Many of the issues coming from politicians and their allies -- and future candidates --are directly related to the presidential election in 2016. There is so much politicking on the air. The election fever is in our midst today. And it is going to stay and worsens in the coming months or year.
The main target is President Benigno Aquino III, who still very powerful and popular. There is no way he can be shied away from the eye of the storm. Of course, the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and the MILF are not spared. Malaysia is also dragged into the picture. There is so much demonization of these issues right now.
We know of one politician who believes that he can secure the vice-presidential candidate nomination by playing hard on the so-called biases, prejudices, hatred, and animosities of the Christian majority in this country against the Moros or Muslims of Mindanao. According to his judgment, the Moros can be dispensable; after all, they can only have as much as 1.5 million votes at most. There is credence to that claim, but in a neck-and-neck race for any position, if the difference is less than, say 500,000 votes, the Moro votes can be a deal breaker.
But we do not subscribe to his belief of gaining much by dividing the people. He can be very wrong or is clearly wrong. He had underestimated the intelligence, maturity, and ability of the people to rise above their emotions, biases, prejudices, and hatred. We are not in the Middle Age or in the age of the Crusades or the times of the Moro-Spanish War anymore. Christians and Muslims in this country are generally matured and guided by reasons. They are capable to know who should be the leaders good for this country. That is why they voted for President Aquino in 2010. They will do it again in 2016.
Of what use of someone who aspires to run this country by disuniting this country, and who uses the language of the street, instead of the dignified ways of true leaders? The truth is that we have so many leaders and politicians in this country, but what we lack are enough number of statesmen.
Currently hitting the headlines, this time against the MILF particularly Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal is about their alleged use of Malaysian passports in their travels. This is a complete lie and has no basis at all. It is simple in diplomacy that a state can only issue passport to its nationals. In the BBL, the leaders of the MILF still consider themselves as “Filipinos” by citizenship but “Bangsamoro” by identity.
One of the two prominent personalities who raised this passport question is reported to be running for the senate in 2016. He wants his name popularized for recall on election day. Even during his time as government official, some 17 or 18 years ago, he had already exhibited anti-Moro pronouncement.
We can set the record on the question of Malaysia, as third country facilitator of the GPH-MILF Peace Negotiation. Malaysia was invited. It never applied for this role, which is no-no in the world of diplomacy.
Anyway this is the short narrative of that. In 2001 after assuming the presidency, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo travelled to Kuala Lumpur and asked Malaysia through Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad to facilitate the GPH-MILF peace negotiation, which the latter, after some deeper thought, accepted.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/783-election-fever-is-in-the-corner
We know of one politician who believes that he can secure the vice-presidential candidate nomination by playing hard on the so-called biases, prejudices, hatred, and animosities of the Christian majority in this country against the Moros or Muslims of Mindanao. According to his judgment, the Moros can be dispensable; after all, they can only have as much as 1.5 million votes at most. There is credence to that claim, but in a neck-and-neck race for any position, if the difference is less than, say 500,000 votes, the Moro votes can be a deal breaker.
But we do not subscribe to his belief of gaining much by dividing the people. He can be very wrong or is clearly wrong. He had underestimated the intelligence, maturity, and ability of the people to rise above their emotions, biases, prejudices, and hatred. We are not in the Middle Age or in the age of the Crusades or the times of the Moro-Spanish War anymore. Christians and Muslims in this country are generally matured and guided by reasons. They are capable to know who should be the leaders good for this country. That is why they voted for President Aquino in 2010. They will do it again in 2016.
Of what use of someone who aspires to run this country by disuniting this country, and who uses the language of the street, instead of the dignified ways of true leaders? The truth is that we have so many leaders and politicians in this country, but what we lack are enough number of statesmen.
Currently hitting the headlines, this time against the MILF particularly Chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim and MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal is about their alleged use of Malaysian passports in their travels. This is a complete lie and has no basis at all. It is simple in diplomacy that a state can only issue passport to its nationals. In the BBL, the leaders of the MILF still consider themselves as “Filipinos” by citizenship but “Bangsamoro” by identity.
One of the two prominent personalities who raised this passport question is reported to be running for the senate in 2016. He wants his name popularized for recall on election day. Even during his time as government official, some 17 or 18 years ago, he had already exhibited anti-Moro pronouncement.
We can set the record on the question of Malaysia, as third country facilitator of the GPH-MILF Peace Negotiation. Malaysia was invited. It never applied for this role, which is no-no in the world of diplomacy.
Anyway this is the short narrative of that. In 2001 after assuming the presidency, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo travelled to Kuala Lumpur and asked Malaysia through Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad to facilitate the GPH-MILF peace negotiation, which the latter, after some deeper thought, accepted.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/783-election-fever-is-in-the-corner
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