camiar

Actually they did this in Zamboanga in 2011. It was met by resistance but turned out to be a good idea. There was a 6% increase in yield in metric tons and sizes of the galunggong were bigger thus more meaty.

 

I've been to Palawan several times. According to the locals, Most Chinese fishermen in the area are harvesting exotic sea creatures and not Round Scad (Galunggong).

I doubt it. The article I read says there was no conclusive evidence of the beneficial effect of galunggong ban. BFAR does not and cannot accurately monitor the tonnage of each fish specie the fishermen catch each year. Do they monitor the catch of Chinese and Taiwanese poachers, too? All they can do is estimate. The government claims 6% increase after the fishing ban? Against whose data did they compare? Since the best they can do is to make an estimate, they can make up any data that would be self serving.

The Chinese poachers only harvest exotics and stay away from galunggong? Highly doubtful too. Coming all the way to the Philippine waters from China is a big investment on fuel, equipment, and labor. They harvest whatever they can to recover their expenses. The exotics just add more to their profit.

This Kevlar-fiber-reinforced-plastic boat doesn't seem as sturdy as it looks. How do you think a boat like this would fare in the middle of a typhoon should the boat get caught up in one?

The damaged FRP boats I've posted are private/civilian boats. The BFAR patrol boats were most likely built to civilian-use specification, because they are unarmed boats. FRP is used in boat-building for making lightweight vessels with good fuel economy. FRP is also low maintenance because it is resistant to saltwater corrosion. They should do well even in typhoon conditions but they are not built for impact. Even a collision with a whale can sink the boat.

Military grade FRP boats are built differently and of higher specifications. Their hull is of composite construction. The hulls of Swedish Navy patrol boats, for example, are laminated inside and outside with fibre-reinforced plastic composed of glass fibre and carbon laminates bound with vinyl ester and polyester resin, which makes them much stronger. However, there are reports coming out recently that some of these boats are showing some deterioration due to de-lamination of the composite layers. So for now, many Navies still prefer steel boats.

Just got a confirmation from some of my Boks at the PCG that DA-BFAR Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Vessel 3001's hull is made out of Reinforced Plastic Glass a.k.a. FIBERGLASS...

 

Said DA-BFAR boats were given to us by Spain as ODA's during the early 2000s. 10 were 30 meters long and 4 were 11 meters long... An attempted ramming if proven, by a 15 meter WOODEN boat on a 30 meter FIBERGLASS boat despite the length disparity would indeed result in disastrous consequences for the FIBERGLASS boat.

 

Meron na naman tinamaan ng bolta-boltaheng kuryente jan... Pwede ng maging model ng Meralco... ;)

This is the kind of damage a FRP (Fibre-Reinforced Plastic) boat can suffer in a collision:

This is a Greenpeace state-of-the-art Kevlar-fiber-reinforced-plastic boat after it was rammed:

This is our BFAR boat MCS3001

This is the Guang Ta Hsin Fishing boat

It seems that the Taiwanese "wooden" boat is not really made of wood, but has a steel keel. A boat like that ramming our BFAR boat can cause fatal damage.

and it is precisely our trust in our own that shows we are not impartially looking at the situation. if we can "initially assume" one scenario, why can we not initially assume a different scenario? i did. and took heat for it. but if one explanation makes so much more sense than any other, then why is the alternate explanation so offensive to some? true, ramming, like you said, is a serious threat. i've held that the attempt to ram is not, because it is difficult to ascertain just what a boat is trying to do. he could've been maneuvering clumsily and looked, for a while, like he was about to ram the pcg. so, until the investigation ascertains that there was cause to believe this, no one can say with any certainty whether (1) the pcg was truly under threat or not, (2) justified in opening fire, whether warning shots over the bow or disabling shots to the rudder or engine.

I do not claim being impartial about this incident. I am biased in favor of the Philippines. It is the same way if I learn that my son got into a fight with another kid, I would initially assume that my son had a very good & justifiable reason to do so.

When I said “we should initially assume that they were indeed under attack, or were taking active measures to counter a "clear and present danger"…” , it is logical reasoning on my part based on the fact that our PCG men are trained military personnel. They do what they are trained to do. They have rules of engagement to follow. Military personnel strictly follow rules of engagement because their career and their very lives depend on it. In this particular incident, it is out of character if they fired without themselves being under attack or without being in a life-threatening situation.

