Joke Lang!

Ever wonder what happens to a rich Philippine Senator when he dies?  Read on!

A Filipino senator is driving his Pajero down EDSA in Manila, wangwang blaring, when he gets broadsided by a jeepney with failed brakes and a drunk Pinoy driver at the wheel. As soon as emergency personnel arrive, they see the senator so they ignore the other victims and rush the senator to a hospital, but he dies because of substandard medications and incompetent doctors who got their degrees and licenses through cheating and bribes. So the senator finds himself at the Pearly Gates before St. Peter.

“Ahh, Senator Dingdong,” says St. Peter, “We have quite a file on you. So here is the plan: You will spend a day and a night in Hell, then a day and a night in Heaven, then we will let you decide where you will spend eternity.”

“It’s OK, po,” says the senator, “I made my decision na. I want to be in Heaven sirrr. I’m a proud Pinoy. I’ve been a good person. I was baptized, I had my confirmation in the church, I always went to Sunday mass. And I did many great things for my people.”

“Sorry,” replies St. Peter, “I have direct orders from the Boss Himself.”

So before the senator has a chance to respond, he is placed in an elevator and goes down…down…down…down…to Hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a beautiful tropical resort–similar to the upscale tropical resort he received as a gift from his rich friend Lucido Tan in return for political favors. He walks alongside a babbling brook and a lush green meadow with birds chirping softly all around him. Looking ahead, he sees a group of people walking toward him. 


As he gets closer he sees that they are Filipino politicians, party bosses, and rich business owners who passed away before him, with his old friend and hero Ferdinand Marcos leading the group. They greet him with big smiles, big handshakes, big hugs, and big backslaps. They then walk to a championship-grade golf course where they play a friendly game of golf.

After the game, they head to the clubhouse where they dine on filet mingon, lobster, caviar, and Dom Peringon while bragging about how they all got rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and the gullible fools in their country.

Following dinner, they relax poolside at a tiki bar where the Devil comes to greet him with a frosty drink.

“Have a margarita and relax, Senator Dingdong!” says the Devil.

“Wow, sir!” replies the senator, I never expected this in Hell!”

“Don’t believe any of that stuff they told you in church! This is the REAL Hell, the best is yet to come, and you will live like this for all of eternity!

“I promise!”

So the senator relaxes on a lounge chair, enjoys his margarita, and puffs on a fine cigar, all the while noticing how much he and the devil have in common. Then, as if things could not get better for the proud Pinoy, Ferdinand Marcos comes to escort him to a cottage where he finds 18 of the most beautiful young ladies he had ever seen–one for each of the 18 mistresses he had in his life–waiting inside. He spends the night in the cottage enjoying the best sex he ever experienced.

Morning comes, and after feasting on a sumptuous breakfast, his friends escort him to the elevator and, after bidding a hearty adieu, the happy and prideful senator goes up…up…up…up…back to the Pearly Gates.

“Now then, Senator Dingdong,” says St. Peter, “Time for you to experience Heaven.”

So the senator enters Heaven, and as soon as he passes through the gates, he finds that his pride–the one thing that defined him as a Pinoy–immediately disappears, making him feel very uncomfortable. The first person he meets is a Catholic priest, and something within the senator makes him realize that this is the priest he arranged to have murdered because the priest supported a rival political candidate. He felt really uncomfortable as soon as he noticed who he was, but the priest greeted him with a hearty “Welcome!” and a big hug as if the senator never did anything bad to him.

Then the senator recognizes an Australian missionary who he had thrown in prison because the missionary hurt the senator’s pride by calling him out on his corrupt activities; that missionary eventually died from food poisoning while in prison. He also meets a young German humanitarian worker/environmental activist who was killed when she tried to block the expansion of one of the senator’s illegal mines. After greeting him and showing abounding love and forgiveness toward him, they escort the senator to an area where he sees multitudes of young Filipino children. Suddenly, something within the senator makes him realize that many of these children died from illnesses that could have been prevented or cured if they had access to affordable health care, vitamins, clean drinking water, and nutritious food, but instead of helping these poor children he squandered government money and contributions from humanitarian organizations on pet projects to get him re-elected, vote buying schemes, kickbacks to contractors, and free circumcisions.

