Zamboanga Blog

The suggestion to change the name of the “Office of Muslim Affairs” to “Office of Muslim Filipino Affairs” is not taken lightly by the bangsamoro.

This would classify the Muslims born in the Philippines as “Filipino” if this bill passes which was sponsored by Senator Miguel Zubiri, from Bukidnon.

According to Mohammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF Secretariat, this re-naming of OMA to OMFA is a step in the wrong direction. This would imply that Muslims in the Philippines are Filipinos.

“We are not Filipinos,” he clarified (Mohammad Ameen), “because only subjects of Spain rightly fall under such category and the Moros were never under Spain throughout their colonial presence in the Philippines for more than 300 years. ”

“It is not bad to have two nations, Filipinos and Bangsamoros, in this country,” he assured.

The statement of Mohammad Ameen, regarding a nation for muslims only in Mindanao is an echo from the Philippine Constitution of 1987. The 1987 constitution referred to Mindanao as “Muslim Mindanao”.

Someone sent me this email. I have to share it with you. The out-of pocket expenses during the campaign are all recovered within the first year. We need a Senator from Zamboanga City.

ANG SARAP MAGING SENADOR! 

GUSTO KONG MAGING SENADOR NG PILIPINAS

 Miriam Defensor Santiago was featured in Correspondents last week.

Maganda rin naman ang naidudulot ng pagiging prangka ni Senador Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Ayon kay Santiago , marami ang tumatak-bong Senador dahil sa laki ng budget na ibinibigay sa kanila kada buwan.

Lumalabas na P35,000 suweldo nila kada buwan ay pakitang-tao lang sa milyun-milyong budget ng bawat senador… Kada buwan ay may Fixed Monthly Budget ang bawat Senador ng humigit-kumulang P2 Milyon.

Sa opisina pa lang nila ay humigit-kumulang P500,000 angbudget nila sa Maintenance and Operating Expenses (Rental, Utilities, Supplies at Domestic Travels) at P500,000 para sa Staff at Personal expenses. Kaya para makatipid ang ibang Senador, kaunti lang ang staff na kinukuha nila. Nagtataka ka pa kung bakit mayroong mga Ghost Employee?

Bukod diyan, may P760,000 allowance pa sila kada buwan para naman sa Foreign Travel. At ang masakit pa nito, hindi na kailangan i-liquidate ang mga resibo ng mga gastusin ‘yan kundi Certification lang ang Requirement.

Heto pa, lahat sila ay Chairman ng mg Komite sa Senado. Ang Committee Chairman ay tumatanggap din ng budget na sinlaki ng tinatanggap ng mga Senador na humigit-kumulang P1 Milyon din! Hindi sila mawawalan ng Komite dahil 24 lang ang ating mga Senador at 37 naman ang Committee sa Senado. There’s food for everybody ‘ika nga! Lumalabas na doble ang kanilang benepesiyo at kita kapag sila ay nabiyayaan ng Committee Chairmanship.

Sa P200 milyon na Budget para sa Pork Barrel ng mga Senador bawat taon, awtomatikong may 10% na S.O.P. o kita ng Senador na P20 milyon. Ito ang porsiyento na ibinibigay ng mga kontratista sa mga Senador na nagbibigay sa kanila ng mga Infrastructure at Livelihood Project.

Bago matapos ang termino ng isang Senador, kumita na siya ng P100 milyon sa Pork Barrel pa lang. Yung ibang Senador mas gahaman, hindi lang 10% kundi 20 – 30% ang komisyon hinihingi sa mga kontratista.

Pansinin niyo na lang ang pagbabago ng buhay ng ilan sa ating mga Senador simula nang manungkulan sa puwesto. Kung dati ay simple lang ang kanilang pamumuhay ngayon ay nakatira na sila sa mga eksklusibong subdivision, maraming bahay sa Pilipinas at abroad at mahigit lima ang sasakyan.

Ngayon nagtataka ka pa ba kung bakit gumagastos ng daan-daang milyong piso ang mga Senador sa kampanya para sa isang posisyon na P35,000 lang ang suweldo kada buwan? Bawing-bawi pala ang gastos kapag naupo na!

ANG SARAP MAGING SENADOR! ! !

Celso Lobregat is a seasoned politician with numerous accomplishments.
He was a succesful congressman and is a very productive mayor of Zamboanga City.

He can be the next senator of the Philippines coming out of Zamboanga City like the former senator Roseller Lim.

The year 2010 is the start for a tremendous and prosperous economic future for Zamboanga City. We are the 6th largest city in the Philippines, yet we do not have a senator.

