There’s no need to wait for another publicized tete-a-tete to express our intense admiration of him. When was the last time you thanked your President? Here it goes.
Notice how the Philippine Republic finds it irresistible to join the fad of fascist revival, as exemplified by settler-colonialist Israel and imperialist US. The marginalized classed of the “third” world bears the brunt of the excesses of the first ones that need to consolidate powers.
Until the root cause of the conflict is not resolved, peace in the Bangsamoro is a far-fetched thing. The Moro people continue to fight for their rights because these are not recognized in Philippine governance as with the rest of the marginalized people.
Many will still remember the last few months of 2015, when the national and international limelight focused on the Lumad of Mindanao and their Lakbayan to Manila after more than a year of harassments, evacuations, and killings (such as the Lianga Massacre) perpetrated by military and paramilitary agents. “Lumad” and “bakwit” became household terms, public concern was at its peak, and even heretofore, moderate and conservative personalities signified their support for the Lumad.
Earlier this week, Zamboanga city declared a state of calamity due to rice shortage amidst importation. Prices of rice in Zamboanga reached as high as P70 per kilo, leaving consumers especially the poor majority in a disadvantageous position.
What was achieved in this latest BBL is the strengthening of the national government’s hold over the new Bangsamoro entity by maintaining the primacy of national laws above regional laws, increasing reserved powers over defense and security as well as public order and safety and the continuing State and corporate control of resources within the Bangsamoro areas.
Last Monday I was on a bus back to the Netherlands from the town of Trier, Germany. Claiming to be the oldest city in Germany, and named as the capital of the northwestern extent of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, Trier is also better known as the birthplace of Karl Marx.
Last week, I attended HeartMath, a personal development workshop that aims to develop a certain level of resilience to an individual. Resilience here does not only refer particularly to being able to bounce back when something happens. It also touches on the capacity to prepare and to face a situation with equanimity.
Philippine military must be patting itself on the back for what they claimed was the surrender of renowned Talaingod Manobo datu Guibang Apoga early this month.
The deliberate destruction of an ethnic group as the encyclopaedia defines ETHNOCIDE had been and still is being practiced by despotic regimes, then and now, even if government apologists persist to deny so. The ravage of the military complex against the indigenous communities all over Mindanao could never be justified by the Duterte administration that has finally succumb to the dictates and the whims of its military masters.