Manila Mail Issue #7A

FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

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Northern California • Year 26 Issue 7 • February 18-24, 2015 • (650) 992-5474 • info@eManilaMail.com

The U.S. in Philippine anti-terror campaigns

By Maria A. Ressa | Rappler.com MANILA MAIL NEWS PPAR AR TNER ARTNER MANILA, Philippines – Several anonymous, single-source stories have been published since the January 25 Mamasapano clash – devoid of context and ending with often incendiary, incorrect conclusions.

Let’s start with a basic fact: the US has been actively involved in counterterrorism operations in the Philippines for at least 13 years.

When the US special forces operatives landed in Zamboanga City in January 2002, I was on the tarmac chasing the soldiers as they got off the plane. When I asked them what they were doing, their answer was identical – and has remained that way over the years: “We’re here to train, advise and assist Philippine forces.” There’s a reason why.

Let’s start with a basic fact: the US has been involved in counterterrorism operations in the Philippines for more than a decade

Judge delays Pres. Obama immigration order

ANTI-TERROR CAMPAIGNS, A8

NEW YORK F ASHION WEEK - F ALL 2015 FASHION FALL

Fall fashion is fluid for Lhuillier, layered for Natori

The White House quickly calls the decision wrong, saying the president acted within his legal authority and that the administration will appeal

B Y EL TON LLUG UG AY ELT UGA Managing Editor

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – A judge in Texas has blocked US President Barack Obama's executive order providing millions of undocumented foreigners with protection from deportation.

The White House quickly called the decision wrong, saying the president had acted within his legal authority and that the administration will appeal.

OBAMA IMMIGRATION, B6

Two Pinoys to get a shot at Mars trip MANILA, Philippines – Two Filipino women are in the running to join a reality competition with an enviable (or unenviable) prize: a one-way ticket to help establish a colony on Mars.

Minerva Rañeses from Pasig City, and US-based Jaymee Orillosa del Rosario, are among the 50 women and 50 men who made the cut in the third round of astronaut selection by the Netherlandsbased Mars One project.

PINOYS GO TO MARS, B3

In this 3-part series, Rappler looks at how US forces and resources have been used in counterterrorism operations in the Philippines within a global context. We speak with Filipino and American operatives and officials and look at examples of past operations to see the protocols in place for cooperation between the two countries. Many of those we spoke with asked for anonymity given the sensitive nature of the operations they were part of.

A day after the deaths of the 44 police Special Action Forces (SAF) operatives in Mamasapano was announced, I spoke with a former US special forces soldier who worked in the Philippines.

Explaining why the Americans could not be “boots on the ground,” the former Special Forces soldier said: “We’re allowed to provide

DESIGNER PUBLICITY PHOTOS

A MODEL walks the runway wearing an ochre silk satin chiffon one-shoulder draped gown from Lhuillier Fall ‘15 collection (left); Navy quilted indigo short shawl collar jacket with full skirt and bordeaux knitted rabbit fur topper from Natori’s.

NEW YORK CITY— Nothing can stop fashionistas from celebrating the annual Fashion Week here, not even brutal winter weather described by meteorologists as record low temperatures and high winds that could frostbite exposed skin in about half an hour.

The show must go on despite such harsh MONIQUE LHUILLIER (left); JOSIE NATORI conditions. After all, fashion is more profitable than football as revealed by a new congressional study. While last year’s Super Bowl brought in $500 million in revenue, the N.Y. fashion week returns nearly $900 million to the city’s economy. No wonder the City of New York gives its full support to visiting designers and media from all over the world.

Manila Mail was invited to a dozen Fall 2015 runway shows happening until February 19 onsite and off Lincoln Center, venue of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Two of the featured designers are renowned Filipinas: celebrity designer Monique Lhuillier and fashion mogul Josie Natori.

JOURNEY TO ISTANBUL With Japanese husband Ken, Natori kicked off the weeklong celebration and took her audience on a journey to Istanbul, the historic crossroads where “East meets West”.

“This inspiration is all about Istanbul,” said the former commissioner of the White House Conference on Small Business. “It’s one of my favorite cities and inspiration. I’ve been there a number of times.

I’ve got a collection from there. All these swatches, textiles and shapes are from there. All these embellishments are a wonderful way to express that.”

Models interpreted 40 pieces from Natori’s stunning collection, which depicted the mix of Eastern intrigue and Western glamour FALL FASHION, B3

PNP official sees nothing wrong in US giving help More cold, snow on the way

By Nancy C. Carvajal | Inquirer.net MANILA MAIL CONTENT PPAR AR TNER ARTNER COTABATO CITY, Philippines— Despite denials in Manila, police and intelligence authorities on the ground see nothing wrong in the purported US hand in the botched operation against the Malaysian bomber known as Marwan.

“The assistance extended by the

Americans in pursuit of known international terrorists has always been there,” said a Philippine National Police official, who is privy to the project to get Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, on Jan. 25 that ended in the slaughter of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos.

“There is nothing new and their help is highly appreciated,” said the official,

who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak to the media. “Terrorism is a transnational crime. Crime prevention is everybody’s responsibility.”

After Marwan, who was reportedly killed in Mamasapano, the US government is now keen on pursuing his deputy, Basit Usman, who remained at large, this source said.

PNP OFFICIAL, B6

in merciless US winter

WASHINGTON, United States – The eastern United States braced for an arctic onslaught Monday, as forecasters predicted another blast of snow and cold in what already has been a merciless winter.

As many as 50 million people were in

the path of the glacial weather, which will see temperatures far more frigid than normal, the National Weather Service warned.

“Numerous record low temperatures are expected!” the NWS said in a bulletin MORE COLD, B3

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FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

Senate might ask DFA to explain US role in clash Ayee Macaraig | Rappler.com MANILA MAIL NEWS PARTNER

PHOTOGRAPHER: HEMALI ACHARYA ZAVERI. ART DIRECTION: CECILIO ASUNCION. MAKEUP ARTIST: ALICIA CADIZ

Filipino transgender model makes waves in the fashion industry

BY DULCE DIZON EVERYONE'S first impression of Angel is undoubtedly the same: “What a pretty girl!”

The epitome of a professional model, in fact: 5’8 tall, slender and long-legged with an oval-face, high cheekbones, wide-set eyes, delicate nose and full, pouty lips. She'd look as much at home on Milan's fashion runways as on a Vogue or Cosmopolitan magazine cover.

Flashing a sweet smile, she welcomed me with a warm hug and stepped back. Straight, shoulderlength windswept black hair revealed a slim, elegant neck.

She is beautiful and every bit the woman every girl wishes to be.

But she wasn’t always a woman.

Angel Qinan was, in fact, assigned boy at birth with the given name Angel Castillo and attended La Salle Green Hills, an all-boys private Catholic school in Metro Manila, Philippines.

“In grade school I wondered why my mother dressed me only in plain shirts, shorts and trousers. I preferred the girls' clothes--pretty blouses, skirts, and dresses!” she remembers. “Feeling like a girl, I wanted to wear girl clothes and was frustrated that I couldn’t”!

According to Angel's Catholic teachers, such feelings were taboo; so she kept it to herself for years.

Then at age 17 she first expressed her desire to become a woman.

Angel’s mother dissuaded her from risking well-being and safety; since transgender persons face gossip,

MANILA, Philippines – It was a topic that prompted police officers to ask for an executive session at the Senate. Now, the role of the United States in the Mamasapano clash might be discussed in a public hearing.

Senate public order committee chair Grace Poe said there is a pending suggestion before her panel to invite the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), following questions about the extent of US involvement in the deadly encounter. Yet there is no motion to call the US embassy in Manila to the Senate inquiry.

Poe refused to confirm or deny if US involvement was discussed in the senators’ 3 secret meetings with police generals and police survivors of the clash, but some of her colleagues hinted that the issue was raised.

“There is a suggestion to call the DFA to explain the [bilateral] agreements of our country on these kinds of cooperation,” Poe told reporters on Tuesday, February 17.

Poe said that if the Senate decides to hold another hearing, this is when the DFA might appear before her panel.

Manila has several agreements with Washington covering counterterrorism dating back to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. The longtime allies also signed a 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), and a 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) allowing US

troops to train and assist their Filipino counterparts, but not to take a combat role.

Poe described reports that Americans provided intelligence, and helped plan and execute the mission to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25 as “an ongoing question that we need to verify also.”

“Nobody is preventing anyone from asking that question in open hearing,” Poe said.

“But I will be honest. We have to be very careful when it involves diplomatic relations. We want peaceful ties with countries. We want their cooperation to be able to help us secure ourselves. We’re not trying to make more enemies but we also have to be accountable.”

She explained the senators’ decision to keep the discussions confidential. Only bullet points or selected summaries will be made public.

“It is not because we are trying to hide the information from you, we are just being careful. We are with you in wanting to know the extent of foreign involvement. If there’s nothing wrong, there is no reason to hide the information,” she said.

The Senate is investigating the clash that killed 44 elite cops, 18 members of the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and 3 civilians. The supposedly illplanned mission put the government’s peace process with the MILF in peril, after a historic deal signed in 2014, following 17 years

FILE PHOTO OF US AMBASSADOR PHILIP GOLDBERG BY MARK CRISTINO/RAPPLER

NAGGING QUESTIONS. Senator Grace Poe says there is a request for her committee to invite the Philippines’ DFA to explain bilateral agreements with the US. of negotiations.

Senators are on their 3rd day of holding executive sessions, this time with resigned police chief Alan Purisima, and Philippine National Police (PNP) Intelligence Group Director Fernando Mendez.

The lawmakers first met with Special Action Force (SAF) troopers who survived the clash last Thursday, and with relieved SAF director Getulio Napeñas on Monday.

It was Napeñas who refused to answer US-related questions in 3 public hearings last week. Senators asked him why the SAF gave Marwan’s severed finger to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), not to local authorities, for

DNA testing. (READ: DNA tests confirm Marwan’s death) Accountability clear?

Senators said that many details were revealed in executive session that gave them a “clearer picture” of what happened. They faced criticism for failing to ask hard questions on the role President Benigno Aquino III played in the operation.

Poe used a metaphor to describe the investigation.

“Naniniwala ako in accountability pero sugat ito, sugat. Ang sugat tinitingnan natin talaga iyan para alam natin anong gamot ang puwedeng ibigay para gumaling iyan pero kung palagi nating CLASH, B6

PH turns over convicted drug smuggler to British cops

PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRIS NORDONE. FASHION DESIGNER: VEEJAY FLORESCA. MAKEUP ARTIST: ALLY CASTILLO. HAIR STYLIST: NICKY DESPI / TUESDAY DREW

ridicule, and sometimes physical harm at the hands of intolerant and ignorant people. So Angel patiently postponed her transition.

