TURNING THE BANGSAMORO REGION INTO A POLITICO-MILITARY COMPLEX

A professor in International Relations once told me, “The first rule in international relations is, ‘take care of your own backyard first.’”* Therefore, so long as the Muslim Rebellion (and the communist rebellion by extension) exists in our own backyard, we will never look credible in the eyes of another country and we will continue to be “bullied” by savvier players like China and Malaysia.

In an earlier piece, The massacre of the  PNP-SAF as an affront to our sovereignty, I took the seemingly unpopular stand of going to war:

There must be retaliation from the government forces. The present administration is treating the MILF with kid’s gloves, giving in to demands from known terrorists. We must negotiate from a position of power: wipe-out several camps and decapitate its leadership--leave them powerless.

Now, “all-out-war” seems to be the stand that the government is taking as regards to the breakaway faction, BIFF. My hope is that the war will escalate to cover other [terrorist] groups, the Abu Sayaff, the “fallen-from-grace” MNLF, JI, ISIS and of course, the MILF. I say this because, I assert that true peace can never be had with groups like these -- you can have peace with one or maybe two, but those dissatisfied with the “Government’s peace”, will just form another breakaway faction and continue the rebellion. This is what the BIFF is doing and what the MILF did before that.

In this article, I seek to answer two very important questions that should follow the defeat of these terrorist elements:

1. How would the fighting make the Philippines stronger in the eyes of the International Community?

2. How to win the hearts and minds of the people one the fighting is done?

The answer should be simple, bring development and keep the peace in the area. This means, food, jobs, shelter, access to credit, electricity and all the appurtenances of a decent living.

Credibility before the international community

As I mentioned at the start of this article, nothing will bring respect in the international community more than being able to take care of the problems in your own backyard.

I will argue that after all the fighting is done, the grounds that were once MILF/BIFF and other terrorist group strongholds should be turned into military bases, research facilities, Military schools, stockpiles and if possible, new communities.

Rebel Camps and our Weakness

As we all know, Philippine military might is less than ideal. I even argued in my earlier piece that if there is no retaliation for the #fallen44, our enemies are going to take notice of our weakness. Indeed, this may be the case because the Chinese Coast Guard seems to be bullying our fishermen again and blatatly constructing facilities in our territory. This is something I believe the Chinese will not do if they think that the Filipino military is simply competent in dealing with its external and internal affairs. i.e. if we cannot deal with a bunch of bandits in our southern isles, how then can we fight against Chinese aggression? Inaction and weakness will only embolden our enemies. Indeed, I don’t see Vietnam or Malaysia having the same problems with the Chinese.

The symbol of Philippine defiance against China, and the full extent of our military capabilities

Indeed, a Country’s martial and political credibility often depend on being able to “project military strength hundreds of miles from their home bases, both internally and externally”.

Yes, I know that there is a Constitutional prohibition against war, but there are many ways around that insofar as there is a perceived threat to the territorial integrity of the country.

Bringing the blessings of peace to the Bangsamoro

In answering the question, “how to win the hearts and minds of the people”, I propose concentrating political power in the South and the conversion of the symbolic capital of the MILF, Camp Abubakar, into a fine new Capital City for the Philippines.

Is concentrating power in Mindanao a good idea? Yes, I believe so. Right now, the threat country’s biggest threat is China, which lies in the northeast, any invasion or attack would be concentrated in Manila/Luzon -- the most prosperous region in the country. But with the government holed up in Mindanao, we will still be able to mount effective and coordinated resistance. This is our Dschungelfestung where we can conserve our forces and mount a defense in-depth.

To make this work though, a lot of the work has to be done in secret, it is preferred that each camp should be a fortress of its own, with lots of underground tunnels and pillboxes which would make a direct assault foolhardy. If possible, each camp could be interconnected with one another in order to provide a network of support and intelligence.

What of Camp Abubakar?

Camp Abubakar was the MILF Headquarters and an important base of operations. It was a major prize during the government offensive.

Froilan Gallardo, back in 2010, writes:

Camp Abubakar was more than a military camp. MILF top leaders, Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and the late Salamat Hashim had their offices there. Murad, who was then MILF military chief, held office in Barangay Sarmiento, Matanog town while Salamat, the MILF chair, resided in a small bungalow inside Camp Abubakar itself.

