Category: Peace

Gloria and the Rebels

Some excerpts from Gloria Arroyo’s speech during the 72nd Founding Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines:

Itâ€™s time for their disruption and violation of human rights to be put to rest so that the nation can move ahead. They impede the progress and development of a number of rural areas. Theyâ€™re responsible for a wide range of human rights abuses.

I did not include the first and last sentence in the paragraph above. Kind of confusing, di ba? I guess you didn’t know that it’s Arroyo who’s talking, you’d have a hard time guessing if she’s referring to the military or the rebels.

Tags AFP, CPP-NPA, Gloria Arroyo, insurgency, rebels

Government Peace Politics and Elections

Peace?

“President Arroyo’s policy since day one of her administration has been to push the peace process. And peace process means making peace with those fighting the government,” abs-cbnNEws.com quoted Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita as saying.

He should try telling that to the relatives of the more than 800 extrajudicial killing victims, who are mostly critics of the government.

Peace World

Terrorism

Three years ago, the world’s most powerful nation suffered from the 9/11 terrorist attack that killed thousands of its people. The United States government retaliated by attacking Afghanistan, believed to be the base of Osama bin Laden, main suspect in the World Trade Center Attack.

Later, it claimed that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with bin Laden’s al Qaeda. Thus, with a little help from its friends in the so-called “coalition of the willing”–to which Philippine President Arroyo enthusiastically dragged her nation–US invaded Iraq and killed around 12,000 Iraqi civilians and a thousand of its own soldiers.

General Overseas Filipinos Peace World

Desperation

Just a month after the Angelo dela Cruz hostage crisis, the Philippine government is now seriously contemplating on lifting the ban on sending overseas Filipino workers to Iraq. The pullout of RP troops from the war-torn country to risk the life of one truck driver has spun criticisms from abroad including the United States and Australia to name a few.

I remember the long hours we had to endure inside the freezing, tension-filled newsroom as we awaited Angelo’s fate, just about a month ago. Looking back, I could only imagine now the agony his family felt. More vividly, I could still remember the smiles on our faces when we finally saw Angelo looking shaken but alive on our television screens.

General Peace World

Back to Iraq?

The Inquirer today reported that the Philippine government is open to sending another batch of “humanitarian mission” to Iraq. Such a new batch of Filipino troops would be under the United Nations framework, foreign secretary Delia Albert reportedly said.

Before the US-led invasion of Iraq, President Arroyo kept on paying lip service to the UN. In the end however, she joined the so-called “coalition of the willing,” which went to war in Iraq without UN sanction.