Coronavirus Lockdown: Airlines Ram Up, Free of COVID-19, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

As COVID-19 cases continue to decrease the nation is getting ready to go to Alert Level 1. Of course that means more cops!

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1558948/pnp-gets-ready-in-case-of-lower-alert-level-in-metro-manila

Police in Metro Manila are getting ready in case its COVID-19 status gets lowered from its current Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1.

Gen. Dionardo Carlos, the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered the preparations to ensure that health safety protocols would still be followed, according to a statement that the PNP issued on Wednesday.

“With more people outside, the need for more intensified police visibility is imperative,” Carlos said. “Thus, the public can expect that police personnel will continue to monitor the flow of people to remind them of the health protocols.”

Downgrading the alert level is just a transition for the new normal set-up, Carlos said.

“The most lenient Alert Level 1 will open prospects for more economic activities by lifting some restrictions on venue capacities, but the minimum public health standard is still in effect,” he warned.

He stressed the importance of keeping the protocols in place, regardless of the alert level.

There is no way getting around the authoritarianism. COVID-19 could disappear tonight and the PNP would still be out enforcing health protocols. It might be a while before the shift to alert level one. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1558965/lgus-must-vaccinate-80-of-seniors-to-be-on-alert-level-1

Pandemic task force officials have added two new conditions before local government units (LGUs) can move to Alert Level 1, the most relaxed quarantine restriction that the government considers the “new normal.”

Local governments must ensure that at least 80 percent of senior citizens and that 70 percent of the eligible population in their communities have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before they can transition to Alert Level 1.

The added requirements were announced by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. in a televised meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte aired on Monday night.

“If (LGUs) cannot achieve all these metrics, then we cannot let them be placed under alert level 1,” Duque said, noting that the suggestion came from NTF deputy chief implementer and testing czar Secretary Vince Dizon.

Cebu has decided to not wait around and has lifted all major COVID restrictions.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/426711/cebu-city-removes-major-covid-19-restrictions

Cebu City is now “open” to all with only minimal COVID-19 restrictions left in the city.

Mayor Michael Rama signed during the celebration of Cebu City’s 85th Charter Day on Thursday, February 24, 2022, his new Executive Order (EO) titled Oplan Kagawasan, which would open Cebu City again almost to a pre-pandemic state.

In EO 163, the mayor argued that the city’s vaccination program had earned the top spot for the most number of inoculations during the national vaccination days that paved the way to the vaccination of more than 70 percent of the city’s vulnerable class target population.

In his speech for the Cebu City 85th Charter Day Celebrations, Rama said Oplan Kagawasan represents the future of Cebu City, moving forward from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the EO, all establishments, persons, and activities shall be permitted to operate, work, or be undertaken regardless of age and vaccination status of persons.

This is provided that minimum public health standards shall be strictly observed at all times including wearing of face masks, regular sanitation, proper coughing and sneezing etiquettes, and staying at home when sick.

In a press conference shortly after the Charter Day celebrations, Rama said that even inbound unvaccinated domestic travelers entering the city through its seaports will be allowed to enter without the need for negative COVID-19 test results.

It would seem face masks are never going away. And why should they? If they are really effective at stopping the spread of disease then why not always wear one? But they are not effective and so the pandemic rages on despite this precaution.

At least three towns have been declared COVID free.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1558877/san-felipe-town-in-zambales-now-covid-free

One of the 13 towns in this province now has zero active COVID-19 cases, according to the latest tally of the provincial health office on Wednesday (Feb. 23)

The remaining lone virus-infected patient in San Felipe town has already recovered from the viral disease, it said.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1559839/2-tarlac-towns-now-free-of-covid-19

Two of Tarlac province’s 17 towns are now free of COVID-19, the provincial government disclosed on Thursday, Feb. 24.

Mayantoc and Ramos had a single active COVID-19 case each on Wednesday. But the next day, both patients in these towns recovered from the viral disease.

Can we expect the same for other provincial towns?

Normalcy is returning very slowly. Airlines are now adding more flights to their schedules.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/serbisyopubliko/transportation/823158/local-airlines-ramp-up-flight-frequencies/story/

Local carriers Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Philippines, and Philippine Airlines have increased their flight frequencies as the government relaxed protocols for air travelers and opened the country’s borders to foreign visitors.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV on Saturday, Cebu Pacific spokesperson Carmina Reyes-Romero said the low-cost airline increased its flight frequencies to Boracay Island to 15 times daily, exceeding its pre-pandemic level.