Zamboanga City desperately needs a senator to represent it. Erbie Fabian and Beng Climaco Salazar are doing fantastic representing Zamboanga City at the house of representatives level. However, wouldn’t it be great with a representation from both the Senate and the House?

Take a look at the type of representation we have at the Philippine senate.  There is one senator from Visayas and two from Mindanao. The rest are from Luzon.  The two from Mindanao are from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental and Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. They are neighbors. These two cities in Mindanao are growing at a faster pace than Zamboanga City because they have powerful representation in Malcañang.

Mayor Celso Lobregat, you served Zamboanga well as its congressman and as its mayor. We the Zamboangueños are very greatful! Now you are being called for a loftier service. The people of Zamboanga City needs you to be their Senator

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Mannix Dalipe vs Celso Lobregat for the leadership of Zamboanga City as its Mayor for the term of 2010-2013.

Both candidates have proven their leadership qualities to the people of Zamboanga. I believe either one can continue to propel our beloved city to great prosperity and security.

The people of Zamboanga are now looking for someone they can bond with like a family down to the barangay level. If you compare the two, one of them excels over the other regarding family issues.

Most of the Zamboanguenios do not even know the direct family of Celso Lobregat. They know his mother and father, but how about his wife and children? All these years it has been hush hush. The fact of the matter is that Celso lived in Zamboanga City pretty much on his own.

On the other hand, Mannix Dalipe has always been open. His bio data is open to the public. This is not the case with Celso. Mannix is a family man. You see him with his wife and his children.

Mannix is the man that sets the example of good family values. However, is this really how the Filipinos look at politics? I think the Filipinos do not care about family values when it comes to politics. We had a prisoner who became senator and a convicted felon as a governor and on and on…

In other countries like the USA, Mannix will win the election hands down. Here in Zamboanga City, he’ll have a tough campaign ahead of him.

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There is such an organization in the Philippines as the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy.

Yes, there can be a democracy within an Islam State or Country.

Yes, the Philippines is a democracy.

 However, an Islam state within the Philippines and be democratic for all Filipinos?  A dream that has turned into a nightmare.

Once an Islamic Nation is established, that nation is run by Muslims and not by Non-Muslims. The Koran (Qur’an) does not allow non-Muslims to run an Islam nation.

The Philippines has the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) and the ARMM is run by Muslims. The elections are done democratically but the candidates or politicians that run for office for the ARMM are Muslims.

The ARMM survives through the funding of the Philippines Government which is funded by all the citizens of the Philippines who are 95% non-Muslims. These 95% dare not participate in the politics of the ARMM. The politics in the ARMM is for the Muslims only.

How about that? President Arroyo in December 5, 2009 declares martial law in Maguindanao, Mindanao, an area within the ARMM region, but tells her people to stay away from the MILF.

The Arroyo administration left the province of Maguindanao to its political leaders to do as they wish, to a point of even creating their own private armies. The Maguindanao Province is part of the ARMM which by the way, the Philippine government has no control over even though it finances the ARMM. Left unchecked crime got out of hand and the National Police became useless. So to show the people that she (Arroyo) still has the power, she declared martial law.

Martial Law allows the authority to arrest and jail anyone without due process of law. Your are guilty until proven innocent.

There are some guilty parties too within the MILF area in Maguindanao, but since President Arroyo says they have the “get out of jail” pass, nobody dares even look towards the MILF stronghold.

I am not saying that those who were arrested were not guilty, but they desserve the due process of law.

1972 was the last time that Martial Law was declared in the Philippines. Martial Law devastated  the Philippines. Here we go again, Poking at the devil.

July 23, 2009

The president of the Philippines, Gloria M. Arroyo ordered the suspension of the military offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). According to her the military is out of ammo.

Really!! Why not just buy more?

Excuses and more excuses again. The reason why Arroyo halted the offensive is because she wants the MILF to regroup and gather strength while she is pushing for the resumption of the “TALKS” of negotiation between the hand-picked appointees of Arroyo and the MILF representatives in Malaysia.

There is only one goal for this “NEGOTIATION” in Malaysia. It is to give away Mindanao to the Bangsa Moro Juridical Entity (BJE) or the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). They failed last time. The supreme court ruled that Arroyo’s agreement with the MILF was unconstitutional. Now Arroyo is taking this negotiation back to the drawing board and hoping that the Filipino people have forgotten and this time, she has a trick up her sleeve.

