunni-led caliphate of an Islamic empire “reaching Spain again and defeat the armies of Rome.” IS spokesman Abu Muhamad al-Adnani declared that killing disbelievers abroad, including Muslims allied with the West or against the Islamic State and salafism (irreconcilability of Islamic Faith with western-style democracy and modernity) are core tenets.
The two founders of these deadly Islamic extremist groups were both assassinated by the Americans; al-Zarqawi in 2006 through an F16 laser- guided 500-lb bomb and Osama bin Laden in 2011 by the Special Forces and Seal Team Six. They are now gone but they have spawned a coterie of zealots, a cancer that could metastasize worldwide by establishing franchises swearing their allegiance to IS.
The swift sacking of Mosul, a province in Iraq of two million, and Raqqa, a predominantly Sunni populated city in Syria, redirected the attention of the jihadists towards IS; which reflected the declining influence of al-Qaida’s brand and the ascendancy of IS. Also, Al-Zarqawi understood the power of the marriage of mass media and horror. Images of public televised beheading became the “de rigueur” in its propaganda and recruitment. These tools of terror were employed to establish a pattern for IS to hold territories and their people; although it held these areas only for three years (2014-2017), IS established a modicum of government administration extending public services and even health care for the remaining citizens. It was in Mosul that al-Zarqawi’s heir, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed the birth of the Caliphate. But deadlier was the influx of foreign jihadists to Mosul and Raqqa to fight for IS. This was perhaps the IS template for future expansion of the Islamic Caliphate.
This loss in IS territories and the marked contraction of the caliphate produced an unintended chilling effect. Foreign jihadists (those from other Muslim countries outside of Iraq and Syria) heeding the call of the caliphate came in droves to train and fight in Iraq and Syria. The highly trained and motivated survivors may now have to use their deadly skills; skills to bomb, maim and kill, where it is needed most. A new battlefield—in a new country.
Among the dead jihadists in Marawi were those from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Chechnya, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia. (Part 2—IS in the Philippines—Marawi aftermath)
IN the afternoon of May 23, 2017, a joint police and military operation was conducted to serve a warrant of arrest on the terrorist Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), in what was thought to be merely a walk in the park. A heavy firefight ensued. National security adviser Hermogenes Esperon declared that “the AFP was in full control of the situation.” This was echoed by Armed Forces Chief Gen. Eduardo Año. This was not true! The government forces were clueless. That same evening, the IS flag was flying over parts of Marawi, considered the Philippines’ only Islamic city. It was a total failure of intelligence. DU30 cut short his Moscow state visit and declared martial law in the entire island of Mindanao.
Facts intermittently filtered out through the haze of battle. The Maute, a small terrorist group headed by two brothers led a series of attacks upon the failure of government to arrest Hapilon. This was a different ball game being played by the terrorists as they have shifted strategy; from the usual kidnap-for-ransom (KFR), extortion and bombings to an all-out control of territory. The same strategy the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (IS) employed in Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria. The Maute and ASG combined under the leadership of Hapilon was to establish a caliphate in Marawi under the “Emir” Hapilon. This is the first major incident that saw the emergence of the IS. It was obvious that they have been preparing for months, digging tunnels between houses and buildings and stocking up on guns, ammunition, logistics and even cash.
The government was caught flatfooted and this exacted a terrible toll. Marawi was devastated almost beyond recognition and would take months if not years to rehabilitate costing billions of pesos: 168 military personnel gave up their lives; thousands of “collateral damage” of dead civilians; and hundreds of thousands more displaced Marawi residents called “bakwit.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby declare Marawi liberated, from the terrorists’ influence that marks the beginning of rehabilitation,” Duterte proclaimed on October 17, the 148th day of the Marawi fighting. This prompted former President PNoy to later gloat, comparing statistics. The Mamasapano encounter, on which Pnoy’s reputation was tattered, lasted 24 hours, exacted 44 lives of the Philippine Special Action Force (SAF) that went in to capture the terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir. No city was obliterated and there was minimal displacement of residents.