“Flights to Dumaguete are 10 times weekly; for Cebu, it's 11 times daily, while Cagayan de Oro flights are seven times daily and Bohol are three times daily,” Romero said.

In a separate interview on Dobol B TV, AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan said the budget carrier will double its flights next month and will soon resume flights to its regional destinations.

For her part, PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said the flag carrier is operating six flights daily between Manila and Caticlan, and three times daily between Cebu and Caticlan.

This is good news for tourism. The DOT is very optimistic about tourism growth as several areas are transitioning to alert level one. Alert level one comes with many rules which still must be followed. The most egregious rule being that those 18 and older will have to show proof of full vaccination in order to participate in certain events.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/28/22/masks-vax-proof-full-capacity-rules-for-new-normal

The Palace official said individuals 18 years old and above will be required to present proof of full vaccination before participating in mass gatherings or entry into indoor establishments.

• In-person religious gatherings; gatherings for necrological services, wakes, inurnment and funerals for those who died of causes other than COVID-19 and for the cremains of the COVID-19 deceased
• All indoor dine-in services of food preparation establishments such as kiosks, commissaries, restaurants and eateries. For outdoor or al fresco dining and take out channels, no proof of full vaccination is required
• Indoor personal care establishments such as barbershops, hair spas, hair salons, and nail spas, and those offering aesthetic or cosmetic services or procedures, make-up services, salons, spas, reflexology and other similar procedures including home service options
• Fitness studios, gyms and venues for exercise and sports
• All indoor cinemas or movie houses operating at full capacity
• Meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibition events and permitted venues for social events such as parties, wedding receptions, engagement parties, wedding anniversaries, debut and birthday parties, family reunions, and bridal or baby showers
• Venues with live voice or wind-instrument performers and audiences such as in karaoke bars, clubs, concert halls and theaters
• Indoor ancillary establishments in hotels and other accommodation establishments
• Venues for election-related events

This practically makes the vaccine mandatory.

Health protocols remain in place under alert level 1 but there are no more quarantines for vaccinated asymptomatic individuals.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168757

Persons who are asymptomatic and have been fully-vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are no longer required to undergo quarantine should they be exposed to a COVID-19 positive individuals, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, March 1.

“(If you are asymptomatic, which means you have no symptoms, and you are a close-contact of a COVID positive individual but you are fully-vaccinated, there is no need or zero days for quarantine),” she explained.

But she reminded that these individuals would still need to monitor themselves and should they feel any symptoms, they should immediately isolate themselves, call their local government, so they can be guided on what they need to do.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana said that there were two reasons why they decided to remove the quarantine requirement for those who were exposed to positive individuals.

“(First of all, under Alert Level 1, the number of people who are infected with COVID-19 is very low. So the overall picture is that, that risk is very low as well),” he said.

“(Second is if we’re vaccinated, the chance of infecting others or if the virus manges to get through and we infect others is low, and on top of that under Alert Level 1, the vaccination level is high),” he added.

Salvano also stated that it’s been hard for others who need to report to work physically to isolate or quarantine themselves since they will not get paid if they don’t do so.

He explained that the rationale of this move is that the risk has gotten much lower and that there is a safety margin especially if someone is vaccinated against COVID-19 and that there is a high level of vaccination in the community.

It appears that the pandemic is over finally. The DOH has even indicated as much in their new guidelines for reporting on cases.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168789

The reporting of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases will be done weekly starting March 7 and will focus on the severe and critical cases, a health official said Tuesday.

This was after the National Capital Region and 38 other areas shifted to the most relaxed Alert Level 1 from March 1 to 15.

In a Palace briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the weekly case bulletins would be released every Monday at 4 p.m. and additional timely updates would be provided when necessary.

“As to the case numbers, if it’s mild, we treat it like it’s part of our lives. We live with the virus, we focus on the critical,” she said.

"We live with the virus." Finally the DOH is making sense.

The US State Department Will Rig the Election for Robredo Claims Rigoberto Tiglao

That's right. The presidential election has already been decided and Leni Robredo is the winner. So says noted columnist Rigoberto Tiglao in his latest column. And it's not Filipinos who have made that decision. No, no, no! It's the U.S. State Department who will choose the next President of the Philippines. How will they do this you ask? Let's take a look at Tiglao's latest column.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/02/28/opinion/columns/through-rappler-comelec-gives-pinks-and-us-govt-monitoring-authority-in-may-2022-elections/1834569

THE first time I heard about it last month, I couldn't believe it, and thought it was merely a trial balloon by the Rappler website. But it wasn't, and I still can't believe the Commission on Elections could do such an atrocious thing.