Others standing before him died because of complications associated with botched circumcisions at the “Operation free tuli” events he sponsored. Many others were killed in landslides or mudslides due to the illegal logging and illegal mining operations he unofficially permitted. He becomes extremely uncomfortable at the sight of all of these people whose deaths he was directly or indirectly responsible for, but to his surprise, they show no animosity toward him–instead they all extend unconditional forgiveness and abundant love–a love he was never familiar with as a Filipino. The group then escorts him to a huge banquet table where they enjoy a fabulous meal with Jesus at the head of the table showing the same love and forgiveness that everyone else showed. He enjoys it all, but he felt it lacked the party atmosphere he experienced in Hell.

There is no darkness in Heaven, but he still rests comfortably through the night on a cloud with angels all around him singing softly–something that he feels is quite boring compared to his experience in the cottage in Hell.

The next day, an angel escorts him back to the Pearly Gates. “Now then, Senator Dingdong,” says St. Peter, “You experienced Hell and you experienced Heaven. Time for you to make your decision.”

The senator mulls it over for a brief moment then says, “Well, sir, Heaven is very nice…but I really fell I should be in Hell with all my friends.”

“You made the right decision, Senator” says St. Peter, as an angel escorts him to the elevator where he goes down…down…down…down..to Hell.

The elevator doors open and he is suddenly knocked off his feet by an overwhelming stench of stale urine, much like the stench in the streets and alleyways in any city in his country. He stumbles back on his feet, steps out of the elevator, and finds himself in the middle of a disgusting slum–just like Tondo. The only light comes from the many fires burning all around him. He looks ahead in the dim light and sees a river filled with garbage, toxic waste, and raw sewage–just like the Pasig River. All around him is thick smog and an acrid stench of burning trash–just like Smoky Mountain–which fills his lungs and makes him gag and vomit. In near disbelief over what he sees, he trudges through the mud and sludge and finds his friends, all carrying red hot coals of burning sulfur, slumped over, moaning in great agony, as venomous serpents, surrounding each of them, bite them relentlessly.

He continues on, hoping to find the resort that he enjoyed so much on his last visit, and he comes upon the young ladies who so passionately “serviced” him in the cottage, but the ladies now have disfigured faces, scars and burns on their skin, and worms crawling in and out of their nostrils, eyes, mouths, ears, and nether parts. Each of them let out blood-curdling, ear-piercing screams–just like the screams he used to hear from young boys as they were senselessly circumcised at the many “Operation free tuli” events he once proudly sponsored.

In desperation, he searches for the Devil, who he finds a short distance away, looking at the senator with an evil grin. “Please, sir!” cries the senator with a pathetic cry similar to the cries of the child beggars on the streets of Manila, “Where is the resort, sir? I’m a proud Pinoy and I deserve the resort! Please take me to the resort, sir! Please, sirrrr!”

The Devil, with a look of Pinoy-style pride on his face, places his hand on the senator’s shoulder. “Ahhh, Ssssenator Dingdong!” says the Devil with a serpent’s hiss, “Do you not remember anything from your days in Philippine politicssss?

“Two days ago, we were campaigning…

“Today, you voted for us!

Original here

PNP Conducting Illegal House-to-House Drug Testing

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Police it's time to take your random illegal drug test.  Now piss in the cup."

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/23/1731621/police-do-house-house-drug-testing-no-law-allows-it

What would you do if a group of policemen showed up at your doorstep and asked you to pee into a plastic cup for an on-the-spot drug test that could reveal whether or not you had taken shabu or marijuana in the last seven days? 

That is the question residents of Lupang Pangako in Barangay Payatas have been grappling with since June when groups of policemen started going house-to-house, armed with do-it-yourself drug testing kits that show, within seconds, that a person is either positive or negative for the use of those banned substances. 

Officials call it a “massive drug clearing operation,” with police conducting surveys of occupants of all houses, mapping the village, and then showing up unannounced and making people take drugs tests or be called “uncooperative” if they say no. 

It is the approach local leaders prefer, because it does not involve killing and the barangay is taking an active part in it, with support from the police.

Pretty messed up right?  Cops going door to door making people pee in a cup to see if they have been using drugs instead of simply killing suspects point blank. But what if they test positive?

“When found positive, a person’s name is placed on a watch list,” said Barangay Kagawad Alejandro Adan, chairman of the barangay’s peace and order committee.

