Martial Law: Hiking the Ante

Cheap Trick wrote the song Surrender which has the following lyrics:

Father says your mother's right  

She's really up on things 

Before we married Mommy served 

In the WACs in the Philippines

Neat, huh? I do believe this is the only rock 'n' roll song which mentions the Philippines. The WACs were the Women's Army Corps which operated until 1978. You can read all about them here. I would love to tell you all what that lyric means but that is not why we are here. Instead we are going to talk about a different surrender. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075178

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075236

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075304

Many NPA members continue to surrender to the government. Is this a good thing or is this a bad thing? It's kind of both. It's good they are surrendering but it's not good that instead of being held liable for their crimes they will be receiving so many benefits or as Duterte calls them gifts "from the Filipino, paid by the people’s taxes."

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1143009/duterte-hikes-ante-for-communist-rebel-surrenderers

President Rodrigo Duterte hiked the ante for surrendered communist rebels and promised more benefits to those who were already given houses. 

Speaking at the turnover of houses to former rebels in the 3-hectare Freedom Residences in Barangay Cuambogan, the President urged rebels to rebuild their lives. 

“We have been at war for 53 years,” the President said. “Tell those fools who are still in the mountains to stop because the government has wasted billions on this war.” 

“Do it while I am still in the position because after I’m gone and you’re still there, life would be very difficult for all of you,” the President said. 

At the same time, he urged the surrendered rebels not to sell the houses that the government has given them or he will crush their faces. 

“Were all of you here given a house? How much will you sell it for? Don’t give that to other people, OK? Or else I will crush your faces,” the President said. 

The 34 housing units he distributed are part of 60 homes within the site reserved for surrendered communist rebels by the National Housing Authority (NHA). 

Originally earmarked for soldiers and policemen, the NHA, through Administrative Order No. 10, reallocated the housing units at Freedom Residences to rebel returnees. 

Duterte said the government gave them the houses so they could send their children to school, but he noted that the resettlement site was some distance from the city. 

“I’ll buy you a truck because it’s too far [to Tagum from] here … I’ll provide the transpo,” the President said, adding that the former rebels should gain skills for their “new struggle.” 

“Go back to school, struggle to live,” he told the rebels as he ordered Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) chief Isidro Lapena to put up a skills training center right within the site. 

“This would be a gift from the Filipino, paid by the people’s taxes, so take care of it,” he said.

Duterte might be right in saying that after he is gone life will be more difficult for NPA members. He is an admitted friend of the communists on record admonishing people to pay NPA taxes and even giving them millions himself. The level of irony in the name of these housing units, Freedom Residences, is astonishing seeing as they were earmarked for AFP and PNP members but are now being given to rebels.  Would they really sell them or give them away to others? 

Exterior

Interior

These houses look pretty nice. Rather swanky. It seems they come fully furnished which is a big plus. Duterte seems to be enjoying that comfy couch and the big TV. No wonder he would be wary that some of the surrenderees might give away their houses or sell them. They could make quite a few  million pesos. How many shanty dwellers would appreciate such living quarters? But while shanty dwellers with several children trying to make their way selling fruits and snacks are taxpayers they aren't former rebels so they get nothing.

All those surrenderees makes the DILG believe that the communist insurgency will be over within two years.  Which is about the end of Duterte's presidency. How convenient.

http://mindanaotimes.com.ph/2019/07/19/govt-on-pace-to-end-npa-insurgency-in-2-years-dilg/

More and more local government units are flexing their muscles against the New People’s Army as shown by resolutions condemning the rebel group. 

According to the data from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), there were already 272 LGUs that have passed resolutions declaring the NPA persona non grata. 

Secretary of Interior and Local Government Eduardo Año, during a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon in The Royal Mandaya Hotel, said that since the implementation of Executive Order 70, the government has taken massive steps in ending the decades-old conflict. 

“We already adopted a whole of nation approach along with all national government agencies led by the President,” he said, adding that the LGUs, AFP and the PNP are also supporting the initiative. 

The fact that 272 LGUs have declared the NPA persona non grata is a manifestation that the strategy is working. “So the President was right in saying that in two years we will finish this (insurgency),” he added. 