Assuming a different scenario may look impartial to you, but for me, illogical.

The Navy and PCG personnel, I can assure you, can tell the difference between clumsy maneuvers and ramming maneuvers. There is really no difference between ramming and “an attempt at ramming”, in the same manner as you would treat murder and attempted murder.

A nice read.

 

COSTS OF CAPITULATION | Strategic implications of Philippine response in Taiwan crisis

 

By: Jose Antonio Custodio

 

Jose Antonio A. Custodio is a security and defense consultant having worked...

@heatseeker, thanks for the article. This article should clear a lot of things for us in the thread.

I agree with the author when he said that the Chinese have realized that our weakness is not our weak military capability, but our amateur BS Aquino-led government who lacks resolve in responding to the crisis because it always look at the problem from a position of weakness.

 

The way you relate it, you make it seem as if we took action after being given the finger.

Such a cavalier recounting.

I thought so, too, when I read the article. The phrase "showing them the famous finger" was my own speculation, and I indicated so. I did not intend to imply that our Coast Guards were trigger happy when provoked. Sorry about that. Such action is not characteristic of military personnel. They are more disciplined than us civilians when it comes to firing of weapons. The saying "wag mong itututok kung di mo ipuputok" is a military adage. I trust their capability to hold their fire under stress.

So, if our Coast Guards had to fire their weapons, we should initially assume that they were indeed under attack, or were taking active measures to counter a "clear and present danger". Ramming is a serious threat especially out on the sea where you are beyond the reach of comrades who could help you, and you are outnumbered by foreign vessels who are showing hostile intent. We would not know the exact circumstances our Coast Guards went through at that time, but I would assume that they did what they were trained to do for their situation.

It is the amateurish action of our government,led by BS Aquino, that I am disappointed of. This kind of incident has a high probability of happening. Malacanang should have had practiced on how to respond to this kind of incident during their National Security scenario exercises.

Everytime something like this happens, our government seems to have been caught with their pants down.

As for the loss of Taiwanese jobs, I hope you're right that this will only prove to be beneficial in the long run. Isn't that only part of the picture, though? I have mixed feelings about the brave stance of some of our government officials - in tourism, in trade, etc. - saying we will not hurt in the long run. There is complete confidence that Taiwanese investments in places like Subic, which account for 85% of the zone's output, are not likely to be withdrawn. Complete confidence that a foreign trade agreement, whose feasibility both governments are studying, will not fall through. We'll see.

I am confident that my assessment is right when it comes to technology and skilled workers' jobs in Taiwan. Trade and investment policies normally are driven by rational decisions, not by political overreaction. Tourism could be another matter depending on how we are portrayed in Taiwanese media. Let's hope for the best.

finally, to camiar, i don't believe the philippines is in any kind of position to say it's taiwan's loss, not ours. i gave the example of my craigslist ad to show how bad the jobs situation is here. when, instead of saying to ourselves that this incident is something we must learn from and we must endeavor to THINK and do the right thing, if instead of that we say 'ok lang, we don't need them naman,' even in the face of Filipinos losing their jobs and being forced to uproot themselves, then there is something very, very wrong with us.

Well, the your craigslist data does not prove anything when it comes to OFW jobs in Taiwan. What you have is a general picture of the job situation in the Philippines, which covers all sectors. Taiwan’s job market for the Filipinos is different. It is technology- and skills-intensive jobs categories (e.g. semicon production technicians, operators, machinists, QA/QC technicians, etc…) and skilled workers (e.g. caregivers). These category of workers are not desperate for jobs. These workers are at par with the best in the job market globally. Even here in the Philippines, there is a bigger demand for these types of workers than what the qualified pool of workers can supply. And Taiwanese companies are hiring the best workers from our semiconductor and manufacturing industries.

Taiwan is getting more value for their money for hiring these technically-skilled OFWs. We ARE in a position to say that it’s Taiwan’s loss, not ours, in their decision to stop hiring OFWs.

This attempt at blackmail was borne of their government’s politically-motivated overreaction to the border incident. Taiwan’s President Ma will be the first to suffer for it, politically speaking. Just wait.

