PNP Uses Scientology Text in Training

It's funny how the most unassuming news article can lead one down a deep dark rabbit hole of insanity. Last week in Los Angeles Jorge “Jerry” Perez de Tagle was honoured with an award for his work in improving Philippine society.

http://usa.inquirer.net/15064/fil-honored-promoting-sustainable-solutions-crime-drugs-corruption-ph

Jorge “Jerry” Perez de Tagle, national chairman of The Way to Happiness Philippines Foundation, flew in from Manila, August 3, to receive the Bayanihan Spirit Award for his work to improve Philippine society. 

The award was presented at the 17^thAnnual Filipinotown Neighborhood Council Festival, where he was also recognized by US Congressman Jimmy Gomez and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell. 

Perez de Tagle has spent the last several years working with the Philippine National Police, the Department of National Defense, local governments, churches, and community organizations to tackle the problems of crime, drugs, and corruption. 

He has trained thousands within the ranks of these organizations to spread commonsense values among their members and into the community. The focal point of the program centers around The Way to Happiness, a commonsense guide to ethics and values.

Who is Jorge Perez de Tagle? What is The Way to Happiness? If he has been working hard to improve Philippine society why is an American, not a Philippine, organisation giving him an award? 

Let's start with the second question.  What is The Way to Happiness?  It's a front for Scientology.

http://thewaytohappinessphilippines.org/about-us/faq/

L. Ron Hubbard is the creator of the science fiction religion known as Scientology. This gist of this religion is that men are unhappy and depressed because they are infected with the souls of aliens who were dumped in volcanoes on this planet thousands of years ago by an alien warlord named Xenu. The only path to salvation is to reach the level of Clear and become an Operating Thetan which means you are no longer infected with these alien souls.

Xenu, Scientology's bad guy

The Way to Happiness is a non-religious ethical system, supposedly the first though I could point to Lao Tse and Aristotle as well as others who wrote non-religious ethical systems, written by Hubbard as a way to help men live better lives. Allegedly this book has been used by governments all over the world with astounding results that are backed only by claims and not any hard evidence.

Scientologists like Tom Cruise and Nancy Cartwright have also given this book away by the millions.

Scientologist Nancy Cartwright, the voice actor for Bart Simpson, mailed 1 million copies of The Way to Happiness booklet to residents of San Fernando Valley, California in December 2007.

Tom Cruise has distributed The Way to Happiness pamphlets, and passed out brochures embossed with his name at the elementary school where the 2005 movieWar of the Worlds was filmed. He also gave copies of the pamphlet to managers of United International Pictures, the company which distributed War of the Worlds overseas. In a Church of Scientology-produced promotional video which appeared on YouTube in January 2008, Cruise cites "the way to happiness" as one of the benefits of Scientology: "When you're a Scientologist and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help," said Cruise. "We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_to_Happiness

Former members of the church claim that The Way to Happiness is a front to make Hubbard's ideas more palatable and to entice people to join Scientology.

Front group? Critics of Scientology, including some former officials, argue that "The Way to Happiness" is primarily a recruiting tool for the church. According to Vicki Aznaran, who once served as inspector general of the Religious Technology Center, the church's highest ecclesiastical organization, The Way to Happiness Foundation is "a front group to get people into Scientology" and the book is designed "to make Scientology palatable to the masses." Another former church member, Gerald Armstrong, claims that Hubbard wanted "rich Scientologists to buy huge quantities of this book for distribution. He wanted to go down in history as a scientist or a philosopher or both." Both Aznaran, who runs a private detective agency in Dallas, and Armstrong, who works for an anti-Scientologist attorney in San Francisco, are currently locked in prolonged and bitter litigation with the church over a variety of claims. 

Church officials strongly deny that "The Way to Happiness" is a lure to attract potential converts. Still, the church is anxious to broaden its appeal by promoting Hubbard's various "technologies" for combating drugs, reforming criminals, teaching morality and learning how to study-and doing it through its sundry satellites: Narconon, Criminon, Applied Scholastics and The Way to Happiness Foundation. The church's encyclopedic reference text, "What Is Scientology?", claims that 23 corporate giants have used Hubbard's study technology. Yet a check of three of them-Mobil Oil, General Motors and Lancome-brought denials of any corporate involvement with the church. But if the nation's public schools are any measure, Hubbard's tracts will continue to turn up in the most surprising places.

https://www.newsweek.com/scientology-schools-194002

Surprising places like the NCRPO?

https://www.newsweek.com/scientology-schools-194002

NCRPO Regional Director, PDIR Oscar D Albayalde stated that the main purpose of this effort is Nation Building for the future generation. This is the reason why the President started the war on drugs to build a safe nation guarded by disciplined policemen. 