Either the commissioners were plainly stupid and derelict that they didn't do due diligence on the matter or the poll body had been infiltrated by Rappler or its Yellow (Pink) operators.

Last week, on February 24, the Comelec officially gave authority to Rappler to undertake such functions during elections as "monitoring and rectification efforts on critical efforts on the ground" and to acquire from the Comelec such sensitive data during and after elections such as candidates' expenses and untransmitted votes. The Rappler website would even carry the precinct finder for voters. Neither Rappler nor the Comelec has made the memorandum public although Maria Ressa, in her usual melodramatic manner, boasted about it in her website, bragging at the signing ceremony: "Whatever happens here will help determine the fate of other democracies around the world."

Any election lawyer would immediately see that Comelec is giving the Rappler a huge amount of confidential data and authority to intervene on the ground, and a means of portraying the elections — if it wishes to — as a failure.

Tiglao tells us that the Comelec "officially gave authority to Rappler" to monitor the elections and "to acquire from the Comelec such sensitive data during and after elections such as candidates' expenses and untransmitted votes." Then he says the memoranda has not been made public!! So how does he know Rappler would be given access to sensitive data? The official press release says NOTHING about Rappler being given access to data about the candidates' expenses and untransmitted votes.  Here is the text of the press release:

https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=2022NLE/PressRelease/23Feb2022pr

The Commission on Elections and Rappler, Inc. will officially ink a partnership on voter engagement and fighting disinformation in relation to the 2022 National and Local Elections in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing ceremony.

"We in the Commission believe that a clean, credible, honest and transparent elections require the assistance and vigilance of valuable partners. And we are always open to pursuing partnerships with private organizations, such as Rappler, that will help provide truthful information to the public and promote transparency and accountability in the electoral process," Spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Under the partnership agreement, Rappler commits its resources to help COMELEC disseminate helpful information and engage the public both online and offline.

Rappler's awareness building efforts would include providing engaging content, shareable infographics, and educational videos. To enable a broader response on responding to common complaints on election day, such as missing names on voter’s lists, Rappler will work with COMELEC for the necessary information and action. An online show, podcast, workshops and seminars are also in the pipeline.

Once the Precinct Finder and Post Finder are activated, they will also be made available on Rappler's website. This move will make these services more mobile-responsive and provide voters easy access to important information, especially on election day.

"Access to information is critical. It is just as critical that we immediately quash false, misleading, and harmful election-related information on social media. To help us on this front, Rappler has further committed to mobilize its network of fact-checkers," Jimenez added.

The COMELEC first partnered with Rappler in the 2013 elections. As in previous partnerships, information necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the Commission and to assist Rappler in its noble efforts will be provided.

A Google search shows ONLY Tiglao is reporting such nonsense about Rappler having access to "untransmitted votes." That is because Rigoberto Tiglao is lying. Rappler is not receiving any sensitive information. The partnership is one of distributing accurate information and helping voters be able to vote. 

Let's continue.  

There are two things so scandalous about this Rappler-Comelec agreement.

First, unlike other citizens' arms in past elections — which become active only during elections — Rappler is clearly, incontrovertibly a political organization, pro-Robredo, anti-Duterte and anti-Marcos. How can you have a partisan organization be involved in the mechanisms of the elections?

In the agreement with the Comelec, it is not just Rappler's staff at its website which will get involved in the elections. It will include "MovePH Rappler's civic engagement arm, which will work with the Voter Care Center to assist in the response to common complaints, like missing precincts, improper campaigning by candidates, long queues outside precincts, incidents of vote-buying, voter intimidation, cheating attempts, election-related violence, among others."

The memorandum didn't even define who would constitute "MovePH" and how they would be identified. Rappler may well staff "MovePH" with all Robredo campaigners, and they will be on the ground on election day. If Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte-Carpio appear to be winning, they could fabricate allegations of failure of elections. Or they could undertake other subtle ways of getting voters to vote for Robredo.

Neither in the Comelec's press release on the memorandum nor in all of Rappler's reports on it is the role of this "MovePH" mentioned. The Comelec press release also made it appear that this was the second time it was partnering with Rappler; the first time was in 2013. However, in those elections, Rappler merely helped in the information needs of the Comelec and had no involvement at all on election day, nor was it given confidential information. In its press release, the Comelec portrayed the agreement as one in which Rappler will "commit its resources" to help it.

Nothing was said of the voluminous amount of information the Comelec would give to Rappler, and of the participation of its "MovePH" operatives right in the election precincts.

