Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Clooney case for GMA could backfire, says New York-based human rights lawyer

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By Raïssa Robles

The unprecedented case filed by Amal Clooney for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could backfire on the detained ex-President, according to the director of the Reparative Justice Programme of the International Centre for Transitional Justice in New York.

Hollywood actor George Clooney’s high-powered lawyer-wife has submitted a complaint before a unit of the United Nations dealing with human rights Human Rights Commission accusing the Philippine government of violating Mrs Arroyo’s civil and political rights by keeping her under hospital arrest and barring her from going abroad to seek treatment.

UPDATE: The UN office in Manila has just issued this statement on the case

Statement of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) on the petition filed by Amal Alamuddin- Clooney protesting the detention of former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Contrary to some of the media reports, this case was not filed with the Human Rights Committee which is the individual complaints mechanism under the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Please note that this case is not being handled by the U​nited ​N​ations​ ​
in country – all is being done through the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Please find below a statement from the Secretariat of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention:

“We can confirm that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has received a petition in relation to Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and that the case is now confidential. The confidentiality rule is part of a normal process adopted by the UN Special Procedures mechanisms in order to protect all parties. Consequently, none of the Working Group’s five members can comment publicly on a case until the Working Group issues an opinion. Once they issue an opinion, only the Group’s experts can talk about their decisions; no one at OHCHR can talk on their behalf. At the moment, there is no specific date scheduled for the experts to adopt an opinion related to this case. For more information about the Group’s mandate and activities, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Detention/Pages/WGADIndex.aspx

Special Procedures – the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system – is the general name of the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.”

But Ruben Carranza, who works as program director for the highly influential NGO that assists victims of repressive regimes, told me and Alan that Arroyo’s special treatment in Manila may in fact violate the very treaty that Atty Clooney is invoking in behalf of Arroyo.

Carranza said:

“The violation that may have in fact been committed is a violation of the ‘equal protection’ clause in the [Philippine] Constitution (which her lawyers know is also in Art. 26 of the human rights treaty -the ICCPR – they invoke.”

ICCPR stands for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the Philippines is a signatory.

Its Article 26 states that:

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Carranza, who was once an assistant secretary of national defense under the Estrada administration and a commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government under President Arroyo, pointed out that “like Estrada before her, Arroyo has received privileges in detention denied other similarly-situated detainees.”

Alan wrote the piece below quoting Atty Carranza and retired Ambassador Lauro Baja, former president of the UN Security Council and former Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN.

Arroyo’s lawyers, who lauded the filing of the case before the UN, also probably forgot that during the Arroyo presidency, her justice secretary had a woman with a similar rare bone disorder also barred from traveling abroad.

I wrote about it in a piece entitled:

Gloria Arroyo stopped a woman, with an illness and a case just like hers, from leaving the country for four years

You can read about it by clicking here.

Again, this would be a telling argument that Arroyo is asking the UN to back her request for special privilege, which she herself did not extend to Ms Yogie Martirizar, a co-accused in the same poll sabotage case now pending in court.

You can read an excerpt of Alan’s piece below:

 Filipinos angry as star lawyer Clooney defends former president Arroyo

Star lawyer, who is also wife of the Hollywood actor George, claims the detained former president’s rights have been violated

 Alan Robles in Manila

Filipinos have reacted with disbelief to reports that star international lawyer Amal Clooney had filed a complaint to a UN human rights body on behalf of detained former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has been repeatedly denied medical treatment abroad for a rare bone disease.

The 67-year-old former leader Arroyo has been under hospital arrest since 2011 on charges of vote-rigging and corruption and is being held in a government hospital where she is receiving treatment for her spinal problem.

Earlier this week Arroyo’s lawyers announced that the wife of Hollywood movie star George Clooney had filed the case last month at the Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a unit of the UN Commission on Human rights.

Attorney Modesto Ticman said Clooney argued Arroyo’s rights were being violated because she has been repeatedly denied bail and the chance to travel abroad to get treatment.