Al-Qaida and IS
According to a book co-written by US journalist Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, a Syrian political analyst, the pedigree of IS comes from various strains of faith-based Islamic groups, various terrorist fundamentalists and nationalists of many shades coming from the Levant around the Mediterranean basin.
In the aftermath of al-Qaida’s September 11, 2001 attack on New York’s Twin Towers, America with its NATO allies decided to invade Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden and destroy his al-Qaida network. They failed but toppled the terrorist’s sponsor, the Taliban government. Subsequently, a US-led coalition in 2003 invaded Iraq, the region’s sponsor of terrorist groups, although it was not involved in the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks, under the pretext that it had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the fear that it was going to farm these out to international terrorists like al-Qaida.
After the blitzkrieg invasion, Iraq was tragically managed by the conquering armies. The collapse of the Ba’athist government and the execution of President Saddam Hussein produced a vacuum that precipitated sectarian violence between the minority but politically dominant Sunni (Saddam was a Sunni) and the Shias. Saddam’s disappearance from the scene wreaked havoc on the fragile balance of political accommodation that for years had kept the peace between the two major Islamic strands. In the chaos, various Sunni, Shia and other ethnicities formed sectarian militias principally to protect families, clans and tribal interests against the others. The expulsion of the invading US-led Western “infidels, unbelievers and enemies of Islam” (jihad) was a common goal. But later, the appearance of a deadlier extremist Islamic jihadist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, working in tandem at first with Osama bin Laden, expanded Islamic extremism and reoriented their targets. IS champions Sunni minority in Iraq, the persecuted Sunni majority against the Alawite dictatorship in Syria and the encroachment of Russia, the Gulf States and the US, the Shias in Iran and “Iran’s satrapy in Baghdad.”
IS was bent on the elimination of national boundaries, redrawing the map and bringing back the 13th century idea of the Sunni-led caliphate of an Islamic empire “reaching Spain again and defeat the armies of Rome.” IS spokesman Abu Muhamad al-Adnani declared that killing disbelievers abroad, including Muslims allied with the West or against the Islamic State and salafism (irreconcilability of Islamic Faith with western-style democracy and modernity) are core tenets.
The two founders of these deadly Islamic extremist groups were both assassinated by the Americans; al-Zarqawi in 2006 through an F16 laser- guided 500-lb bomb and Osama bin Laden in 2011 by the Special Forces and Seal Team Six. They are now gone but they have spawned a coterie of zealots, a cancer that could metastasize worldwide by establishing franchises swearing their allegiance to IS.
The swift sacking of Mosul, a province in Iraq of two million, and Raqqa, a predominantly Sunni populated city in Syria, redirected the attention of the jihadists towards IS; which reflected the declining influence of al-Qaida’s brand and the ascendancy of IS. Also, Al-Zarqawi understood the power of the marriage of mass media and horror. Images of public televised beheading became the “de rigueur” in its propaganda and recruitment. These tools of terror were employed to establish a pattern for IS to hold territories and their people; although it held these areas only for three years (2014-2017), IS established a modicum of government administration extending public services and even health care for the remaining citizens. It was in Mosul that al-Zarqawi’s heir, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed the birth of the Caliphate. But deadlier was the influx of foreign jihadists to Mosul and Raqqa to fight for IS. This was perhaps the IS template for future expansion of the Islamic Caliphate.
This loss in IS territories and the marked contraction of the caliphate produced an unintended chilling effect. Foreign jihadists (those from other Muslim countries outside of Iraq and Syria) heeding the call of the caliphate came in droves to train and fight in Iraq and Syria. The highly trained and motivated survivors may now have to use their deadly skills; skills to bomb, maim and kill, where it is needed most. A new battlefield—in a new country.