Earlier, two barangays in Paquibato District have declared the communist NPA persona non grata.

Does the NPA really care if these LGUs have condemned them as persona non grata? How much stock can really be put into those resolutions as proof that the insurgency is on the wan? Sure it appears that many are surrendering but how many continue to join and how many still remain? 

Muslims terrorists also continue to surrender and avail of government benefits.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075439

After a weeklong negotiation, five members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) surrendered to military authorities in Talitay, Maguindanao on Thursday and handed over assorted high-powered firearms.  

“The former BIFF rebels decided to go back to the fold of the law because of the hardships they experienced in fighting government forces and also due to their desire to live normally as farmers and fishermen together with their families,” he said in a statement. 

After their surrender, the former BIFF fighters received livelihood and housing assistance to help them start a new life.

How does one mentally go from being a terrorist to being a farmer or a fisherman? They will receive money and housing assistance of course and all at the expense of the Filipino as Duterte says. "A gift from the Filipino, paid by the people's taxes."  It's not even a sick joke, it's just sick. These men will never be held accountable for their crimes against the people yet the people will be paying their way. Blasting soldiers with a rifle one day, blasting fish with dynamite the next. 

Perhaps the biggest deal for Muslim terrorist surrenderees is that offered to the MILF and MNLF.

https://www.luwaran.com/news/article/1850/govt-to-waive-restrictions-for-moro-combatants-who-will-opt-to-become-cops--soldiers

A report by Mindanews Monday, says that the government will waive the height, age and educational requirements for combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who want to become police or army troopers, top national and regional government officials confirmed over the weekend. 

“MILF members will be given priority in the hiring process for security forces in the newly-created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)”, OPAPP Sec. Carlito Glavez, Jr. said. 

In the same report, Galvez particularly cited the Police Regional Office-BARMM, 6th Infantry Division (ID) based in Maguindanao, 1st ID based in Zamboanga del Sur and 11th ID based in Sulu would give priority in the hiring process to qualified Moro combatants, including members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). 

“We will write the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the PNP (Philippine National Police) that qualified applicants coming from MILF and MNLF communities be given preference as part of community policing and the normalization process,” Galvez told MindaNews in a text message. 

In terms of the waived educational attainment, undergraduate Moro combatants hired as state troopers should finish a degree within 15 years of service, Galvez said as quoted by Mindanews. 

Galvez, BARMM interim Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año had discussed the matter of foregoing some requirements for Moro combatants to become members of government forces. 

Ebrahim told MIndanews in a text message in Filipino “It is not an integration (of Moro combatants into government ranks) but a normal process. Part of the (peace) agreement allows the waiving of some requirements to accommodate more qualified applicants,” 

Waiving the height, age, and education requirements to become a police officer or join the army means short, old, and dumb MILF and MNLF terrorists will now be eligible to join the security forces. The same terrorists who brutalised Mindanao will become the security forces of the BARMM charged with keeping the peace. They will still have their weapons but their titles will change from terrorist to PNP officer or AFP soldier. And that is part of the normalisation process which most people do not know about.

This waiving of requirements pertains to both the MILF and the MNLF. Since the MNLF is not a party to the BARMM agreement does this perhaps have anything to do with Duterte's recent meeting with Misuari on July 10th?

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/10/duterte-misuari-meet-in-palace-for-third-time/

President Duterte met for the third time with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chairman Nur Misuari in Malacañang Tuesday. 

While Malacañang has yet to release details of the meeting, official photos showed Duterte and Misuari in an embrace as Cabinet members stood by.

No details of the meeting have been released which makes this meeting ripe for speculation. Imagine the leader of a nation meeting with a terrorist he considers his friend and not divulging to the people what they discussed. That is exactly what happened here.

What it boils down to is that all these freebies being paid for by taxpayers and given to surrendering terrorists as well as allowing MILF and MNLF terrorists to join the AFP and PNP is only dressing up wolves in sheep's clothing.  Instead of actually ending the insurgency by destroying the terrorists and rebels the government believes it can waste taxpayer money by doling out money and houses and transforming killers into farmers.

It's all a cheap trick!