Read the bolded parts very carefully. Tiglao says that Rappler's civic engagement arm, MovePH, will be included in this partnership. He then shows off his paranoid side by saying the staff of MovePH could all be Robredo campaigners who, if Marcos appears to be winning, could fabricate allegations of failure of elections or undertake other subtle ways of getting voters to vote for Robredo. How will they do this? He does not say. He instead asserts it as a fact.

Then he says there is no mention of MovePH mentioned in either the press release or the memorandum. But in the third paragraph of his opinion piece he admits the memorandum has not been made public. That means he has not read it. So how does he know MovePH is not mentioned in the memorandum? He is making stuff up. He is lying.

But now we get to the heart of this schizophrenic beefsteak and it is rather meaty so let's dig in and chew on this. The only reason the COMELEC has paired up with Rappler is to prevent Marcos from winning.

This is it, I think. That is, that last-resort move by the Pinks to prevent Marcos assuming power. The US State Department and US media's huge effort to portray Maria Ressa as the champion of freedom of the press in the Philippines, to the extent they worked on getting her the Nobel Prize nobody believed she deserved, is intended for this project. Imagine US newspaper headlines the day after voting: "Nobel Laureate declares failure of Philippine elections, based on reports by Rappler's countrywide monitors."

I wonder why other media outfits aren't protesting Rappler's accreditation. With the authority it got, it would have more data on what's happening and faster than other outfits would.

This is another lie. Rappler is not getting any more data than what is available to all the other networks. The COMELEC cleared this matter up quite succinctly. 

https://mb.com.ph/2022/02/28/comelec-to-answer-npcs-letter-of-protest-against-poll-bodys-partnership-with-rappler/

Jimenez defended the poll body’s partnership with Rappler by saying the issue on Rappler’s alleged foreign ownership is still on the status quo.

“If I’m not mistaken, the issue on foreign ownership has not yet been fully resolved. If I’m not mistaken it is pending before the Court of Appeals. If it is pending before the Court of Appeals, it seems to me that a final determination hasn’t been reached yet,” Jimenez said when asked by the media for the poll body’s reaction to those opposing the partnership.

“The Comelec is not the proper venue to make that proper determination. So as far as the Comelec is concerned, hindi pa tapos ang kaso (the case is still not over). Status quo pa ‘yan (It’s still on status quo). If they are able to operate now, then why should they not be considered a legitimate news organization,” he continued.

The Comelec spokesperson said that the MOA entered into by Rappler and the poll body is “practically a boilerplate agreement.”

“This is the same agreement that we entered into with all networks, with all media organizations. Rappler is not getting any special information; it’s not getting any special treatment; it’s not getting any information that would not be available to any other media network,” it noted.

According to Jimenez, the purpose of the MOA is to ensure that there exists a free flow of information from the Comelec to the news organizations.

There it is. Rappler is not getting any special information that would not be available to any other media network. If Rigoberto Tiglao thinks Jimenez is lying then he should prove it. 

Now for the finale.

The second very scandalous thing about Rappler's accreditation is this: Comelec appears to have not investigated Rappler's background, especially the fact that it has been financed mainly by US funds, since the original big stockholder Benjamin Bitanga five years ago stopped investing in it.

Starting in 2015, Rappler had relied for its cash requirements on the $5-million (P260-million) funding from the Omidyar Network and the National Endowment for Democracy, both of which have been known to have funded NGOs in countries whose heads of states were anti-American, on grounds that they were authoritarian rulers, and that they were merely agitating for democratic reform. In 2019, another American fund, the Media Development Investment Fund put $1 million into Rappler.

Rappler, by taking that new funding, defied the Securities and Exchange Commission, which had ruled in 2020 that it should be dissolved as it violated the constitutional provision banning any foreign money in media institutions. Rappler appealed the case to the Regional Trial Court, where it is still pending.

The NED is the more controversial, if not notorious funder. Its first president Carl Gershman had candidly told the Washington Post that it had "been doing what was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA," which was to covertly create organizations that undertake propaganda against a head of state the US wanted out.

The NED gets its funding directly as an appropriation authorized by the US Congress, coursed through the US Agency for International Development (USAid).