Among the dead jihadists in Marawi were those from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Chechnya, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia. (Part 2—IS in the Philippines—Marawi aftermath)
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LML Polettiques
Tuesday, 07 November 2017 09:57
Davao’s P7.8-B annual budget up on 2nd reading
DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Council committee on Finance, Ways and Means is ready to deliberate on second reading the proposed P7.8 billion budget of the city government for 2018.
“The committee will favorably endorse the budget,” said Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, chair of the Committee of City Council Committee on Finance, as his committee already finished conducting hearings.
He expected the annual budget for 2018 will further address the social services of the city government and programs under the 10-point development agenda of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Before that, Dayanghirang said the city council needs to approve the city’s Annual Implementing Plan and Local Development and Investment Plan, which is a menu of projects for the next three years.
“We can’t put the budget without the investment plan,” according to Dayanghirang.
He said 20 percent of the annual implementing plan will be allocated to the different projects of the executive departments.
Davao City is one of the billionaire cities in the Philippines.
This year, the city has annual budget of P6.9 billion, reflecting an increase of 10.2 percent from 2016 with P6.3 billion. In 2014, the city’s annual budget was P5.1 billion and increased to P5.8 billion in 2015.
Dayanghirang said the city council has yet to tackle two supplemental budgets before the year ends. He is not sure though how much the two supplemental budgets amount.
Like in 2017, the city’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national coffers will remain the top source of the city’s budget. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
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Tuesday, 07 November 2017 09:35
Human rights to be a 'big subject' at ASEAN Summit —Palace official
Human rights will be a "big subject" at the approaching Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit next week, a Malacañang official said Tuesday.
“Mapag-uusapan 'yan, under the leadership of the DSWD. In fact, meron tayong agreement na mapipirmahan ng ating mga leader, ito yung consensus on the human rights of migrant workers around ASEAN,” said Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan in an interview on Unang Balita.
"Human rights will be a big subject during the ASEAN meetings," he said.
This, despite the attitude of President Rodrigo Duterte towards human rights, something local and international groups have criticized him for.
The Philippine government's respect for human rights has been put in question due to the killings associated with Duterte's war on drugs.
Ablan said the administration is hopeful the bilateral relationships between the Philippines and the United States will take a turn for the better.
Duterte-Trump meet
US President Donald Trump will attend the meetings next week and is expected to hold a bilateral discussion with Duterte.
“We are very optimistic sa kalalabasan ng agreement between the Philippines and the United States,” said Ablan.
He said Duterte and Trump could talk about “everything under the sun” in their one-on-one meeting, ranging from political security, economic and sociocultural topics.
“Tingin ko positibo ang direksyon ng kanilang...kung saan pupunta ang Amerika at Pilipinas under the Trump and Duterte administration dahil they will participate fully during the three-day ASEAN Summit,” he said.
Trump is also expected to attend the East Asia Summit, after initially cancelling his participation to the event due to a scheduling issue.
Other topics that could be discussed by the world leaders in the Summit are trade agreements and even the territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
Ablan said Philippine officials are doing their best to promote equality in terms of trade agreements in the ASEAN region, citing a “homecourt advantage.”
“Sinisikap ng head of the economic cluster—si DTI Secretary Lopez—na gawing patas ang mga trade agreements, he said.
“That’s the reason why maganda na meron tayong homecourt advantage dahil lahat ng mga miyembro ng ating economic committee ay talagang pinupursige na dapat iyong mga bilateral agreements between our economic partners as well as our member states are equal amongst members,” he added.
Benefits of ASEAN Summit
But how can the ordinary Filipino benefit from the ASEAN Summit?
Ablan said traders—those in hotel and car rental industries, for example—have seen increased business due to the several ASEAN meetings held in the country throughout the year.
Students can enjoy educational forums in different parts of the country, he added.
Ablan also claimed travel and goods between and among the ASEAN countries have dropped in price due to agreements reached in meetings such as the series that will occur next week.
A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies released in April this year said Filipinos are “moderately familiar” of the ASEAN and “modestly identify” as ASEAN citizens.