Camp Abubakar is now a Military Base

(Source: www.mindanews.com)

(see also: Camp Abubakar, Former MILF Stronghold eyed as Ammo Camp)

According to Joe America, an American blogger residing in the Philippines envisions a progressive Mindanao which is likened to the West Coast of the United States, versus the Luzon-as-East Coast analogy. He writes:

Mindanao will be like Los Angeles of the 1950’s compared to Manila’s land-locked, vertical New York. Mindanao will be an explosive, expansive, fast-growing region, with Davao City as the new heartland of a producing Philippines. Six-lane expressways will connect the four large cities of Davao, Cagayan De Oro, General Santos City and Zamboanga. Commuter train tracks and communications cables will run down the center medium. Major port improvements will be made in both Cagayan de Oro and General Santos City. Davao’s airport will be reconfigured as an international gateway to the Philippines. A nuclear power plant will be built on the southeast coast.

Manufacturing centers will be seeded in Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos. A part of the impetus will come from the establishment of a Philippine military industrial center to build boats, land vehicles and weapons on Philippine soil. Another part will come from incentives: 100% foreign ownership of plants within designated industrial parks, tax breaks, and ease-of-doing-business rules that end layers of red tape. A third part will come by moving manufacturing plants out of Manila.

I agree with his vision. I think that having the central government closer to this rich and promising land will promote growth in the region in order to accomplish this vision.

The symbolic capital of the MILF’s resistance, Camp Abubakar, would make a fine new Capital City for the Philippines. While still retaining fortifications and housing large numbers of troops, it can make a credible capital city for an administration with the right vision and concern for development.

* Dr. Klaus Zeller, former Ambassador of Germany to the Philippines.

CRITICS OUT TO ERODE PNOY’S ENDORSEMENT POWER

A PREPOSTEROUS ALLEGATION

It is nearly 2016 and in spite of the popularity of movements like One More Term for PNOY, the rule of the second Aquino Presidency will inevitably end. Because of this, many frustrated PNoy supporters are just calling for an end to the criticisms and calls for resignation and to just “wait” for the President’s term to come to an end.

This President is not known for savviness and indeed he may be considered Genre Blind the way he behaves so predictably - refusing to take responsibility for anything and continually blaming past administrations for his shortcomings, at the same time invoking the saintliness of his past and his cause.

According to a March 24, report of the Philippine Star, the President claims that the reason why he is still being criticized is because his enemies want to diminish his endorsement capability. (Read the full report: Noy: Critics out to erode my endorsement power)

“Aquino said a lot has changed since he took over, and he could not help but ask why he remains a target of criticisms when he is not a candidate in 2016”

According to the President:

“The answer to that is simple: If I am able to do good and maybe our critics acknowledge this, naturally, if we endorse (a candidate), it will have importance”

Well thanks for the lesson Capt. Obvious. I’d say that PNoy is only trying to distract us from the real issue of his performance.

Why the President’s Endorsement is Irrelevant

The big problem is that candidates shouldn't be about one person's “brand” - that he shouldn’t be voted for simply on the recommendation of a celebrity or a public figure - they aren’t a product that someone has tried and will recommend.

We must not forget that a prospective candidate has their own brains, their own mouths. A person should be elected on his own merits, rather than because he/she was endorsed or by what the party he's running under stands for. This fact seems to have escaped our President and the entire electorate for that matter.

This is an obsession stemming from the fact that we are such a star-struck and ignorant people. We are too obsessed with celebrity endorsements that we fail to see how irrelevant this is to the actual issue of a sitting President’s performane.

Kuya Noynoy

To think that criticisms levelled against one is intended to prevent deserving people from getting elected is simply preposterous. It shows the mental state of the person elevated to the highest position in the land.

Rather than be concerned about his “endorsement ability”, the President should be concerned with his own credibility and leadership ability. Will the President continue on with his “lame duck” track or will he try to maximize his last year in office?

Endorsements are Important in a Party System Stupid!

Let me point out that the President was referring to a personal endorsement of a candidate. He is worried about tainting the next Liberal Party candidate and ruining his chances to win the 2016 elections. This was pretty much what happened to Gilbert Teodoro, whose endorsement by the reviled outgoing President Arroyo was widely regarded as the “kiss of death” for an otherwise qualified candidate.