Is it problematic that Rappler receives money from the NED which is basically a CIA front? Yes. But here is the thing: Rappler is not the only group in the Philippines receiving money from the NED. Tiglao refuses to talk about those groups. Instead he singles out Rappler.  In 2019 I wrote a long article about CIA front groups in the Philippines receiving money from the NED.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/05/cia-front-groups-in-philippines.html

That article focused on criticisms Thinking Pinoy made about funding received by Rappler, Vera Files, the PCIJ (Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism) [Rigoberto Tiglao is a founding member], and the CMFR (Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility) through NED awards. I then looked at all the Philippine groups the NED has awarded grants to since 2014. There were 16 more organizations which had received a total of $3,219,972 in NED grants which was much more than Rappler and the other three combined. Yet Tiglao and Thinking Pinoy remain silent about them. Why? Why does Tiglao continue to make unproven and false statements about Rappler?  The world may never know.

And now for the absolutely most stupid part of this column.

Thus Rappler, whose head is more American than Filipino, gets its funds from the US Congress. It won't be beyond American operatives' — and Ressa's — ethics to regularly ask for reports from Rappler on its work with Comelec, especially on election day. The Comelec will allow foreign intervention in our elections.

If you thought the Comelec was unabashedly pro-Marcos because they waited so long to give their verdict on his disqualification case in order that all the votes against him were rendered null then you had better check again. The fact is the Comelec is actually pro-Robredo because they have partnered with a national media outlet that Rigoberto Tiglao does not like and which will de facto allow foreign intervention in the elections. How? What proof does he give? NONE! It's all based on Rappler receiving NED grants. The last grant they received was in 2020 for $180,000. Though the NED receives an allocation from Congress the grantees are not decided by Congress. 

Q: IS NED PART OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT?

A: No. NED is a private, non-profit, grant-making organization that receives an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress through the Department of State. Although NED’s continued funding is dependent on the continued support of the White House and Congress, it is NED’s independent BOARD OF DIRECTORS that controls how the appropriation is spent.

https://www.ned.org/about/faqs/

Take that for what you will.  I take it as proof that Rigoberto Tiglao is a lying muckraker. Rappler is not funded by Congress but Rigoberto Tiglao is a teller of falsehoods.

But the worst thing in this propaganda piece is that Tiglao says Maria Ressa is more American than Filipino! How ridiculous. Ressa was born in Manila in 1963. She moved to the USA when she was ten. She returned in 1986 to study at the University of the Philippines on a Fullbright Scholarship and has lived there ever since. She has followed the path of many Filipinos who have been taken to the US as children and have returned to the Philippines as adults. 

Now, contrast Tiglao's inveighing against Ressa for being more American than Filipino with his adulation for Catriona Gray.

https://rigobertotiglao.com/2018/12/20/digong-catriona-electrify-our-nationalism/#more-285928

Catriona Gray’s victory as Miss Universe inarguably made her such a heroine, perhaps not as great as Manny, but still an embodiment of Filipinos’ aspirations to be an admired people, and therefore helping us imagine our nation.

What Catriona also did to imagine the nation, and not just be a beauty queen winner, was to mention Tondo which is as Filipino as any place, and one of the oldest communities (existing at least by AD 900) that would be part of the capital of the nation. What she said was: “I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila and the life there is poor and very sad. And I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty of it and look in the beauty of the faces of the children and to be grateful.”

While little minds claimed she was romanticizing poverty, with the puniest Yellow mind even demanding that she should have protested the alleged extrajudicial killings in the area, Gray reminded us with that statement that we as nation have to help our compatriots trapped in poverty in one of the oldest places of the nation. After all, what use is an organization called the nation, if it cannot lift its members out of poverty?

Not only does Tiglao not question Catriona Gray's Filipinoness but, based on her work in the slums of Tondo, he makes her out to be a symbol of national unity. This despite the fact that she was born and raised in Australia. The only connection to the Philippines she has is that her mother is a Filipina and she visited the nation a few times on vacation. As of 2020 Catriona Gray was still learning Tagalog! 

https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2020/04/27/2010141/catriona-gray-using-quarantine-time-learn-tagalog

“Can you guys recommend any good reads or online courses? Am currently undertaking an online course, as well as my tagalog lessons online and reading!” she wrote.

What a joke. 

I am sick of these hypocrites and Rigoberto Tiglao is one of the biggest out there. Does this moron not know that the NED has given more money to Philippine organizations than just Rappler? Has he called  any of them out!??  NO!! He has not.  Why?  Because he is a partisan hack not interested in FACTS but is compelled to talk trash about organizations he does not particularly like. He has written at least two columns about BongBong's lead in the surveys. But apparently those surveys mean nothing because the COMELEC has partnered with Rappler which means the US will be interfering in the elections and will do anything to prevent Marcos from winning. Robredo has effectively won the 2022 Presidential election according to the narrative of this paranoid android. Why not Lacson or Manny Pacquiao? Why don't they benefit from this partnership? Because Tiglao is not imaginative enough! Can he not get his story straight? Either BongBong has the numbers to win or the COMELEC is conniving with the US State Department to get Robredo elected. Both cannot be true.