Watch list? Sure they didn't mean kill list? The suspects are already on a watch list anyway.  That's why the cops are at the door conducting an illegal drug test.

And it's not just suspected drug users being tested.  It's everyone they live with as well.

The policemen explained that the test covered those on their list as well as relatives who might be home when the police come visiting. 

It's also illegal.  The PNP has no authority be doing these tests.

Actually, Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Acts also specifies that drug tests must be done by “government forensic laboratories or by any of the drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the DOH to safeguard the quality of test results.” 

Besides, the law lists only those who should be subjected to drug tests: 

• applicants for drivers’ licenses

• applicants for firearms licenses

• high school and college students

• officers and employees of public and private offices

• members of the police, military and other law enforcement agencies

• those charged with crimes whose penalties are more than six years

• and all candidates for public office, whether appointed or elected 

The law says nothing about policemen conducting community drug tests.

But who cares about the law? When did anyone care about the law in the Philippines?  The law is rarely enforced in the Philippines unless it means reaping huge fines or bribes. 

Police going door to door taking drug tests is like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi film like Gattaca.  This is something that would never ever happen in the West.  It is unthinkable.  Literally the cops in the West would never even think of going door to door to do drug tests of suspected users and their families. The Philippines needs to realise that being first world means more than just economics. Unless the philosophies of individual rights such as the right to be secure from unlawful searches and seizures can be embraced the Philippines will remain backwards and stuck in the third world.

Police doing door to door drug testing is beyond a Philippine fail.

It is a Philippine nightmare!

The Case For A Senate Investigation Into Prior Knowledge of the Marawi Attack

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic" is a quote attributed to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.  We see the truth of these words played out before our eyes in the media as the drug war and the battle in Marawi both rage on. Hundreds have died in Marawi and thousands have died in the drug war but only one death, that of Kian de los Santos, is causing the public any grief. 

So great has been the public outcry that a Senate investigation has been called for and will convene only a week after Kian's death.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/08/21/senate-seeks-probe-on-17-year-old-boy-killing.html

Why so soon? Why not let the PNP and NBI handle the investigation before the Senate meddles?  What is the point?  To pacify the public outrage over what appear to be police abuses? To score political brownie points?

The real travesty here is that the Senate has moved so fast to investigate the death of a single boy while they have let the Duterte administration off the hook for their handling of the Marawi siege. Statements made by Calida, Lorenzada, and Duterte all warrant a Senate investigation into what really happened in the days leading up to the siege of Marawi. The public deserves to know the truth.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2017/06/14/government-says-it-learned-marawi-siege-plans-advance-547391

Solicitor General Jose Calida said in a report that the government received intelligence information at least five days before the terrorists prematurely launched their bloody assault on Marawi City on May 23 after government forces raided the hideout of terrorist leaders led by Isnilon Hapilon.   

"Specifically, on 18 May 2017, intelligence reports revealed that the Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)-inspired local rebel groups were planning to occupy Marawi city, and to raise the Isis flag at the provincial capitol," Calida said in a report to the Supreme Court, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.   

"The said attack would have served as the precursor for other rebel groups to stage their own uprisings across Mindanao in a bid to simultaneously establish a wilayah in the region," Calida said, referring to the southern Philippine region and the Islamic State province the terrorists aimed to create there.   

Asked why the government failed to stop the Marawi siege despite its advance knowledge of the plot, Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the intelligence information was still being vetted, but the military nevertheless planned a raid on the hideout of Hapilon and other terrorists behind the plot.   

"From our point of view, we were able to stop something that could have been much, much bigger," Abella told a news conference.   

Abella was also asked why top security officials led by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. joined Duterte in a trip to Russia around the time the government received information about the planned Marawi attack.   

"They were all on top of the situation. They were actually monitoring everything," Abella said.   

When the military managed to verify some of the details of the plot, it staged the raid on Hapilon's hideout, military spokesman Brigade General Restituto Padilla said. He acknowledged, however, that the military was unaware of the number of armed fighters the plotters could muster.

