Opinion/Parlade: UP security bill — 'cui bono?'

Opinion piece posted to the Manila Times (Oct 1, 2021): UP security bill — 'cui bono?' (By (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.)

LIKE a thief in the night, proponents of House Bill 10171 have railroaded the passage of this bill seeking to institutionalize the agreement between the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Department of National Defense (DND), banning security forces from entering UP campuses. On paper it appears to be designed to protect UP and its pursuit of academic freedom; hence, the "UP Security Act" as its title. A cursory look at its provisions though would reveal that there is something sinister in this bill. Indeed, why would the sponsors attempt to pass this law free from scrutiny of the government, especially the sector in charge of security? Unsurprisingly, the bill is sponsored mostly by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) bloc as well as legislators trying to salvage whatever electoral support is left of this now disgraced Kamatayan alliance.

So, why UP? What is UP? And why does it think it is so important and exclusive that it needed a law to protect "their" academic freedom and not Bicol University or Ateneo for instance? Is it because of its claim that it remains the bastion of youth activism? Let's find out.

For sure, only a few will disagree with me when I say UP is the best educational institution in the country. That's the reason I wanted to enter it after high school, having passed the UPCAT for a quota course in engineering. But UP had to settle as my second best, because I found the gates of Fort del Pilar more endearing and open; I opted to be part of the Long Gray Line rather than the Long Tibak Line. I was lucky to understand the big difference early because of a sibling who entered UP PoliSci a year earlier, and discovered his secret passion for Joma Sison, aka Amado Guerrero [Sison went by the nom de guerre of Amado Guerrero, meaning "beloved warrior"]. Baktin — that's how our late WW2 veteran lolo would describe people whose loyalty to the nation is questionable.

Manobo leader's real story

While writing this piece on UP, I saw a Rappler news article on September 28 about BaiBibyaon, a Manobo leader now at UP. Rappler says Bai refused to go home after seven years of being exploited, and after being deceived to join the Lakbay Lumad. Incidentally, I know the real story. Then I realized this is one of those reasons why CPP terrorist organizations, posing as advocacy groups, do not want the security sector inside UP.

According to Rappler, BaiBibyaon, the 80-year-old tribal leader (she is actually 94, according to relatives, hence older by 14 years) would like to continue her crusade and stand for her people, for their ancestral land, and for the next generation of Pantaron. Lawyer Antonio La Viña defended her, saying that the government should not coerce her relatives to fetch her. They would support her though, should she decide to go back home on her own volition.

Great. Of course everything was translated and reported by Rappler, according to the CPP's intended narrative.

So, who is the translator? Certainly, it's not La Vina or Rius Valle, a CPP member and national spokesperson of the SOS network.

The real version of this narrative can only be known by a CPP victim, Rurelyn Bayao, the person designated by BaiBibyaon herself as her translator, and she is telling us a different story. After wasting nine years of her precious life with the CPP, she is back in the fold of the law at 21, realizing that she had been used and exploited by the Save our Schools (SOS), Haran, UP Bakwit, Karapatan, RMP, PasakaddoySalugpunganKalimudan (Pasaka), and Sabokahan where she was a youth coordinator.

Rurelyn was 12 years old when she became a Kabataang Makabayan (KM) and CPP party member in 2012 in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. In 2014 she became part of the 'Taktikang Bakwit,' a CPP ploy executed through Pasaka, to force indigenous people (IP) out of their communities, in the guise that they are in danger from government operations or 'militarization.' The fact is, the CPP forcefully evacuates their organized mass base — and in the case of Talingod, the Komiteng Rebolusyonaryo Munisipal (KRM), or municipal revolutionary committee, the shadow government of the CPP — in order to avoid being unearthed by government troops doing community support program (CSP) and retooled CSP. The latter would later deliver the barangay development programs, destroying the myth that the government is useless.

BaiBibyaon happens to be the chairman of the KRM in Talaingod, hence Rappler's claim that she is a tribal leader. Among lumad, a term concocted by the CPP to generically call all IPs in Mindanao, she is a leader, a radicalized one.

In reality though, she is not. Among the genuine Ata-Manobos, Datu Gibang is their leader. His son, Datu Awing Apoga is the apparent leader. And so with Bae PilarLibayao, who is the IP mandatoryr ep (IPMR) of Talaingod. And they all came to our Laban Kasamaang Bayan Program of SMNI news channel, to explain what's happening with BaiBibyaon, currently the CPP's poster woman in their propaganda.

Bai wants to go home

Once more, let us hear it from Rurelyn, the official translator of BaiBibyaon. Rappler, in summary, this is the official translation of what Bai wanted for herself:

In 2015, Bai and Rurelyn became part of the ManiLakbayan to bring their struggle to Manila. That's how they ended up at UP, with the sponsorship of course of UP officials and the SOS.

According to Rurelyn, BaiBibyaon and herself agreed to go to UP to help their tribe fight for their rights, to protect their culture, their ancestral domain, and win the peace in the Pantarong range. Regardless of Bai and Rurelyn's background in the CPP, we all agree that we should support these noble dreams. Right?

Bai was chosen because she is the chairman of the KRM. While in engagements in Manila, she started speaking about helping educate her tribe, through the Salugpungan, so that one day "they can also learn how to fly planes and be pilots." Apparently this surprised the CPP organizers, the SOS, Karapatan, obviously because it was way off the "party line." They expected her to speak of the "isms" instead, so the CPP cadres were not happy. That's when the party began to suppress and edit what was being said by Bai. Of course, Rurelyn was smart enough to notice everything, so she herself began to question the motive of their presence in the SOS at UP.

Rurelyn and Bai would then be sent to Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong as representatives of SOS, with the objective of raising funds for the Salugpungan and their Manobo tribe. By helping in "revolutionizing philanthropy," Bai would affix her thumbmark on many donation documents, but these funds went to CPP coffers and SOS organizers instead. None of the funds went to the Manobo cause.

The party also wanted them to speak against illegal mining and logging operations in Pantarong, which allegedly are destroying their land. But none of these are true. Bae Pilar even dared anybody, especially those alleged environmentalist NGOs, to go visit them in Pantarong to see if this was true. And maybe lawyer Antonio La Vina and Rappler's Grace Cantal-Albasin can also go check who has been lying here.

Clearly, this is what BaiBibyaon wants. She wants to go home. Rurelyn, in fact, showed us Bai's bag of clothes which Bai packed herself in preparation for her return.

Clearly, Rius Valle of SOS and those UP officials holding Bai have a serious case of kidnapping here. When Bai cried telling them she wanted to go home, especially when she became ill with Covid-19, they merely laughed at her, ridiculed her. When Rurelyn saw how these CPP cadres were disrespecting her elders, she knew right away the CPP would not respect the rights of IPs.

Clearly, by keeping BaiBibyaon for seven years at UP, away from her community and natural support system, officials of UP, SOS, CHR, Karapatan, Misfi, RMP and Gabriela obstructed the transition and transfer of Ata-Manobo culture, its history, indigenous medicine, health, and all to the younger Manobos. That was not helping preserve IP culture at all.

So, Rurelyn asked us this question: Is UP and SOS for real when they shout at us "Makibaka para sa tribu"?

*cui bono — who benefits?

https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/01/opinion/columns/up-security-bill-cui-bono/1816639