Gilbert Teodoro: regarded as qualified, yet tainted

(source: www.wn.com)

Nevertheless, this should serve as a warning that endorsements should not matter at all. In a progressive society, we should look at the candidate’s (or his party’s) platform and track record. Endorsements should merely be regarded as a side-show.

Clearly, the President seems to be clutching at straws with this one.

MALACAÑANG GOING MAD OVER MAMASAPANO

Repost from Atty. Batas Mauricio

MALACANANG GOING MAD OVER MAMASAPANO: Truly, there is nothing that is truer (or, maybe, more true) than the saying “whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make them mad.” And that is what appears to be  happening to Malacanang right now, in connection with its frenzied efforts to take any blame away from President Aquino for the brutal killing of 44 officers and men of the Special Action Force in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

           

First, when this incident first broke out, President Aquino and the entire propaganda machinery of the Office of the President lost no time in defending and taking up the cudgels for the conceded long-running best friend of the Chief Executive, former Philippine National Police chief Gen. Alan Purisima, to absolve the police official of any liability for the Mamasapano operation.

           

Yet, when it appeared all too clear that the President can be held liable for the killing of the SAF commandos because he entrusted the execution of the Mamasapano operation to Purisima, Malacanang made an unthinkable 360-degree turn around by recanting its support for the President’s once most-trusted ally and, without any remorse or compunction and without any regard for their past long-standing friendship, is even directly accusing him now of lying.

                                                         

  -ooo-

           

PNOY OFFICIALS TO BLAME FOR MAMASAPANO: PURISIMA: Faced with this predicament of his once-totally-loyal friend and benefactor now trying to pin him down so that he himself can escape retribution, a totally-bewildered Purisima could have done nothing better than to chose to do the next best thing for him: come out openly and refute the President’s accusation that he, Purisima, lied and that, if anyone is to be blamed for the Mamasapano fiasco, it should be the President’s security officials.

           

In a statement released by his lawyer, General Purisima clarified that he was not remiss in informing the President as early as 5 a.m. or so on January 25, 2015, that the SAF operatives who were sent to Mamasapano to arrest or kill terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir or Marwan, were already engaged in fighting the enemy.

           

Purisima explained, in so many words in his statement, that the President’s security officials, which included Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Catapang and PNP OIC chief Gen. Leonardo Espina, should have be the ones that must be blamed if the SAF troopers were massacred en masse because, at that time, they were already in contact with military and police ground commanders who knew what was happening.

                                                           

-ooo-

           

PURISIMA MUST NOW TELL THE TRUTH: Obviously, President Aquino and the entire Office of the President, including Aquino’s defense and police authorities, did not like Purisima’s clarifications and counter-accusations that they were the ones to blame if there was a great number of casualties on government side on January 25, 2015. So, they have launched a campaign not only to discredit Purisima now, but to make him the escape goat in all these.

           

This is of course crazy and those pushing it must have gone mad. By hitting Purisima and putting the sole blame for the Mamasapano debacle on him, they are not just putting him on the spot. They are in fact compelling him to fight back, with the only weapon that could really clear him: the truth about who ordered the Mamapasano operation, and who actually directed it all throughout.

           

I am therefore expecting Purisima to come clean over this unfortunate incident in our nation’s history in the next few days. If he has any sense of truth and fairness left in him at this point, the only honorable way for him now is to tell the people the truth about the Mamasapano Marwan operation. Indeed, the truth shall set us all free!

                                                           

-ooo-

REACTIONS? Please call me at +63 917 984 24 68, +63 918 574 0193, +63 922 833 43 96, or Skype (batasmauricio), Viber (+63 918 574 0193) and Line (+63 917 984 24 68). Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com, melaniolazomauriciojr@outlook.com, mmauriciojr111@gmail.com.

WHY STUDENTS SHOULD PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

INSTEAD OF WASTING TODAY

“One day, I want to be a very successful and rich person!” or “I’ll set up a business someday…”

Sound familiar?  One hears this all the time:  from our classmates, friends, and relatives.  But if they ask them if they have an action plan to achieve their vision, would they give you an intelligent answer?  They will probably tell you bluntly, “Wala eh next time na ‘yon.” That is when one sees the importance of having a plan especially for aspiring business people (which in the long run include just about everyone as it is probably safe to say that we will all dabble into some kind of ‘racket’ someday) and hopefully to inspire them to start coming up with plans for the future starting today.  I just want to put this in the context of current advances in technology and business.  I’ll also give a couple of caveats in that the reader may get the right idea from these generalizations.