These answers taken at face value are good enough to pacify the general public but on closer examination they are unsatisfactory and leave a lot of questions unanswered. The government has men all throughout Mindanao monitoring the situation and it is not credible that they only received information 5 days beforehand. ISIS has been a known threat in the area since 2015. For almost two years now ISIS has been building up a presence in the area. The stated goal of ISIS is to establish a wilayah, Islamic State, in the region. It is impossible that the government did not know about this goal since they knew about the presence of ISIS in Mindanao and had publicly declared they were working with the Australians to combat ISIS. Maute would have been planning this attack since December 2016 after their failed siege of Butig in November. They raised the flag of ISIS during that siege.

Did the AFP really not know what the Maute Group was doing for six months? Did the AFP really not know that Maute was planning on establishing a wilayah starting with Marawi? Even after what happened in Butig? And even after Duterte egged them on to burn Marawi?

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/612582/duterte-revealed-maute-s-plan-to-burn-marawi-in-december-speech/story/ 

Such assertions are not credible and deserve to be investigated by the Senate.

Duterte admitted that the government knew all about the weapons flowing into Marawi and did nothing about it.

Duterte said the government was aware that firearms were being stockpiled in Mindanao but took it for granted because of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).  

“We have adopted a very soft policy towards the rebels and this came about because they were bringing firearms. Since we are thinking of getting peace with the MNLF and MILF. The game there involves firearms. We took it for granted. We just allowed it to happen because we never knew until that time who was really the enemy,” Duterte told the troops in Butuan City. 

“When they see firearms and they were told that it’s for MILF or MNLF, the standing order was maybe we can talk to our brothers so there will be no trouble (but) it turned out that the Maute were bringing the firearms surreptitiously and we did not know how much ammunition and firearms were stockpiled, and besides it was not a failure of intelligence,” he added. 

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/18/1711130/no-failure-intelligence-marawi

Duterte explained the bandits, who seemed to have been prepared in launching attacks in Marawi City, may have taken advantage on the government’s soft-leaning approach to other Moro groups, such as Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).    

“Now, it appeared that Maute [members] were bringing the firearms surreptitiously and we were unable to determine how many ammunitions and guns they have,” Duterte said.  

“It was not a failure of intelligence because if they [government forces] see armed men claiming to be MI[LF], MN[LF], the standing order is not to touch them because it might have been resolved through peace negotiations.” 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2017/06/18/duterte-no-failure-intelligence-marawi-siege-548013

The Senate must inquire about the "very soft policy towards the rebels" which the Duterte administration had adopted. Why was this an excuse to let arms flow into the city? How does the government entering into peace negotiations with terrorist groups justify allowing those groups to stock up on firearms? What kind of order is "if they [government forces] see armed men claiming to be MI[LF], MN[LF], the standing order is not to touch them because it might have been resolved through peace negotiations?" Who gave it and why?  This order is what led to allowing the arms to pass in freely and for Maute to stockpile them. How was the AFP supposed to distinguish between who was MILF, MNLF, and Maute? 

And it's not just the government forces on the ground who were a problem.  There were other men in the area gathering intelligence for their own ends. Specifically Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia all warned the Philippine government about ISIS building up in the area but the Philippines ignored their reports.  Why?

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/27/1722033/dnd-admits-lack-intel-validation-marawi-siege

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that there was a lack of validation on the government side regarding intelligence reports on the siege in Marawi City. 

Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have earlier warned the Philippines of the possible presence of ISIS-inspired local terror groups in the country, according to a report from UNTV. 

Lorenzana said that the incident in Marawi City would serve as a lesson for the Department of National Defense and the military to validate intelligence reports. 

"Maybe what we can do in the future is restudy what we are doing [in the] intelligence sector... so that we can be better prepared if something like this happens again," Lorenzana said. 

The Defense chief noted that the forces on the ground monitoring Marawi failed to identify unfamiliar faces entering the city.

Due to the lack of validation of such reports, the Maute group was able to prepare its attack on the city and were able to bring in high-powered firearms. 

Lorenzana, however, said that the government is more focused on fighting against the Maute-ISIS group to start the rehabilitation in Marawi. 

"The time of blaming somebody or pointing somebody is past that, ito na nga nangyari. We can no longer bring back the lives of those 110 people killed, 900 wounded," Lorenzana said.

Whose job was it to validate these reports and why weren't they validated? Lorenzana says that AFP forces failed to identify unfamiliar faces but Duterte says they were not to touch anyone claiming to be MILF or MNLF.  Does the AFP have a facebook for these groups that they can match up names and faces to determine who is MNLF and MILF and who is not? If they had been able to identify unfamiliar faces what was the protocol? 