After earning a computer science degree from De La Salle University, Angel migrated to New York and got a nursing degree too. While working full time as a registered nurse after she moved to Los AnMODEL, B6

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has turned over to British authorities on Tuesday, February 17, a convicted drug smuggler who had been hiding in the Philippines.

NBI Director Virgilio Mendez said West Yorkshire policemen arrived in Manila on Monday for British national John Halliday, who was convicted by Crown Court at Leeds on December 13, 2013 in connection with £13-million drug smuggling case.

Halliday is the first British fugitive to be deported from the Philippines since the Philippines and the United Kingdom signed an extradition treaty in March 2014, according to Mendez.

“The NBI received in August 2014 a letter request from the Extradition Section, Judicial Cooepration of the United Kingdom, with a copy of a certification of conviction against Halliday,” Mendez said.

The NBI director said Halliday contin-

ued his drug operation in the Philippines while hiding from British authorities. He was arrested by NBI agents on January 27 in Taguig City, incidentally where the UK embassy is also located.

NBI Foreign Liaison Division chief Daniel Daganzo said it was UK Judicial Cooperation Extradition Section executive officer Anna Tamba who alerted the NBI that Halliday could be in the Philippines. They sent in June 2014 a request for help in arresting the fugitive.

According to information provided by the West Yorkshire Police to the NBI, Halliday was the ringleader of a syndicate, which smuggled illegal body building supplements called “legal highs” worth £13 million into to UK from China and India between 2010 and 2013.

Halliday had been in Philippines since September 2013, or 3 months before the British court convicted him. – Rappler.com

PHOTO BY FRANCIS MALASIG/EPA

CA UGHT CAUGHT UGHT.. The National Bureau of Investigation has turned over to British authorities John Halliday, who was arrested in Taguig City by NBI agents on January 27, 2015. He has been hiding in the Philippines since his conviction for drug smuggling in the United Kingdom.

philippines

FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

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Trillanes links Arroyo official to coup plot MANILA, Philippines–Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday linked Norberto Gonzales, national security adviser and defense secretary of the Arroyo administration, to an alleged plot to unseat President Aquino amid public anger over a disastrous police mission to arrest two terror suspects.

Trillanes, an erstwhile Navy officer who led two failed attempts to oust Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she was the President, answered in the affirmative when asked in a brief interview whether Gonzales played a role in the destabilization plot against the Aquino administration.

Earlier, he and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago disclosed that they had received information about a coup plot, especially with the public anger over the botched police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, that led to the deaths of 44 police commandos of the elite Special Action Force.

“The role of Norberto Gonzales is to create trouble in the Philippines,” Trillanes told reporters when asked about Gonzales’ supposed participation in the plot.

Gonzales could not be contacted for comment as of press time.

‘SOCIOP ATH’ ‘SOCIOPA Trillanes described the former member of the Arroyo Cabinet as a “sociopath” who would pursue whatever idea he got into his head.

The senator noted that nobody seemed to be following Gonzales’

lead, though someone was funding his activities.

“He has no influence whatsoever, but he’s trying to project as if he has one. Remember, briefly, he was defense secretary but no one had listened,” Trillanes added.

Trillanes, an Aquino ally, said there was no need to be alarmed over the plot against the administration, but people must not be complacent either.

“Having experienced this, for them to be able to get one disgruntled soldier with a valid grievance can become a very bad situation for this administration,” he said.

BEST DETERRENT The senator said the best deterrent for the plan was to expose the recruiters to alert the Armed Forces of the Philippines. When he was part of the plot to unseat then President Arroyo, he and his coconspirators had lain low when their plans came out in the media, he recalled. Santiago, in a Senate hearing last week, said she had received intelligence data that several parties she described as “leaders of certain alphabet soup acronyms who are familiar with the public” had met to discuss how to stage a coup d’etat.

Also discussed was who to install as the new President, Santiago said.

A “rich Filipino” was behind the plot, according to her.

LESSONS LEARNED But soldiers, particularly the enlisted personnel, who took part

MILF almost done with own Mamasapano probe COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is about to wrap up its own investigation of the January 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, that left 44 police commandos, 18 rebels and 3 civilians dead.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said on the phone Tuesday, February 17, that he has read the first draft of the report but could not talk about it yet.

“We are almost done. This will not take long,” Iqbal said.

The MILF will send its investigation report to Miriam Coronel Ferrer, head of the government peace panel and Iqbal’s counterpart. The Philippine National Police also has its separate Board of Inquiry to look into what happened.

“The government assured us that we will be working together to resolve the problem,” Iqbal stressed.

But he said he “will not talk” about whether or not the MILF will be turning over to government its commanders who were involved in the January 25 clash. “It’s a sensitive issue,” he said.

The MILF conducted its own probe following police accusations of an “overkill” in combat. It was mainly MILF troops that encountered a police Special Action Force

(SAF) company that was wiped out – with a lone survivor – in Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano.

A video that went viral also showed an armed man shooting a SAF commando who was still apparently alive.

Iqbal condemned the shooting and said that whoever did it was worse than a terrorist. He also vowed that the MILF will help the government find Usman, who reportedly escaped the January 25 attack in Mamasapano.

The MILF signed a peace agreement with the Aquino government last year, and the Mamasapano clash threatens to kill the peace process.

On January 25, SAF troopers entered Mamasapano to arrest top terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, and Usman.

Marwan was killed in the attack.

He had a $5-million bounty for his arrest, courtesy of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, over his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing In Indonesia that left 110 foreign nationals dead, among other terror activities.

The killing of 44 cops, however, angered many, triggering the worst political crisis for the Aquino government since it came to power in 2010. – with reports from Jef Maitem/Rappler.com

INQUIRER.NET

SEN ONIO TRILLANES IV on Monday linked Norberto Gonzales (inset), national security adviser and defense secretary of SEN.. ANT ANTONIO the Arroyo administration, to an alleged plot to unseat President Aquino amid public anger over a disastrous police mission to arrest two terror suspects. in previous attempts to overthrow the government, have learned their lessons and would no longer participate in a destabilization plot if there is one, according to Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc.

Cabunoc, chief of the AFP public affairs office, made this observation amid rumors of a brewing destabilization plot by soldiers and policemen upset over the government’s mishandling of the SAF operation in Maguindanao.

He reiterated that the AFP had

not monitored any coup plot within the military organization or the reported involvement of some former local government officials.

“If there are officials who are trying to persuade us [to join] coup attempts, we will not follow them.

They are not part of our chain of command,” Cabunoc said.

“In the first place, we have no valid reasons to remove our loyalty from the President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander in Chief. We have remained loyal to

the Constitution and we will remain focused on our mandated tasks,” he said.

CAREERS DESTR OYED DESTRO Cabunoc said the military career of many soldiers who had taken part in previous destabilization efforts were destroyed by people who lured them into joining coup attempts.

He said the enlisted personnel were either discharged from the service or demoted to the lowest ranks, affecting their families.

Cabunoc said soldiers today

FIGURES FROM SWS

were fully aware of the risks of military adventurism and the punishments provided in the Articles of War and in the law.

Earlier, the commanding general of the Philippine Army debunked rumors of a coup allegedly fueled by discontent over the Mamasapano incident.

LO YAL TO ADMINISTRA TION LOY ADMINISTRATION Maj. Gen. Hernando Iriberri, who was a guest during the 45th anniversary of the 4th Infantry Division in Cagayan de Oro City on Feb. 5, said the military remained loyal to the Aquino administration.

Ramon Montaño, former chief of the Philippine Constabulary and the Integrated National Police, has said the discontent and unrest could fuel destabilization.

But Iriberri categorically trashed the idea, saying there was no such thing as a coup plot or even attempt to stage one.

“The military is fully behind the Aquino [administration] and the people,” he told reporters.

Iriberri said that despite the Mamasapano incident, which put Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the receiving end of the blame game, the military was fully committed to peace and the peace process with the MILF. “We put primacy in peace and we have invested so much in peace,” he said.

“We should just wait for the findings of the investigation of the board of inquiry on the Mamasapano incident,” Iriberri said.–With a report from Bobby Lagsa, Inquirer Mindanao Inquirer.Net

FIGURES FROM SWS

Pinoys getting less happy with love life – SWS survey MANILA, Philippines – Could this be a sign that there really is no forever in love? (#walangforever) In the recent surveys by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS), results show that some Filipinos are becoming less satisfied with the state of their love lives.

Based on the last 3 years of its survey on love (2011, 2012, and 2014), a declining trend in the happiness with the status of their love lives is noticeable in responses

through the years.

The results also show that since the 2011 survey, more and more are feeling they could be happier with their love lives.

Meanwhile, in just two years (2012 and 2014), a decline in happiness among some committed Pinoys – except married women – is apparent. The trend holds particularly with those who have live-in partners. SWS has not provided an explanation for the trend. But see for

yourself the results of the surveys for 2011, 2012, and 2014.

This trend, however, may be contradicting other studies. A McCann Worldgroup survey shows that Filipinos are among those who would say "I love you" more often.

It even concluded that "Filipinos are the most romantic of all Asia Pacific nations who rank in the top 10."

The country was even recognized in 2013 as the "most romantic destination" based on a consumer

survey.

As for the survey, at least there's some consolation: those who are happy with their love lives still outnumber those who wish it could be happier (though the difference between the two has declined in the last surveys).

Do you agree with the results of the survey? Tell us how you feel about these survey results in the comments section below. – Rappler.com

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FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

the world

Central African leaders talk strategy against Boko Haram Malaysia's Anwar YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Central African leaders began talks Monday in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on a joint strategy to tackle the extremist Boko Haram group, officials said.

Six heads of state attended the meeting held under the aegis of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), while four other countries sent delegates.

"We have to eradicate Boko Haram," host President Paul Biya told his counterparts at the outset of the meeting.

Biya described the Nigeriabased fundamentalists as "partisans of a regressive and tyrannical society," determined to undermine "a modern and tolerant society, guaranteeing the exercise of free rights" and freedom of faith.

Apart from Cameroon and Chad, most countries taking part have not been directly affected by the bloody jihadist insurgency, which is estimated to have claimed 13,000 lives since the Boko Haram sect launched its uprising in 2009.

Nigeria, where elections have been postponed by six weeks until late March because of Boko Haram activity in swathes of the northeast, was absent from the talks since it is not an ECCAS member.

The aim of Monday's discussion was to come up with "an agreed solution" on the fight against the extremists, a source close to the Cameroonian government told Agence France-Presse.