The ASEAN is composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. —Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/ALG, GMA News
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Monday, 06 November 2017 10:54
Malaysian terrorist Amin Baco is the new ISIS emir —PNP chief dela Rosa
Malaysian terrorist Amin Baco is the new emir of ISIS in Southeast Asia, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said Monday.
Dela Rosa said this was the information they got from arrested Indonesian terrorist Mohammad Ilham Syahputra.
“We received report na si Amin Baco na ang pumalit kay Isnilon Hapilon. Malaysian terrorist. E pwedeng umalis na sila dito,” he said in a press conference where he presented Syahputra.
“Si Amin Baco, leader hindi lang sa remaining Maute but as an emir of Southeast Asia ISIS,” he added.
He said Syahputra admitted that he was with Baco when they attacked Piagapo in Lanao del Sur.
Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez Jr, head of PNP Directorate for Operations, said Baco was one of the longest staying terrorists in the country.
“Nu'ng andun si Marwan (Zulkifli bin Hir) sa Lanao, andun siya (Baco). Sa Mamasapano andun din siya nakatira pero malayo lang siya sa pwesto ni Marwan,” he said. —KG, GMA News
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Thursday, 02 November 2017 08:44
To revgov or not to revgov
I AM ambivalent and uncomfortable with this idea of revolutionary government (revgov), having lived through one earlier in my career as a political technocrat; and whose effects have resonated negatively on the body politic even to this day. I’m afraid this could be another formula for disaster. Nothing less than the devil’s journey to perdition.
I am, however, conversant with the compelling arguments in favor of revgov. On one hand, the Deegong is running out of time on his campaign promises; that of dismantling or at least arresting the unyielding grip by the oligarchy on the economic lifeblood of the country that perforce leads to the seizure of the political levers of power. On the other is his perception that the tools granted him under the 1987 Constitution are too restrictive for one whose experience in governance thus far is to act impetuously ignoring the legal niceties.
And more importantly, his exasperation with the traditional republican democratic concepts of check and balance by Congress, many of whom are subservient to those that financed their assumption to power – the business interests and the oligarchy.
DU30 has been psyched by his sycophants that these arguments are enough to take a possible shortcut from the democratic processes and plunge the country into the unknown.
I sympathize with the frustrations of today’s young and the millennials on the slow pace of change– as the Deegong promised during his election campaign. After decades of stasis, Filipinos expect quick and immediate gratification from a populist leader. We had similar frustrations as “parliamentarians of the streets” during the Marcos regime and the subsequent short-lived revolutionary government of President Cory. But the conditions during those times compared with Deegong’s are both different, and paradoxically, similar.
In his book, “The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand Marcos,” William H. Overholt wrote: “Marcos introduced a series of wide-ranging reforms aimed at enhancing economic growth and social equality. He made huge investments to expand the nation’s infrastructure. He improved the laws on taxation and investment, reorganized the management of foreign investment rules, and promised to attract foreign investments and promote exports rather than persisting with import substitution.” Marcos’ early image was that of the benevolent strongman.
Furthermore, “[t]hrough various means, Marcos destroyed most of the old landed oligarchy that had dominated Philippine economic and social life since Spanish times. Marcos also reduced the Philippines’ traditional discrimination against its Chinese minority by providing them greatly increased access to formal citizenship and to participation in sectors of the economy formerly closed to them.”
Marcos, an elected two-term president, had the time to accomplish this. With the genius of foresight, he put in place the infrastructure for his eventual authoritarian rule. He dismantled decades-old political parties and established his ruling Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). He clamped down on the press and the media. He emasculated the old oligarchy but replaced it with his own cronies. More importantly, he seeded the military with his handpicked men that allowed him to unleash his dogs of war from the barracks when he declared martial law.