 

As reports come out that the fisherman's boat was shot up on its side, it really makes one wonder how the coast guard came to the conclusion they were about to be rammed. You'd think if a boat was about to ram you, its position would be facing towards you, not running alongside you. So who here is confident that the investigation will be thorough and fair? Raise your hands. While we're at it, what has resulted from that investigation into the Quirino Grandstand massacre?

 

If you were Taiwan, would you trust the NBI? Filipinos themselves don't trust the NBI lol.

 

From what I read, the Taiwanese fishing boat tried to ram our patrol boat, forcing the patrol boat to take evasive action to avoid being hit. the attempt at ramming happened first, with our boat taking evasive maneuvers. Afterwards, they saw somebody on the fishing boat come up on deck and taunted them, gesturing (speculation: maybe showing them the famous finger) and challenging our Coast Guards to try and catch them.

That was when warning shots and killing shots were fired. That might also explain why the boat was shot up on its side.

The Taiwanese fishermen did not realize that even if their boat is faster than our old Coast Guard tub, bullets still fly faster.

You think I was talking about DH jobs in Taiwan. I was talking about the people who apply to my craigslist manila ads. Perhaps I'm the only one who finds that shocking, and finding statements saying Filipinos are irreplaceable and therefore it's Taiwan's loss a little self-indulgent and fantastical. You talk as if we have not lost on this issue, you talk as if the Philippines was flush with job opportunities and the international market not competitive. How many people would rather be in Taiwan, than in other countries? A significant number given that Pinoys enjoy higher salaries in Taiwan than in other places, higher even than in HK, according to a friend there.

 

Point is, in business, no one is irreplaceable. And the truth is, no matter what the cost to them, if Taiwan wants to replace our workers, it will.

We are talking about jobs given to Filipinos in Taiwan, not about the people who apply to your craigslist manila ads.

I did not say Filipinos are irreplaceable. I have not read any post here that says it either. What I said is that Filipino workers, Filipino semiconductor industry workers hired in Taiwan in particular, are good value for their money compared to other Asian workers. I know that because our company services the Facilities Management System in Taipei, KL, Melaka, Mexico, China and two facilities here in the Philippines owned by of one of the biggest US-based semiconductor company. We can observe and compare the quality of their workers in all those locations. It may sound self-indulgent to you, but I will still say, Filipinos technical workers are better value for the money they pay.

In addition, I did not imply that we are awash with job opportunities. But you see, technology-based workers can easily find jobs suited for their qualifications. They have more alternatives open to them. Taiwan's move to stop hiring Filipino technical workers will hurt their industry more that it will hurt us. Just wait.

Saudi Arabia also suspended hiring Filipino workers when we complained about their poor treatment of our OFWs. Who suffered more during the suspension? Saudi companies pressured the Saudi government to reverse the suspension. Now they are hiring more Filipinos at higher salaries even. And our OFWs are treated better now.

lol. wow. and we Filipinos never overreact?

 

let's get over ourselves already. and by the way, i wouldn't be quoting from raffy alunan's facebook posts, this is the same guy whom i've watched deride Americans for being racists and share news from The Onion, that spoof site, thinking they are real headlines.

 

 

yeah, it's taiwan's loss. filipinos can do better and get hired by better people. lol. maybe more of us will be in the middle east where women are put on a pedestal and treated like queens. perhaps our professionals can just up and consider other countries to go to, paperwork is so easy and takes no time at all to process here. must be why we have so many future 'professionals' needing to augment their income with jobs they are overqualified for.

 

it sure is easy to talk when we've all got jobs or a passive income and can waste our energy posting on this forum where nothing gets done and no minds are changed.

 

ang dami daming trabaho dyan! magsawa kayo sa dami ng oportunidad! kaya nga walang mga nurse o economics grad na nag-aaply para maging katulong e.

 

watch out, taiwan! bleed over our absence

Yes Pinoys overreact, too. Like during the Flor Contemplacion brouhaha. But that's not the point. The point is, Filipino workers there are highly prized globally. It would be Taiwan's loss if the reject Filipino workers out of their own overreaction.

I disagree with the picture you paint that Filipinos are so desperate that nurses and economic grads take DH jobs in Taiwan. If there are, it would be more of an exception than the rule.

