Bring the killers to justice first

So the MILF condescended to return 16 guns allegedly stolen from their victims in the Mamasapano massacre. Was that all? There were 44 men from the Police Special Action Force, who went fully armed into the territory and were mowed down ruthlessly, after which their weapons and personal items were plucked from their cadavers. Were there only 16 guns on them? The leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front would have us believe giving back those 16 guns would placate our lawmakers, and make them approve post-haste that ill-fated Bangsamoro Basic Law that would have given them such a huge advantage. Did they think the “token” 16 would be enough?

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What about the cellphones, the boots, the uniforms, and other personal effects of SAF members? Have they already sold them, or given them as gifts to their fellow rebels? After that token compliance with the demand for the firearms, their representatives are said to be demanding that the BBL be passed as is, without any amendment or addition and deletion. Who is calling the shots here, didn’t we think they were trying to get into the good graces of this government? And, let’s not be steamrolled into giving in. Let them simmer, and wait until due processes are observed, and that the proposed law has been thoroughly de-bugged. So much is at stake.

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Why are some people having “conniptions” over the possibility that the United States had extended some help, possibly in the area of sleuthing, in the successful “neutralizing” of the noted terrorist, Zulfikli, a.k.a. Marwan? Those who are protesting against that sound as if they, too, are of the same thinking as the MILF. Shouldn’t we be thankful for any help we could get to rid the world of such vermin? Of course the United States is interested in the activities of Marwan, they, too have been victimized by terrorists so many times. Of course they must also know that the only good terrorist is a dead on.

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Meanwhile the MILF has also claimed that they, too, lost at least 18 of their men in the Mamasapano siege. They will not accept that those people died because they got into a fight that should not have involved them, unless it is true that they joined in because they were protecting their bomb-makers and instructors. Had they stayed away while the SAF men were doing their thing, they would not have suffered any casualties at all.

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Meanwhile, another demand from the MILF that the government should insist on is for the identification of the killers of the country’s top policemen and to present them to the courts of justice. If they want to be treated as members of this government, then they should subject themselves to its laws, and not make their own and exclude themselves from liability, particularly in this case, where what they did was such a blatant disrespect for law and order. Only then, as the street people say, can they “talk turkey”.

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It has become a standing joke among elderly Filipinos to refer to themselves as ‘dual citizens”. They do not mean that they are citizens of the Philippines as well as another country where they enjoy the privileges and perks of the “jus soli” ones. What they are kidding about is that, aside from being Filipinos citizens, they are also senior citizens, now considered a privileged age group in this country. But from all accounts, the number of “dual citizens” who are both Pinoys and “stateside” are growing with the more liberal processing of their applications.

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But there are limits to the privileges those real “dual citizens” can claim. The mayor of a town in Pangasinan had been allowed to run for the office after he went through the rites of rejecting or repudiating his American citizenship. So he was able to run, and win. But, as a city built on a hill cannot be hid, the new mayor must have forgotten himself, or had mistakenly believed no one was watching, because he travelled to the United States after being elected, using his American passport.

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And that gave him away to the Commission on Election, who promptly ran after him and cancelled his proclamation as the winning mayor. By this time he must be seeking for a reconsideration from the Supreme Court and, who knows, his case might set a precedent. But this just goes to show how dangerous it is to try eat your cake and have it, too.*

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