Arroyo’s lawyer Larry Gadon claimed Clooney was also demanding an apology and compensation for “arbitrary detention” and “political persecution”.

However, other legal experts in the Philippines criticized Clooney’s move.

To read the rest, please click on this link.

♦  ♦  ♦

Meanwhile, the first two parts of my review of Jose Almonte’s book Endless Journey has appeared on ABS-CBNews.com

You can read them by clicking here:

Joe Almonte, the Alan Purisima of President Fidel Ramos 

Jose Almonte bares FVR’s woman problem

I am submitting later today the third part, which is all about military coups and the military mindset – a topic that is very relevant today. Please watch out for it.

Thanks.

Comments

  1. I refer to post #93 by Rene which started what is now a kilometric thread and which comments on andrew’s piece on Joeam’s site that I also responded to here but on a different aspect, the fact that his argumentation demolished a strawman. What I would just like to point out is the discussion in #93 seems to be who should be culpable and who us not; whether it be those who prepared or approved a plan the BOI considers defective, those who prepared to execute it as planned, the AFP for failing to rescue the SAF44, and let us not forget the MILF/BIFF/PAGs who actually slew the troopers. My contention since even before the BOI came out is that all of these actors are culpable in the deaths of the SAF44. Sure there are mitigating factors that reduce the extent of each of their liabilities and this should be discussed, but the notion of contributory guilt or negligence comes to play here. What is important is not only to assign who bears the primary liability for the SAF44 but to also to acknowledge the contributory culpability or innocence of the other actors involved. In a civil case, monetary damages are assessed by the court in proportion to the extent of contributory guilt when multiple parties are involved. The same principle should be applicable here.

    Before the BOI came out, my percentage attributions for those causing the deaths of the SAF44 which I posted here were: Pinoy 10%, Purisima 15%, Napenas 55%, and MILF 20%. The release of the BOI has not changed these assessments much.

    • Correction: 10th line down from the top should read:
      defective, those who failed to execute it as planned.

      • AFP for failing to rescue SAF 44…… Hindi pweding isagot nila na it will escalate the WAR or under ceasefire sila… ipinapairal lang ang batas sa matagumpay na paghuli kay marman at nagtagumpay nga at kung nagpakawala sana ng kanyon na may bala man lang na phosporous ang AFF marami sanang nakaligtas sa SAF 44….

        Si PNOY din as command responsibity sa pagpili kay Gen. Pangilinan na mamuno ng AFP sa area na malapit sa insidente at si WESCOM Guerrero for not giving the right adviced to PNOY…na kasama kasama nya habang nagbkbakan doon sa lugar ng gieyera …sa pag bibigay nya ng TRUST kay ret. Purisima … Kawawang Napenas,, He did his best…sya pa ngayon ay kasma sa naipit…

        • Actually I agree with you that the AFP and specifically Pangilinan has contributory liability for refusing artillery requests even when the all their requirements were met and the rescue of 55SAC was at still at stake. The BOI disclosed the artillery request even came from an AFP unit accompanying a SAF rescue force and AFP HQ refused it!

        • The info about the Americans raises political angles.

          Assuming you’re the military

          1. You’re totally kept in the dark about a police operation that violates the ceasefire
          2. You’re only told about it when things go wrong and the policemen start screaming for help
          3. You’re not given much info to go on, initially, about what the operation is all about, how many men are involved, their mission, their specific locations, etc. All you know is fighting has started in an area.
          4. Suddenly (if reports are true) an American (with no lines of authority) insists/demands you open fire with artillery to rescue the policemen – a bombardment which has a very good chance of really trashing the ceasefire and causing an escalation into major fighting.
          This is what an American military blog (War is Boring) has to say: ” …had the army intervened, it would break the ceasefire with the MILF. Then a lot more people would die.”

          What would you do?

