MANILA — When I received text messages from Jolo about the news that Ustadz Habier Malik of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) had “held hostage” a government peace executive and Major General Benjamin Dolorfino of the Marines, I felt afraid for the people of Sulu.
Any wage hike results in increased purchasing power for workers. However, it can be anti-poor if it does not take into account the interests of those who are getting less and benefits those who are getting more. On the other hand, any mandated increase in the salary of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is done in the name of the almighty dollar.
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Because this innovative approach of new politics has apparently gained popularity, it is loathed by the likes of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez precisely because it can disenfranchise the powers that be by raising the political consciousness of the people. Bereft of visions and programs that address the people’s democratic interests, they trivialize the elections through manipulation, disinformation and the spreading of more myths.
If the accusation that the Arroyo administration was behind the bombings in Mindanao earlier this month turns out to be true, then this has got to be the worst scenario ever cooked up by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s military intelligence experts to justify their agenda of convincing the public of a need to pass an anti-terror measure.
What possible good did the “disclosure” — that Congressman Prospero Nograles was being hunted by assassins — do to Davao City? If the authorities were convinced that they had suspects (they even had police sketches of them; in this country, apparently all one has to do to make a threat seem credible is to produce kuris-kuris of unrecognizable men), why are there no arrests? And why all the speculation that Leftists could be behind this plot?