But Filipinos’ early support for him eventually dissipated, exacerbated by his family’s extravagance and his minions’ abuse of power. Lord John Dalberg-Acton’s admonition caught up with him: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
We helped usher in the Cory regime and booted Marcos out but along the way, the chameleon-like oligarchy simply changed colors. But the greater tragedy, looking back now with 20/20 hindsight, was that the revolutionary government, a gift by the people at EDSA, was rejected by Cory. Instead, she reverted to the creation of the 1987 Constitution, one which allowed the rejuvenation of the oligarchy and its continued hold on the country. Furthermore, the same systemic anomalies were embedded in the same traditional political dynamics similar to the pre- Marcos years.
In contrast to Marcos’ regime of almost two decades, PRRD has had only 15 months in office, although he has been flexing his muscles and practicing how to use his tools against the oligarchy (Bobby Ongpin, Lucio Tan, Rufino-Prieto and Mighty Cigarette capitulations, etc.). And his biggest weapon in his armory is the claimed support of the populace, the ordinary folk, the disenfranchised of society. But for how long can he hold on to them?
By definition, a revolutionary government is a “repudiation or overthrow of an established government by the governed; a radical and pervasive change in the social/political order, oftentimes accompanied by violence”(Wikipedia). But the Deegong already heads the established government. The PDP Laban, his political party has virtual control of the two houses of Congress. But the recent recalcitrance of the legislature, especially the Senate, may derail PRRD’s plan for charter revisions. Unless Senate President Koko Pimentel and Speaker Bebot Alvarez, his party lieutenants, deliver, they could sink PRRD’s agenda. Then the Deegong may be forced to play his last hand and declare a “coup d’etat on his own government,” castrating both houses of Congress.
But what would be his mechanism for a revgov declaration? “Vox populi, vox Dei,” this romantic principle is simply that – romantic, untranslated in the Constitution. He took out of the table the martial law option as this is limited and strictly defined and DU30 denigrates congressional review. Does he have the military holding his back? But more importantly, to get the majority of the people to buy into his revgov, can he convince the multitudes and guarantee the following:
– The elimination or at least weakening substantially the hold of the oligarchy on the economic and political levers of power;
– The critical and immediate reform of political parties differentiating them by platform of governance based on a set of ideology and penalizing “political turncoatism”;
– Enforce transparent mechanisms providing and regulating campaign financing to eliminate corruption and patronage, and implement a system of public financing for electoral exercises removing dependence of candidates on big contributors;
– The elimination of political dynasties (including his own family) through a self- executory provision in the Constitution; and
– All of these done through a systemic change beginning with the immediate revision of the1987 Constitution and putting in place a unicameral parliamentary and federal system of government.
If DU30 can pull this revgov off, there is the truism that nothing beats success like success. Then the words of the ancient Chinese politician Wen Jiao will come into play: “How do you dismount from the back of a tiger?”
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Monday, 30 October 2017 10:25
Duterte: I will deal with Trump in the ‘most righteous way
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday vowed to talk to US President Donald Trump in the "most righteous way" during the possible bilateral meeting between the two leaders in November.
"I would deal with US President Trump in the most righteous way, welcome him as an important leader. As a matter of fact, the most important leader on this side of the planet and I would have to listen to him, what he has to say," Duterte told reporters before leaving for Japan.
"We move our mouths in the same cadence, for example like declaring a national emergency regarding the drug issue," he added.
The Philippines and the US government have been working to set up a bilateral meeting between the two presidents during Trump's visit to the country for the Special Gala Celebration of the 50th anniversary of Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) on November 12 and the ASEAN-US Summit on November 13.
Duterte said he would also tackle with his US counterpart the following issues: terrorism, cooperation between the two countries and fight against illegal drugs.
North Korea
Duterte also pointed out that the most important matter he would discuss with Trump is the issue on North Korea.
"We are worried, all of us... that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. I'm sure that we can agree," Duterte said.
"Nuclear war is totally unacceptable for anybody. Somebody has to talk to Kim Jong Un.