        • Alan, not sure who you are addressing with that hypothetical but would it matter if the CinC and WesCom instructed the onscene military commander to provide all necessary infantry, armor, air and artillery support needed to rescue the trapped SaF? Nevermind the American since he broke the chain of command :)

        • I’m musing out loud. To continue speculating, perhaps the military commanders on the scene were making calculations about the effects of a rescue op on the ceasefire and perhaps their commanders higher up the chain left it to their discretion, because they were there on the scene and better able to make a judgement

        • Well lets speculate a bit then…hehehe. If the higher up commanders did not bother elaborating on whether he had discretkon or not, would his paygrade entitle him to assume that discretion without asking for clarification? This is all speculation of course because I am sure Guerrero would ask the same from CInC…and we know what a field day Sen. Poe would have with that! lol

  2. Atty @Rene was correct , the number of SAF casualties could hve been minimize so as the rebels if only AFP used artillery upon receiving messages from cornered SAF on that area…The distance of the BIFF-MILF and the SAF 44 was not so closed or within the SAFE distance ( still few feet’s away witheach other ) for the shell’s and fragments to fall at enemy’s side and NOT injuring the cornered SAF commandos….IF ever AFP artillery was 100% calibrated and their shell’s are MADE of good quality , damaged will only for the rebels…..NOW kung phosporous or smoke lang ang ibinala nila ,, PAPAANO mag escalate ang giyera doon sa lugar na iyon? ..WALA diba….but it will give SAF precious second’s, minutes and hour’s to maneuvers or RUN for safety… Pero wala mangyaring extended WAR after that….

    With GPS, with radio , with radar especially kung mayroon ngang DRONE, AFP can never fire an artillery and bomb NOT landing on the direct hit on the enemy…even the AREA in circle that will be affected by fragments ( phosporous ) can be computed 100% perfect or on TARGET…. AFP personnels studied/trained about VELOCITY, ACCELERATION, DERIVATION on every GUNs they HAD….

    The distance of the SAF and the BIFF MILF was not yet on a BROKEN ARROW…..

    • I am pretty sure that a professional civil engineer who has studied and experienced higher surveying techniques including land, water, air, terrestrial and subterranean aspects could enlighten the uninitiated and uninformed in this kind of discussion.

      I likewise think that the soldier’s knowledge in map reading, positioning system and similar techniques pales in comparison with that of a civil or geodetic engineer. In fact engineering subjects in the PMA comprise of less than 50% of that taught in leading engineering schools like Mapua Institute of Technology – Victin’s alma mater.

      Many thanks to Victin.

      • “With GPS, with radio , with radar especially kung mayroon ngang DRONE, AFP can never fire an artillery and bomb NOT landing on the direct hit on the enemy…even the AREA in circle that will be affected by fragments ( phosporous ) can be computed 100% perfect or on TARGET…. AFP personnels studied/trained about VELOCITY, ACCELERATION, DERIVATION on every GUNs they HAD….”

        Victin, will you be so kind to tell us CPMers whether you had the opportunity to teach AFP personnel in the past? I understand that in the PMA, engineering subjects are taught by professional engineers.

        • Tama ka [email protected] Rene… SAF 44 were already cornered in one place … Hindi na sila MOVING target … Their was no way Pangilinan will missed his target ( MILF BIFF ) and not saving the life of SAF 44… Lalo na kung phosporous lang ang gamit mo di naktakbo sana ang SAF 44 or lesser casualties sana… PINABAYAAN nila tlaga …PRIDE of the AFP maybe…papasokpasok kayo gusto ninyo kayo lang ang sikat o maghatihati sa pera na ibibgay ng USA di bahala kayo dyan..hindi ho kaya ganyan ang nagyari?

        • dalawa na tayo sa pag express our kutob @ victinluz “PRIDE of the AFP maybe”. what i wrote before nasaktan ang “EGO of afp”.

        • hayan @vluz,
          nadale mo sir!
          “papasuk-pasok kayo”.
          whew!
          ang tanong ko: un bang white phosporous ay parang atomic bomb ang effect kaya ayaw paputukin?
          magkakaroon po ba ng isang gyera kung ginawa agad na mag-fire ng WP?