The workers we send to Taiwan are the right fit for their jobs there. Most of them come from the semiconductor industry. What's good with Filipino semiconductor workers is that they can operate the production equipment well, PLUS they can also troubleshoot and maintain them, unlike workers from Indonesia and Malaysia. Our Filipino workers add more value to their jobs than most of our Asian counterparts.

yes i heard wrong, it happens. but really, it's taiwan's loss?

Taiwan benefits more from hiring Filipino workers and caregivers. The workers deployed to Taiwan have enough qualifications to be able to find jobs elsewhere in case Taiwan stops hiring.

The Taiwan president said they want an apology within 72 hours or they will suspend hiring of Filipino workers. I did not hear anything about Taiwan going to War with us.

Our MECO representative in Taiwan did not apologize. He said we offer our sympathies to the family of the deceased, but not our apology (or something to that effect).

So, fine -- stop hiring Filipinos. It's their loss, and comparatively, just another inconvenience to us.

 

4.) Abnoy not commenting on the issue because "He's busy campaigning" is quite... well, let's just put it this way, i don't like Abnoy, i didn't even vote for the guy, voted for his cousin instead, but as time goes by, the way he handles incidents regarding our security and disputed areas, he's winning over a lot of skeptics both inside and outside the Military and Security Forces of the country. He has his abnormalities, i mean who doesn't, but when it comes to Military and Foreign Affairs, he's doing good. Besides, like i said, let's just wait for the results of the official investigation. You wouldn't want our President stooping down to the Taiwanese President's level diba? Issuing ultimatums and ordering their navy and coast guard to the proximity of the area just to satisfy his citizenry. Bandang huli nyan sila pa magmumukhang eng-eng dahil sa over-reaction nila na sila naman din ang mali.

BS Aquino should have made a well thought out official statement regarding the incident, instead of keeping mum about it.

But, past experience have thought his "handlers" to get Abnoy to keep his mouth shut, and likewise, so should Lacierda, Valte, and Carandang.

Maybe when it comes to military affairs, BS Aquino is "doing good". But do you really think his military policy is really his and not of his "handlers"?. For me. I'm just thankful he has good "advisers" on military matters.

I also voted for Gibo. It is during times like this that I wish Gibo was our prez.

Seems our military is going to find it difficult to defend against a superior Chinese navy. Our military (and the US military support that was given back then) was/is suited for the purpose of containing both communist and Muslim insurgencies. Not to confront a first world military power such as the Chinese military. Our military is just no match against the Chinese. We need an American presence to deter Chinese aggression.

We do not need to match the might of Chinese PLA. We are not going on a full scale war with them anyway.

The American presence will be there, in the background. And so will Japan's, India's, and our neighboring South East Asia's military presence -- these countries, individually, are also no match to China, but collectively a credible deterrent.

We just need to build up our navy and air force to be able to challenge their increasing aggressiveness in our area. The minimum we need are several new Offshore Patrol Vessels, Multi-purpose Landing Dock Vessels, Interceptor Fighter Jets, Navy helicopters. The number of acquisitions that we can afford will not be a match if there is a full scale war, but it would be useful in policing our economic zones and "showing the flag" in the territories we are trying to protect.

In military principle, the aggressor would need to deploy five times the strength of the defending force to be able to invade and control a territory. So theoretically, the Philippines would just need to match only at least one-fifth of what China is deploying in our West Philippine Sea to counter them effectively.

I would take it that the crooks represent the flies. What represents the filth?

The filth is the people's tendency to go along with corruption. Their tendency to tolerate them. Their tendency to corrupt the system if it is inconvenient to them.

The source of corruption is the frame of mind of the people in general. That's the filth.

It will take a whole generation of re-education, behavioral change campaign, and persevering law enforcement vs. corruption before we can make any headway of reducing it.

Noynoy's daang matuwid is nothing but showbiz slogan. It doesn't address the source of the problem.

This "tuwid na daan" stuff is nothing but a lot of hogwash. Because he wants to portray the straight and narrow, what's happened is the corrupt bureaucracy has ironically become even more corrupt because now corrupt government employees need to contend with the greater risks of getting caught. So aside from being more careful not to get caught, they're also asking for more because of the greater risks involved.