The Old Plan

Often, our plan would be the same plan our parents have given us since the beginning of the industrial age:  “Child, study hard, get good grades, then get a good job with a high salary and lots of benefits.  After that save hard and you’ll be successful.”  Does it sound logical?  For bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki, this is not a very logical path as following this may drive you into a circle of work with no chance of advancement.  Kiyosaki calls this a ‘rat race’.  Definitely, if we follow this plan to the letter, we would run out of options before long.

Robert Kiyosaki, Financial Guru and Bestselling Author

Saving money in a savings account is hardly a more effective option.  Normally banks charge 1% interest, but just look at the country’s 6% inflation rate plus 12% e-vat, making saving in the bank a losing proposition. Your money will rot sit there and not be of use to you. (Can you even trust financial institutions with your money?  Maybe they will lose all their assets after a minor scandal and close down.  It makes you wonder if it is better to just keep your savings under a pillow, does it not?)

Some plan to get a job first and gain all the necessary experience there first and money to start a business.  This may work if one is really single-minded in the pursuit of a business.  But the work may drain a person and make them lose sight of the goal.  Business thus becomes some dream rather than a means to achieving another dream (i.e. a financially secure life to be spent with loved ones). Thus, business becomes their end rather the means to achieve their dreams. Unfortunately, one cannot get all the experience one needs to achieve his ‘dreams’ (whatever they may be) through a job alone for a job teaches one to be an employee not as an entrepreneur. They were to be ordinary not to become extraordinary but little do they know that being ordinary is not normal. In short their mindset is just to survive not to excel.

The old plan was made for the industrial age, today is the industrial age.  The dynamics of livelihood are definitely changing so following the old plan is not going to give one an edge in business.  So one will have to come up with another plan to avoid getting trapped in such a rat race.  Unfortunately, there is no ‘new plan’ although the elements are just beginning to come together.  Many business people, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are two of them, advocate that people will definitely have to start using their heads more often, hard work is often not going to be enough.  Paul Zane Pilzer, former economics adviser to Bill Clinton, would also say that business is moving away from just providing gods and services to providing information to consumers.  So the time will really be demanding more.  The edge we seek is not going to be give to us by our schools alone, aspiring businesspeople will definitely have to learn to study their surrounding to look for new techniques and opportunities.

Why Planning?

The relationship between planning and action has been succinctly phrased in the following lines by a highly successful Thai businessman, John Iamramond:

When you have a vision, you can make a positive decision.

When you have no vision, you have confusion.

When you have vision but no action, you have an illusion.

        

Needless to say, planning ahead is that important for only after one makes a plan, can the action follow.  The lack of planning ahead (a symptom perhaps of our indolence and fatalism) can be found as the cause of Filipino’s hardships and lack of progress.  This lack of planning ahead results in Filipinos depending on get-rich-quick schemes like Ponzi scams, noontime game shows, the lottery and gambling.  This affects our integrity as a person. This lack has also resulted in the Philippine Diaspora or in the mentality of taking a certain college course simply because it is a surefire way of finding a job.

Lack of a plan causes people not to take responsibility for their action and would rather blame others for their condition.  People expect a government that would take care of them, they expect to work for a company that would take care of them when they grow old.  When this does not happen they take to blaming the government, their boss, their teachers, etc. for their situation.

Robert Kiyosaki tells people that getting rich and successful does not happen overnight.  It takes years to leans the tricks of the trade and the mindset of the successful.  This will allow one to search for and to spot opportunities easily.  Sad to say, most Filipinos because they are afraid of being different from their peers, choose not to invest the time and effort to learn how to be successful.  They would rather be like the people (non-planning people to be exact) around them. Most of the Filipinos have crab mentality therefore they pull each other down to their failures. They blame others not realizing that they are the ones to blame.

In the Philippines , there is no shortage of people who work hard.  Hard work, as the authors see it, is not a virtue, it is a symptom of a vice.  “Hard work” has been defined as “the sum of all the easy things you should have done but did not.”  Hard work thus deserves to be differentiated from the virtue of industriousness.  Hard work is rather the result of a lack of planning ahead and delayed action.  One always sees people studying hard on the day of an exam when they could have avoided this toil by studying days ahead of the exam.