Let's take a look at one of Tiglao's recent columns about BongBong's poll numbers. It ends like this:

Marcos Sr.'s favorability rating has in fact been rising, from 45 percent in 2009 to 55 percent in February 2016 to the latest 72 percent, just a few percentage points from Duterte's 77 percent. I was wrong in my thinking then that his father's demonization by the Reds and Yellows would be Bongbong's insurmountable obstacle in the elections.

Or did Bongbong's running for president stimulate the revival of interest in his father's real record, his behavior serving to disprove in people's minds his father's demonization?

This is amazing: despite the power of the Yellows and Reds' propaganda machine that has portrayed Marcos Sr. for three decades and a half as a "plunderer and ruthless dictator," the majority of Filipinos don't believe this, and favor him and his rule.

This points to the Yellows and Pinks' colossal error in the current election campaign. Their propaganda has focused on demonizing Marcos Sr., while most Filipinos don't think of him as being so. This most likely backfired, as Filipinos would have disfavored the camp that has been disseminating what they think are lies, and favored Bongbong whom they see as unjustly persecuted.

If most Filipinos don't see Marcos Sr. as bad and his era as horrific, shouldn't the intellectual sector humble themselves and undertake a more objective, unbiased study of the martial law period to find out the truth, rather than uncritically believe the claims the Yellows and the Reds have been disseminating?

https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/01/14/opinion/columns/bongbongs-beyond-gravity-now/1829266

Look at this complete idiot telling us that real true history is based on surveys. An objective and unbiased look at the martial law period shows that Marcos destroyed the economy as well as the lives of many dissenters. If most Filipinos have a different take on that then they need to get educated and stop reading all the many lies on Facebook about how it was a golden era. Did everyone suddenly forget that Marcos was willing to raise an army to INVADE THE NATION in order to get back his power? Is that a thing a nice guy would do?

This is all coming from a man who was a political prisoner in Camp Crame from March 1973 to December 1974. Unbelievable. Rigoberto Tiglao should know better.

Insurgency: Military Massacre

Last week we were told that the AFP were patrolling an area in Northern Samar when the NPA showed up and attacked them resulting in the death of two children. News reports said that the children and their friends were gathering coconuts and that they were behind the troops. One of the victims allegedly said that the NPA deliberately fired at him and his friends. 

All of that sounded funny when it was first reported. Why were these people behind the troops? Why didn't the troops tell them to flee the area? Why would the NPA deliberately fire at children? The CPP has released a statement contradicting the narrative of the AFP.

https://cpp.ph/statements/condemn-the-afp-for-killing-of-children-in-indiscriminate-firing-in-northern-samar/

Last February 8, counterinsurgency operating troops belonging to the Philippine Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion fired their weapons indiscriminately on a group of peasants tending their coconut kiln (koprahan) in Barangay Roxas, Catubig, Northern Samar. Two children, including a 12-year old, Grade 6 student, were killed by soldiers. Another child was wounded.

The soldiers were part of a 30-man unit of the 20th IB that was conducting operations against a unit of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the area. The indiscriminate firing against the peasants was an act of retaliation after another smaller team of the 20th IB lost two men in an NPA ambush earlier that day.

Not only did the AFP mow down peasants tending their coconut kiln but they also paid the family's thousands of pesos in hush money!

https://cpp-ph.translate.goog/statements/mga-pasista-at-berdugong-tropa-ng-afp-ang-walang-awang-nangistraping-sa-mga-kabataan-sa-catubig-northern-samar/?_x_tr_sl=tl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

The NPA unit had earlier learned that there were 30 troops of the 20th IB operating outside Roxas. They constantly monitored the enemy troops. Around noon on February 8, the said unit dispatched a team to conduct a counter-offensive against the fascist enemy.

At around 3 pm, the said team of Red fighters fired at a smaller group of enemies who also tried to attack them. Because of their strict surveillance of the enemy and superior knowledge of the terrain, they killed two fascist troops. The battle lasted only a few seconds. At this time, there were no civilians in the battle area. Thirty minutes later, two enemy helicopters arrived and patrolled here until 4:30 p.m.

On the same day, a column of the fascist enemy other than the one fired by the NPA strafed the cooperative youths. It is clear that they did not die in battle but in the firing of the fascist military. While dying at the hospital, one of the victims even said that soldiers shot them. The entire village of Roxas knows this fact. 