        • Victin, tama ka na talagang pinabayaan na mamatay ang SAF commandos. Katunayan about 10:30 AM ang combined forces ng 43rd SAC at 62nd DRC ay dumating sa pagitan ng waypoints 9-10 na stronghold ng MILF malapit na sa waypoint 12 na kung saan nandoon ang 55th SAC. Dahil dito humingi ng artillery fire ang 62nd DRC ng army.

          Sa halip na tulungan ng artillery fire ay pinabalik sa highway ang 62nd DRC. About 1 PM na nakabalik ang mga ito sa highway. Ang dahilan kaya nag-pull out ang DRC: wala daw kasing coordination ang SAF bago sumugod sa area. Ibig sabihin ay puedeng puede na ang artillery fire subalit hindi nagustuhan ng army ang ginawa ng SAF. Kaya bahala na muna sila sa buhay nila. (Please see last two paragraphs of page 29 and first three paragraphs of page 30 of the BOI report)

    • Anybody who’s even half familiar with military history and procedures will know the following

      1. There’s a difference between cartographic and military terrain features. For instance, while an engineer might be pretty sure what the crests and summit of a hill are, a soldier will know that these are totally different from MILITARY crests and slopes (which are the points on elevations that offer clear fields of fire as well as reasonable protection from spotting)

      2. Theoretical accuracy of artillery is different from actual accuracy – there’s a circular error probable involved: shells don’t fall on a point, they fall in an area. Plus artillery accuracy is subject to vagaries ranging from tube temperature to air pressure and outside temperature.

      3. A 105-mm round — this is a giant shell fired from a four-inch gun- has a blast radius of 100 meters, anybody within that area is in danger. That area is presumably bigger if shrapnel is used.

      4. I have no idea what “calibrated” means when you use it. Artillery can be REGISTERED (or before battle, PRE-REGISTERED), by firing marker rounds and then “walking” the fire until the desired impact point is reached. It’s hard to do this in the midst of battle

      • Sir, precision na lahat ang military euiptment natin… Canyon’s , big guns once manufactured are tested and should passed quality assurance…properly calibrated …here sir even ..a moving target at a certain known or given distnace ( like the MAPAPASANO little war ) from the shooter if given the acccelration of the moving target or target’s ( say SAF 44 are moving at 1 one kilometer/hr ) ….using the data’s of the manufacture artillery and computing the DERIVATIVES of the acceleration or rate of change of the velocity with respect to time or taking the second derivatives of the original data with respect to time …SIR ..BULLS EYE ang , it can never miss the target..

        We are teaching in a paramilitary school here in our place and pretty sure they were also teaching at PMA baguio… Very sad Sir… Pero ..KALOKOHAN TALAGA ana SAGOT ni GEN. Pangilinan na hindi nya alam ang position or positioning ng SAF 44….

        Sir , pag BROKEN ARROW nga ang positions between a warring factions ay pag airplane galing ang BOMB , today with such precision coumputer ananoysis PO sir ay direct hit at target without injuring the group you wanted to save… Very sad nagsisinungaling ang AFP… They were trained to compute in actual and in THEORY..parehas ang computation sir… Used calculus 1st and 2nd derivatives of time rates, velocity and acceleration…

        • that’s good to hear. So tell me, in your school, how many times have you actually fired a 105-mm artillery piece (indirect fire, of course, at a distant target) and hit the target dead on? Numerous times, right?