The Way to Happiness  (TWTh) Philippines Foundation is a non-profit, non religious and non political approach that uses the proven 25% Tippinng Point model of social change. NCRPO supports the  Way to Happiness Philippines Foundation’s advocacy: supporting a common sense education and ethics initiative using the Way to happiness Booklet. 

The PNP particularly the NCRPO adopted the 21 precepts of TWTH during the implementation of War against Illegal Drugs. Now, that the NCRPO is concentrating on its Internal Cleansing Program, NCRPO Regional Director, PDIR Oscar D Albayalde believes that the TWTH would be very helpful in transforming moral values of the police. 

Albayalde, a man of good ethics and public servants himself, is convinced that the booklet is a must read for police officers. It’s about time to renew our commitment that police officers to be effective public servants must be morally upright, he said.

The Way to Happiness Philippines website has this advice to PNP officers on "how to effectively deal with the lack of moral values and reduce crime in your community."

• Distribute The Way to Happiness book or The Way to Happiness book-on-film to offenders to get them back on the right track. 

• Have officers give the book to members of the community, to neighborhood watch groups and those involved in community policing efforts.

• Issue copies of the book to your officers and encourage them to read it and use it when dealing with members of the community.

• Get The Way to Happiness public service announcements played for youth groups, schools, after-school programs and detention centers and get the educators using The Way to Happiness in their tutoring and mentoring programs.

• Get The Way to Happiness used in parenting classes, anger management programs, conflict resolution training and gang prevention efforts.

• Supply parole and probation officers with copies of The Way to Happiness for probationers, parolees and their families.

• Get copies of the book distributed to inmates in local jails and correctional facilities.

• Reprint The Way to Happiness (license available by contacting us) for your department or agency.

http://thewaytohappinessphilippines.org/campaigns/police-program/

I find it odd that with all the coverage of the drug war the use of this program has never been discussed. At least I have never heard of it until now. Albayalde says the purpose of using The Way to Happiness is nation building and "transforming the moral values of the police." But is this booklet really the best way to accomplish those goals?

Aside from benign advice like brush your teeth and honour your parents The Way to Happiness booklet has one suggestion that will not help in anyone's moral transformation and will certainly not build any nation.

7. Seek to live with the truth 

False data can cause one to make stupid mistakes. It can even block one from absorbing true data. 

One can solve the problems of existence only when he has true data. 

If those around one lie to him or her, one is led into making errors and his survival potential is reduced. 

False data can come from many sources: academic, social, professional. 

Many want you to believe things just to suit their own ends. 

What is true is what is true for you. 

No one has any right to force data on you and command you to believe it or else. If it is not true for you, it isn’t true. 

Think your own way through things, accept what is true for you, discard the rest. There is nothing unhappier than one who tries to live in a chaos of lies.

http://lronhubbard.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/happiness_en.pdf

"One can solve the problems of existence only when he has true data" and "What is true is what is true for you" both cancel each other out. You cannot solve anything if the true data you have is only relatively true and not actually and factually true.

"What's true is true for you" is the essence of relativism and relativism the source of the downfall of modern civilisation. Truth is truth. It is not relative. If the facts all say that the suspect did not pull a gun and that he was shot multiple times in the back then the PNP officer's claim to the contrary will never be true no matter how much he wishes it to be so. If an officer steals thousands or millions of pesos no wrangling of the truth, I only borrowed it or took what was rightfully mine, will change the fact that he is a thief.

This book, The Way to Happiness, is actually the way to death and destruction and no person in their right mind would ever use it even if it was not the ethical system of a sci-fi religion.

Now allow me to go a little in depth about who Jerry Tagle is. Suffice to say Tagle is a Scientologist.

http://www.truthaboutscientology.com/stats/by-name/j/jorge-perez-de-tagle.html

This is from a website documenting members who have completed Scientology courses. The course Mr. Tagle completed is called "The State of Man."

http://www.bridgepub.com/store/catalog/state-of-man-congress-lectures.html

After reading the synopsis several times I am still not sure what this course is all about. It seems to be a series of lectures given by Hubbard in the 50's about the various levels in Scientology all the way up to OT which is Operating Thetan.