Reports of ISIS in Mindanao stem all the way back to December 2015.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-11/australia-philippines-vow-cooperation-against-islamic-state/7020372 

At least five Islamist militant groups in the southern Philippines have pledged allegiance to IS, a militant group that has taken control of swathes of Iraq and Syria.  

Manila tightened its surveillance over suspected militants, after eight Filipino men believed to be IS sympathisers were killed by security forces on Mindanao island.   

Around 1,000 residents in Mindanao have reportedly allied themselves with the Islamist extremist group.  

"We always consider the potential threat posed by radicalised Filipinos supporting the ISIS," said a senior Philippine police official, who asked not to be identified. 

"We are concerned with the risk of ISIS elements travelling to the country to promote violent extremism and, worse, to seek haven or use the country as a transit point in going to conflict zones.

The Philippines government has known since 2015 that ISIS was a growing threat in the region. Any claim that there was no intelligence or a lack of intelligence regarding ISIS in Mindanao is a lie.  The question that the Senate needs to ask is, "Why was nothing done?"

The death of Kian is tragic.  So are the deaths of the others killed by the PNP during drug raids.  So are the deaths of 129 (so far) AFP soldiers fighting in Marawi along with 45 (so far) civilians. So is the displacement of thousands of Marawi residents.  So is the destruction of the city of Marawi. And all of that was preventable if the Duterte administration had not adopted a soft policy towards terrorists which allowed the weapons to flow into Marawi and if the Philippines government and the AFP had acted on the intelligence they had gathered and which was given to them.  What sense does it make to adopt a soft policy towards towards terrorists when it is known that some of them are ISIS fighters? What sense does it make to continue this policy after one group, Maute, had already attempted to establish a wilayat in November 2016? Those are questions the Senate must ask.

The people of the Philippines deserve to know:

WHAT was known?

WHO knew it?

WHEN did they know it?

WHY was nothing done about it?

https://www.rappler.com/nation/172777-isis-military-marawi-crisis-martial-law-calida

Contrary to Lorenzana's statement, "The time of blaming somebody or pointing somebody is past," there must be a Senate investigation into the prior knowledge the government had of the attack on Marawi. It must be brought to light who is to blame for allowing the weapons to flow and why nothing was done to prevent an attack which the AFP knew was inevitable. No doubt Lorenzana does not want a blaming and finger pointing investigation because he knows, as Defense Secretary, much of the blame lies squarely on his shoulders.

Let us hope such an investigation will be held and the truth will prevail.

Martial Law: It’s Also A War Inside the Basketball Court

The Battle for Marawi continues with the AFP bombing enemy locations and slowly closing in on the last few remaining fighters.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/923894/maute-group-terrorism-marawi-islamic-state-mindanao-conflict

From the air, a P3 Orion guided bomber planes as they dropped explosives on the remaining battle zone measuring about a square kilometer, where some 70-80 gunmen were holed up, while helicopters also fired rockets towards it.

70 - 80 gunmen?  That's not the estimate the AFP gave at the beginning of the week.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/15/1729349/maute-fighters-marawi-down-40-says-afp

Members of the Maute group holed up in Marawi City are down to about 20 to 40 gunmen, the military said yesterday as government troops continue to close in on the remaining strongholds of the terrorists. 

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the remaining Maute terrorists continue to pose a threat since they are still holding hostages in two barangays.  

“Based on the ground commander’s estimate, their number has decreased to less than 40. So maybe their forces have been reduced to between 20 and 40. The force is getting smaller,” Padilla said in a press briefing yesterday in Malacañang.

The AFP does not know how many Maute members are still in Marawi.  The estimates in both of these articles runs from 80 to 20.  That's a large enough spread to verify that the AFP is simply making a guess.

The AFP has a serious intelligence crisis.

http://archive.is/I9udy

The AFP remains one of the region’s weakest militaries despite some improvements, and Marawi has been an uphill battle for it because of various factors including the fact that it is a densely populated city with dense, forested terrain outside of it, and the reality that the allegiances between various insurgent groups and foreign fighters can be much looser than the headlines often suggest. 