Biya declared that Boko Haram's utter disregard for human dignity meant "a total impossibility of compromise with (...) terrorist movements", adding that the fight

in 'deplorable' jail conditions – daughter

BOKO HARAM/AFP

BOK O HARAM. In this screen grab image taken on February 9, 2015 from a video made available by Islamist group Boko Haram, BOKO leader Abubakar Shekau (C) makes a statement at an undisclosed location. against terrorism was not a "crusade group "who have not yet been Operational plans for the reagainst Islam". struck" by the insurgency "to show gional force have yet to be submitTogether with Biya, presidents their solidarity." ted to the Peace and Security CounCatherine Samba Panza of the Cen"We also call on the interna- cil of the African Union for approval tral African Republic, Idriss Deby tional community to provide its sup- before being sent to the United NaItno of Chad, Denis Sassou port - in equipment, diplomacy, fi- tions Security Council, according to Nguesso of the Republic of Congo, nance, logistics and humanitarian a statement released after the reTeodoro Obiang Nguema of Equa- aid - to the efforts made by ECCAS," gional talks. torial Guinea and Ali Bongo Deby said.

In a statement read in Yaounde Ondimba of Gabon were gathered After previous talks in on his behalf, UN Secretary General in Yaounde.

Yaounde, Nigeria's immediate neigh- Ban Ki-moon warned that "a purely Angola, Burundi, the Demo- bors, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and military solution" would not suffice cratic Republic of Congo and Sao small Benin announced on Febru- to deal with Boko Haram.

Tome and Principe were represented ary 7 that they would mobilize a reThe fight called for a "multidiby government ministers. gional force of 8,700 men to fight mensional approach (...) that will 'War is the same as fire' Boko Haram. meet the challenges of stabilisation With his country's troops acThe sect has since struck inside in the long term," the UN chief said, tively engaged in combatting Boko Chad, after previously targeting referring to the region's economic Haram, ECCAS chairman Deby border villages in Cameroon and and social challenges. – called on nations in the economic Niger.

Rappler.com

Charges vs 11 suspects in Spain clerical sex abuse case dropped A Spanish court dropped charges against 11 out of 12 suspects in the country's biggest ever clerical sex abuse scandal because the statute of limitations had expired, court papers showed Monday, February 16.

The nine priests and two laymen had been charged with "sexual abuse with penetration, exhibitionism, and concealment of evidence" involving an underage altar boy.

But the court in the southern city of Granada, where the alleged abuse took place, ruled their accuser, now aged 25, should have brought a case within three years of turning 18. One priest, however, is still charged with the more serious offense of "continued sexual abuse, with the introduction of a bodily member anally and attempt to introduce the penis," according to the ruling dated January 26.

FILE/ODD ANDERSEN/AFP

CONTR OVERSY CONTRO VERSY.. Ten priests from the diocese of Granada in Spain, whose cathedral is pictured here, were charged for sexually abusing an altar boy.

If convicted, the clergyman faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

He and his 11 initial co-accused were charged last month with sexual abuse or complicity in the abuse of the teenager between 2004 and 2007.

The boy was 14 when the alleged abuse began.

In terms of the number of suspects, the paedophilia case was the biggest ever involving the Catholic

Church in Spain.

The alleged victim says he was raped and made to perform sex acts with one of the priests at a villa with a swimming pool. Others allegedly took part or turned a blind eye to the acts. The alleged leader of the group told him he had a promising career as a priest ahead of him and chided him for resisting his advances, he was quoted in the charge sheet as saying.

Case caused Pope 'great pain' Pope Francis said he had ordered a church investigation into the case after the unidentified man wrote to him, telling him he had been molested as an altar boy.

Th Argentine pontiff told reporters on November 25 that he heard of the case "with great pain, very great pain, but the truth is the truth and we should not hide it."

A second man aged 44 has also accused one of the priests of abuse in the early 1990s.

Pope Francis has taken a zerotolerance approach to clerical sex abuse since taking over as pope in 2013 from Benedict XVI. – Rappler.com

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is jailed in "deplorable" conditions in a small cell equipped only with a thin foam mattress on the floor, a squat toilet and a bucket for bathing, his daughter said Monday, February 16.

Nurul Izzah said the conditions were inappropriate for her father, who she called a "political prisoner", and could exacerbate a chronic back problem and otherwise threaten the 67-year-old's health.

Anwar was jailed last week for 5 years by the country's highest court on a sodomy charge, likely ending his career in politics.

"My father is kept in a cell which is deplorable. It is a bare cell with a two-inch (5 cm) foam mattress placed on the floor, a bucket for bathing and a squat toilet," said Nurul Izzah, 34, an opposition member of parliament.

"We are shocked by the poor jail conditions."

Anwar had led a rebirth of a once-downtrodden opposition that is threatening to unseat the regime that has been in power since independence in 1957.

His jailing has drawn international criticism including from the United States, which said it raised questions over judicial independence.

Anwar denies the sodomy charge, calling it a "political conspiracy" by the government to curb the opposition's momentum.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia but few cases are ever prosecuted.

Nurul called on authorities at

FAZRY ISMAIL/EPA

IN THIS PHO PHOTTO, Malaysian Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim speaks in front his supporters ahead of his sodomy trial verdict during a gathering in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,09 Febuary 2015.

Anwar's prison near Kuala Lumpur to provide a hospital bed.

"We demand a proper bed, a table and chair as the sodomy case is politically motivated," she said.

Anwar has long complained of a back ailment that he said stems from his treatment by authorities after he was ousted from the government in 1998 amid a power tussle.

Following his sacking, he was jailed for 6 years on sodomy and corruption charges.

That case was widely seen as politically motivated, and the sodomy charge was later overturned.

Anwar, however, was in "good spirits," during their family's first visit to see him – through a glass panel – last Friday, February 13, Nurul said.

"He told us not to cry. He cheered us by singing songs to his grandchildren," she said. – Rappler.com

Female suicide bomber kills 7 in Nigeria KANO, Nigeria – A female suicide bomber killed 7 people on Sunday, February 15, at a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Damaturu, the latest in a spate of similar attacks blamed on Boko Haram, police said.

"There has been an attack on the Damaturu Central Motor Park by a female suicide bomber," said Marcos Danladi, the police commissioner of Yobe State, of which Damaturu is the capital.

"So far, 7 people have been confirmed dead and 32 others injured," he told Agence France-Presse.

Witnesses said the assailant entered the motor park in a vehicle, got out and walked towards a small grocery store at the end of the terminal.

She then positioned herself amid the crowd outside the store and blew herself up, said one shop owner at the terminal, who requested anonymity.

The shop owner told Agence France-Presse that an angry mob prevented emergency workers from evacuating the remains of the bomber.

"They gathered the pieces (body parts) and set them on fire," he said.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack,

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion falls on Boko Haram which has used women as human bombs suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram.

The Islamists militants have been blamed for increasingly using women and girls as human bombs across northern Nigeria.

Bus parks have been among the group's preferred targets through its 6-year uprising aimed at creating a hardline Islamic state in the north.

Nigeria's general election, initially scheduled for this weekend, has been postponed for 6 weeks, with officials citing the Islamist conflict as a cause of the delay.

Boko Haram has also emerged as a growing regional threat.

The group launched its first ever attacks inside neighboring Chad and Niger this month, seen as a response to those two nations joining Nigeria and Cameroon in a military offensive designed to crush the uprising. – Rappler.com

IMMIGRATION The Loss of Your Permanent Resident Status QUESTION: If a legal permanent resident has remained out of the United States for more than six months but less than one year, does it mean that he/she has abandoned his/her green card?

MG: Not necessarily. You can present your green card at the port of entry after a temporary absence abroad that does not exceed one year. However, if a legal permanent resident stays out of the United States for over one year, he/she may not use that green card to enter the United States with.

QUESTION: If the legal permanent resident has been out of the United States more than a year, and he cannot use his green card at the port of entry to enter the United States, does it mean that he is no longer a legal permanent resident?

MG: Not necessarily. There is a difference between the validity of a green card as a travel document and the continued viability of the legal permanent resident’s claim to resident status. Whether someone has abandoned his legal permanent resident depends on “intent” rather than the amount of time he has spent outside of the United States.

QUESTION: What is the meaning of “temporary visit abroad”?

MG: California is governed by the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s interpretation is: A trip is “temporary visit abroad” if (a) it is for a relatively short period, fixed by some early event; or (b) the trip will terminate upon the occurrence of an event that has a reasonable possibility of occurring within a relatively short period of time – if as in (b) the length of visit is contingent upon the occurrence of an event and is not fixed in time and if the event does not occur within a relatively short period of time, the visit will be considered “temporary visit abroad” only if the alien has a continuous, uninterrupted intention to return to the United States during the visit (Singh v. Reno, 113 F.3d 1512).

QUESTION: What are the main factors that determine if someone has abandoned his legal permanent resident status or not?

MG: The main thing to look at is the person’s “intent.” The factors that determine “intent” are: family ties in the United States, property holdings, jobs in the United States, duration of residence in the United States, and the person’s family ties, property, and business ties in the foreign country that he was visiting.

QUESTION: If a legal permanent resident has been outside of the United States for less than a year, it is possible that she can still be found to have abandoned her legal permanent residence status?

MG: Yes, even though her green card is still valid at the port of entry, the Border Patrol Officer can still find that she has abandoned her legal permanent resident status. The Officer may find that if she does not have strong ties in the United States (such as family, residence, employment, etc.), then she does not necessarily need a green card. It may be better for this person to obtain a visa at the United States Consulate abroad if they just want to “visit” the United States.

QUESTION: If a Re-entry Permit is obtained, can a legal permanent resident remain out of the United States for a long period of time?

MG: Possibly. One must understand that having a Re-entry Permit does not prevent a Border Patrol Officer from finding that the person has abandoned his legal permanent resident status. Having this permit only prevents the officer from relying solely on the duration of the person’s absence to determine abandonment. The officer may still investigate the absence, not as a reflection of the person’s intent, but to find out if the activities outside of the United States could make the person inadmissible.

QUESTION: How does a person obtain a Re-entry Permit?

MG: The Department of Homeland Security issues Re-entry Permits. The legal permanent resident will have to report to have his fingerprints taken. However, after the completion of the fingerprints, he may leave the United States before the approval of the Re-entry Permit.

QUESTION: If a legal permanent resident did not obtain a Reentry Permit, and stayed out of the United States for more than a year, is it too late?

MG: Not necessarily. This person can apply for a Special Immigrant Visa (SB-1) at a United States Consulate. Under 22 CFR Section 42.22, a legal permanent resident shall be classifiable as a special immigrant under INA (a)(27)(A) if the consu-

lar officer is satisfied that: (1) The alien had the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of departure from the United States; (2) The alien departed from the United States with the intention of returning and has not abandoned that intention; and (3) The alien is returning to the United States form a temporary visit abroad and, if the stay abroad was protracted, this was caused by reasons beyond the alien’s control and for which the alien was not responsible. Further, the person must prove that he/she had a definite reason for traveling abroad temporarily, that the visit abroad had a termination date that was relatively short, and that the person had a home and a job in the United States.