Jerry Tagle also boasts of having studied in many universities around the world and he has an honorary doctorate from the BEST School of Theology.

https://www.facebook.com/jerry.perezdetagle

Why would he list that he studied for a Phd at BEST when he was given an honorary doctorate? You do not study for an honorary doctorate. The philosophy of the BEST school on handing out honorary doctorates is interesting to say the least.

As for the BEST school here is what the operator has to say about honorary doctorates. 

According to Bishop Ariel P. Coleto of Brethren Evangelical School of Theology, an honorary doctorate degree bears more weight compared to doctorate degrees earned through matriculation (or the traditional method) for the reason that those who are chosen to receive the honorary degree first did something to their milieu that is why they are considered for such honor, while those who earn the degree by traditional means they have yet to prove themselves which they do so through formal study and research having lacked actual stints. 

The latter have not yet shown the glitters of their actual accomplishments to the world. Bishop Coleto could not have emphasized this better. 

I am thankful for the Ph.D. in Social Sciences and Fine Arts given to me by the Brethren Evangelical School in partnership with Edenton Mission College (CHED accredited).

https://thedailyguardian.net/option/doctorate-degrees-via-honoris-causa/

The Facebook page for BEST shows that they are handing out honorary doctorates like there is no tomorrow. That's because honorary doctorates are the only degree they offer!!!

https://www.facebook.com/Brethren-Evangelical-School-Of-Theology-347383112396319/

At least I have not seen any evidence to the contrary that they offer real degrees. This web page makes it seem like they offer bachelor's degrees in various fields but it also sounds like a scam and maybe it is.

Now for the the third question: Why was Jerry Tagle given an award for helping to improve Philippine society in Los Angeles rather than the Philippines?

I do not know the answer to that. However one of the men recognising Mr. Tagle is Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell. If you search this man's name it is clear that he has assisted the Scientologists in many of their public outreach efforts like a bike ride to raise awareness of hit-and-runs.  A Scientology minister was hit while riding his bike and nearly died. Amazingly he used The Way to Happiness to assist in his recovery.

For just that purpose, Damian had a special edition of The Way to Happiness booklet printed with the Finish the Ride logo on the cover and made this available to those who participated in the ride. The Way to Happiness is a nonreligious common sense moral code authored by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. 

Damian credits a precept from The Way to Happiness as a critical factor in his recovery. 

“I applied a precept that states, ‘Sometimes others seek to crush one down, to make nothing out of one’s hopes and dreams, one’s future and oneself…. The real handling of such a situation and such people, the real way to defeat them is to flourish and prosper.’”

http://www.scientology-losangeles.org/news/finish-the-ride.html

Mitch O'Farrell also "presented the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre with a proclamation in honor of the Church’s 45th anniversary and in appreciation of the Church’s invaluable service to the community.”

https://tonyortega.org/2016/11/16/scientologys-websites-try-a-little-too-hard-to-convince-you-that-all-is-right-in-crazy-town/

I have no idea if this man is a Scientologist or not but it is quite the coincidence that he has recognised the Church of Scientology all over Los Angeles and now he has recognised Jerry Tagle, a Scientologist who lives in the Philippines. What are the chances?

Should anyone be worried that PNP officers will be converting to Scientology after reading through The way to Happiness? While Scientology does have a small presence in the Philippines I find it doubtful that PNP officers will be scrambling to reach Clear and become Operating Thetans. I don't think they even know what they are dealing with and it is this aloofness which makes it very funny that one of the PNP's methods of training to improve themselves is the moral and ethical code of a science fiction religion.

Hashtag Becoming Filipino is the Face of Racini Bags

It was quite a shock when I was out shopping and I turned my head only to see this:

If you don't know, that is Kyle Jennermann a Canadian blogger who wants to hashtag Become Filipino. He goes around documenting his adventures and what not. I do not follow him or his blog. However I did write about him last year when he lamented that his parents could not come to visit him in the very dangerous province in which he lives, Mindanao, because their travel insurance would not cover them since the Canadian government had issued a travel warning for that province.