"All leaders agree that he is a dangerous man. You must remember that he is a leader of his people. Whether or not, whatever he proclaims himself to be, somebody has to talk to him. It would be good if America, Japan and Korea and Mr. Kim Jong Un to talk... to convince him to sit down in a round table," Duterte said.
Duterte said China has the capacity to calm Kim Jong Un.
"Just to assure him that nobody is after you," Duterte added. "Nobody is talking to him, I don't know about China... but the one single country that can calm him down, China."
Duterte has been very vocal against the North Korean leader and his tendencies to trigger a nuclear war among other nations. — BM, GMA News
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Friday, 27 October 2017 12:57
Palace says LP is afraid of its own ghost
Thee Liberal Party (LP) is only “afraid of its own ghost” after accusing the Duterte administration as behind the testimony of self-confessed bagman Ricky Serenio implicating LP stalwarts in the illegal drug trade.
Serenio had earlier identified LP officials Sen. Franklin Drilon and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as drug protectors of slain drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr.
“The administration has nothing to do with the testimony of a drug cartel bagman Mr. Ricky Sereno implicating Sen. Franklin Drilon and Former Sec. Mar Roxas as to the illegal drug trades in the Visayas,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement read by Assistant to the Presidential Spokesperson China Jocaon during a Palace briefing.
On Thursday, the LP said the allegations against Drilon and Roxas proved the government’s “all-out attempt to demonize LP” and to “divert attention from pressing issues.”
Instead of “swallowing the words of the so-called bagman and wasting time on this new controversy,” the LP said the Duterte government could just better use its time investigating and finding those behind the P6.4-billion shabu shipment from China that slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
But Malacañang lashed back at the former ruling party.
“The Liberal Party is afraid of its own ghost after conducting several witch hunt investigations against their perceived political enemies when they were in power,” Abella said. /jpv
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Friday, 27 October 2017 11:42
San Miguel donates P330-M for kin of soldiers, cops slain in Marawi
MANILA — The San Miguel Foundation, Inc. (SMFI) formally turned over PHP330 million worth of livelihood assistance to the families of slain policemen and soldiers in Marawi to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday.
The money is intended to alleviate the plight of the families and loved ones of the 165 soldiers and police officers killed in the five-month battle to retake Marawi City from the clutches of the Maute Group terrorists.
Each beneficiary of the livelihood program are given PHP2 million business startup, and they can select business package from Petron, Kambal Pandesal, BMEG Feeds, Distributorship, TJ Hotdog, Monterey Meat Shop and San Miguel Food Avenue franchise.
Present during the handover ceremonies were SMFI president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang and then outgoing AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Año.
“We thank you for defending our country, Marawi is free and our country is much safer. But as we celebrate this victory, we are also mourning,” Ang added.
“The San Miguel Corporation extends PHP330 million to (the families of) 165 soldiers and policemen killed-in-action capital for business assistance, it is the best way we can honor them. We can never replace them nor repay them for their sacrifice, but we can honor them and help fulfill their dream of better lives for their families,” he emphasized.
Fighting in Marawi City started when government troops tried to arrest Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon and his cohorts last May 23.
“To the AFP, the entire nation is truly proud of you,” the SMFI president added.
While no amount of money can compensate families for the lost of a loved one, Año said the generosity of SMFI will greatly ease the burden on the families.
“We will make sure that we will help them as you helped them rebuild their lives. We cannot thank you enough, the whole AFP appreciates your effort,” he added.
San Miguel Corporation will also conduct Financial Literacy Training and Start-up Business Seminar Turnover ceremonies took place at the Del Pilar Lounge, General Headquarters Grandstand, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Thursday afternoon. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
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Friday, 27 October 2017 09:00
Moro group wants jobs, housing for Marawi folk
“The key is the direct participation of the people in the rebuilding of Marawi,” said Drieza Lininding, chair of the civil society organization Moro Consensus Group.