During his remarks over the weekend, Lorenzana touched on this point again. He noted that one of the lessons of the Marawi crisis was that the Philippines needed to improve its intelligence capabilities. In addition to welcoming Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to boost intelligence funds available for the government, he also pointed to other efforts either underway or being mulled, such as improving urban warfare training and increasing reserve forces to back up regular units in the Philippine military.

The AFP needs more training and more equipment and a government that will not turn a blind eye to the activities of terrorists.  Never, ever forget that Duterte admitted he knew about the arms flowing into Marawi and did nothing about it because of the peace process with the MNLF and that Calida and Bato both admitted the government had prior knowledge of the Marawi attack lacking only a date.  It's not that the AFP is completely devoid of intelligence.  The problem is that the government has a tendency to dismiss the intelligence that it gathers and that is given to it by foreign agencies. When foreign embassies issue warnings based on their intelligence the Philippines pridefully scorns and dismisses these moves and ignores the information. This is what happened in Bohol in April 2017 and as a result people ended up dying.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/27/1722033/dnd-admits-lack-intel-validation-marawi-siege

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that there was a lack of validation on the government side regarding intelligence reports on the siege in Marawi City. 

"The time of blaming somebody or pointing somebody is past that, ito na nga nangyari. We can no longer bring back the lives of those 110 people killed, 900 wounded," Lorenzana said.

Actually fingers must be pointed and blame must be doled out to the appropriate authorities. That would be Año, Lorenzana, and Duterte. Without a thorough investigation into this lack of intelligence, which was really a turning a blind eye since the government knew what was happening, nothing will change. Lorenzana wants to sweep this all under the rug because he knows he will be forced to shoulder much of the blame. The public must know who knew what, when they knew it, and why nothing was done about it. There must be an inquiry before the Senate.

As the airstrikes continue in Marawi

http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/military-says-airstrikes-in-marawi-needed-for-‘impenetrable-barriers’/ar-AAqcdwM

local Muslim clerics call for them to stop completely.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/923549/marawi-city-ulama-airstrikes-western-mindanao-command

Muslim scholars and religious leaders are calling for a stop to airstrikes in Marawi City, which they said have caused damage to lives and properties. 

“That while we support this action and other programs of the government for peace and development, we are earnestly requesting the President of the Philippines to find other ways to purge out of Marawi the extremists rather than the aerial bombings which have caused is continuously causing damage to lives and property,” the members of an Ulama conference said in a statement. 

The group also condemned the violent extremism in Mindanao 

The group also agreed to ask President Duterte “to fill up existing national offices intended for Muslims which remain vacant although there are qualified Muslims who can truly perform the functions of said offices like: the Presiding Justice and two Associate Justices of the Shari’ah Appellate Court, and the Jurisconsult in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence. The Ulama also appeal for the appointment of a Muslim Justice of the Supreme Court.”

The AFP is causing damage to properties and lives while trying to liberate the city from Islamic terrorists? Who's fault is this? Don't lay the blame solely on the Maute Group. If these clerics really did condemn violent extremism then they would have been helping put an end to it by speaking out against the terrorist groups in Mindanao. But the fact is all the Islamic terrorist groups in Mindanao (Abu Sayyaf, MILF, BIFF, MNLF, Maute, etc.) receive both moral and financial support from the local Muslim population.  They would not be able to operate otherwise.

This collusion among the Muslims is exactly why Muslims are being profiled in Mindanao. The terror problem in Mindanao is 100% a Muslim problem. Not a Filipino problem. Not a Christian problem. A Muslim problem.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/muslims-being-profiled-martial-law-philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte-a7903761.html

Muslims on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines are being profiled by President Rodrigo Duterte’s security forces as the government battles pockets of Islamist militants that have pledged allegiance to Isis. 

“We have to profile the Muslim areas,” said police superintendent Roy Ga of Iligan City in the north of the island. 

“This conflict in Marawi, unfortunately, it is being committed by Muslims, so we have to make sure there are no sympathisers with the terrorists in this area.”

What good would appointing a Muslim to the Supreme Court do?  The law is blind right? So it should not matter if there is a Muslim on the bench. But it does matter because sadly law is interpreted ideologically and not by the letter.  We see this in countries like the USA where the left and the right vie for their own appointees who ideologically shape the court and its decisions. What is it that these clerics are hoping a Muslim justice would do for them? Uphold the constitutionality of the proposed BBL even if it is not constitutional? 