You see Kyle is very naive. He has had such a great time with good people that he forgets right on the fringes of the jungle where he lives are NPA commies and various ISIS affiliated Muslim terrorists who wouldn't think twice about kidnapping both him and his parents and hold them for ransom or behead them if the money doesn't show up. He thinks the negativity surrounding the word "Mindanao" is all stereotyping. As if "Mindanao" is just a word and not a real place where real things happen like terrorism. Funny that only two weeks after he penned his lament the Marawi siege began and martial law was imposed upon Mindanao. 

Some stereotype that is right?

You can read all about that here:

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/05/canadian-blogger-dismisses-terrorism-in.html

As I said it was a definite shock to see this man's gaping maw on a huge advertisement for backpacks.

That is the face Kyle will make if Abu Sayyaf ever gets ahold of him.

The moment I saw this guy's face I could not stop laughing. He has truly become Filipino by trying to sell you something you do not need. He might as well be selling these bags from his house like people do with soaps and perfumes and clothes just to make a few extra pesos. Or maybe you do need it because you are an OFW who finally hit the big time and are busting out of this joint. Either way seeing his face in this mock surprise pose is hilarious.

Curious about his partnership with this company, Racini, I searched all over the internet. It seems his collaboration with Racini bags started in April or March 2017.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSdSWp6F3mV/

So much stuff has been happening! But did you notice that something else in the recent photos and videos?! I have finally changed up my backpack! ... :) ... I now have legit adventure travel bags! I have struck up an awesome relationship with #Racini, a company that grew out of Cagayan De Oro, Mindanao! They wanted to help "Spark Happiness" (I like that thought...) with me, and I love how whenever I look at my backpack I will be reminded of home :) 

The Racini Bags Facebook page is filled with photos of Kyle in the most silly poses you can imagine, like this:

https://www.facebook.com/racinibags/

Why is he climbing this tree? What kind of adventure is this?  He also has his face plastered larger than life on a delivery truck.

In case you are wondering Kyle does have a working visa so his partnership with Racini is above board in that respect.

Jennermann currently has a three-year work visa, which means he’ll be here until 2019.   

“But honestly, I take it one day at a time,” he said. “This is my home, I don’t plan on leaving. I do whatever I can, to stay here as long as I can.”  

In his travel videos and in various interviews, Jennermann has always expressed his interest in becoming a Filipino. The Canadian, however, maintained that he has no plans of applying for citizenship here, saying he is happy with the opportunity to promote the Philippines to his fellow foreigners.  

“You know what, if someone handed me a passport and asked me if I would like to stay here, of course that would be amazing. But I’m proud to be Canadian, and I’m also really, really proud to call the Philippines my home,” he said.  

“Canada is where I’m from, the Philippines is my home,” he added. “So would I like to stay here? Yes, as long as I possibly can. But I’m not worried about getting citizenship, that’s not for me to ever ask for. It’s not appropriate.” 

http://news.abs-cbn.com/life/12/06/16/why-best-pinoy-at-heart-awardee-wont-apply-for-ph-citizenship

"Promote the Philippines to his fellow foreigners?" I really do wonder who this guy is and who is backing him. Who is paying him? Who is he working for and what is he really doing? Has he secretly partnered with the DOT? No, they wouldn't be so smart as that. Here he is travelling with a BBC travel show host to the ARMM.

http://www.mindanews.com/press-release/2018/07/from-becomingfilipino-to-becomingmoro-kulas-visits-armm-villages-expo/

‘BecomingFilipino’ travel blogger Kyle Jennermann, better known on You Tube as ‘Kulas’, visited the mock cultural villages at the seat of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) here on Friday, July 6. 

With him were his fellow travel bloggers, Michael ‘Mike’ Corey – ‘Fearless and Far’ on You Tube – and Mark ‘Kumar’ Yañez. ARMM Executive Secretary Atty. Laisa Masuhud Alamia welcomed and toured Kulas and his friends around the villages. 

While being fascinated with the beauty of Mindanao, Kulas always wants to visit ARMM areas for a special reason. His visit here is his way of showcasing the way of life of ARMM people and to help break the stereotype about the Moro people and the ARMM per se. 