Planning ahead and making good of that plan is a duty for every Filipino.  Not only will it help the Philippine society, but more importantly, it will help you.  You are the most important person in this world.

How does this apply to college students?  For college students are immediately stereotyped as spoiled brats. You just party everywhere every time you want not thinking of how much we spend just to have temporary satisfaction.   We just work hard later and hope to have bright future. Is that true?

In my opinion, the student’s ability to prioritize certain important activities leaves much to be desired. A good curriculum and good teachers are useless if the student doesn’t act on it. Students are like powerful bullets being fired out of a sniper rifle by a cross-eyed marksman:  lacking in direction and thus we are unable to use our powers properly.

Definitely, studies should be the most important priority on a students list.  In our studies, one must not neglect philosophy, history and ethics as it will serve as a foundation as a human being. Some students just like to pass and not learning from this subjects.  Accounting, Marketing and etc, while important for the future are not as important as the character formation we get from studying these subjects so that we don’t take for granted what has been taught us.

Spiritual life should also rank highly on the student’s list, perhaps more so than studies itself.  We should offer whatever we’re doing to our Highest Being because we can find true meaning in Him and only through him can we discover what his ‘plan’ for us is.

Students should not depend on school for all the education they need.  Students should be open to other opportunities for learning and experience that don’t necessarily have anything to do with school.  Whether one can find these ‘opportunities’ depends on how much he has focused himself on his plan or vision.

So the most important thing in business is have a good character and faith in God.  Some students are very dependent on their parents so they hinder their growth.  Like John Gokongwei, he does not have sufficient knowledge on how to run a business but he has a vision to become successful. One reporter interviewed him asking why he became successful. He answered: “Because I have nothing.” This means that he know that he still has lot to learn. So he practiced the delayed gratification which we often find lacking.  Character is thus another thing to keep in mind during the planning and implementation stage.

  John Gokongwei

A Few Caveats

Planning is necessary for most endeavors.  However, need this article sound too much of a pep-talk or too one-sided, there are some words of caution.  The first one is never to forget the context.  The second and related to the first is flexibility.

By context, one refers to the situation one finds himself in.  One may have vision and put in very careful planning but if it just will not work, try coming up with a better plan.  Study what has been done so far then try to look for mistakes.

A part of the context is called motivation.  Many organizations exert a lot of effort, time and money in order to study what can make a person want to accomplish something.  Generally however, motivation is divided into two types:  A positive and a negative type of motivation.  The former refers to the case wherein a person wants to do something because he feels rewarded in doing so, the latter case refers to when a person is motivated because he is afraid of certain undesirable consequences (i.e. punishments).  Whatever the case, it is always better to be motivated as the authors know that in the world of business, or any other endeavor for that matter, there is always going to be attrition.  With sufficient motivation, one is better able to avoid this attrition (and it has been proven empirically) following the saying “If there is a will there is a way” (It is even more graphic in Filipino:  “Kung gusto maraming paraan, kung ayaw, maraming dahilan”).

In the case of flexibility, it simply refers to the ability to change the plan given the situation that presents itself.  It may also refer to the changing of priorities.  It can actually be seen as a balancing act:  While the plan is to be followed, it is not to be followed if it my compromise the goal.  Perseverance is important in achieving the goal, but there is a thin line between persistence and stubbornness in method.  Of course, I don’t want to elaborate on this too much for being flexible is actually quite intuitive.

Conclusion

Planning ahead is very important and as students, one should not waste their time on activities that may not have a positive effect on your future.  We all only have 24 hours each day and yet some people are more successful than others.  Why? Because they know how to prioritize the things which will bring them accomplish their plan as soon as possible. We could learn from these people.

Students must not allow their peers to control their life.  Being ‘like everyone else’ is not always desirable.   It takes a courageous person to break the norm and become extraordinary.

So what should stop students from having vision and from taking the action that can lead them to the vision?  It’s their mindset. Many people are just lazy or they have been programmed to think that they ‘just can’t do it’ and are helpless.

Successful people will thus, have what unsuccessful will not have because successful people will do what unsuccessful people will not do.  And that is to plan and to apply action on that plan.