Attorney Ganjoo strongly advises you to seek the legal assistance of an immigration attorney before you file, or even consider filing, for any immigration benefits.

The contents of this article are informational only. It is in no way to guarantee any immigration benefits.

Monica Ganjoo has been serving the Filipino community for over ten years.

She practices solely immigration law, and has extensive experience in asylum and deportation/ removal defense, BIA appeals, 9th Circuit appeals, work visas and PERM applications (previously known as labor certification), adjustment of status, family based visas, consular processing, change of status, citizenships, etc.

For a complete list, please visit www.ganjoolaw.com.

We offer various payment plans for your convenience and have very reasonable rates.

For more information, call Attorney Monica Ganjoo for a consultation.

Monica Ganjoo currently offers a personal consultation for only $50 (telephone consultations also available). If you retain our services, the consultation fee will be refunded back to you.

The Staff of Ganjoo Law Offices speak a total of six different languages.

For a consultation with Monica Ganjoo, call one of her offices below: 870 Market Street, Suite 340 San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 495-3710 111 W. Saint John Street, Suite 513 San Jose, CA 95113 (408) 975-0500

FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

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What can I do with my property ownership after filing bankruptcy?

Q. What will happen to my properties after I file bankruptcy?

A. When you file your bankruptcy papers, a bankruptcy estate is created that is administered by the trustee designated by the U.S. Department of Justice. The trustee is the representative of all your creditors in the process. While the bankruptcy process is in progress, he takes control of all the property in your bankruptcy estate. However, the trustee won’t actually take physical control of the property.

Most, if not all, of your property will be exempt, which means the trustee will return it to your legal possession after your bankruptcy is closed.

If you have any questions about dealing with property after you file, ask a bankruptcy attorney.

Q. What will I do with my property while the bankruptcy case is pending?

A. While your bankruptcy is pending, do not throw out, give away, sell, or otherwise dispose of the property you owned as of your filing date – unless and until the bankruptcy trustee says otherwise.

Even if all of your property is exempt, you are expected to hold on to it, in case the trustee or a creditor challenges your exemption claims.

Q. I have a piece of land that is not allowed in my total exemption.

What will I do with it?

A. If some of your property is non-exempt, the trustee may ask you to turn it over. Or, the trustee may decide that the property is worth too little to bother with and abandon it. Typically, the trustee doesn’t let you know that property

is abandoned, but once you receive your discharge, the property is deemed abandoned.

Q. Can I spend the money that I included in my filing as I declared in Schedule B? A. You are allowed to spend cash you had when you filed and you declared in Schedule B to make day-to-day purchases for necessities such as groceries, personal effects, and clothing. Just make sure you can account for what happened to the cash.

If you have a huge purchases reflected in your bank statements, be sure to account and explain it to your trustee in case you are asked for it.

Q. Who owns the income I earned and the property I acquired after filing bankruptcy?

A. In Chapter 7 cases, with few exceptions, the trustee has no claim to property you acquire or income you earn after you file. You are free to spend it as you please. The exceptions are: property from an insurance settlement agreement, or inheritance that you become entitled to receive within 180 days after your filing date.

Note: This is not a legal advice and you need to speak to an attorney about your personal circumstances.

BANKRUPTCY BASICS 1. Bankruptcy will actually im-

prove your credit within one year because your unsecured debts are discharged. Although the bankruptcy will be in your records for 10 years, not filing bankruptcy will make your credit even worse until most your debts are paid.

2. If you are being sued by your creditors, most money judgment can be eliminated in bankruptcy.

3. Collection actions continue and you can be sued if you are in debt settlement.

4. Chapter 7 will eliminate all unsecured debts. If you are near retirement age, you must eliminate most of your debts.

5. Bankruptcy will stop foreclosure actions. If your trustee sale date is 10 days before, you can still file for bankruptcy.

6. If your salary is being garnished, you have a court case about debts or you are being harassed by creditors, bankruptcy can stop garnishment, court cases, harassing creditors and eliminate the debt.

7. Bankruptcy is cheaper, faster and safer than debt settlement which has no guaranteed success.

8. Preserve your health, eliminate stress and live a happy life by eliminating your debts which is the root of all problems.

Crispin Caday Lozano is an active member of the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Association of Consumers Bankruptcy Attorneys. He specializes in immigration law and bankruptcy law. crispinl ozano@gmail.com; (510) 5387188.

At long last, Romero named a martyr by Pope Francis THE people of El Salvador have long held that their beloved Mons. Óscar Romero was not only a martyr but already a saint — if only unofficially so. Now Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, has made the first of those designations official, and with his declaration, cleared the way for the second to become a possibility.

The Archbishop of San Salvador who spoke out against poverty and social injustice in his native country during its bloody civil war in the 1970s and '80s (he famously read out the names of ordinary Sal-

vadorans tortured, disappeared and killed extrajudicially by the military regime in his weekly radio broadcasts and enjoined soldiers to stop following orders in killing innocent civilians), was assassinated in 1980 as he was celebrating Mass.

Even though the late Pope John Paul II (himself a saint) named Romero a Servant of God, and Pope Benedict XVI declared that he merited beatification, the extreme conservatives in the Catholic Church have long rallied against the possibility. They are still railing (especially conservative U.S. Catholics) despite

the unequivocal papal imprimateur and the undimmed love and devotion expressed by the people for the archbishop who ministered to them.

It is no coincidence that a Latin American pope finally named Romero a martyr. It is impossible for European Catholics, or those from the United States, to understand the entrenched racial, social and economic injustices of that time in much of Latin America, nor understand how priests, women religious and catechists were targeted as ROMERO, B6

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#PUGADBABOY: COMBAT TRAINING | RAPPLER.COM

Best effort

The charge of the fallen forty four WHILE passions are still smouldering, it will not be easy to sort out the various issues that led to and resulted from the slaughter of forty four PNP Special Action Force commandos in Maguindanao.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos offered the most sober analysis of the tragedy from the perspective of a retired general and a former commander-in-chief. But FVRs analysis focused only on the mis-planning, misjudgment, mis-coordination and mis-execution which led to the mis-encounter, to paraphrase Mar Roxas euphemism.

Indeed, it is necessary to step back and view the incident from its various perspectives.

First of all, Oplan Wolverine or Oplan Exodus (why one operation should be known by two code names is confusing by itself) was undoubtedly a deadly mission into incendiary territory. It would have been terribly naïve as well as overly optimistic for those who planned it to have guaranteed zero casualties, as Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas have been wont to predict before a natural catastrophe.

In that context “ with due respect to them “ the death of the forty four young troopers was part of the price of armed of conflict. Taken strictly in that light, after due honors are accorded, life should go on for the rest of the country.

But what has horrified the families of the deceased, as well as the entire nation, was the way the troopers were brutalized and plundered. The killings were not an act of war but cold-blooded murder.

For those specific acts, the families of the victims are certainly justified in reacting with indignation, and the justice system is right in demanding retribution. But that should be directed at the specific criminals involved “ not necessarily the entire MILF, unless it is established that its leaders were involved, too.

Until that involvement is established, the rationale for forging the peace with our brethren in Mindanao ds not deserve to be scuttled. In fact, even if certain members of the MILF were involved, that should not weigh against the reason for the peace process. In the first place, in undertaking the peace negotiations, the government and the MILF knew that they would encounter challenges that would test their resolve.

On the other hand, the actuations and belligerence of the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in connection with the incident demand more than passing notice from those who would approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The MILF and the BIFF still need to believably explain the presence of an international terrorist in their camp. So far, they have only dealt in double-talk. They also need to demonstrate sincerity by giving back the personal belongings of the murdered troopers and turning over those who brutalized them. A tall order, indeed.

This brings us to the involvement of the President and why there is so much anger against him.

Surprisingly, the causes could have been avoided. First was his delayed reaction to and condemnation of the carnage.

Second was his attempt to ward off accountability for the debacle and seeming attempt to pass on the blame to subordinates. Third was the unofficial involvement of suspended PNP head Alan Purisima. Fourth was their decision to keep the PNP OIC Leonardo Espina and DILG Secretary Mar Roxas out of the loop.

Fifth was Aquinos equivocation over the accountability of the MILF. Sixth was his inexplicable decision not to meet the remains of the fallen troopers when they arrived at Villamor Air Base.

Even when Aquino eventually acknowledged his overall responsibility for the incident as Commander-in-Chief, it took a lot of media and public pressure to make him do so - and he continued to equivocate on whether or not he and Purisima actively directed the operation.

For family members seeking comfort and a reassurance that their loved ones would get justice, these actuations of the President and Commander-in-Chief were not simply disappointing, they triggered outrage.

Why did Aquino act the way he did?

Poor judgment owing to lack of experience in coping with a crisis. The absence of the necessary qualities of a leader. An aversion to taking blame or responsibility or an inability to understand the meaning of the phrase, The buck stops here.

The sad part is that this is the man we elected to lead our country. We must have known he was no Winston Churchill but did we expect him to be this inept?

The tragedy may be likened in some way to the fate of the hapless cavalry sent to to the Valley of Death in Alfred, Lord Tennysons epic poem, Charge of the Light Brigade : Half a league, half a league, half a league onward. All in the Valley of Death rode the six hundred.

It is as a tribute to the Fallen Forty Four that I have written an adaptation of Tennysons poem: Half a league, half a league, half a league onward.

Into the Valley of Death,charged the SAF. Into the deadly marsh, fighting the endless wars, Caught in the jaws of hell, Forty Four fell.

Launch Oplan Wolverine, strike at the killers den.

None of the troopers knew someone had blunderd.

Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.

Thus in the field of hell Forty Four fell.

Bullets to right of them, bullets to left of them, bullets in front of them, Volley'd and thundered;.

Stormed at with shot and shell, boldly they fought and well, Braving the sting of Death, ring'd in the marsh of hell, Forty Four fell.

Flash'd all the krises bare, flash'd as they turn'd in air, slashing the troopers there.

Help from the army, where? Waited and wonder'd.

Hear we the sound of drums? Will reinforce ments come?

Who gives the order?

Reel'd from the bullet's force, shatter'd and sunder'd Ammo and hope had dried. Forty Four died.

Bullets to right of them, bullets to left of them, bullets behind them, Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, trapped Special Forces fell, They that had fought so well, slaughter'd and plunder'd.

There in the field of hell, pummeled from every side.

Forty Four died.

When will the truth be told? Is there a leader bold?

The nation wonders.

Justice must come before peace paid with blood and gore.

Justice and honor for The Fallen Forty Four.