        • Ganitio @ sir Engineers or military personnels who studiied or trained checking of their computations … Sila po ang nagkakalabit.. Yes numerous time during practice they DID … Just news sa actual scenario… SIR … ganito kasi sa target practice nila ..frozen ang target or not movng so simple PROJECTILE EQUATIONs lang iyan sa kanila…. Sa MOVING TARGET , natakbo or nagalaw ang target going away or moving in towards the trigerman…ito at dito mo gagamitan ng calculus ….kaso po ang nangyari sa SAF 44 they were not MOVING na corner na sila so NOWAY na hindi daw alam ni Pangilinan kung nasaan sila ( distance , azimuth and bearing ) kasi ang CP nila, ang radio nila , nakabukas lahat .GPS nakabukas din iyan … triangulation method perfect or get ni Pagnilinan at location nila … Ay may DRONE pa … How can they commit mistake on their target at lalomg lalo na pag phosporous lang ang bala … NO WAY sir , mababaw ang raeson ni Pangilinan… They could have dig g deeper sa efficiency ng GUNs and the AFP in firing such ….counter check naman nila sa periodic inventory ng mg AFP weapons nila…. di malalaman natin kung sinu ang nagsisinungaling ..diba sir… Tiyak sa inventory nila lalo na pag bagong BILI o supply di ang report nila ay 100% effecient ang mga BARIL and sa performance appraisal naman ng mga AFP di puro satisfactory sila…di hoba….SIR

        • Training dito , training doon , seminar dito seminar doon dipo ba… ang mga AFP…schooling dito schooling doon , sa ABROAD pa ang iba… Gastos natin lahat ito di poba… Kaya VERY SATISFACTORY ang grades nila sa APPRAISALs..mga AFP and almost all government employee….efficient, so HOW MUCH MORE for a generals like Pangilinan and Guerrero?

        • alan may have a point. anyone who have been to artillery range may noticed that cannon fire does not always hit their target at 1st shot. sometimes they’re off center and they needed 2nd shoot. it may come close, but at the 3rd shot, they usually hit their target.

        • cannons also suffer from metal fatigue. older cannons are worst. fire than at your own peril.

        • kailangan masterin muna ang theory bago actual…what victinluz mentioned above ay pinag aralan sa engineering courses. pag hindi nakapasa sa final written exam eh di failure at dapat uulitin sa next sem. how much more sa pma? i still hold on on my opinon na nasaktan ang EGO or PRIDE ng AFP

  3. Demagoguery another legacy from the Romans that we should thank or rather curse them for.

  4. Andrew wrote in Joeam’s blog about the proximate cause of the death of the SAF commandos in Mamasapano: “From my view, this discussion needs to focus on “proximate cause.” It is defined as “an act from which an injury results as a natural, direct, uninterrupted consequence and without which the injury would not have occurred.”

    To facilitate understanding of the concept of proximate cause, the courts have devised the “but for” or “sine qua non” rule, which considers whether the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant’s negligent act.

    According to legal dictionary “In criminal law, the defendant’s act must have been the proximate cause of the death of a victim to prove murder or manslaughter.”

    There is one point of the senate report where I absolutely agree. That the SAF commandos died because they were fatally shot. Evidence confirms this statement. Indeed, the autopsy report says that the proximate cause of death of the SAF commandos is no other than gunshot wounds invariably in their head and body.

    The death of the SAF commandos was the natural, direct and uninterrupted consequence of the shots fired by their enemies during the gun battle. It was not due to hack wounds or banging of heads unto a boulder upon tripping.

    Now, what is the primary cause that enabled the enemies to fire ALL the fatal shots on the SAF commandos including the MURDEROUS and TREACHEROUS shots?

    It was not the the formulation of OPLAN Exodus by the PNP IG nor the execution of the same plan by the PNP SAF that caused the massive death of the SAF commandos. I would concede maybe a few fatalities on this score but not as massive as the fallen 44.

    Even a faulty plan or execution of the same would not engender the massive number of death “but for” the armed groups that incessantly and relentlessly subjected the SAF commandos to continuous and UNIMPEDED attack for about 12 hours. This is despite the purported participation of the AFP in the third hour of the battle.

    The SAF commandos would not have died “but for” the lack of necessary move by the government to extricate the beleaguered troops. Indeed the combined forces of the PNP and AFP deployed in the area could have defeated the enemies decisively or at the least drove them away in due time.

    To me the proximate and primary cause of the death of the GALLANT 44 was the refusal of the AFP to engage the enemy into battle.

    P.S.