The AFP is trembling with fear of the enraged people, so it is fighting to pretend that the youth are caught in an "encounter" and immediately shift the blame to the NPA. This is despite the clear data that the area of ​​the NPA counter-offensive was far from the scene of the strapping of children, and they deliberately fired on unarmed civilians as they had done several times before. The AFP's move to immediately provide tens of thousands of "compensation" to the families of the dead youths is a sign of their criminal responsibility and desperation to "silence" their relatives.

Even the NPA's narration does not make sense. Why would the AFP indiscriminately fire at a group of peasants? Because they were mad that they lost two soldiers during an encounter with the NPA earlier in the day? That is stupid. But at least we have the other side of the story. I don't think there is much more to it than some troops were on patrol and they came upon some children and their friends harvesting coconuts. For some reason they did not tell them to leave the area immediately. Then the NPA showed up and fired at the AFP but killed two of the minors because the AFP ducked.

What we need here is a dedicated journalist with the right contacts to ferret out the truth of this story. That is not me. I don't have those contacts. Frankly I don't fully trust the AFP. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Here is a funny claim from Duterte.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168262

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said he is comfortable with the thought that he has done his best to deliver his campaign promise to leave Malacañang with a strong military despite the government’s limited income.

"Just one reminder, from the start of my administration, I think it was in Jolo where I said that ‘I will leave my office with a strong military.’ That's what I promised and within our limited income, dito sa gobyerno (of our government), setting aside the small but equitable portion of it sa military, naibigay ko naman siguro (in the military, I think I had delivered), especially in the upgrade of armaments," Duterte said in his prerecorded Talk to the People on Monday night.

Duterte made this comment in response to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s report on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program and the doubling of the salaries of all military personnel and pensioners.

Lorenzana said Duterte's strong support has inspired the AFP personnel to work better because they know they can adequately support their families with their salaries and do their mandated duty with the newly acquired military equipment.

"(Doubling the salaries active personnel is a huge help to them)," Lorenzana told Duterte.

Lorenzana also said Duterte's support encouraged soldiers to work harder in fighting the enemies of the state, citing numerous successes of the military in combating terrorist groups in the country.

“(That is why they are inspired to work like when you asked earlier why our victory against the communist rebels and terrorists is so great because the soldiers are inspired because their salaries have doubled),” he said.

Really? The reason the AFP is inspired to defeat the NPA is because their salaries have been doubled!? Let's not forget that the annual Balikitan exercises between the AFP and the US military are very important part of training. And yet Duterte was willing to sacrifice the VFA because Bato's visa was cancelled. Without the VFA those exercises would have been cancelled. 

And let us never forget that one reason the Marawi siege lasted so long is because the AFP stopped training for urban warfare because it was a skill they did not use!

"It's a skill we used to have but we lost along the way because we didn't use it. We keep training our people in what we call the military operations in urban terrain, MOUT.  But we seldom use it, we never use it, so we stopped teaching our people at the Marawi camp. So now we have to reacquire that skill plus the necessary equipment that goes with it.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2018/06/martial-law-no-ready-reserve-ammunition.html

Hopefully this allegedly strong military has been training in urban warfare.

The Ilocos Region has now been officially  declared insurgency free.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/02/25/ilocos-region-now-insurgency-free-nolcom/

The Ilocos Region has been declared as the first region in the country to be in a state of stable internal peace and security or insurgency-free.

This, after the signing of the Joint Regional Development Council 1 (RDC) and Regional Peace and Order Council 1 (RPOC), and the Regional Task Force (RTF-ELCAC) 1 Resolution No. 1, Series of 2022, at the EM Royalle Hotel and Beach Resort in San Juan, La Union on Thursday, Feb. 24.

The JTG commander highlighted the 36 high-value personalities neutralized, the surrender of 984 New People’s Army (NPA) regulars alongside the capture and recovery of 84 firearms, and the overwhelming support of 152 municipalities and 3, 564 barangays in declaring communist terrorists as persona non grata.

“Our hard work, focus, and relentless efforts to accomplish our targets and mandate yielded zero violence incidents for more than a year now since January 2021, “said Mortela.

Torres assured that the military and the police will continue pressuring the remaining communist terrorists in north and central Luzon to surrender, return to the fold of the law, and have the chance of redeeming their lives as productive citizens of the country.

The signing of the resolution marks a milestone in history with Ilocos as the first region in the Philippines to be declared insurgency-free.