 

One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that the greater the risks a person takes, the greater the amount he will demand to make the risk taking worth his while.

Corruption thrives when the people continue to pay somebody(or put him into position) to do a corrupt act.

Going after the crooks will not stop corruption because the people themselves continue to sustain the corrupt practice. For every corrupt crook you eliminate, there's a new one willing to take his place. In our society, there is a market demand for corruption -- somebody will always come up to supply that demand.

To stop corruption, go after the source of the problem. The people themselves. Education and behavioral change campaign. Persistent, long term campaign. Radio, TV, print, and in children's education in schools.

Require companies and corporations to register themselves with organizations like Trace International ( http://traceinternational.org/ )to create awareness in stopping corruption and bribery in business, etc....

Give as much penalty to the person giving bribe as to the one accepting it.

It will take at least 20 years of persistent behavioral change campaign to stop corruption.

Its been three years now and BS Aquino hasn't made a dent in the level of corruption in the government. I didn't expect him to make any progress, anyway. It's because he is not really taking the solution to its roots - the people and society itself.

Niloloko lang kayo ni BS Aquino sa daang matuwid nya. It's only a political gimmick to hoodwink the gullible Pinoys into voting these assh0les to power.

From Get Real Philippines:

"...As if it weren’t funny enough. Early today, media watchdog blog Spin Busters broke news of an appalling lapse in editorial rigour by top Philippine broadsheet Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI). Spotted on the front page of the 20th April 2013 edition of the PDI was an image depicting what seems to be the front cover of TIME Magazine featuring a photo of Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III on the occasion of being named among the “100 Most Influential People in the World”.

The image is actually a photoshopped meme posted on the Facebook page of social media political commentary powerhouse Showbiz Government...."

tang nah talaga etong si abnoy, mukha pa lang matatawa ka na talaga sa inis! Hilig palaging nakanganga...

At etong si Inquirer naman, sobrang pagsisipsip, ayun mukhang abnoy na rin sila...

I read in the newspaper that BS Aquino will issue an executive order to ban fishing of galunggong. The apparent reason was that a "study" showed that the annual galunggong harvest dropped by two or three percent in recent years. The ban would supposedly give the specie some breathing room to recover its population.

The galunggong fishing ban would cause the price of galunggong to skyrocket. High prices would tempt fishermen to harvest galunggong illegally. Does our Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) have enough resources to police and enforce the ban? I doubt it. The ban would instead give the maritime fishing authorities opportunity to take bribes from illegal galunggong fishermen.

Haven't they considered that even if Abnoy bans Filipino fishermen from harvesting galunggong, the Chinese poachers will continue harvesting them anyway? Does he have the BFAR and/or Coast Guard resources to enforce the ban in Palawan waters of the West Philippine Sea and keep the Chinese poachers and illegal fihermen out?

Another case of abnoy's hare-brained executive order in the making.

What he should do instead is to declare a no-fishing-zone at known galunggong spawning areas in the seas around Palawan and add patrol boats / aircrafts to police and regulate fishing activities there. This will take more time to study and implement but at least it will have a chance to work.

Thinking that Ninoy should have remained silent on the issue is a chilling proposal. Your practically condoning a great injustice. What if you or your loved ones or friends held valuable state secrets and then the state decided to silence them? Would you yourself condone this? The accepted story of the Jabidah massacre was that the recruits were not given what they were promised, along with the refusal to fight in Sabah. All we have beyond that is mere speculation to suit our desired form of history right now. Nobody ever saw that in the 1960's aside from being militarily and economically stronger than Malaysia, and with better sphere of influence, it did not cross Marcos's mind to reclaim Sabah through diplomatic channels.

 

With regards to the MNLF rebellion, the Jabidah massacre was the last nail in the coffin, amongst a list of grievances that the Muslim Filipinos have against the government and their Christian brethren. If it was not Jabidah, then the continued neglect, abuse, and Christian encroachment into Muslim territory would have started it sooner or later. Jabidah, just accelerated the whole process. With regards to Malaysia supporting the MNLF, it did'nt need a Jabidah for them to help their Muslim brethren in Sulu (although that too aggravated the situation and steadied Malaysia's resolve, that is to never again be threatened).

 

“I believe in the validity of our claim to Sabah, per se.