    I am reminded of the story about an OFW in Saudi Arabia who was arrested by the police due to a car accident where his car was bumped by the car driven by a Saudi national. The police explained that no such accident could have happened if our kabayan did not come to Saudi Arabia. End of story.

    • Well argued, but I have to disagree strongly.

      To quote you:
      “The SAF commandos would not have died “but for” the lack of necessary move by the government to extricate the beleaguered troops. Indeed the combined forces of the PNP and AFP deployed in the area could have defeated the enemies decisively or at the least drove them away in due time.”

      Who is to say that an AFP response would have been that successful? That has already a lot of speculation on how it would have turned out at that point. How sure are you this would have been the outcome?

      Also, that is further down the timeline. The SAF had already put themselves in that dire situation based on that faulty plan. Why expect the AFP to save you when you informed them only at the latest possible time based on that “time on target” principle?

      Bakit ka aasa sa mga hindi mo sinabihan ng maayos?

      On the other hand, what put them there in the first place? They were following the Oplan, which the PNP BOI has determined to be defective from the start.

      (On a side note, I am now researching on “time on target”. So far I have only found the artillery concept for it. Timing your rounds to land nearly simultaenously, for maximum impact. But I have not found any reference for it yet. Did Napenas invent this? Why did the PNP BOI cite that it is applicable only to ordinary police operations? Anybody here with info on time on target as a legitimate principle in operations?)

      • The AFP has vastly superior firepower and tactics, I presume, unless the AFP arsenal is empty.

        Is it not the duty and responsibility of the AFP to rescue for example a beleaguered police station anywhere in the country soon as the AFP learned about the situation? Where is the element of coordination on this situation? This has happened many times in case of NPA. Also a case in Davao where MILF elements rescued their jailed comrade.

        The TOT concept is just semantics. It simply means coordination during the operation. In police matters coordination could be done before, during and immediately after the police operation. Don’t take my word. Just ask veteran police officers. I remember that congressman Leopoldo Bataoil, a former police regional director, explained about police coordination at the early days of the Mamasapano incident.

        • BTW, I am very sure of this.

          “Indeed the combined forces of the PNP and AFP deployed in the area could have defeated the enemies decisively or at the least drove them away in due time.”

        • 1. If the AFP had moved with maximum military force, a lot more people would have died, and war would have broken out – again.

          2. There was no guarantee the AFP would have rescued the SAF. That’s all theoretical, arrived at by merely looking at theoretical opposing TO&Es. Talk like this appeals only to what someone has called the “101st Chairborne Brigade. In reality, how many armored vehicles could they have mobilized at such short notice?

          3. Obviously the attempt to capture or kill Marwan was a surgical strike meant to be precise. So, then when that fails you’re going to bring out the sledgehammer and smash everything including the landscape? Because if the military had escalated, it’s a foregone conclusion the MILF/BIFF would have escalated correspondingly. Mindanao would still probably be burning now if that had happened.

          3. The AFP didn’t even know there were TWO groups of SAF involved until late in the day

          4. There was no attempt at pre-op liason with the AFP, no coordination, no tapping of the soldiers’ knowledge (as one officer said during the hearing, had they been consulted they would have shared their knowledge of the terrain with the SAF). Also, presumably, they could have activated some useful assets such as air, armor and arty to be positioned within useful supporting range. Instead the military were kept in the dark and then at the last minute suddenly called upon for help – with no knowledge about the operation’s details. And they were suddenly supposed to unleash an artillery barrage, with all the implications?

          5. In neither report do I see any mention of the five civilians killed and how they died. One was a five year old girl, another was a man with his hands tied behind his back. Apparently their deaths have no political value to the investigators?

        • I remember hearing the reason for the non coordination was because some members of the AFP battalion in that region are related to some MILF, previous attempts to arrest Marwan failed because they coordinated (hence Marwan was able to escape), so the plan was to inform the AFP only at the time of extraction. In its early stage, the oplan was a covert operation to preserve the element of surprise, I think. The operation succeeded but the extraction failed – and worse, the gallant SAF 44 died in a brutal, horrific manner.