He thinks the cultural villages’ expo is a great avenue for others, especially foreigners, to understand the unique cultures within the ARMM. The experience gained in visiting the ARMM mock cultural villages, he said, was a smooth leap from becoming Filipino to becoming Moro. 

Corey, a BBC travel show host, said, “There are other interesting countries out there but the Philippines is special because Filipinos are so nice, friendly, and very outgoing.”

What a revelatory article this is. First of all we learn that there is a difference between Filipinos and Moros even though Moros live in the country called the Philippines. These people simply do not want to be Filipinos. If you have been reading my martial law updates you know that the text of the BOL had to have words inserted to the effect that the people of Bangsomoro are Filipinos much to the chagrin of the Moros.

Second we learn that Kyle is steadily determined to break the stereotype regarding the ARMM, that it is violent. He thinks he is doing this by visiting a Potemkin village! As if visiting a mock cultural village is going to give the truth about the day to day goings on in the ARMM soon to be BARMM. If he wants to learn about the real culture of the ARMM then he should move to Lanao del Sur or Catabato City for a month or two or more. Maybe even visit Sulu. I would love to see him meet with MNLF leader Nur Misuari. They could do a walking interview wherein Misuari could show him how peaceful Mindanao really is while they visit his favourite secret jungle waterfall.

Third we learn that he is travelling around with a BBC travel show host. How is Kyle benefiting from that relationship? Did Kyle and his friends have any sort of security detail. Would the BBC let one of it's hosts travel to such a dangerous place without one?

Aside from his adventuring Kyle also does charity work. In fact his second visit to the Philippines was to help out with efforts in Tacloban after typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

He was working in Hong Kong in November 2013 when Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) struck, devastating Tacloban City and other parts of the Visayas. 

“I was with Filipinos at that time in Hong Kong and seeing the way it affected them, I just wanted to do something,” he says. 

He decided to quit his job and flew to Cagayan de Oro where he ended up packing relief at a Red Cross station. Soon after, he ended up in Tacloban about two weeks after the typhoon on a relief mission and also to look up a Hong Kong colleague who was from there.

Together with his Filipino friends from the outdoor community, Jennermann put up OneTacloban to help out in the relief efforts with no “red tape, no politics, no bulls—.” 

With his camera, Jennermann started documenting the damage. Afterwards, he would sit outside the United Nations tents—the only places then with Internet signal—and upload his videos on YouTube so friends and family could see how desperately help was needed.
OneTacloban was able to raise some P500,000 in donations, which helped in reopening a school for children, setting up clinics and procuring relief.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/107401/canadian-wants-to-be-filipino-just-call-him-kulas

Sounds pretty good right? Better than the government's efforts. He also did more charity work last year after the fighting in Marawi broke out.

https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/inquirer-libre-davao/20170616/281479276402766

The Canadian travel blogger whose posts went viral for his fluent “Bisaya” started his own “psychosocial intervention” to help Maranao people traumatized by the antiterrorist assault on Marawi City, spending hours with them at a temporary shelter in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur province. 

Inspired by their resilience, Jennermann initiated a campaign to solicit toy and cash donations for the evacuees. 

“I ended up realizing that toys were something that didn’t really exist in the many relief centers, so I had a toy drive in Iligan City,” he told the Inquirer by phone. “Locals brought me probably close to 2,000 various toys, and it was awesome.” 

"Then I raised a little bit of money and asked a bag company (Racini) I endorsed if I could buy some bags at cost, but instead they let me use their truck and they donated supplies and bags," he said.

Nothing says charity like delivering your donated goods in a truck plastered with your face!

Does Kyle see the irony here in what he is doing?  First he says all the negativity about Mindanao is a stereotype. Then a month later he ends up giving charity to people who were affected by this stereotype which basically nullifies his ridiculous statement about Mindanao not being so dangerous and everyone being super duper nice and all the talk about terrorism being just a stereotype.

With his head in the sand and unable to come face to face with the reality of the Philippines, specifically the dangers of Mindanao, it seems Kyle is well on his way to hashtag Becoming Filipino.

Martial Law: Groundbreaking

Last year just after the Marawi siege ended DND Sec. Lorenzana predicted a return to normalcy within two months. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/27/1753057/lorenzana-normalcy-marawi-2-months

This, of course, did not happen. The city first had to be cleared of bombs and only very slowly were refugees allowed to return to the rubble of their homes. It is already August 2018 and rebuilding has not even started yet. 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/661591/marawi-rehab-to-start-in-august-or-september-task-force-chief/story/

Negotiations with the Chinese-led Bangon Marawi Consortium, which the task force initially selected, failed early in June. 