Since she is the commander in chief of the Philippines, she ordered the military to stop the offensive against the MILF so that the MILF can regroup, recruit more fighters, buy more arms with money from the Philippine government and be ready for the military if the NEGOTIATION does not go the way of the MILF.

During the last confrontation after the failed negotiation, the MILF suffered terrible losses. They were ill prepared. Now with the cease-fire and the budget to buy more weapons, they will be ready for the military.

Who suffers here? We the people. Remember last year when Lanao was in the middle of a battle and the MILF fighters were fighting while hiding behind the cover of the Muslim civilians? Thousands of Muslim civilians from the ARMM region were evacuated to the none ARMM regions for safety. The Muslim ARMM residents are not even safe with their own military. That is right the Muslims or ARMM have their own military. It is the MILF.

So here we go again with the President of the Philippines doing her best to break up the Philippines.

The Philippine flag carries a lot of meaningful symbolisms for the Filipino people.
Each corner of the flag’s triangle contains a small, yellow, five-pointed star representing the three major geographical divisions of the country:

• Luzon
• Visayas
• Mindanao

The 1987 constitution refers to Mindanao not as “Mindanao” but as “Muslim Mindanao”. Yes Article 10 section 1 of the Philippine constitution refers to Mindanao as “Muslim Mindanao”. In Article 10 section 15 it repeats its reference to Mindanao as “Muslim Mindanao”.

Are we united as a democratic country of the Philippines? Or we just think we are. Because on paper, per the constitution, we are divided.

Declaring autonomous regions in the Philippines for the indigenous people is fine and is perfectly justifiable. But to create an autonomous region for a Religion? Now, that is contrary to Article 2 section 6 of the constitution which states: ”The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.”.

The president of the Philippines has no power over the ARMM. Yet the Philippine government budgets billions of pesos each year for the ARMM.

The department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has no power over the ARMM. The number one function of the DILG is to “Assist the President in the exercise of general supervision over local governments”. There are seventeen regions in the Philippines in which the ARMM is one of them. The DILG exercises control over the other 16 regions except the region of the ARMM.

The only bit of control the president has is over the OMA (office of muslim affairs) which is directly under the president. The OMA is not for all the  Filipino people, it is only for the Muslims as the name implies. Millions of pesos are also allocated each year to this department where only one section of the Filipino people is benefited. I am not against any Religion.  I am for equality. Why is there favoritism here? Was this the idea of the majority of the Filipino people? How did this slip through? Now they are talking about changing the constitution again.

Be aware people. Don’t you want equality? Don’t you want peace in the Philippines? The poor needs help.  The government should not help “RELIGION”. The government should help the PEOPLE. After all we are a DEMOCRACY. A government for the people, by the people, and of the people.

The constitution of the Philippines regulates governance and is supposed to keep the BALANCE of the country.  Currently (2009) our political leaders want to change this constitution. They are not giving us the reason why they want to change the constitution.  They do not want to talk about the WHY.

The Philippine leaders are talking about all sorts of problems and purposely adding more to the pile to keep confusing the Filipino people. They are effectively steering away from the core of the problem.

The core problem is the issue of “THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE”. They talk about cha-cha, federalism, ARMM, bje, con-ass, and the breaking up of the Philippines into different states. They continue to talk about all these other issues to confuse the people. They do not want to talk about the core issue.

Before they were hot on Cha-Cha and federalism then last year they were steaming on the issue of the ARMM and BJE. Now there is a dust of cloud in the air about Con-Ass or Constituent Assembly. They are all itching to change the 1987 constitution and get their names in the history books and make tons of money for themselves and their supporters. 

Here is the scenario:

1)       The What? :  They (political leaders) are talking about changing or ratifying the 1987 Philippine Constitution .

2)      The How? :

a)      There are three ways that the current Philippine constitution can be changed.

i)        One is by People’s Initiative,

ii)      second is by Constitutional Convention and

iii)    the third is by Constituent  Assembly.

b)      There must be an election: The proposed amendment or revision to the 1987 Constitution will be  valid only after the approval by the majority of Filipinos in a plebiscite.

3)      The Why ? They don’t want to discuss this.  Why bother?  They want to keep talking about political dynasties, about distribution of wealth, about oil in the Sulu province,  about anything but the core issue.

 I wish that there would be one, yes just one, who will step forward and be the champion for discussing the core issue of the “Separation of church and state”.  Billions of pesos are lost via government allocation each year in the guise of “helping the indigenous people” within a specific group of people.  Read the article about the “Separation of church and state” and be aware.