          The President as the Commander in Chief (IMHO) has the discretion to tap the services of any one (even a suspended PNP chief) to continue the strategic planning of the covert part of the operation. The preventive suspension of Purisima is just that – preventive in nature, so as he,his office and subordinates will not interfere with the investigation of his alleged corrupt activities, not related to the manhunt for Marwan and the various intel in his possession which he received prior to his suspension. That’s my humble opinion, I know some will vehemently disagree, but, hey I’m only one voice.

        • If only, the AFP has used that phosphorous thing earlier, the MILF and whatever band of warriors with them, they might scamper away for they know that artillery is the next step, then our men might have a chance to escape to safety. They decided to do that, yes, but then it was too late, our men were already dead. Not actually using the artillery to “smash everything including the landscape”, just a warning to effect the extraction. So many Ifs… should, could – somebody said hindsight is 20/20, perfect, but we are not, perfect, that is.

        • “our” men? this divisiveness between “us” and “them” is what sustains the war and hatred. This is a civil war, between Filipinos. Is anybody sparing a thought for that eight-year old girl who died, and thinking of how she might have been killed? And there were four other civilians slaughtered as well – real slaughter, they had no weapons, no warning, no chance, they were just living what they thought would be another peaceful day when their lives were snuffed.

        • Ok, ok…I should have said many have already died, not our men (who were helplessly cornered in the open cornfield)….wrong choice of words, because of lack of information on the civilian casualty…whew…the death of civilians were not discussed that much in the media…the emphasis always was on the gallant SAF who were killed in a barbaric manner. My point is if the phosphorous thing was used earlier, it could have prevented those deaths, civilians, SAF or MILF.

        • And I pray with all my heart that there will be a cessation of these hostilities, for congress to scrutinize the BBL draft law, enact it to the satisfaction of all parties and stakeholders so that long lasting peace and progress can be achieved. Young people on both sides are being sacrificed already including innocent children – casualties of war which has to end.

        • I’m with you there. I hope that the leaders concerned will look beyond what happened at Mamasapano and grasp the opportunity to start creating a peaceful Mindanao.

        • i read some interesting opinions from forumers at timawa.net

          one opinion is that, Purisima has been suspended as CPNP but he’s still an active pnp officer. hence, he can still be assigned work that is not the limited to only the CPNP. Also, as you mentioned, the President can tap any person as a ‘consultant’. From what’s written so far, the President has assigned the work to coordinating with the AFP to Napenas.

          Another opinion is that the way the news is being delivered is that Napenas is a lowly officer that needs a higher authority who will talk/coordinate with the other high ranking officers in the AFP. When in fact, Napenas is a General.

          I have to admin, all this time i thought he was something like a superintendent serving as commander of the saf where in fact, he’s a general. so being a general, he should be have enough clout or power to coordinate with generals in the afp

        • i read some interesting opinions from forumers at timawa.net

          one opinion is that, Purisima has been suspended as CPNP but he’s still an active pnp officer. hence, he can still be assigned work that is not the limited to only the CPNP. Also, as you mentioned, the President can tap any person as a ‘consultant’. From what’s written so far, the President has assigned the work to coordinating with the AFP to Napenas.

          Another opinion is that the way the news is being delivered is that Napenas is a lowly officer that needs a higher authority who will talk/coordinate with the other high ranking officers in the AFP. When in fact, Napenas is a General.

