BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon
Letters on Balao, Ifugao buses and arrest of NPAs

Hereunder are letters. Those who feel alluded to may send their comments to the Northern Philippine Times. Our email: northphiltimes@yahoo.com

Gov. Baguilat on Balao
Yet another son of the Cordilleras, another activist for our rights, has disappeared. I don’t know James Balao personally. But I know his kind. There are only a few of us who have the courage to devote one’s life to pursuing difficult causes. Yet he craves no praise or gratification, just a desire that the coming generations of Cordillerans will live in a region of genuine peace, sustainable development and self-determination.

Thus, I join all those who have manifested their indignation over his disappearance. I condemn forces of political intolerance and brute force who have sought to silence Balao’s crusades with an act of terror.

For whatever ideology, political belief or religious persuasion that propels our actions, the value of non-violence and human rights must be upheld.

True, we live in a world of conflict, a war of attrition, but Cordillerans have for centuries resolved their conflicts respecting the rule of traditional law and human rights. The casualties of our wars were slain in acts of honor, not with treachery. The battles waged by our forefathers were for freedom, not for fascism.

These were the things James fought for. Despite the fears and the solitude, he struggled. We owe him this much to pray and demand that he be returned to the family and community he so loved.

Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr.
Provincial Governor
Ifugao
***

Unfair business competition of Ifugao buses
I am a concerned citizen and a taxpayer and I would like to raise the issues involving bus operators using the Baguio-Banaue route and unfair business competition (underpricing) against KMS Lines owned by Herbert Codamon and our arguments for reducing the current unconscionable and excessive rate of 1.35 per km. Our arguments are very simple:

The current rate is shameful. Let’s take Baguio-Banaue for example. At the current rate, the student’s fare is 370 while the regular fare is 465. Partas and other Manila bound bus companies have a rate of 330 for ordinary (non-airconditioned) rides while 466 for de-luxe (airconditioned with restroom). Ohayami Trans, Jack’s Transpo and KMS Lines use second-hand non-airconditioned buses.

Ifugao is one of the 20 poorest provinces. I need not cite a source for this is well-known. There are few business establishments in Ifugao and it’s obviously an agriculture-based province. But there are rich residents of Ifugao who ride their SUVs and Pajeros. The rates of the buses in the richer Gitnang Luzon and Ilocandia provinces are much lower at 0.9 per km.

I have tenants and relatives living in Ifugao and studying in Baguio. I am very much concerned that this continuing trend and business practice of irresponsible bus operators would hinder their education and undermine their future. We need to take action! Maraming Salamat Po!

Rosel Camtugan-Pespes
***

Truth behind ‘arrest of top NPAs’
Chief Supt. Luizo Ticman, Philippine National Police Region 1 director haughtily crowed recently that police operatives in Abra recently arrested three alleged “high-ranking officials of the NPA Kilusang Larangang Gerilya (KLG)-Northern Luzon.

He claimed the three suspects Edgardo Molina alias Ka Dong/Bobby, Edwin Balawag alias Ka Bagyan, and Rosemarie Domingo alias Ka Ramses are the commanding officer, executive officer and medical officer respectively of the alleged NPA unit.

Through their latest stunt, PNP officials are trying to project for themselves an image of superb efficiency in implementing the US-Arroyo regime’s pipe dream of crushing the revolutionary forces by 2010.

“On the contrary, their latest stunt only highlights the expertise of these PNP officials in spinning lies and fabricating outrageous tales to cover up one of their more lucrative money-making ventures: “bounty hunting.”

Alleged and former NPA elements are projected by the PNP as “high-ranking” cadres to justify the release of millions in reward money or bounty. This has been the case in several past incidents and is the case now with the alleged arrest of Molina, Balawag and Domingo -- all former NPA guerillas who have returned to civilian life for a long period of time. In Molina’s case, the PNP invented incredible tales about his supposedly high rank to collect one million pesos in reward money.

The tall tales they concoct expose these PNP officials’ gross ignorance about the revolutionary movement. They claimed that Molina, Balawag and Domingo are officers of the Kilusang Larangang Gerilya-Northern Luzon. One would think that with the legion of lies they have woven these PNP officers would finally have their acts together. But as the saying goes, “Military intelligence is an oxymoron.”

In this case, PNP intelligence is clearly an oxymoron. For the edification of these ignorant PNP officers, there is no Kilusang Larangang Gerilya, but there are more than a hundred larangang gerilya or NPA guerilla fronts all over the country. Each larangang gerilya covers the equivalent of three to five contiguous municipalities, roughly the size of a congressional district, so it is impossible for a Larangang Gerilya-Northern Luzon to exist.

What these enterprising PNP officers did was to assign to Molina, Balawag and Domingo a fictitious NPA unit in a non-existent guerilla front. And presto, they raked in more than a million pesos in reward money! What these PNP officers lack in intelligence, they compensate for with deviousness.

A small portion of the reward money will go to a local warlord in Abra who facilitated the fake arrest of Molina, Balawag and Domingo. This is nothing more than leftovers of a feast or crumbs on the table for a loyal servant.

Molina, Balawag and Domingo were presented as prized exhibits during PNP Chief Jesus Versoza’s visit to Tineg, Abra last Dec. 7. The latest tools in gaining for the PNP some sorely needed “pogi points.” But “pogi points” or not, the image of the PNP is one reeking with corruption and abuse. There are Euro generals, there are generals who are protectors of drugs, jueteng, kidnapping and other crime syndicates, and there are generals who make money through their make believe versions of gallantry and “bounty-hunting.” “As the people of Abra say to all liars, “Pallak, amud langsut yo!

Simon “Ka Filiw” Naogsan
Spokesperson
Cordillera People’s Democratic Front