“Unfortunately, ‘yung na-select namin initially was not able to comply sa requirements natin on financial and technical,” Del Rosario noted. 

Bangon Marawi Consortium consists of five Chinese and four Filipino companies, including China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd., Anhui Huali Construction Group Co. Ltd., China Geo Engineering Corp., TBEA Co. Ltd., Shandong Jinyuan Homes Industry Development Co. Ltd., Future Homes PH Inc., A. Brown Co. Inc., HS Pow Construction Inc., and SD Realty & Development Inc.  

China State Construction Engineering Corp. and China Geo Engineering Corp. were blacklisted in 2009 by the World Bank for supposedly colluding with local companies in rigging the bidding of road projects partly financed by the multilateral lender in 2004. 

The Palace has said that the blacklisted firms deserve a “second chance.”  

Now that Bangon Marawi is out of the picture, Del Rosario said the TFBM is in talks with the Power Construction Corp. of China or PowerChina, the second company that expressed its intent to participate in the Marawi rehabilitation. 

“Definitely, the end result of the negotiation is the conferment of the original proponent status. And then once it is conferred, the following day it is published and the Swiss Challenge starts,” Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario said the rehabilitation will be completed by the last quarter of 2021. 

“We are very confident that even with the ground breaking in August, September, or October ... we can complete the rehabilitation of Marawi by December of 2021,” he said.

The government was really negotiating with a blacklisted Chinese firm to rebuild Marawi. Why would they even pick them in the first place? It is already the last week of August and there is no word if anyone has been chosen yet and since foreign companies are still expressing interest in this venture it is likely that no firm has been chosen and the start and completion dates will be pushed back farther and farther.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/169271/indonesian-south-korean-firms-show-interest-marawi-rehab

“We are receiving some information and in fact some big developers, actually mga from Indonesia and South Korea, they have signified their intention to participate in the rehabilitation,” Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson Eduardo del Rosario said in a briefing. 

“We have immediate back up just in case there will be a failure of negotiation again,” Del Rosario told reporters in Marawi City. 

The government is currently in talks with Chinese-owned developer PowerChina (Power Construction Corporation of China) for rebuilding the war-torn city. 

Negotiations with the first developer, Chinese-led Bagong Marawi Consortium, failed last June because it did not meet the “legal, financial and technical requirements.” 

“I was told by the selection committee this week that today they will know the exact time table; and if ever the negotiation will be successful or not,” del Rosario said. 

He said it would be known by next week if the negotiations with PowerChina will be successful or not. 

“If reached, we can give you our definite time table of groundbreaking and eventual rehabilitation of the most affected area,” he added. 

Despite the delay in choosing the developer, Del Rosario believes that the rehabilitation remains on track with its schedule — the groundbreaking ceremony is set on Sept. 19 and will be completed by Dec. 2021.

How can there be a groundbreaking ceremony if there is no company to develop the city? A ceremony will be empty and meaningless if there is no one to rebuild the city.  This is not the first time groundbreaking has been moved.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/654200/palace-satisfied-with-pace-of-marawi-city-rehabilitation/story/

"We are even ahead of schedule pagdating po doon sa mga rebuilding of the communities...ang importante po 70 percent of the residents have gone back to Marawi are occupying homes that we built for them and life goes on for a greater majority of the residents of Marawi."

Groundbreaking is expected to be held in June. 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/656164/groundbreaking-of-marawi-city-rehab-moved-to-july/story/

However, Task Force Bangon Marawi chairperson Eduardo del Rosario said Friday the government is still finalizing its negotiation with the Bangon Marawi Consortium, which proposed to rebuild the most affected area for P16 billion.

“And if there will be a successful negotiation that would be declared by Monday [June 11], then on Tuesday [June 12] the Swiss challenge will start,” Del Rosario told reporters in Malacañang.

It's deja vu! If there is a successful negotiation then the Swiss challenge can start the next day. Will Del Rosario be quoted saying that for a third or forth time as the search for a developer continues? What a mess. All because the government is seeking help from foreign firms, one of which was BLACKLISTED BY THE WORLD BANK!! Is it any wonder the first choice did not meet legal and financial requirements? 

