From Inquirer.net: Former Senator Ping Lacson on Friday criticized UN Special Rapporteur Ian Fry after the envoy asked Philippine government to revoke the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Known CPP/NPA fighters Magalong, Lacson vs Badoy, Celiz [People’s Journal]
From Alfred Dalizon’s column in People’s Journal: “While I share with them the same advocacy and passion in ending the insurgency problem, I enjoin them to focus on the enemy without harassing those of us who put our lives on the line while serving in the AFP and PNP,” Lacson said.
Continue reading “Known CPP/NPA fighters Magalong, Lacson vs Badoy, Celiz [People’s Journal]”
On the Bullying by Badoy and Celiz
It is dangerous to confuse speaking the loudest with speaking the ‘unequivocal’ truth.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as conceptualized was an excellent weapon aimed at ending the longest running insurgency in the world.
On Senator Legarda’s ‘Stand’ that the CPP-NDF is Not an Enemy of the State
Well said. I could not agree more with the statement of the NTF-ELCAC.*
Senator Legarda is a friend and I respect her opinion but I cannot for the life of me agree with her stand, apparently articulated by her statement that the CPP-NPA-NDF is not an enemy of the state. Simply put, an armed terrorist group — already designated not only by the government of the Republic of the Philippines but also by the European Union, the United States of America and four other countries (Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand) — is unequivocally an enemy of the state.
That being said, any attempt to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act is a disrespect to our comrades-in-arms as well as the countless civilians who fell victims to the atrocities of this terrorist group that has lost its ideological principles over the years – they murder, they rob, they extort, they harass and intimidate and worse, indiscriminately.
Having authored and sponsored and almost single-handedly defended the legislative measure in the Senate plenary, as well as in the battle for public opinion in many fora including the media, I will not hesitate to be part of the opposition to thwart moves to amend this law in its substantive form which no less than the Supreme Court has declared as constitutional.
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Continue reading “On Senator Legarda’s ‘Stand’ that the CPP-NDF is Not an Enemy of the State”
On the Slash in the NTF-ELCAC’s 2022 Budget
Use it or lose it, as former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno once said.
Misused funds are far worse than unused appropriations. If the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee himself asserts that those entrusted to utilize the NTF-ELCAC funds cannot even provide the details on how they spent the same, they have no business asking for more.
That being said, not only do I support the slash in the NTF-ELCAC’s proposed budget for 2022, if such misuse was indeed committed – the officials concerned must be made accountable, if not criminally liable.
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