THE testimony of Lieut. Gen. Rustico O. Guerrero before the House special panel investigating the Mamasapano Massacre on Wednesday, Feb. 11 provides clues as to what President Benigno Aquino III knew and when did he know it about Oplan Exodus. This mission resulted in the brutal killing of 44 commandos of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police, in Maguindanao province, last Jan. 25, 2015.

Guerrero, the commanding general of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), disclosed upon questioning Wednesday by Alliance of Concerned Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio that President Aquino was in Zamboanga City that Sunday (Jan. 25) from morning until evening, monitoring Oplan Exodus.

Westmincom has jurisdiction over Maguindanao and 11 other provinces on the western half of Mindanao island and the Sulu archipelago.

Guerrero said he sent text messages to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division commanding general, Major Gen. Eduardo Pangilinan, inquiring how the army could help or rescue the Special Action Force Company 84 trapped on a cornfield in barangay Tukalinapao, town of Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.

Apparently, Aquino wanted to rescue the SAF commandos and was wondering how it could be done late evening of Jan. 25 when death was certain or had been meted out to the SAF commandos.

More importantly, at that moment, the SAF 84 had apparently in their possession the index finger of top terrorist and improvised bomb specialist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan. The finger would later prove its DNA matched that of his brother, also a terrorist, held captive in California. The finger was later airlifted to waiting FBI agents in a nearby airport.

Tinio asked Guerrero if he did send a text message at 1856 (6:56 p.m., Jan. 25) to Army chief Pangilinan which said: “Best effort without endangering our reinforcing troops per guidance from President. Ensure no friendly fires since it is night time. If we can resupply them with ammo and food, how?”

Guerrero confirmed the text.

Tinio then asked General Guerrero if at 1949 (7:49 p.m., same day), he sent a second text to Pangilinan, his subordinate: “Ed, give

me your con ops on how to rescue or resupply the SAF platoon. The President wants it tonight.”

“Yes, your honor, I confirm that,” replied Guerrero.

“Is the President referred to in these texts, President Aquino?,” Tinio asked Guerrero. “Yes, your honor,” the army officer replied.

From these text messages, Congressman Tinio drew some conclusions.

“So, it is clear that President Aquino knew about the rescue operation and was monitoring it, isn’t it?,” Tinio asked Guerrero.

The general then had to explain himself. “We were then in Zamboanga – the chief of staff (Gen. Gregorio Catapang), the secretary of defense (Voltaire Gazmin), the secretary of the Interior (Mar Roxas)—they were being updated from time to time. When we were updating the President, he asked me, ‘how do we rescue the 84th SAF?’. So in the latter part of the evening, I was ordered to give him an update and how do we do the rescue. So I asked the 6th Infantry Division commander how he is going to do that.”

Tinio: “So kasama ninyo si Presidente sa Zamboanga habang nagaganap po ang mga pangyayari sa Mamasapano?” (So you were with the President in Zamboanga while the Mapapasamo incident was ongoing?

Guerrero: “Yes, your honor. From morning at around 10, until he left Zamboanga City.”

Tinio: “At what time, sir?”

Guerrero: “Until around 10 (p.m.) of Jan. 25. Tinio then turned to the House panel. “The guidance is clear. ‘Best effort, without without endangering our reinforcing troops’, per guidance of the President.”

“How do you understand this?” Tinio asked his colleagues in Pilipino?. I would understand this to mean, the President is saying, ‘rescue them’. But it seems he tied their hands because the instruction was ‘best effort’ and ‘don’t endanger the rescuers’.”

“This is very different (from) had the President said, ‘rescue them at all cost’.

Isn’t it?” Tinio turned to Guerrero.

Guerrero retorted: “Your honor, this was how it was -- as the situation progressed in Mamasapano, I was being updated by the 6th Infantry Division commander

(Pangilinan), being my immediate subordinate. The pieces of information through the text and the information gathered from other sources were being relayed to my chief of staff, the secretary of Defense, the secretary of the Interior. They were being updated from time to time. So when we were updating the President, he asked me, ‘how do we rescue the 84thSAF?” Related Guerrero: “By nightfall (of Jan. 25), we were thinking, in hindsight, there should be a linkup. And they were about 700 meters before the troops (the rescuing Army and the SAF 84) could link up. And that will spell the safety of the 84th SAF. That is how I meant by ‘you must be able to reinforce them’. We were thinking at that time that if they were not rescued, the entire SAF 84 would be wiped out. And we were informed that there were already eight killed and 11 wounded and 17 unharmed.

The mission then to the 6th ID was to rescue them. By doing that, it was necessary to have a linkup. That was the feedback I needed from my commander (Pangilinan), which was relayed before the body composed of the President, the secretary of Interior, the secretary of National Defense and my chief of staff. It was in a meeting room in Zamboanga City, your honor.”

Tinio turned to the panel: “So General Guerrero has confirmed that the guidance was ‘best effort, without endangering our reinforcing troops’. I think only the President can explain why that was his only guidance. He put the SAF in danger and when they needed help, he said only ‘best effort’.”

Congressman Tinio then made a motion for the House inquiry to invite President Aquino to the House hearing. The motion was defeated.

At the same House hearing Wednesday, the acting chief of the PNP, police Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, and sacked SAF chief, police Director Getulio Napeñas, cried unabashedly over the brutality that befell their men on Jan. 25.

Now, I can understand why they cried.

-Manila Standard Today

Duplicity and threat of war IT has been over three weeks after botched “Oplan Exodus” occurred, resulting in the slaughter of 44 police commandos who entered Moro Islamic Liberation Front “territory” to serve warrants of arrest to two known terrorists- Malaysian Marwan and Filipino Usman. Sad to say, we are not any nearer to the truth.

This is so because President Aquino, who was behind “Oplan Exodus” from Day One, continues to refuse to accept liability and accountability for the Fallen 44. Since no one else could have directed the operation but the President as Commander-inChief of the Philippine National Police when the “chain of responsibility” was broken.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and PNP Officer-in-Charge Leonardo Espina were kept out of the loop.

With both sacked PNP-Special Action Force Getulio Napeñas and resigned police chief Alan Purisima, who was under suspension at that time, wiling to take the bullet and act as the “fall guys” for the President, it’s really impossible to get to what happened. *** What really bothers me is the statement of MILF peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.

He appeared at the Senate and said that the MILF remains a “revolutionary organiza-

tion” until the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is fully implemented with the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. This means that unless the BBL is enacted, giving the Moro rebels what they want, they continue to remain at war with government.

Now, if the MILF do not accede to a BBL they want, there will be war. What duplicity!

To top it all, government peace negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferrer and presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles now seem to be siding with the MILF with the former telling the Senate that Iqbal’s statement should be interpreted in its “context,” which means that unless the BBL is enacted by Congress, there will be war in Mindanao.

Since when has Ferrer been the MILF spokesperson?

Deles made it worse when she went to great lengths to exonerate the Moro rebels, with whom the government was negotiating peace.

The nation is crying for final peace in Mindanao, but not at all costs.

The bottom line is sincerity and trust.

How can we trust the MILF? They have blood on their hands. *** From Day One, the participation of the Americans in “Oplan Exodus” was clear.

Where do you think President Aquino got intelligence reports handed over to him by General Purisima, who was monitoring all the intelligence reports regarding Marwan and Usman? The President showed contempt towards both Mar Roxas and Espina.

The very fact that immediately after the slaughter of the police commandos at Mamasapano, there were US helicopters that went to bring the butchered and wounded commandos to hospitals supports this.

The fact is that as an officer of the PNPSAF claimed that the commandos were even trained at a farm owned by the family of Zamboanga Rep. Celso Lobregat speaks volumes on the extent of American participation.

This was further validated by the fact that the finger of allegedly slain Marwan was cut and sent to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in Singapore. Why to the FBI, and not to the National Bureau of Investigation?

The US government may deny all these, but it’s a matter of connecting the dots. *** All the talks about coup attempts against the Aquino government and calls for the resignation of President Aquino can WAR, A7

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Scapegoat committee finds a scapegoat cop LET me say this plainly and directly.

The lead committee of the Senate inquiry into the Mamasapano incident/massacre is a scapegoat envisioned to take all the blame when the inquiry falls short of producing real answers to serious questions that underpin the tragedy, and casts a shadow on the future of peace and stability in Mindanao.

Sacked Special Action Force (SAF) director Getulio Napeñas is the designated scapegoat who will take all blame for the illfated law enforcement operation in Mamasapano, by conceding under oath that no official higher than him ordered the operation, least of all President Aquino.

The problem with this tale of multiple scapegoats is that the media and the public will not buy it. Already made skeptical by President Aquino’s dithering and wishywashy leadership, they will get angry when the inquiry officially comes up with nothing Some people tell me that the Senate inquiry was not designed to produce anything in the way of serious facts and perpetrators of the massacre. I should look at it as a political inquiry, and not as a serious investigation whose objective is to establish facts and submit findings that will lead to the indictment or firing of people.

If this is the case, then the Senate is proving yet again that it cannot be trusted

by the people.

What are we to conclude when we are told that the hearings, after parading before us grandstanding senators, clueless generals and inscrutable MILF officers, have abruptly been aborted.

After just three hearings, and with the inquiry finally getting some revealing answers from witnesses and resource persons last Thursday, the lead committee chaired

by Sen. Grace Poe announced that the hearings on Mamasapano are over. It offered as indirect explanation the committee’s decision to hold an executive session with generals Purisima and Napeñas, during which they would be quizzed on confidential matters, some involving President Aquino and some involving (I’m guessing) the US government—which the Times editorial yesterday said are the biggest elephants in the Senate hall.

After whipping up public interest in the inquiry, the Senate is abandoning it with nary a whimper. It seems convinced that Senate President Franklin Drilon can now report to President Aquino “mission accomplished,” because a scapegoat for Mamasapasano has been found in the person of sacked commander Napeñas.

Aquino’s responsibility in the tragedy has been successfully covered up. It can report truthfully that every time a question was raised about Aquino’s role and US involve-

ment in the incident, the witness would clam up and invoke executive privilege or ask for a closed-door session.

Every time someone brought up the idea of calling Aquino to testify, he or she was buried by truckloads of arguments that said the President can only be summoned by Congress in an impeachment proceeding.

Sen. Grace Poe tried her utmost to portray an able chair of a Senate committee, but she was in over her head. On a matter of supreme national interest and urgency, the Senate sent the most junior member of the chamber to play the gladiator among the lions. Seasoned observers of congressional and independent inquiries wondered why the Senate reposed so much faith in Senator Poe’s ability to unravel the tragedy of Mamasapano. They wondered even more when Ms. Poe asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to orate on her legal opinion and acumen, which no one could relate to the issue at hand.

