Folly of the negotiations

Batas Mauricio

THE folly of negotiating peace with just one armed group in Mindanao is once again exposed for all to see: even if peace is not attained yet between the Aquino government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a new rebel group composed of 70 fully armed men led by a radical cleric, the Justice for Islamic Movement, is raring to go to more wars against the Republic of the Philippines.
Indeed, President Aquino might want to ask himself and try to think of the right answer by himself for once: if total peace in Mindanao is not going to be achieved by the peace pact with the MILF, since new rebel groups could crop up even at the mere drop of a hat in much the same fashion that MILF cropped up by separating from the Moro National Liberation Front after it managed to sign a peace accord with the Ramos government, why bother about peace at all?
It is clear that there is not going to be any lasting and total peace in Mindanao, especially if high-powered firearms continue to proliferate and remain in the hands of people willing to wage wars against the government and against Filipinos who want peace to reign. Remove the guns from rebels first, if the government can, before any negotiations start, and I am sure everybody will pay serious attention to the government’s peace overtures.
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For the record, many feel scandalized by the attempts of Aquino and Malacanang to blame resigned Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Alan Purisima, for the Mamasapano massacre where 44 officers and men of the Special Action Force were brutally killed by the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on January 25, 2015.
Did not Aquino say, early on, that Purisima could not be blamed nor be held liable in anyway for the death of the SAF commandos, people are asking. And, people are also wondering aloud, did not Purisima already declare publicly, in an act perceived by many as gallantry of the highest order, that he was taking full responsibility for the Mamasapano massacre, in an obvious ploy to clear Aquino?
So, how come Aquino suddenly made a turn around, as he is now singing a different tune about Purisima’s liability over the Mamasapano operation, to the effect that the former PNP chief must take all the blame for this blot in the nation’s history because he lied to the President?
Your guess is as good as mine, but I think that the presidential change-of-mind was prompted by Purisima’s public denial, through a statement issued by his lawyerelative, that he lied to the President about the help for the SAF policemen. Purisima disputed the President’s accusation that he lied, saying that he never lied at any point in his career as a policeman, and during all the time that he was considered as the best friend of Aquino.
That denial was perceived by Aquino and his spin masters as Purisima’s breaking away from his long friendship with his long-time friend and benefactor and, as a veiled attempt as well to already implicate the President in the Mamasapano debacle. When Purisima made that public denial, he became an urgent target for character assassination, to take away his credibility, if and when he found himself disclosing the truth about Mamasapano.
The only thing that Purisima can do now to defend himself is to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as to how the Mamasapano operation came about, who ordered its execution on January 25, 2015, and who was really in charge of the whole operation all along.
If Purisima does this, he is not going to be alone. As far as I can recall, there is already a precedent of an official of an Aquino government spilling the beans, so to speak, after being dropped like a hot potato, on account of that official being perceived to be moving against the interest of the powers that be. I am of course referring to the case of former Agrarian Reform Secretary and now Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.
Miriam’s case as a Cabinet member of the Cory Aquino government is in fact documented by Wikipedia, which reported: “President Aquino was chair of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council. As secretary, Santiago was the vice-chair. The media pointedly asked her if the hacienda belonging to the president’s family should be covered by agrarian reform.
“(The Cojuangco family had opted for corporate farming by retaining the land and paying the farmers in the form of corporate shares, thus exempting themselves from the agrarian reform law.) When Santiago said that the family’s hacienda should be distributed among the farmers, it was not long before President Aquino accepted Santiago’s resignation…” Santiago later publicly disclosed this experience of hers with the first President Aquino.
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In fairness to the campaign to give better service to Filipinos without consideration for bribes or influence peddling, I have to publicly say that, based on my own experience, there are still many government employees who are doing their best to help everyone who come to them, particularly in the provinces.
I was in Iloilo City on March 4, 2015 to research on a four-hectare property that was first titled in the name of a resident of San Jose, Antique in 1920 or thereabouts, and was I pleasantly surprised to see that the officers and employees of the Lands Management Services of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Office No. 6 immediately assisted me on the research.
This they did in just about 30 minutes without asking me who I was, and without asking me for any money aside from the lawful fees required by law for securing certified true copies of the documents I received from their archives. The bigger surprise to me was that, the same speedy service they gave me was given by the officers and employees to all the other people who were there at their office at that time.
And so I must give credit where credit is due. I have to thank Doreen Malanguis, the chief record custodian of the DENR Lands Management Services, who personally directed the search for the documents I needed, using the computers of her office, as well as the files in its records section.
I would have thought that Ms. Malanguis was doing this to me because, perhaps by some coincidence or pure luck, she knew I was from Manila or from the media. But I banished this thought right away when I saw that, before and after attending to me, she was doing the same diligence in helping and searching for documents requested by people who wore just plain T-shirts and rubber sandals.
I found myself thanking God, in the Name of Jesus, for Ms. Malanguis and her support staff whose names I failed to get (pity me for this lapse!). Regardless of the general perception that many in government service would not dare extend any assistance to people coming to them for help if their palms or pockets are not lined with money first, DENR Regional Office 6 showed there is hope for a much better service to the public. Mabuhay!
The fact is that, I got the same efficient and courteous service when I went to the Registry of Deeds of Iligan City in Lanao del Norte, also to do a research, this time on a two-hectare property belonging to the heirs of a once-wealthy and propertied Iligan City resident. Without asking who I was or where I came from, Atty. Joseph Cuevas, the registrar, and his staff helped me right away. Again, mabuhay!

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com