These Muslims clerics who view non-Muslims as kafir (infidels who may be deceived, plotted against, hated, enslaved, mocked, tortured and worse) and employ the tactic of lying such as taqiyya (gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them) are not to be trusted. They are more concerned about preserving the buildings than in ridding the city of terrorists.

And not just buildings but also priceless cultural treasures.

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/269579/armm-weeps-loss-cultural-heritage-properties-marawi/

Adding to the residents’ and the regional government’s fear is the massive loss of priceless pusaka (heirloom) objects such as baur (storage chest), brass ware, langkit (malong), which form part of the city’s rich cultural heritage. 

She added that while the damaged structures could be rebuilt, the documents that Muslims considered sacred could no longer be brought back. 

She said that whatever was lost culturally would be even more than the initial P20 billion pegged by the national government for the rehabilitation of Marawi, “because our cultural heritage is more than that amount—it is priceless.”

Is it ironic that priceless objects relating to their cultural heritage are being destroyed by Muslims who are practicing the most integral aspect of Islamic culture, violence? Since 630 AD when Muhammed conquered Mecca violence and bloodshed have been a fundamental part of Islamic culture. The message of Muhammed has always been spread by the sword. Today it is spread by the machine gun. Weep all they want the blame lies squarely on these Muslims who tolerate terrorists in their midst.

For all their concern about property damage the Muslim leaders of the area can rest assure Duterte wants to rebuild quickly and immediately.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/923665/with-marawi-fighting-still-on-duterte-wants-rehab-rushed

With the fighting in Marawi City expected to be over soon, President Duterte has directed government agencies preparing the rehabilitation plans for the war-ravaged city to pick up the pace to ensure these would be ready for implementation.

Mr. Duterte told the officials that once the fighting between government forces and pro-Islamic State (IS) extremists was over, the recovery efforts for Marawi would be a purely “civilian endeavor,” according to a Malacañang statement.

Civilians play a crucial role in the battle against ISIS and the other Islamic terrorist groups. Civilians will be rebuilding the city and even now civilians assist in the fight against Islamic terrorism. The battle against terror cannot be won without the assistance of common men and loyal patriots.

http://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/basketball/gilas-pilipinas/179038-marawi-crisis-gilas-give-filipinos-cheer-southeast-asian-games-2017

"We always keep that in our minds. We’re also soldiers in a different battlefield. This is our small way of serving the people of the Philippines," said Kiefer Ravena, who is set to play his fourth straight SEA Games and looking to cop a record fourth gold medal at the biennial meet. 

"Our real soldiers are into a warzone or into a battlefield where you see guns, bombs, people dying. With basketball it’s also a war inside the basketball court. As a basketball country, we want to unite the country even for a few hours every time we play. For two hours, everybody’s one as Filipinos."

Such a stupid and asinine comparison of basketball players with soldiers and the basketball court as a war zone or battlefield which intends to honour the sacrifices of the military while actually trivialising  and mocking them deserves no comment as it speaks for itself.  

Philippines Government Asks Public to Help Pay for Medical Bills of Terrorist Group MILF

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/08/19/1730671/funds-sought-wounded-milf-guerillas-who-fought-biff

Officials are urging the public to help in the medical needs of Moro guerillas injured in their effort to neutralize violent extremists in Maguindanao province. 

More than a dozen guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front had been wounded in encounters with a third faction in the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters since late July. 

Socrates Piñol, member of the North Cotabato provincial board, said on Saturday that he will propose a resolution, subject to approval by his colleagues, recommending to the government the allocation of fund for the treatment of the injured guerillas. 

He said he will sponsor the drafting of the resolution during the session next week of the provincial board. 

"(In the) meantime, kind-hearted people may provide help. It is for us all, the Muslims, Christians and the Lumads, that the MILF is helping the government prevent the spread of these militants," Piñol said. 

It was the MILF's seventh encounter with the BIFF since it started operating against Abdulmalik three weeks ago in support of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-terror campaign. 

"It is good to give them recognition by way of helping them and the families of those killed in their campaign against ISIS-inspired militants," Besana said on Saturday.

WOW!  There is so much wrong with this article it's hard to know where to begin let alone contain oneself at how outrageous it all is.  The government is literally asking the public to help pay for the medical bills of the terrorist group MILF.  And let's be clear, the MILF is a terrorist organisation not a band of guerillas.