With all the difficulty of the government in finding a firm to rebuild the city it might be best to leave it in the hands of the people of Marawi. After all it is their city and they definitely do not want outsiders coming in and dictating to them how their city will be rebuilt. They want the old one back.

http://usa.inquirer.net/14964/visiting-bangsamoro-leaders-seek-safe-dignified-return-maranaws-homes

Transitional justice under the newly signed Bangsamoro Organic Law should tackle first and foremost the bombing of Marawi and its aftermath—not only the plight of some 80,000 people still unable to return to their homes and about 1,000 missing persons, but also the cultural loss to the Maranaws from a war that was so unexpected and many feel uncalled for. 

“They bombed our mosques, they bombed our madrasas, they bombed our schools. How can we go back to normalcy if these things are not restored? Marawi is not an ordinary land for us. These are also serving as the grave of our forefathers,” said Tirmizy Abdullah, associate professor at Mindanao State University, at a forum held here August 3. 

Titled “Understanding violent extremism in the midst of peace prospects in Mindanao,” the forum was organized by the New York chapter of Nonviolence International, a group that is engaged in capacity-building efforts among the Bangsamoro people through its Southeast Asia chapter. 

Abdullah said he was speaking at the forum as one of the thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who feel left out in the cold by the Philippine government, which is negotiating with investors on the rehabilitation of the most affected area of Marawi. 

“It is very clear that what the Philippine government is doing when it comes to rehabilitation is not community-led,” he said. 

“People [are] coming from outside of Marawi, coming to us and telling us this is what is good for you—we’ll build condominiums in the city, we will get Chinese money. So the entire framework of rehabilitation is very problematic, it is not community-led and the people of Marawi are one in opposing that one,” Abdullah added, saying that Maranaws found the current approach “very insulting and very unfortunate.” 

Samira Gutoc, resigned Bangsamoro transition commissioner, told the forum that Maranaws want the government to finish clearing Marawi’s most affected area of bombs so that they can start rebuilding their lives. 

“Our challenge to the security sector is now to remove the bombs that you put in our community—600 days later, 70 bombs are still to be found and is preventing us from returning home. After 600 days, and you bombed our community in three days—why would it take that long, sir? Please tell me. It was easy for you to bomb our community, but it’s hard for you to pull out what you bombed us with?” Gutoc said. 

Describing the hardship of IDPs living in evacuation centers or with relatives, she narrated how babies did not survive the heat in Iligan City because they were accustomed to much cooler climate in Marawi City, which is about 600 meters above sea level. 

It was also a culture shock for many women. “Can you imagine living your whole life in a house that’s your own built from every peso, and then you have to live where comfort rooms are shared with everybody? So it was the first time for many women to be able to share a comfort room with other women that they didn’t know. In the culture that kind of is very conservative—you’ve never seen other people, you’ve never met other people because you’re just stuck in your house with your cousins who are your only exposure in your life, it was disconcerting. It was really a different experience altogether,” Gutoc said. 

She revealed that many walked 39 kilometers to reach safety in Iligan City because public transportation simply froze during the Marawi siege, with public utility drivers also busy trying to get their own families out of danger. 

“There was no siren, there was no public announcement, there was no advisory, there was no megaphone saying to go from here to where, no direction. So from zero persons walking to half a million people, more than the population of Marawi, which meant the nearby provinces of the nearby municipalities of Marawi had to also leave the city because some of the air strikes were also affecting already them. 

“So this is not Afghanistan, this is not Syria, this is the democratic capital of Asia. [The] Philippines is your small America, we were your colony for 40 years, you introduced James Bond to us and all. But then, what happened, what happened?” Gutoc told the audience in New York. 

“All the tactics—naval force, air force, water force, every force that was existing in the Philippines was brought to a small community, a small village-like community that had no malls, no access to wifi, couldn’t call out for help as much, didn’t have newspapers—no, that wasn’t our privilege. We couldn’t tell our story but every day was the story of how our houses were bombed and you could read it, guys, because you have strong wifi. We didn’t know what was happening with our kin,” she added. 

Flashing a slide showing how much the Philippine government has spent for wars in Mindanao, which have led to more than 100,000 dead during each regime since Marcos’ time, Gutoc warned of dire consequences of what she referred to as “war games.” 