Besides Poe’s committee on public order, there were three other committees involved in the hearing, which are headed by more senior senators, viz.: the Senate Committee on Local Government chaired by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. , the Senate Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation chaired by Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III; and the Committee on Constitutional Amendments chaired by Sena-

tor Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Each of these committees is tasked to tackle issues that are integral and fundamental to the nation’s questions about the Mamasapano incident. And they are headed by chairs who are experienced in conducting hearings, and have gone out in the field to questions from the people.

Presumably, Poe’s committee was picked because Mamasapano involved a law enforcement operation, and because Poe was the first to file a resolution calling for an inquiry.

But if the reasoning was as shallow as that; why should the public and the media place any faith in the hearings? Why should we have confidence that Ms. Poe’s committee has gotten enough from its inquiry to come up with a report that can help resolve the crisis.

Given its narrow scope and shallow investigation, it is doubtful whether a serious inquiry report, with conclusions and recommendations, can be produced by the Senate inquiry, because in truth Ms. Poe refused to delve into areas that could shed more light on the incident, and on actors involved in the drama of war and peace in Mindanao.

This is all that the Senate set out to do.

This is what President Aquino wants. He doesn’t even have to lie anymore yenmakabenta@yahoo.com -Manila Times

Presidents’ Day the Filipino way HAVE you ever wondered why the USA celebrates Presidents’ Day and our home country, the Philippines, does not?

In 1885, US President Chester Arthur set the third Monday of February as “George Washington’s Birthday” to honor “the father of our country.” George Washington’s Birthday became a federal holiday. Much later on, in the 1960s, some reformers wanted to change the name of the holiday to “Presidents’ Day” to include Abraham Lincoln. That reformist move was defeated in Congress, so in fact, the original name of the holiday, George Washington’s Birthday, was actually unchanged. However, since that time, “Presidents’ Day” has been ushered into popular usage, appearing in official communications, advertisements, and event announcements. The reason for commemorating Presidents’ Day in the USA is to acknowledge and honor the contributions of the past Presidents to nation-building and democracy. Our current President, Barack Obama, is our 44th head of state and government.

Filipino-Americans who were born here have learned all about the American presidents in their grade school civics class. As a naturalized American, I would like to supplement the knowledge of my readers with some brief comments about the presidents of the Philippines. In this way, we as Filipino-Americans can also acknowledge and honor the contributions of the past Philippine presidents to nation-building and democracy. President Benigno (“Noynoy/ PNoy”) Aquino III is the current and 15th President of the Philippines. But who was the first one? Who was next, and so on?

1. Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the revolution between America and Spain, was the first president of the Philippine Republic.

He was appointed head of a barangay in the province of Cavite by the Spanish government at the age of 17, then later promoted to mayor. Aguinaldo faced some controversies during his day, but he was credited with having declared independence from Spain and the US on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.

The refusal of the Americans to recognize this 1898 independence resulted in the Philippine-American War. The Philippines started commemorating June 12 as its Inde-

pendence Day during the term of the 9th president, Diosdado Macapagal, in the 1960s (more on him later). In his 30s, Aguinaldo retired and became a farmer. He died in the mid-1960s at 95 years old.

2. The second president of the Philippines is Manuel L. Quezon, also known as the first president of the Philippine Commonwealth. When the Philippine-American War broke out, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the revolutionary army, later to be promoted to captain. After the war, he practiced law in Baler, Tayabas (now Quezon) and by age 27 was elected governor. His political career eventually catapulted him to the position of resident commissioner in Washington DC. It was during his term that the Jones Act was passed in the US Congress, granting independence to the Philippines. Later on, he was part of a delegation that secured the passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, setting 1946 as the year of independence. With the Act’s provision for a commonwealth government, Quezon was elected president until World War II began. He passed away in Saranac Lake, New York.

3. Jose P. Laurel was the president of the second Philippine Republic, or the head of the caretaker/puppet Japanese government. He has an advanced law degree from Yale University. He was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1934.

He took office on Oct. 14, 1943 and left office on Aug. 17, 1945.

4. Sergio Osmeña was the second president of the Commonwealth. He was credited with leading the efforts toward rehabilitation of the country after the war. Under General Aguinaldo’s command, he was the staff courier and journalist.

5. Manuel Roxas was the last president of the Commonwealth and the first president of the Philippine Republic. He started as a law clerk of the Supreme Court and later became a governor of Capiz. He was one of the members who drafted the 1935 charter in the Constitutional Convention.

6. Elpidio Quirino, the second president of the Republic, left an important legacy in the form of the Minimum Wage Law and the institution of the Central Bank. The socio-economic measures he implemented

during his term resulted in stabilizing the Philippine peso, balancing the national budget, and a notable improvement in Philippine economy.

7. Ramon Magsaysay was the third president of the Republic and many people say that he was the most popular.

Magsaysay was a guerilla fighter during the Japanese invasion. After the liberation, Gen. Douglas MacArthur promoted him to the rank of major. Magsaysay will be remembered for opening Malacañang Palace to the people. He broke up big land estates, secured land settlements for the masses, and lowered the price of consumer goods. He died in a plane crash on March 17, 1957. He was 50 years old.

8. Carlos P. Garcia will be remembered for his “Filipino First Policy” and “Austerity Program,” putting the interests of Filipinos above those of foreigners and whichever party was in power. In 1971 he was the president of the Constitutional Convention called by Ferdinand Marcos. He died of a heart attack in Manila in 1971.

9. Diosdado Macapagal began his career as a head of a Department of Foreign Affairs panel that negotiated the transfer of the Turtle Islands from Great Britain to the Philippines. He was also known for his Land Reform Bill which freed farmers from large landowners. He also declared June 12 as Philippine National Independence Day. 10. Ferdinand E. Marcos was the first Philippine president to serve a second term.

During his second term, he signed into law Proclamation 1081 declaring Martial Law on Sept. 21, 1972. After a 20-year rule, Marcos and his followers had to leave the country following the EDSA Revolution in 1986.

11. Corazon C. Aquino was the seventh president of the Republic and the first woman in this position. Borne by the protests that followed the assassination of her husband Sen. Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino, Aquino won the snap elections between her

and Marcos. The EDSA People Power Revolution on Feb. 22-25, 1986 held back the Marcos government’s troops from reaching the Ramos-Enrile breakaway group.

Aquino’s troubled presidency was nevertheless remembered as a transition government of a country on its way to establishing democracy.

12. Fidel V. Ramos, the eighth president of the Republic, first served as the Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the Marcos government.

Later on he became the Secretary of Defense under the Aquino administration.

13. Joseph E. Estrada (“Erap”), the ninth president of the Republic, became a film actor in his 20s and became a showbiz legend. Estrada ran for mayor in the municipality (now city) of San Juan from 1967, getting reelected until he served for a total of around 16 years. He was then elected senator, then vice-president, then president in 1998. After his involvement in a scandal, people staged another mass protest to oust him from power.

14. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal and a former classmate of US President Bill Clinton. When she was still in the Senate, she made waves by working for the passage of bills that have powerful economic impact. She took office in 2001 and left office in 2010.

15. The contributions of current President of the Philippines, Benigno (Noynoy, PNoy) Aquino III, would still have to be determined by history in retrospect. Election year 2016 is coming up. I urge Filipinos in the home country to exercise their right to vote and to vote wisely.

Reference: King, J. “Great & Famous Filipinos,” Manila: Worldlink Books, 2002; Wikipedia.com; Goodsearch.com; philippine-history.org *********** Find advisor Blesilda44 at KEEN.com, 1-800-ASK-KEEN (1-800-275-5336), extension 05226567 either by phone or chat: Mon-Fri 7-10 pm, Sat-Sun 7-11 pm Pacific.

I speak English, Tagalog, and some Spanish. For personal readings (fee required), email me here: blessings and light725@gmail.com

‘We have no more tears to shed’ LAST Sunday, we wanted to do our share in calming down people’s emotions after the Mamasapano massacre. I wrote that demanding the president’s resignation was not the answer. Sadly, I received overwhelming emails of angry reactions from readers who said they want certain heads to roll, with a lot of the emotional emails expressing in no uncertain terms their disgust and outrage at what they described as the “lying and prevarication” of the government over the botched PNP operation in Mamasapano that resulted in the death of 44 PNP Special Action Force troops.

Angry emotions continue to dominate the feelings of many Filipinos, grieving with the kin of the fallen as well. This fact was even more evident when Philippine National Police OIC Deputy Director General Dindo Espina – who was kept out of the loop in the operation to arrest top terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and his acolyte bomb maker Basit Usman – became very emotional during a Congressional hearing as he recalled the “overkill” done on the SAF members, many of whom were still very much alive before they were given the “coup de grace” or the finishing shot on the head.

“You blame lack of coordination to justify the killing of my people?” the police general seethed, reminding everybody that the troops were sent on a legal operation to arrest terrorists and criminals – murderers, actually.

A video (which generated over 2 million views before it was taken down) that showed a still alive SAF trooper identified as PO1 Joseph Sagonoy who was coldbloodedly shot twice in the head has since gone viral, fueling a kind of anger that is far more intense than one can imagine. What is disturbing is that this feeling of anger is increasing, with people beginning to harbor the beginnings of a desire to inflict “an eye for an eye.” While some want the video taken down because the graphic contents violated sensitivities, many say it serves as an eye opener on the kind of barbarism that the members of the MILF and BIFF are capable of.

In fact, a hot topic of discussion among Netizens was the response of Jordan’s King Abdullah II (dubbed the “warrior king”) – who promised relentless war against the terrorist group ISIS for killing one Jordanian pilot (who was burnt alive inside a metal cage). Netizens compared the reaction of the Philippine government, saying, “44 SAF troopers are brutally killed, and P-Noy gives them a ‘verbal warning.’”

A big source of frustration, anger and disappointment is the growing perception that there are people in government who want the “truth” about the Mamasapano tragedy to be buried along with the slain.

Certainly, people appreciate the Senate hearings chaired by Senator Grace Poe most especially Senator Miriam Santiago with her

usual feisty self, grilling sacked SAF commander Getulio Napeñas and then turning her sight on resigned PNP chief Alan Purisima. She articulated what was foremost in the minds of many people: It’s just common sense – someone above the level of Napeñas, who was not the highest official, was giving the orders. And since General Espina and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas were intentionally kept in the dark, that left only Purisima and the President. And had Purisima not meddled, perhaps the 44 men would still be alive today, came the damning indictment from the fiery senator.

Senator Bong Marcos did well, too, in asking incisive questions. It’s just as well that talks regarding the BBL have been suspended because this could very well become another polarizing factor. Judging from the reactions of people, there is a strong suspicion that government negotiators are just eyeing a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for the president – “peace for a prize” is how they described it. With emotions running extremely high, pushing the passage of the BBL at this time is ill advised.