They have engaged in terror across the country since they split away from the MNLF in 1977.

Their very first attack was in 1986 when they tossed a grenade into a packed church during a wedding.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/08/Grenade-attack-during-wedding-kills-10/6429526536000/

In 2003 more Christians were murdered when the MILF brazenly attacked the city of M'Lang.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/muslim-rebels-kill-filipino-christians-ahead-peace-talks

The MILF is an Islamic organisation and operates as such. Contrary to Piñon that the MILF Is fighting "for us all, the Muslims, Christians and the Lumads" "the MILF is helping the government prevent the spread of these militants" the MILF is a militant group itself seeking an independent Islamic State. So what if they are fighting with the BIFF?  Who cares if one terrorist group is fighting the other?  They both remain terrorist groups! How can the MILF be operating "in support of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-terror campaign" by fighting the BIFF when the MILF is part of the terror which Duterte is against? It's absolute nonsense.

Are we supposed to forget the SAF 44 whom the MILF unapologetically murdered in it's pursuit of an Islamic State in Mindanao via the BBL?

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/03/25/1437257/milf-justifies-saf-44-slay

There is no justification for the MILF killing these men. It is exactly the same as saying drugs dealers shooting and killing PNP officers who raid their homes are justified because it is self-defence!

If the MILF and the BIFF want to kill each other then let them. They are both insidious and evil organisations who only seek to kill and destroy in the name of establishing an Islamic State in Mindanao which Duterte is all too happy to give them.  The government of the Philippines is supremely naïve if it thinks establishing the BBL will bring peace to the region and not instead establish a base from which ISIS and other terrorist groups can work, train, and grow unmolested and away from prying eyes.

Only a traitor would ask the public to or seek government allocation of funds for paying the medical bills of the MILF or any other terrorist organisation which routinely kills and attacks civilians, police, and the military and poses an imminent threat to the stability and safety of the nation.

Scenes From Life In Filipinoville

In Stockton California a Filipino was at a supermarket.  He burped and that set off a flurry of rage from two lesbians who told him to "Go back to Filipinoville."  

This post will showcase "Scenes from life in Filipinoville." This might be the first in a series.  

Welcome to Filipinoville. 

Globe Telecom Follies

For two years now I have been using Globe landline and WiFi services. Mostly it's been pretty smooth sailing.  Not a lot of dropped time or slow service.

But it did not start out that way.

When they first installed the WiFi it was extremely slow. Several calls to customer service got nowhere.  It was always the same old thing.  Turn off the router.  Count to ten. Turn it back on. Do a speed test and tell us the results. Tales of how they are upgrading service or working on the towers and that's the reason everything is slow. Technicians came by more than a few times and they were left scratching their heads.

Finally, after so many calls, the head technician was sent over to investigate.  He took out his tools and ran all his tests.  Same results.  So then he goes outside and takes a look at the antenna and he just about goes apopoletic.

The root cause of all the trouble was that the original installers did not install the antenna correctly.  

They installed it on the side of the house!

He called them up and ordered them over but they pleaded it was lunch time and that they would eat first and also that they needed to find a ladder long enough to reach the roof.  The excuse they gave for not properly installing the antenna was that they did not have a long enough ladder.  

The head technician was not hearing it and he threatened to call them out on it to management if they did not come over right away and properly reinstall the antenna.

So they did.

And there hasn't been any problems with the Wi-Fi since.

Do you know what this means?  It means that every single time the representatives from Globe were giving out wrong and faulty information. Working on the towers?  Turn the router on and off?  It was all bunk!  Even the technicians who came over at first to investigate but did not care to look at where the antenna was placed were spouting nonsense. One time Globe said we could get an extra 50GB a month for free.  So we signed up for it and when the new month rolled around we used up all our data very quickly. We called them asking what happened because now we have 50GB of data. Turns out we did not have 50GB because that program is not offered in our area! So why did they even offer it to us if it's not available?

I don't even understand why installing the antenna on the side of the house was causing problems.  Shouldn't the device still be able to pick up signals? Is the Globe Wi-Fi singnal so weak that the antenna must be on the roof?  I can use my cellphone inside the house with no problems and without having to climb up on the roof to get reception. What's up with that?