 

“I believe we must pursue our claim to a legal end in the International Court of Justice, that the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu or their assignees and successors must be in any case be compensated.

 

“I believe in upholding the national patrimony and national dignity against any and all odds, but I hold we are called upon as the leaders, to caution against all acts of rashness.

 

“I believe in country—“My country, right or wrong,” as somebody said, but I must take issue with those who will PLUNGE US INTO UNDUE TRAGEDY BY SELFISH MOTIVES.

 

“…We have shown a capacity to endure stoically and stolidly when faced with adversity, but need we afflict our people with calamity and tragedy needlessly?

 

“We have shown we can be revolted and revulsed, but need we yield to blind passion, to rage, over reaction to something WE STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE?

 

“Our courage, our valor, and our love of country were tested under enemy fire in Bataan, Corregidor and the hills around Batac, but NEED WE SACRIFICE OUR YOUTH AND OUR FUTURE IN AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY?

 

“The need, Mr. President, is reason, not arson; sanity, not madness; And war, I dare say, is the optimum in madness. And war, I dare say, is the optimum in madness.

 

“If we must, let us pursue this claim in a spirit of conciliation, not wrath; let us seek a solution in friendship, not by force of arms.

 

“Let us not even think of taking up the implements of war, the tools of violence and killing, but labor instead for an honourable settlement at the conference table, in the council of nations, in the world court, or in whatever forum and wherever place it may be.

 

“But most importantly, let us together—the Malaysians and us—strive for a settlement that will give paramount value to the will of the people of Sabah themselves.”

 

SENATOR NINOY AQUINO, “Sabah! A Game of Diversion” speech, 5 October 1968

 

PS

 

Oh, and ironically my family including myself, have always been Marcos loyalists. But being a Marcos loyalist doesn't mean I have to be a Marcos stooge, fanatic, or blind to his faults. He had his share of greatness during his heyday, and he had his failures, simple as that.

 

I have never been a fan of the Aquino's but I do not like historical revisionism to suit our current needs. I never voted for Noynoy, but I will give him a chance. He is president now, and he may do things we or we may not like, but as president we have to give him a chance. Currently, all indicators lead to an improving economy, even statistics for corruption are at least declining compared to GMA's administration. Right now expert international opinion states, that this improvement in the economy is not trickling down to the masses, which is true, but Noynoy is not the only one who holds the money bag, he is not the only one who makes the rules.

Ninoy's speech was great! But he made it for his own selfish political agenda. He wanted to expose Marcos' mistake and rack up political "pogi" points for himself.

But what you still donot get is that, whatever the Philippine government did that time, right or wrong, was (and still is) a state secret. Exposing state secret is treason. Ninoy used his privileges as a Senator to expose his own country's secrets to another.

Had he kept quiet, nothing would have happened since the plot was aborted anyway. What Malaysia didn't know, wouldn't hurt them.

The USA did a lot of black ops against other countries. Did you ever hear of a US Senator exposing these top secret operations in their privileged speeches? Only in the Philippines!

What should Ninoy have done? He could have filed an impeachment case against Marcos if he can prove that activating "Operation Merdeka" was unconstitutional. Or if he can prove that Marcos ordered the massacre of the Jabidah recruits. At least if he did that, Malaysia would have no moral reason to retaliate because Senate have already put the president on trial. But he was too lazy to do that. And the thought of scoring political points on Marcos' expense was too tempting for him. He exposed Operation Merdeka in his privileged speech then let it go at that. No sanctions against Marcos. Ninoy Aquino's actions (inaction?) forced Malaysia's hand into retaliating the way they did.

PS

Unlike you, I'm not a Marcos loyalist. But I'm definitely not Abnoy's fan. After supporting Ninoy and Cory duting the late 80s, I later opened my eyes to realize that the Aquinos are no heroes either -- in fact they collectively did as much harm to us as the Marcoses did. I'm just calling spade a spade.

-Do you even know what the whole Jabidah issue was all about? What can you say about the fact that the recruits of operation Jabidah, the muslims themselves refused to participate when they found out that their mission order was to instigate insurgency and destabilization in Sabah, resulting in their massacre by the AFP, and becoming the last nail in the coffin in a string of grievances that the moro's had against the government and their filipino christian brethren, resulting in Nur Misuari establishing the MNLF. Ninoy was a journalist who had to expose this abuse of our muslim brethren, what would you have preferred? The muslims get slaughtered, everybody keeps quiet and the muslims dont get any justice, or at least the attention they deserved.