At least 240,000 individuals fled Marawi when Islamic State-inspired militants went on a rampage last May 23.
Five months after the siege, most of the city’s commercial areas are in ruins. Even the relatively well-off families have been reduced to being internally displaced persons (IDPs), dependent on aid from government agencies and private aid groups.
Lininding said the IDPs of Marawi must have a say in government-led efforts to help them get back on their feet, even as they were raring to move back to their communities in Marawi.
For instance, instead of requiring IDPs to live in transitional shelters, Lininding said it would be best if the government could give them direct financial assistance so they could rebuild their houses as soon as possible.
Lininding said that the amount of financial aid each family could get should be based on the assessed damage to their properties.
This way, the IDPs can restart their lives and, at the same time, the government will have more time to focus on the construction of damaged public infrastructures such as roads, schools and other structures, he said.
“Give them the money and let them build their own homes,” Lininding said.
He pointed out that the temporary shelters were not practical since the IDPs had to go back to the city proper to find work or ply their trade.
He said the sooner the displaced Maranaos could go back to Marawi, the faster the city could return to normalcy.
According to Lininding, IDPs also needed capital to restart their businesses and once the government begins to allocate funds to start their businesses, Marawi will slowly spring back to life.
“If it takes 50 years to rebuild Marawi, give the people capital for the businesses, and its recovery period will be cut short,” he said, responding to architect Felino Palafox Jr.’s rather somber projection that it would take 70 years to restore Marawi to its old grandeur.
Lininding doubted whether it would take that long to rebuild the city since Maranaos—traditionally traders—could be expected to reestablish trade and commerce in Marawi in just three to five years.
Lininding said the Marawi planners should be more concerned with providing capital to the IDPs, who said they wanted to return to their places of origin so they could start life anew.—JIGGER JERUSALEM
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/940944/moro-group-wants-jobs-housing-for-marawi-folk#ixzz4wfPuRBFE
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Thursday, 26 October 2017 12:33
Task Force to help solve infra process gaps – NEDA
MANILA–An inter-agency task force was recently created to set in motion policies and processes to address bottlenecks and gaps in the country’s infrastructure development, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
In a keynote speech on Tuesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the Project Facilitation, Monitoring and Innovation (PFMI) Task Force, composed of economic and major infrastructure agencies, functions as a body that will institute policies and processes to address issues in the project cycle of the Infrastructure Flagship Projects.
The PFMI Task Force’s Steering Committee is composed of NEDA as chair, the Department of Finance as co-chair, Department of Budget and Management, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation, and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
The Secretary also reported that NEDA is discussing with oversight and key implementing agencies the enhancement of the NEDA Board and Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) Project Screening Guidelines.
“As part of a more efficient planning and programming process of the government, programs, activities, and projects for inclusion in the country’s Public Investment Program must be examined early on and screened through a more rational and methodical process,” Pernia said.
He further said that the final version of the guidelines would help the government identify the appropriate procurement modality that is favorable to both the government and the public.
The guidelines will help government address, minimize, if not totally avoid, issues in implementing projects that can be attributed to poor project planning and programming.
Moreover, Pernia underscored the need to amend the Philippine’s two-decade-old Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law and its implementing rules and regulations.
“(It is) among our priority regulations, so as to raise the efficacy of private sector participation and to keep policies attuned to the changing business environment,” he added.
Among the proposed amendments to the BOT Law are: (1) the inclusion of new variants for contractual agreements such as joint ventures; (2) adoption of new approaches on unsolicited proposals to ensure transparency and competition, without sacrificing speed; (3) exemption from payment of real property tax for Projects of National Significance; and (4) other measures to further improve the PPP procurement process.
Pernia delivered his speech at the 3rd Asian Public Governance Forum on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and 4th Regional Policy Network on PPPs, Infrastructure and Connectivity at the Manila Peninsula Hotel on October 24, 2017. The event was organized by the Public-Private Partnership Center and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. | NEDA-PR
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