BEHIND THE SCENES

CPLA monster refuses to die
ALFRED P. DIZON

The monster that is the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army simply refuses to die. Now, they are throwing their weight around in Baguio making the youthful mayor warn he would not tolerate their unsavory acts.

“In fact, I am warning them to stay away from the city as they are not welcome here,” said Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. the mayor has coordinated with the regional police command in discouraging CPLA presence in the summer capital.

These characters should be made to realize that they are relics of the past and have been exposed for what they are as opportunistic, corrupt and insignificant entities. They have been accused of being involved in a lot of human rights abuses from rape, torture to murder. In Baguio, they are now engaged in land grabbing and illegal gambling.
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Who are members of this group of nincompoops? Except for maybe three or four persons, these characters who pose as the ultimate machos have not tried being engaged in combat. They move around the city in groups so they could intimidate people. But when you see them walking alone, they are like basang sisiw.

You see, people like these who think they can badger people to submission with their numbers actually have a lot of insecurities. Since most, If not all of them don’t have college degrees, they can’t find work. So how do they feed, their families? Ang taong gipit, kakapit kahit sa patalim, an old Tagalog adage goes. So in the case of these characters, since they don’t have businesses, they talk to people (like land grabbers) to be their protectors for some money.
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They have set up illegal structures in Baguio barangays like Dominican, at the Bureau of Plant Industry site and yes, even at Burnham Park. Could you believe that? I don’t believe they set these up right at the center of the city as headquarters so they could run after communist guerillas as they claim. If they want war, they should go to the mountains where the commies are. But considering the patsies they are, they go to urban areas to sow mayhem. So if you see a group of men with eyes nga kalla sumida ti tao, run to the farthest ends of the earth. They could be lugging handguns. They could even maul you for looking at them.
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Basing from reports, barangay officials are even afraid in confronting these characters when they set up their illegal structures as they have been intimidating residents and even social workers. It is good Bautista has ordered the demolition of the houses these low life forms set up otherwise people would get the wrong signal that lands in the city are free. Who knows, somebody with a healthy imagination may even claim the city hall as his.

Ah! I must correct myself for saying these entities are low life forms. They also have a certain degree of practical intelligence, I must admit. You see, they have been transplanting banana plants in some areas to show a semblance of having stayed long, then they claim these as their own. It is good, they didn’t plant marijuana as reports say it is the business of some CPLA members to plant and push the illegal plant for hefty amounts of money.
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In some cases, they have reportedly sold the lots where they built the structures and moved on to other areas where they could squat and later sell the house and lot. The gall, and to think they are claiming they are the “protectors” of Cordillerans.

They are also claiming they are pushing for regional autonomy. I wonder if these characters know what autonomy means. Maybe intono. There are a lot more we can talk about the monster that is the CPLA since I have first hand knowledge and experiences about them, by then for now, let us move on to another topic.
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Eleven official development assistance (ODA) funded projects which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo suspended recently will be implemented with local funds. The President issued this assurance over the weekend when she was interviewed by veteran radio program host Joe Taruc over dzRH. Taruc noted that many people were worried that the big-ticket projects would not push through without the funding assistance from foreign funding agencies.

But the President said that with the country’s improved economy, the government has enough funds now to pursue the projects without having to secure foreign loans. “Tutuloy ang mga proyekto kasi umabot na nga tayo sa antas ng ekonomiya na hindi na talaga tayo kailangang umaasa lamang sa utang.”

Asked if the country is no longer dependent on foreign loans, the President replied: “Yes, hindi na tayo dependent. So meron na tayong choice kung mas mura ang particular project, puedeng pahabaan natin ang payment period para mas maraming magagastos na iba. Meron na tayong mga choices na ganun, pero hindi na tayo dependent. Kaya itong mga proyekto, basta ang importante, tuluy-tuloy pa rin…”

Anyhow, there is no more ZTE-NBN project to pay for. A the rate Jun Lozada is living it up, maybe it is now bad being an accidental hero after all.