Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 3 February 16 -22, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
NEWS
AT A GLANCE Support
to U.S. war on Iraq: Contrary
to the Macapagal-Arroyo government's claim that it will only send Philippine
troops to augment a "peace-keeping force" in the Middle East, Bayan
Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo described such move as a military support for the
U.S.-led war on Iraq. Ocampo
said that “sending Filipino troops to Iraq either as medical and humanitarian
support forces is still tantamount to open support for an unjustified war.” “Filipino
soldiers would still serve as auxiliaries to U.S. military forces," he
said. The activist solon assailed the Macapagal-Arroyo administration for attempting to "disarm the Filipino public" by substituting the term peacekeeping with what still amounts to indirect military support. "The term 'peacekeeping' is a misnomer. Philippine troops will only serve as gofers and peons for the Americans," he said. *
* * On
the entry of Green Berets: The
planned deployment to the Philippines of the Green Berets indicates heightened
U.S. involvement in government's anti-insurgency campaign, political party Bayan
Muna claimed. Robert
de Castro, deputy secretary general of Bayan Muna, said that the U.S., in
continuous collusion with the Arroyo government, has been slowly inching its way
into the country by using the Abu Sayyaf as a ruse before proceeding to hunt
down bigger targets, the New People's Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front. "This
is a foreboding sign of things to come," de Castro said.
"The pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming into place - the Abu
Sayyaf today, the NPA and the MILF tomorrow." The Green Berets’ notoriety reached international status during the Vietnam War, conducting assassinations and "special operations." De Castro feared that the entry of these U.S. special forces into the country could similarly result in the escalation of the armed conflict, and could erupt into a full-scale civil war. *
* * CPP gave Kintanar a chance – Ka Roger The
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) recently revealed that Romulo Kintanar
was given a chance “to show genuine remorse and willingness to make
amends for the wrongs (he has done).” Gregorio
“Ka Roger” Rosal, CPP spokesman, explained that the CPP
and the revolutionary movement uphold the policy of giving consideration and
granting amnesty to individuals who show genuine remorse and willingness to make
adequate amends despite the seriousness of the errors they have committed. However,
Rosal said that when Kintanar's case was reviewed and finally decided by the
special people’s court in 2002, “new
pieces of evidence presented show that Kintanar persisted and became further
engrossed in his criminal and counter-revolutionary activities.” "Even
worse than his criminal activities," Rosal emphasized, “was his direct integration into the
structure of the AFP, PNP, NBI and other government intelligence agencies as
consultant, intelligence agent and special operative of the military and police.” At the time Kintanar was assassinated by a special NPA unit last month, Malacañang and officials of the AFP and PNP confirmed that he was a “military intelligence agent.” *
* * Bohol
farmers arrested, detained Buenavista,
Bohol—Four farmers were arrested reportedly without warrant and charged with
murder here, some kilometers from Tagbilaran City. Antonio
Sanchez, Ruben Busalanan, Edwin Lofranco and Rodrigo Mejias, members of a local
farmers organization Hugpong sa mga Ma-uumang Bol-anon – Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas
(HUMABOL-KMP), were arrested Feb. 5 in two separate incidents by elements of the
15th Infantry Battalion.
They
were accused of killing the barangay captain of Bgy. Nueva Montana and a
councilor. * * * MCPA
condemns the bombing of Pikit, Maguindanao
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