The Palace should not underestimate the anger of the people, especially with talks about destabilization that, according to Senator Santiago, is being encouraged by a rich man (according to raw information we received – is a wealthy individual, awash with cash and has a very big axe to grind against President Aquino). The outrage has

spread all over the world with many overseas Filipinos just as angry and furious.

For those who watched the televised Senate hearing, it was very telling that no one wanted to admit who told the president, and when, that the operation in Mamasapano had turned into a disaster. It was rather disconcerting to hear that the country’s highest officials in the military were with the president on that fateful day, but no one thought it expedient to tell him that the troops are being massacred. Worse, Purisima all but invoked “executive privilege” when asked if he told the president about what was going on, telling everybody he needs to “get clearance first” to answer the question.

The last of the fallen has since been laid to rest, but the grieving, the pain, the anger and outrage will continue unless the questions are satisfactorily answered. For sure, a lot of “what ifs” are adding to the torture of the widows and orphans who are convinced that the men would still be alive today if only certain interests were not put above the lives of their beloved. As one of our readers bluntly put it, “the people who are responsible for this tragedy seem to think this was just another video game where one has the option to restart. They played with the lives of 44 men! Someone has to pay for the death of these young men... We have no more tears to shed.” PhilStar

Politics, politics, politics THE country and its people have never been politically agitated by anyone ever before than this month's call for a resignation of Pres. Noy Aquino. The big politicians especially those interested on his office in Malacanang Palace, the smaller politicians, the oppositionists, the people at Plaza Miranda, those in the marketplaces, parks beaches and practically everywhere from Aparri to Jolo. Nearly everybody is involved.

They chorused in saying "down for Aquino", etc. just because they all think the president had committed a grave error in his alleged move that sent to their grave the 44 officers and men of the elite special forcers. The people involved may have some good reasons to support such theory but we should be reminded that in simple Newton's law, "for every action, there is an opposite reaction." As a simply bystander in this confusion, I just kept my mouth shut.

I look at this as a simple political maneuver to turn upside down whatever good things the Aquino administration has achieved for the Filipino people. It seems clear that some leaders in the oppositions are so in a hurry to move the man in Malacanang out now even if the next elections is shining brightly in the horizon. To me such a move engineered by some people will only weaken the stature of the national government and divides the general citizenry.

It is pure and simple politics this early making some people in the lower echelon of society confused and lost. The matter that triggered such noise and confusion is just one of the blunders in our government that involved the military. It is not so big as to compel Aquino to go down from his post.

He has committed so much erratic moves as well as all past presidents in our country. It is part in our environment, culture being a society ran by human beings. In short a political blunder committed by a politician.

If this simple incident will force the president to step down from the Palace, it would be a very bad precedent. In the future, we shall see presidents being pulled down from the Palace by good citizens, bad citizens, mobsters, gangsters and everybody just because the chief executive of the country purportedly committed a blunder. This is not the way our president is being handled out of office.

He was elected by the people and it is only the people who could force him out -through a national elections. And to think about it, our next national elections is so brightly shining in the horizon. Let us wait for that day and the people at-large will decide the fate of the president. As a matter of fact Aquino's term is ending next year and he is not running for reelection in which case he is out whether he is guilty of such incident that led to the massacre of 44 soldiers. My friends, let us wait. the president is leaving anyway.

War...

only show how disgruntled many people are with the President.

A coup attempt may not succeed since it would take both a mass action as in Edsa 1 and Edsa 2 show us with military intervention. But Malacañang should not just shrug them off.

I believe however that calls for the President to resign will not succeed, even as they reveal how the people now regard the President. *** While the arbitration body created by the Baguio Regional Trial Court has finally ruled on the controversy between the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and developer Bob Sobrepeña, chair of Comp John Hay Development Corp., there is still a lot of confusion.

The confusion arises from two press releases over Camp John Hay development with one coming from the BCDA that the arbitration body has called for the termination of the lease agreement of CJHDevco with the BCDA and ordered the developer to vacate the property under question.

But there’s an injunction in the Baguio RTC against BCDA taking over the property. The decision of the arbitration body to rescind the Original Lease Agreement of 2008 due to mutual breach of both parties leaves Camp John Hay to its pre-lease agreement of CJHDevco.

But, this decision of the arbitration body still has to be finalized and executed by the court.

What leads to the confusion is that the BCDA has asked all locators and buyers of units from CJHDevco to consult BCDA on their status. While CJHDevco has assured all locators that their status in good faith will be respected, the BCDA now wants to study their status. The BCDA board will meet today on the arbitration body decision on what steps to take and the status of locators and buyers of units. -Manila Standard Today

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FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

Anti-terror campaigns... support, intelligence, command and control support, mentoring, but we can’t be involved in direct action. I can tell you I never once witnessed something where American forces were conducting direct action. Some of us wished the Abu Sayyaf would engage us directly, but they would intentionally not attack us when they saw our Humvees on a patrol with the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) because they know that if they shot at us, it was done! We would call in a quick reaction force, and we would’ve killed them.”

This partnership dates back to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. A former colony of the United States, the Philippines has an ambivalent attitude towards “Big Brother,” often fluctuating between love and hate.

In 1991, the Philippine Senate voted 12-11 to revoke the Military Bases Agreement between the two countries, closing down Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base.

REALITY CHECK The reality, though, is that Philippine security forces are one of the weakest in Southeast Asia, and Philippine officials have long turned to Washington for training and equipment as well as for support in conflicts like the South China Sea (what the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea).

In 1995, partly because China built structures on Mischief Reef, Philippine President Fidel Ramos invited US forces back. Three years later, both countries signed the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a controversial deal fought by the Catholic Church, leftist politicians and some members of the academe and civil society. It was ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1999. That agreement prevents the US from establishing a permanent base of operations in the Philippines and stipulates that US troops take a non-combat role – that they are in the Philip-

pines “to train, advise and assist.”

In 2002, President Gloria Arroyo signed a Military Logistics and Support Agreement (MLSA), loosening the VFA terms.

Now the US can use the Philippines as a supply base for military operations, and US special forces were deployed to help Philippine troops with counterterrorism operations.

In the next decade, the US military, the FBI and the CIA would begin training programs with their Filipino counterparts.

“The American forces love working with the Filipinos,” another former US special forces soldier said.

“We are as good friends, allies, as it gets, and we can really help them.

They do so much with so little.”

A Filipino officer said in an interview with Rappler, “We would be nowhere without them. You know we even have to count our bullets?

So we can’t even do target practice if they weren’t here. Talking to them, working with them, training with them – all this helps us.”

A former commander of the US forces explained that training must go hand in hand with Philippine military-wide reform, as he cited subpar or non-existent supplies because of a combination of corruption and inefficient processes.

“You know that the soldiers feel better going into conflict knowing that one of our choppers can medivac them out if they get shot. Some soldiers die bleeding after they’re shot because they can’t get help,” he said. “Look at the doctors with the troops. You know, there was a time when the doctor assigned to the fighting units was a dermatologist?”

In April, 2014 under President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippines and the US signed a framework agreement for EDCA or the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which allows increased US presence on a non-permanent basis and gives US troops greater access to Philippine military bases.

The Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations, FY2014, said: “Security assistance

supports the Administration’s strategic rebalance toward Asia by helping the Philippines become a more capable partner in promoting regional security.” Again, partly because of tensions with China, the Obama administration planned to nearly double Foreign Military Financing (FMF) in 2014.

Of course, there were tensions between the Philippines and the United States.

On the part of the Filipinos, there was friction when sometimes competing interests inside US agencies worked at cross-purposes, as the FBI and CIA did in the earlier years.

Over time, however, as workflows stabilized and parameters became clearer, that became better, according to officials familiar with the evolving partnership. There were also differences in priorities of threat assessments – with the Philippines long considering the communist threat its top priority while the Americans were prioritizing Islamist terrorism.

There were other issues. At one point between 2008 and 2013, the US Congress placed restrictions on about $2 million-$3 million of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) annually because of extra-judicial killings by the Philippine military.

DELIVERY OF SMART BOMBS Between 2002 and 2013, the US gave the Philippines a total of $312 million in military assistance as well as military equipment, including smart bombs or Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs).

In the chart above from the Security Assistance Monitor, you can see the spike in arms sales from 2009 to 2010, when the US approved the delivery of at least 22 smart bombs to the Philippines.

In mid-2010, Washington pledged $18.4 million of precisionguided missiles funded under a US Congressional Act, which allowed its defense department to train and equip foreign military allies.

A classified document from the Philippines is explicit: "Fiscal year 2010 assistance for the Philippines provides a precision-guided missile

capability to assist Philippine Armed Forces' counterterrorism efforts in southern regions to combat the activities of the Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf Group."

In February, 2012, the Philippines, working with the US, launched its first smart bomb attack targeting Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, better known as Marwan.

While that attack failed, the classified chart below shows the meticulous planning and coordination between two separate countries and teams of special forces operatives.

In order to launch a smart bomb in the Philippines, the commanders and leaders of the two countries decided that it would take two keys to actually launch a bomb against a target.

From a high of nearly 2,000 US special forces in 2003 to an average of about 500-600 troops since about 2005, the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines or JSOTF-P worked in western Mindanao with their Filipino counterparts.

JSOTF-P states its mission, hammered out based on bilateral agreements, simply: “At the request of the Philippine Government, JSOTF-P works together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to fight terrorism and deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Mindanao.

US forces are temporarily deployed to the Philippines in a strictly non-combat role to advise and assist the AFP, share information, and to conduct joint civil military operations.”

Many of these operations are classified, with 4 major counterterrorism objectives against terrorists and insurgents: deny sanctuary; deny mobility; deny access to resources; and separate the population from the terrorist.

Retired Col. David Maxwell, had 2 tours of duty in the Philippines, first as commander of 1st Batallion, 1st Special Forces group with JSOTF-P's precursor, JTF-510, then later as the JSOTF-P commander.

Maxwell is adamant in his email sent February 3, 2015: “The US does not control any operations conducted

by Philippine forces.” Named "a son of Basilan" in his first tour of duty, Maxwell is now the Associate Director of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University and makes it clear he has no inside information about what happened with Marwan.

“All the advice and assistance cannot prevent every tragedy,” he adds, “Especially if the Philippine military and police do not coordinate operations.”

ROLE IN MAMASAP ANO MAMASAPANO Was there US involvement in Mamasapano?

"At the request of the AFP, US service members serving in JSOTFP responded to assist in the evacuation of casualties after the firefight in Maguindanao," said Kurt Hoyer, US embassy spokesman and press attaché.