          I have to admit, all this time i thought he was something like a superintendent serving as commander of the saf where in fact, he’s a general. so being a general, he should be have enough clout or power to coordinate with generals in the afp

        • 1. Right. Only optimum force with a good commander is necessary. Anyway my minimum objective was merely to drive the enemy away and minimize casualties.
          2. My timeline is three hours after the AFP had been notified, briefed and drawn tactics from data available.
          3. The military mission was to rescue the SAF commandos. Employ all it takes for a successful mission including air assets on escalation. OPLAN Exodus had become irrelevant for the rescue mission.
          4. The BOI indicates that all necessary data were available for artillery mission. And the 84th had not suffered yet any casualty all the while that the army was oblivious of their presence. Death came to the 84th between 4-6 PM. in fact the 84th eluded the enemies until around 4 PM due to real time intelligence supplied by the TCP.
          5. The SAF commandos were knowledgeable of the terrain as shown by surveillance video of Marwan and company. But they suffered setback due to malfunctioning GPS and had to rely on their human guide. OPLAN Neptune Spear suffered setback worse than OPLAN Exodus, had a Black Hawk down inside Bin Laden compound before the assault started and the other Black Hawk landed on undesignated place. Simply because the great American planners and Team 6 failed to consider the air temperature inside the compound. Indeed Team 6 escaped annihilation from Pakistani fighter jets in the nick of time. At least for the time being.

        • 1. How do you define “good commander” and what is the force mix of your “optimum force”? An armored platoon? A battalion? A brigade? Attached units like arty and air? And what if you didn’t attain your minimum objective of driving away the enemy? what then? (von Moltke the Elder: “the enemy always has three options and he always chooses the fourth”) what would your plan be if rescue turned into a meeting engagement and then stalemate? Keep piling in?

          2. The artillery might have been in place (i actually would like to see a map with the firebases and radiuses and number of tubes and types indicated) but in the hearing the soldiers said the other assets — armor and air — were not. You would have ended up just blasting away with arty and then sending what you had (the armored platoon plus engineers, which had been stopped on the road, btw) to the rescue

          3. “Employ all it takes”? to rescue the men? You mean by all force necessary? I read that as escalating into a full-scale war if necessary. Kindly clarify

          4. The BOI inquiry – ah yes, policemen talking about military artillery. If I recall correctly the military men in the hearing were trying to painstakingly explain why it wasn’t just a matter of point and shoot. They had nothing to go on — even if they had gotten coordinates (and btw were the PNP and AFP using the same maps and coordinates) there was still blast radius to consider, plus possible civilians. Was anybody listening? It seems to be a truism that those who don’t fight for a living plus those who don’t live near a target area are always the ones most eager to fire on that place.

          5. Obviously if the SAF were knowledgeable about the terrain they wouldn’t have wound up trapped. They would have marked out their main and alternate exit routes and tactical waypoints and defensive ground and would not have been caught in a cornfield, pinned with no cover. Just because an operation conducted by the US — and why always the US btw, because there is quite a disparity between their capabilities and ours — doesn’t mean it can be slammed as a template on top of a local operation.

          The people in the ground then who were trying to call for a ceasefire were commanded by the military. They wanted to prevent the whole thing from escalating. I am guessing they knew what they were doing and what was at stake.

        • I am presently preparing an operation plan. Let me answer your questions when I am through.

        • You don’t have to take my word if it does not suit you. I am merely ventilating my view. And I will always respect your right to disagree on any of my comments.

  5. ‘In a 4-page opinion addressed to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas, who had sought the DOJ’s view on Monday, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima supported the DILG and Office of the Ombudsman’s position that the TRO has been rendered “moot and academic” by the service of the suspension order and the subsequent oathtaking of Makati City Vice-Mayor Romulo Peña as Acting Mayor prior to the promulgation of the restraining plea.’

    Moot and academic, says DOJ De Lima.

    When Mayor Binay continues exercising powers as Mayor is he liable for usurpation of public functions?

    Will he be charged for that? Will he go up to the SC when he is charged criminally?

    So many unanswered points and it keeps on growing.

  6. A QUESTION ON POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

    At this crucial juncture in our history is it right for a politician to fight dirt with dirt: or to fight dirt like a religious would, in keeping with “suffer this world, for my destination is the kingdom of heaven and not of this world” and considering further all the constraints imposed by the many laws and ethical principles some of which are in conflict with each other?

    • I know you may reply with: politician not fighting dirt with dirt is an oxymoron. Hahaha.