How is Ilocos insurgency free if there are still communist terrorists in north and central Luzon? How sure are they that there are no more NPA in the Ilocos Region? Don't forget the AFP's definition of insurgency free

“Insurgency-free”, according to Luga, means that they have received no more reports of armed men in the province. 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/09/martial-law-insurgent-free.html 

The AFP have declared areas insurgency free in the past only to have the insurgency flare up again. Hopefully that is not the case this time.

Davao is certainly not insurgency free. The AFP says they engaged in an encounter with the NPA which resulted in the death of 5 people including a man who had been previously arrested for trafficking lumads.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168568

Five members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA), including an alleged indigenous peoples (IP) recruiter, were killed in an encounter Thursday in Purok-8, Barangay Andap, New Bataan, Davao de Oro, the 10th Infantry Division (10ID) said Friday.

In a statement, the 10ID identified the slain NPA members as Chad Booc, Jojarain Alce Nguho ll (alias Rain), a certain alias Daday, and two still unidentified men.

Booc was one of the those arrested at the University of San Carlos (USC)-Talamban Cebu City in February last year for alleged trafficking of IP members in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

He was later ordered released, together with six others, by a local court in May 2021.

Booc, 27, graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a Bachelor of Computer Science degree.

The military previously said he was a recruiter for the NPA even during his student days.

According to the AFP this was the result of several encounters.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/02/26/series-of-encounters-military-commander-narrates-operation-that-killed-booc-4-others/

A supposed intelligence information about the transportation of supplies for communist rebels served as the starting point of a series of encounters between the military and alleged New People’s Army (NPA) rebels that led to the death of five individuals, including Lumad teacher Chad Booc, in Davao de Oro on Thursday, Feb. 24.

Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III, commander of the 1001st Infantry Brigade, practically belied on Saturday, Feb. 26, the claims of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that the military “fabricated” the encounter that killed Booc and his companions.

Durante, in a press conference, said that their operation began on Feb. 23 when the troops received a tip from an informant that alleged NPA rebels would bring in supplies for their comrades in Davao de Oro the following day.

At about 4 :10 a.m. of Feb. 24, Durante said elements of the 1001st Infantry Brigade saw a group of “armed men” who suddenly appeared in the drop off point. The troops then engaged the suspects in a brief firefight until the latter withdrew.

Durante said the troops pursued the fleeing armed men and after about two hours, or around 6:15 a.m., another encountered occurred where two suspected rebels were fatally hit. The suspects again withdrew and left their dead comrades, according to Durante, but the operating troops managed to close in.

A third encounter occurred at around 7:05 a.m. which lasted for about 15 minutes. After this, the troops discovered that three more suspected rebels ended up dead. The troops cleared the area but there were still some members of the armed men who escaped and left their dead comrades, Durante said.

He said the suspects’ death formed part of Duterte’s order to the military to “finish off” the New People’s Army and end the five-decades long communist insurgency before his term ends in June of this year.

“Yes, we are optimistic [in meeting the deadline]. We have a deadline to meet and hopefully, before the term of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte ends, malaki na ang pagbabago (there will be a big change) when it comes to peace and order dito sa (here in) Davao de Oro province,” Durante said.

The CPP is not buying it. They claim that there was no encounter but that it was a massacre.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/02/26/2163543/encounter-lumad-schools-network-say-military-massacre-killed-5-davao-de-oro

A network supporting schools for the Lumad refuted the military’s claim that it had an encounter Thursday with communist rebels in New Bataan, Davao de Oro which resulted in the deaths of five, including two volunteer teachers.

Save our Schools Network said locals in the area denied that there was an encounter there between the military and members of the New People’s Army on that day.

Communist Party of the Philippines information officer Marco Valbuena also said in a tweet that the local NPA unit there also denied that there was an encounter between them and the military.

“What the AFP claims as an ‘encounter’ is in fact a massacre of civilians in the area. And in its attempt to justify these gruesome killings, the armed forces once again twist the truth to play into their narrative as they have done many times before,” SOS said Friday in a statement.

For Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III, 1001st Infantry Brigade commander, Booc’s killing proves that Lumad schools have become breeding grounds for communist rebels — a claim that has long been propagated by state forces and repeatedly refuted by students and teachers of these educational institutions.

“The AFP must have been incredibly desperate to exact revenge for its failed narrative of painting out Chad Booc as a child trafficker nor the Lumad schools being breeding grounds of NPA rebels,” SOS said.

Whatever the truth is we can expect more bloodshed as the AFP seeks to fulfill Duterte's order to finish off the NPA before his term ends. But if the men killed are not NPA fighters and if areas declared insurgency free still have insurgents then how will that goal be accomplished?