 

I was young at that time when I overheared my uncles and their friends in the military talking about it in family gatherings. From what I hear from their conversations, the Jabidah recruits mutineed because they were not getting paid. It seems one of the officers is pocketing their allowances. The recruits mutineed and threatened to disband and spill the beans to the press. The supposedly secret operation is getting out of control. That was why the operation was aborted and the operatives were "silenced".(Parang spy movie, ano?)

We may never get the real story because it is a state secret. But it's definitely not because of some ideological issue that you imply. You probably heard the MNLF's romantic version of the Jabidah story. I'd would tend to believe my family's military friends' version.

Sen. Ninoy Aquino exposed the Jabidah incident through a privilege speech in the Senate, based on information from his informant, who was an officer in the AFP.

The resulting expose' embarrassed the Philippine government and prompted Malaysia to cut diplomatic ties with us. Malaysia then supported the MNLF by providing training, arms, and financial support to destabilize Mindanao -- sort of giving the Philippine government (Marcos gov't) a dose of its own medicine.

What if Ninoy kept quiet? If the incident was kept secret, Malaysia wouldn't have known about it. Our diplomatic relations wouldn't have suffered. Of course, Malaysian intelligence may find out about the incident, but as long as it is kept a secret, international diplomacy would have prevailed, with both Philippines and Malaysian governments acting amicably toward each other as if all is well.

With normal diplomatic relations, MNLF wouldn't have risen as a significant force to put Mindanao in chaos with Malaysian support.

Sen. Ninoy Aquino exposed a top secret Philippine Military operation for his own political gain. The result is the destabilization of Mindanao.

^^^ uhhh, Abnoy?

again, my question, why not do as Taiwan/India/Vietnam do? why be timid when sustained occupation is how our neighbors are playing the game?

Taiwan and India have the military capability to take on China on territorial dispute skirmishes. To a certain extent, Vietnam can hold up on their own too, but they were trounced by China several times before.

Our navy and airforce, on the other hand, at present can't do anything substantial until we get our new ships and fighters delivered to us a few years from now. We have to keep quiet for a while longer while we build up our strength. We may look timid, but what else can we do? We have to rely more on diplomacy.

again, my question, why not do as Taiwan/India/Vietnam do? why be timid when sustained occupation is how our neighbors are playing the game?

Taiwan and India have the military capability to take on China on territorial dispute skirmishes. To a certain extent, Vietnam can hold up on their own too, but they were trounced by China several times before.

Our navy and airforce, on the other hand, at present can't do anything substantial until we get our new ships and fighters delivered to us a few years from now. We have to keep quiet for a while longer while we build up our strength. We may look timid, but what else can we do? We have to rely more on diplomacy.

Ok so in other words, since the US unilaterally decided to put up a military blockade to prevent Soviet missiles from reaching Cuba, that was tantamount to an act of war. No need to formally declare war on another country and only then set up a military blockade. The military blockade in itself is already a declaration of war.

An undeclared war? The USA did that to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. And what they did then was worse than a blockade.

Well yes that was my original question. When JFK declared a naval blockade (a naval quarantine) off Cuba to prevent Soviet warships from reaching Cuba, did a formal state of war exist between the US and Cuba/Soviet Union? Yes I know there was the Cold War back in those days. But can the Cold War actually be considered as a formal declaration of war that would warrant a naval blockade?

You answered your own question. What the US did then was virtually an act of war against Cuba. It just so happen that Russia did not cross the line because they know they will never win a fight right in the USA's backyard, and Cuba was too weak to resist. Cuba's neighbors, the Latin American States, are pro-USA. So nobody raised a finger vs. Uncle Sam.

The South China Sea dispute is entirely different. Our neighbors are not pro-China. In fact they are our allies and many of them also have territorial disputes with China just like us. So, as long as we don't provoke China militarily, any military agression they conduct against Pag-asa Island will be viewed by our neighbors and allies as an act of war against us, and most likely, they will come to our aid. China can't afford to be in that situation.