Gloria and the Rebels
Some excerpts from Gloria Arroyo’s speech during the 72nd Founding Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines:
It’s time for their disruption and violation of human rights to be put to rest so that the nation can move ahead. They impede the progress and development of a number of rural areas. They’re responsible for a wide range of human rights abuses.
I did not include the first and last sentence in the paragraph above. Kind of confusing, di ba? I guess you didn’t know that it’s Arroyo who’s talking, you’d have a hard time guessing if she’s referring to the military or the rebels.
And I’m very happy to hear the report that the insurgents’ strength has been brought down to about 6,000 from 12,000 in 2001 and 7,000 a year ago. In other words, you have brought down their strength to one-half of what they used to be. And I am very happy to hear that from a high of a 107 NPA guerrilla fronts in 2005, continuing dismantling of their structures in barangay has eliminated 20 fronts. At the rate we are going, I feel we are on track to put an end to the insurgency by 2010. Congratulations!
Familiar words. I heard these years before, except that at that time, her subject was the Abu Sayyaf Group. Her exact words then were: “I’ve given the military a deadline for the ASG, 90 days.”
However, recent news reports say the Marines are still fighting ASG in Mindanao.
It must be just one of Gloria’s deadlines.
Tags: AFP, CPP-NPA, Gloria Arroyo, insurgency, rebels
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
History taught us that the success of EDSA1 and EDSA2 were hinged on the same “tipping point” - the support of the military. Pres Arroyo will do everything in her power to ensure the military’s loyalty to her and to the country. And also, let’s not forget that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, so I think it’s only natural for the president to rally the troops with “inspiring words” and deadlines to meet.
I’m sure that our unsung heroes in the armed forces are doing their best to meet the President’s deadlines and to promote peace and order in our country. In my personal opinion, we should continue to give our Armed Forces the respect and honor they deserve for defending our Motherland and our democracy regardless of whether they fail or succeed to meet the President’s deadlines.