Still, if you look closely at provisions of the existing agreements and workflows between the two countries, the mechanisms are in place for, at the very least, intelligence gathering and command-andcontrol support. Another former US forces operative told me, "The PNP would not do it without the Americans."

That's bolstered by the admission of Philippine police officials that the proof that the covert operations achieved its goal, the cutoff finger of Marwan, bypassed Philippine police hierarchy and was instead given directly "to the FBI." What's not as well-documented in US public records is the extent of American involvement in counterterrorism operations involving the Philippine police, which began with the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program or ATAP then intensified after 2008.

Did the US control the Filipinos as some reports suggest? Both American and Filipino forces involved in past operations I've spoken with say they think that would be impossible: the Filipinos would never allow it; and the Americans would never ask.

If there’s one case the Americans would’ve wanted to control, it would’ve been Operation Day-

break, the rescue operations for American hostages Martin & Gracia Burnham in 2002. Later at the sidelines of a conference at West Point, I spoke for several hours with American operatives who criticized the operations which killed Martin Burnham. Their repeated refrain: “They wouldn’t listen to us.”

The covert operations in Mamasapano are particularly tricky.

“We have long tried to avoid any appearance of US involvement in any operation that could hinder the peace process with the MILF,” said Maxwell. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF ended 17 years of negotiations and signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 2014.

The peace process has been a long-term goal for both the Philippines and the United States. Analysts and officials from at least half a dozen countries I’ve spoken with say there’s no choice but peace because the Philippine police and military cannot win the war.

The incompetence of the Mamasapano operations sparked strident political rhetoric and demagoguery – all of which may doom the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL, the last part of the peace deal.

If that happens, the MILF central leadership will lose credibility and control over about 12,000 armed men in a part of the Philippines where governance and security are weak at best.

This could potentially create a power vacuum – an open invitation to more extremist and violent groups from the region and around the world. The greater danger is the devolution of the radical ideology that once powered al-Qaeda. Now loose on the Internet, it has become a social movement that has sparked attacks from Iraq and Syria to Boston to Paris. – To be continued.

Maria A. Ressa is the author of Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia and 10 Days, 10 Years: From Bin Laden to Facebook.

A9 features Westfield Valley Fair invites customers to ring in the Year of the Ram at its second annual Lunar New Year celebration FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

SANTA CLARA, CA – Westfield Valley Fair, Silicon Valley’s premier shopping destination, is celebrating the Year of the Ram by hosting Lunar New Year activities throughout the month of February. The celebrations will culminate in a festive community event on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the shopping center.

Westfield Valley Fair’s Year of the Ram celebration will be one of the leading Lunar New Year events in the Silicon Valley. Beginning Feb. 1, the shopping center will be filled with décor reflective of Lunar New Year, including vitrines throughout the shopping center that will display new year fashion trends.

Westfield Valley Fair and its retailers will also host promotions and cultural activities throughout February to celebrate the holiday.

“Westfield knows how much Lunar New Year means to the diverse communities surrounding our shopping center,” said Caran Fisher, Senior Marketing Director for Westfield Valley Fair. “We saw how much our customers loved our Lunar New Year event last year, and we wanted to build on that to make it an even greater celebration this year. The goal of our Lunar New Year celebration for this year, and beyond, is to continue to bring the community together at Westfield Valley Fair.”

Jose Library. Local performing arts groups that were popular at last year’s event, such as the wellknown Far East Dragon Lion Dance Association and the award-winning Team-M Taekwondo, will also be among this year’s performers.

Westfield Valley Fair Lunar New Year celebrations will take place throughout February with a community celebration event on Feb. 28, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Westfield Valley Fair is located at 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95050.

The events are free and open to the public.

For more information, please visit westfield.com/valleyfair or follow Westfield Valley on Twitter at twitter.com/westfieldvf.

ABOUT WESTFIELD VALLEY FAIR Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Westfield Valley Fair is an influential style resource for discerning shoppers. As Northern California’s premier destination for world-class shopping, Westfield Valley Fair is home to more than 200 retailers, including Cartier, Salvatore Ferragamo, CH Premier Jewelers, Burberry, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Macy’s Men’s and Home, WilliamsSonoma and Pottery Barn. Westfield Valley Fair is conveniently located at 2855 Stevens Creek Boulevard, in Santa Clara, California and can be found online at www.westfield.com/valleyfair.

The shopping center partners with local community organizations to showcase Asian-American student art work and to give back to the community This year, Westfield Valley Fair invited new community partners to participate in its Lunar New Year celebrations to further create meaningful engagement for Asian-American customers. The San Jose Museum of Art will be displaying Lunar New Year-themed student art projects throughout the month of February in a pop-up storefront, and the San Jose Public Library will be providing children with arts and crafts activities. And in the spirit of giving back to the community during Lunar New Year, Westfield Valley Fair is displaying a wishing tree to raise funds for Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), a community-based organization whose mission is to improve the health, mental health and well-being of individuals, families and the Asian community. Those who make a donation to AACI will be able to hang their good wishes

for the new year on the tree, which will be displayed next to Guest Services until the end of the month.

“We are excited about this inaugural partnership with Westfield Valley Fair, and for the generosity of the shopping center and its guests,” said Michele Lew, CEO of AACI. “AACI serves approximately 15,000 people a year through our array of health, wellness, and education programs, and we are thankful for the opportunity to celebrate the Lunar New Year while making a difference in our community.”

During the community celebration event on Feb. 28, a lion dance will travel through the entire shopping center, bringing good fortune and well wishes to all shoppers and retailer stores. Other activities include live performances, Chinese calligraphy demonstrations and Lunar New Year-themed arts and crafts stations provided by the San

LUNAR NEW YEAR “WISHING TREE”

Mayor Lee launches large vehicle training program to increase street safety SAN FRANCISCO – Last week Mayor Ed Lee joined by the California Trucking Associations and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, announced a two year Vision Zero action strategy to help The City meet its goal of eliminating all traffic fatality by 2024. The mayor also launched a new large vehicle safety training program designed for professional drivers to increase pedestrian safety on San Francisco streets.

“The Vision Zero action strategy will guide our work over the next two years to ensure that our City’s streets are safe for all those who travel on them,” said Mayor Lee. “By partnering with professional drivers to raise awareness of safety issues specific to navigating our City, we are taking another step forward in our efforts to eliminate

MAYOR ED LEE

traffic fatalities in San Francisco.”

The City and County of San Francisco adopted a policy committing to build safer streets, educate the public on traffic safety, enforce traffic laws and adopt policy changes that save lives.

The Strategy outlines the projects and policy changes the City will pursue in the next two years to increase traffic safety on San Francisco’s streets.

The new large vehicle safety training program is a video-based curriculum designed to increase professional driver awareness of the safety issues related to driving a large vehicle on urban streets with high numbers of people walking and biking.

“Large vehicle collisions with people who are walking and biking are low frequency, but high sever-

ity. In a five year period, large vehicles represented only 4 percent of all collisions, but accounted for 17 percent of all bicycles and pedestrian deaths,” said SFMTA director of Transportation Ed Reiskin.

The unveiling of the new large vehicle safety training program comes on the heels of a campaign launched to change the tour bus policy after a 68 year old San Francisco City employee was struck and killed in front of City Hall on October 23, 2014.

“I support Norman Yee’s effort to make sure that the drivers don’t have any other distraction when they are driving tour busses in The City, We’ll get down to a conversation with the Board hopefully to pass something that tour bus drivers have to commit to,” said Mayor Lee.

AARP Foundation provides free tax relief for low- and middle-income families To find a tax-aide location near you offering assistance in other languages, visit aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW WASHINGTON– AARP Foundation provides free tax assistance and preparation for taxpayers with low to moderate income through its Tax-Aide program. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, now in its 46th year, is the nation’s largest free tax assistance and preparation service, giving special attention to those 60 and older. This free service is available to AARP members and non-members.

For more information or to locate an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide site, visit www.aarp.org/findtaxhelp or call 1-888-AARPNOW (1-888227-7669). Some locations offer assistance in additional languages, including Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese. An

appointment may be required.

In 2014, AARP Foundation TaxAide’s 36,000 volunteers at more than 5,000 sites provided 2.6 million people with free tax help. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteers are trained and IRS-certified each year to ensure their knowledge of revisions to the U.S. tax code. Taxpayers who used AARP Foundation Tax-Aide received $1.3 billion in income tax refunds and more than $257 million in Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs).

“AARP Tax-Aide helps those who can least afford to pay the costly fees that are charged to file taxes,” said Daphne Kwok, AARP Vice President of Multicultural Markets and Engagement, Asian Ameri-

AARP TAX-AIDE sites are open and ready to help people prepare their tax returns. Some sites offer assistance in additional languages, including Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, and more

can and Pacific Islander Audience. “Our volunteers are trained and IRS-certified each year to ensure individuals don’t end up overpaying their taxes. When you have a fixed or low income, every dollar is important.”

AARP Tax-Aide is an AARP Foundation program administered in cooperation with the IRS. About AARP Foundation AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the Foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is a charitable affiliate of AARP. Learn more at aarpfoundation.org.

A10

FEBRUARY 18-24, 2015

business

WELLS FARGO & Company rings in the Lunar New Year with a $50,000 grant to the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund to support scholarships for Asian-American students who aspire to achieve their higher education goals.

Wells Fargo celebrates Year of the Ram with $50k in college scholarships SAN FRANCISCO – Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is ringing in the Lunar New Year with a $50,000 grant to the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) to support scholarships for Asian-American students who aspire to achieve their higher education goals. The company will participate in celebrations at New Year festivals throughout the country, including downtown San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle and New York’s Chinatown.

To commemorate the New Year, Wells Fargo is offering a limited edition Ram Coin Bank when customers open a new eligible consumer checking account at participating store locations from February 2 to March 6, 2015. New and current customers can personalize their debit cards with specially designed Lunar New Year art for the Year of the Ram. For more details, visit wellsfargo.com/yearofram.

The Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship fund is the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of college scholarships for Asian American and Pacific Islander

Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund receives $50,000 grant to help college-bound students; Wells Fargo offers limited-edition ram coin banks and customized debit card designs (AAPI) students. “Wells Fargo has been a huge supporter of APIASF and has invested more than $5 million over the last eight years to support AAPI students. We are honored to have Wells Fargo’s support to help increase opportunities for underserved students and build the skills needed to succeed after graduation,” said Neil Horikoshi, president and executive director of APIASF. The donation is in addition to a multi-year $3.15 million commitment

from Wells Fargo to APIASF in 2014.

As a founding sponsor of APIASF, the company has invested in APIASF’s development programs, college tours and scholarship programs for college-bound students from underrepresented Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Since 2006, Wells Fargo has contributed more than $5.4 million to APIASF, and the collaboration has helped more than 800 scholars throughout the country and in U.S. territories in the Pacific.