“Historically, we’ve spent for war, but we’ve spent less for schools. We live in Marawi, Lanao where there’s no wifi. How can we download information? How can we learn without books and libraries? After 600 years of our existence as a people, 600 years of Bangsamoro, you spent PHP200 billion every president for war,” she said. 

Drieza Lininding, chairman of the Moro Consensus Group (MCG) and the third speaker at the forum, described himself as a DDS, “dating Duterte supporter” (former Duterte supporter), and teared up when a video of Marawi was shown, saying, “We miss our home.” 

Formed four months before the Marawi siege, the MCG had documented incidents involving the Maute terrorist group a year before the siege. MCG is seeking a congressional inquiry because it believes the widespread destruction could have been prevented had the Philippine government taken the threats more seriously. 

“While we took all the beatings, we sacrificed a lot, we also are the ones being blamed—that we coddled this [Maute] group, that we welcomed this group. It’s on record—we can prove this, that’s why it is very important to have an inquiry—[that] during the siege and the day after that, May 24, our local leaders, our barangay leaders, went to the military camp and t proposed that the military, the government to allow us Maranaws, the barangay and their volunteers, to take up arms and they will be the one to engage this terrorist group who occupied some barangays in Marawi City. And also some of our mayors including the governors went to the military that we should be allowed to take up arms. But the military, the government rejected that offer,” he said. 

He added that religious leaders and civil society leaders had initiated talks with the Maute group, which seemed open at first to leaving Marawi City. “In fact, in the earlier days, they [were] more open to abandon Marawi City because for them, it’s just more of a propaganda. They just want to hoist the flag of ISIS there and to show to the world that they occupied this place, but some of them are not really that serious. Some of them also didn’t expect the kind of response that they [got] from the government,” Lininding said.

This is a very interesting article since it is not often the public hears from the side of citizens of Marawi. One almost feels sympathetic for them but then you remember that these people did indeed coddle the Maute group if not outright welcome them. Presidential peace advisor Dureza is on record admitting that is what Marawi citizens told him.

"When martial law ... Marawi because many people were shocked, people from Marawi, even the Moro people. They never thought that they themselves wold become victims of violent extremists. They knew that many are members of their own clan.  They know them. They knew that they were moving firearms for a long time, they had been stockpiling up firearms. But when I asked the evacuees "Bakit di nyo sinabi yan?" (Why didn't you tell us?) "Sir, akala namin, kapwa Muslim hindi kami bibiktimahin" (We thought they would spare us because we are also Muslims).” 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2018/05/intelligence-failures-and-prior.html

When this lady Gutoc tells her sob stories of hardship it is impossible to feel anything but disdain as this is a situation the citizens of Marawi created for themselves by knowing about the activities of the Maute group and telling no one. Did they really think city leaders would be able to talk this group into leaving? They stockpiled a massive amount of weapons and were able to hold the city for 5 months! They had no intent on leaving. The fact that city leaders tried to talk Maute into leaving only implicates them in having prior knowledge of this attack. What incidents involving Maute did the MCG document? What did they know? What did they do with that knowledge? Just more pieces of information which need to be investigated if an investigation is ever initiated by the Senate.

Are the people of Marawi really surprised that their city was blown to rubble? It was a war. It IS a war. For decades now there has been war and it has not been instigated by the government. Why do they blame the government but not the terrorists who held the city hostage? The Philippine government is not the one going around kidnapping people and blowing up people and waging a campaign of terror on Filipinos. It's their fellow Muslims who continue to do so.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1023610/7-biff-slain-in-new-offensives-in-maguindanao-military

Abubakar reportedly headed one of the three BIFF factions that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. 

The group had been moving around the marshland, using wooden motorized boats, and relying on farmers and fishermen’s forced taxation in the guise of “zakat,” an annual obligatory contribution of Muslims under Islamic laws, to be used for charitable and religious purposes.

http://dwdd.com.ph/2018/08/24/encounter-troops-engages-local-terror-group-in-sulu/

Marawi may still be a pile of rubble and people might still be displaced and living in tents or fabricated homes but at least elections are about to get underway.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1024521/filing-of-candidacy-for-village-sk-polls-in-marawi-starts

That's a start.

Smoky Piles 5

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!