Belittling Marwan

Why does it seem as if there is a move to belittle the role of “Marwan” in the terrorist acts that had previously been attributed to him? Recent reports appear to be dismissing him as a non-entity, one who was not as dangerous as he had been described to be before he was caught by the Philippine Special Action Force men who ended his career. In fact, if you listen to the reports on him, there are even hints that it was not “Marwan” whose body was found in that hut in Mamasapano.

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One wonders why, if it is true that Marwan was not as deadly as we all thought he was, the Americans were also deadest on finding him and eliminating him to the point of offering a $5 million reward to anyone who could find him and “neutralize him. The stories coming out yesterday were even implying that the DNA tests made that had matched that of his brother, Rahmat Abdhir, now confined in a California prison, were questionable. Ah, the ways and whys of propaganda artists. Before we know it, reports will come out that Marwan had been seen in some unlikely places.

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In the meantime, the alleged executioner of the IS, the masked man said to be responsible for beheading the captives of the group, had been found out to have stayed in the United States where his family resides. Known only as “Jihadi John” he had been identified, and his picture even published, but can he be made to answer for what he had done? The latest news on him is that he has apologized to his family. For what? For not telling them how many heads he had chopped off? No apologies at all to the families he had deprived of a member in such a brutal way, of the wives he had widowed, the children he had orphaned? What kind of faith is it that sanctions that?

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By the way, why is the Taguig police still talking about an investigation into the Vice Mayor Jolo Revilla incident? Is it just because of their “amor propio” that they want to do it, and because they weren’t allowed to enter the case earlier? Note that when the alleged accidental shooting happened, all the statements were coming from the lawyer or the talent manager – who spun a beautiful tale – and never from the police. What will this investigation now, so late in the day, be in aid of?

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It is good news that the President had recently appointed 16 new state prosecutors and 181 provincial and city ones. That will be a big boost, indeed, to the judiciary that has not made secret of the backlog it has been dealing with all these years. The new prosecutors are being assigned to courts in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and perhaps we will soon no longer be hearing of cases that “just lie there and die there”. I noticed, though, from the list of the new prosecutors, that none have been assigned to our province and city. Maybe the Justice Department thinks we have enough?

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Only last week there was news about popular Hollywood actor Harrison Ford being involved in a flying incident when the plane he was piloting crashed in Los Angeles. Reports said that even if he suffered minor injuries, Ford managed to land on a site where nobody was hurt. It was also mentioned that his plane was a 1942 model! He surely has guts, to be flying that. But later reports also said that he is still having his aircraft repaired, and no doubt will soon be flying it again.

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But a very tragic one was what happened to the French group, filming a documentary when their helicopters hit each other, sending them plummeting to the ground with the aircrafts catching fire. Among those killed were a former Olympic medalist and another noted athlete who were both very popular in their country. France is reportedly in grief over their loss. The reports also said there were no survivors, crewmen and pilots were all killed.

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The hype on the coming Pacquiao-Mayweather encounter is peaking and now even past and present stars of the boxing genre are taking sides. It is no surprise that most are for Mayweather, after all, they are Americans like him. But lately, some are openly saying they are for Manny. But of course we can guess who Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton will root for. But I bet they will all be at ringside when the match takes place.*

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