Maute’s Intention of Timing

 

A month ago, in one of Duterte’s speeches, he mentioned that Hapilon could be dead as he had never been heard or seen. Airstrike seriously wounded Hapilon in the arms in their clash with the AFP on January 28, 2017, at Butig, Lanao del Sur. Hapilon fled, carried by four men on a makeshift stretcher.

Duterte’s ad libs or psyops on Hapilon being dead have two interpretations: One, Duterte wanted to create the impression that the military can lax in their pursuit. And second, in the likelihood of the military’s switched focus, Hapilon tend to lower his guard and expose himself.

After the spread of Duterte’s ad libs, Hapilon appeared on Facebook with his old photo. He wanted to surrender. Then another post followed. He put conditions for his surrender. Duterte’s ad libs – Hapilon’s post on Facebook, could be a strategy or a psyops, too.

The ad libs of Duterte worked. Hapilon surfaced. He might be tired of fighting. Or, might have a change of heart.  A 5 million dollars bounty pegged, too, on his head coming from the U.S.

Tantalized of the ideas that Hapilon coming to the fold of the law, the military could have put their guard down. Nice if they get Hapilon and the bounty on his head with little hassle.

Little the military know the joined forces of Abu Sayaf and the Maute Terrorist could have planned along the siege of the Marawi.

The Maute Terrorist timed it when the military attempted to serve warrants of arrest for Hapilon, and this was a day after suicide bomber Salman Abedi, a suspect of Ariana Grande Concert in Manchester England detonated his bomb.

From January to May 2017, the city of Marawi, Maute terrorist stronghold, where Hapilon fled, became Hapilon’s sanctuary. From here, he got medical attention and recuperate.

Other parts of the City of Marawi have been the beneficiaries of the illegal drug and kidnap for ransom cottage industries. The Abu Sayaf Leader Isnilon Hapilon who now heads the Maute-ISIS inspired terrorist got cooperation and protection from the locals by being tight-lipped of their presence because they get provision out of it.   As Sen. Honasan has said, failure of intelligence is not the cause of the onslaught of the Marawi siege, but by the failure of coordination.

The siege of the Marawi City by the Maute-ISIS inspired terrorist, jumped on the impact of the Manchester England bombing. It generates humongous world attention. The inhuman horror displayed by the local terrorist which copied that atrocities committed by the ISIS of the Middle East supplied the local terrorist with the impetus needed to seek recognition, endorsement, and funding. That is Maute’s intention of its timing.

 

 

 

 

 

The Irony of Mocha Uson Appointment

 

Ms. Margaux Justiniano Uson, known also as “Mocha Uson” appointed as PCOO’s Assistant Secretary is ironic.

On Uson’s pretext that people relied on wrong reports coming from the mainstream media, she said, she would be in charge fighting the fake news. This is ironic: when she herself was the source of bogus news.

Consider this: To highlight Duterte’s care for the ordinary Filipinos, Uson applauded the DSWD system of packing the 50,000 relief goods. It was a news report published on October 1, 2015, during the previous administration. Uson grabbed the good vibes of that old report making it appear it was the handiwork of his idol. The netizens got mad.

Last November 18, 2016, Uson downplayed the protest rally borne out of Duterte’s decision to go ahead with the burial of the former dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. She claimed a distressed mother of one student of St. Scholastic College who took part in the protest rally messaged her that the school forced the student to attend the rally. Uson also accused the school of child abuse. Some of the mothers denied Uson’s claim, but victorious imparting that the protest was not real, but coerced dissent.

In one of Uson’s blog post, she riled why the Human Rights Commission is in mute mode on their condemnation and outraged when she shared the photo of a girl raped and murdered.

Uson insinuated that the Human Rights Commission cherry-picked only those of his boss’s EJK and keep their mouth shut on the others. Later, snooper found out that the crime photos used by Uson came from Brazil. Her post disappeared.

Mocha Uson’s love affairs with fake news is a self-destructive journalism as it descends to personal perspective. Journalism is not anymore, the bearer of universal truth but a matter of self-truth, which can be dangerous.

To handle OFW’s woes is another thrust of Mocha Uson’s appointment. It seemed the OFW’s complaints are not quickly taken care of by either OWWA or the Dept. of Labor through the social media. It implied also that inutile people handle these government agencies. They could not deal the immediate concern of the OFW’s, so they need Mocha Uson to the rescue.

Never mind, if Mocha Uson runs over the Deputy Administrators positions on both OWWA and the Labor Department. Uson clinched the Assistant Secretary position with a Salary of Grade 29. The irony is, her appointment is an expensive duplicate. The other presidential appointees scattered over the government agencies is an example on how to bloat government bureaucracy.

Since these appointees have nothing to do, as they can delegate the job to their subordinates (most of them with CESO certification from the Director down) this will produce an army of “15-30” bosses, if not, spending their time traveling under the pretext of – it’s job-related.

Presidential Appointment as payment of the debt of gratitude would take a heavy toll on people’s money as demonstrated by the appointment of Mocha Uson.

 

 

 

 

It’s the Same. Nothing has Changed

The formalities of the ASEAN Summits made Duterte sick, so in jest, he said: “Son of a… if Summits are like this, the one scheduled in November would be canceled… That’s true. It’s the same. Nothing has changed…”

Joke it might be, but Duterte’s quip bites: Nothing has changed in the ASEAN’s stand. It’s the same. No unified solution coming from them to counter China’s assertiveness on the disputed territories of the South China Sea. China’s unfettered constructions of island-building projects for military use is a grave concern. This can disrupt the region’s stability.

Due to China’s determined pursuit of jurisdictional and territorial claims, China get seduce to ignoring the international law. In that case, the regional order is in danger.

Three suggested ways, which the ASEAN claimants can resolve the disputes themselves: Challenged the legal jurisdiction. Push for political negotiations. Indulge in joints exploration of resource exploitation.

These options, however, are hampered, as the ASEAN members cannot find a common ground or a unified approach.

This is understandable because each of the ASEAN members has varied national interests. Their struggles are different. For them to arrive at a common consensus to contentious issues, requires an agreeable resolution mechanism.

For their next Summit meeting in November 2017, they have to be unified on the finer points of the “Code of Conduct” they are fine tuning.

Duterte, for the Philippines, seemed amenable to the two-suggested doable solution: Push for political negotiation, and joints exploration of resource exploitation.

China disregards the recent Ruling of the UNCLOS in Hague, where the Philippines won. Duterte didn’t hammer it on China. It’s useless anyway but kept it as his ace on his chest in case of future wrangling arises. He pivoted to China and he got lots of goodies.

Meanwhile, Duterte seemed to have cozy relationships with Donald Trump of the US, a complete reversal of his attitudes towards Obama. In May, Duterte will visit Russia and meet Vladimir Putin.

Connecting the dots what does this say? Duterte is playing his foreign policy hand adroitly and it is for the good of his country. The three superpower nations have the Philippines ears now for them to recognize that the Philippines is ready for takeoff in a new height of development with their partnership.

Some quarter said, that the concluding statement of the ASEAN, chaired by the Philippines is lame. It didn’t condemn China for its land reclamation and militarization of the South China Sea.

Duterte said: it’s Pointless to Pressure. China will do her thing no matter what. So, it will boil down to “It’s the same. Nothing has changed”