Pedestrian Observer GB: 8/1/10

"In societies where Robbing Hoods are treated like a celebrity it is but natural to expect political parties to act like a Mafia syndicate" Political Jaywalker "In a nation where corruption is endemic people tend to confuse due process with aiding and abetting criminals" Political Jaywalker "War doesn't determine who is right, war determines who is left" Bertrand Russell "You have just one flash flood of money, you keep your people poor. It's like a time bomb and it's scary" Philippine Lawmaker

Hostage Taker Rolando Mendoza's Live Interview w/ Michael Rogas of RMN

When one who took the oath to protect and serve the people goes on a terrorist rampage who will protect us when the very people task to restore law and order are murderously inept? Never again should innocent people suffer from the hands of maniacal murderous criminal with a false sense of justice taking along with him tourist who has nothing to whatsoever or any connection with his personal "cause" that is more of a vendetta by hostaging and murdering innocent people.

Tragic End for Hong Kong Tourist in the hands of Ex-Cop Rolando Mendoza

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Politics

corruption

The Lolas: An issue that refuses to die

It is ironic that a serious humanitarian and rights issue that occurred more than six decades ago has remained unresolved then resurfaces to stir public discourse again just because of an aberration in an institution we used to hold sacred. The reported infringement of a copyright is another push downhill in the people's perception of the so-called highest court of the land.

It boggles the mind how everything that's fair and righteous seem to have been stacked against the so-called comfort women from the start. Yes, it happened so long ago but until the perpetrators step up and accept the consequences of their monstrosity, the wound continues to pester. Until then people like me will continue to ask questions about a neighboring nation that embarked on a weird Greater Asia Prosperity Sphere campaign at the start of World War II supposedly to uplift not only itself but also Asian brothers but instead heinously subjugated and terrorized them.

How is it that a renegade country condemned for treacherously starting the war in the Pacific with a sneak attack of Pearl Harbor and neighboring countries, brought to its knees in defeat and then helped to recoup its loses and regain its stature in the community of nations by the very people it terrorized has until today refused to come up with what's decent and just? Why is Japan not fully forthcoming to those it victimized during the last world war?

In 1993, or more than 40 years after the fact, a member of Japan's ruling party, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, came out with a kind of acknowledgement that indeed Japan committed massive criminal acts amid the coercive nature of war. Acknowledgement, if it amounted to that, is not a substitute for apology and making amends about it especially to help appease the torment among the dwindling number of victims. Then there was Prime Minister Koizumi who nine years later extended in a letter "my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women." Additionally, he said, "We must not evade the weight of the past, nor should we evade our responsibilities for the future."

At that time it appeared that this arrogant government who made it possible for soldier-beasts to brutalize and kill even innocent civilians and children in the past had finally come up with something remotely remorseful. I thought then that finally there was a semblance of a leadership coming to grips with itself about the atrocities committed to the comfort women. Was such development an indication that after all there is still a miniscule of decency from that end about the issue?

Unfortunately even those hollow personal pronouncements of culpability was promptly repudiated by the succeeding Prime Minister Shnzo Abe. And thus the cry for justice continues for the women victims concerned. How long had they remained silent about the torments they underwent, suffered the pain and humiliation of cruel acts not of their making? How many survivors of the comfort women system during World War II -- historians estimate that there were between 80,000 and 200,000 of these women from the Korean peninsula, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and the Philippines -- are still alive today? What will it take for Japan to fully atone the injustices committed?

And now we heard about our own Supreme Court deciding against the petition of 70 Filipino comfort women for the Philippine government to pick up their cause. Not only did the court worked against the interest of our people crying for justice; it did so with apparent lack of seriousness and sensitivity by employing purloined arguments. Then a second whammy was delivered by our own Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo who argued that the cause of the oppressed Filipinos would be inimical to our country's foreign policy interests, and could disrupt relations with Japan. These remnants of the shameless GMA regime are living up to their heavily tarnished image. -- By D. Grava (Note: Also published in Pinas Global News.)

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Dionesio C. Grava - Part-time community journalist based in Los Angeles and editorial writer at Forum Asia.

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Tragic End for Hong Kong Tourist in the hands of Ex-Cop Rolando Mendoza

While the nation is still reeling over on the torture video of a robbery suspect by PNP Insp. Joselito Binayug, another ex-cop Rolando Mendoza despondent over his dismissal from the service takes Hong Kong tourist hostage in Manila that ended in his death taking along with him 8 innocent tourist lives.

To say that the hostage situation that ended horrifically tragic was bungled by the cops is an understatement. Everything that went wrong that day just went terribly wrong, the absence of tear gas mask only shows the police ineptness to handle such situation. Poor execution if indeed they even mapped out plans on how to takeover the situation is as pathetic as it gets.

Clearly the negotiators and the police are not in control of the situation or properly secured the perimeter when they allowed a relative of the hostage taker to carry his gun in the area. How can they allow Gregorio Mendoza also a cop and brother of the hostage taker whom they dispatched to convince Rolando Mendoza to surrender, but instead only added to the tense situation by instigating his brother even more? As if that is not enough they ought to know that the hostage taker is suffering from persecution complex, arresting the hostage taker brother when they could have just ordered him to stay clear and arrest him later is as dumb as it can get. Now how exactly do they expect one with an unstable mind react when he sees not just his brother getting arrested but also his son interfering and resisting in their arrest? Volatile deadly hostage situation calls for highly trained stable professionals, sadly questions arise if those dispatched are equally unstable themselves.

The timing of the arrest is definitely dumb but even dumber is when the media reports it trying to out scoop each other not realizing that their irresponsible reporting only adds more fuel to the raging fire enraging the hostage taker even more to murdering suicidal state.

If the reports are accurate that Rolando Mendoza was agitated by the letter coming from Ombudsman Merceditas Guttierez, what exactly was the content of the said letter that enraged the hostage taker even more? Did the negotiators read the letter before passing it off to the hostage taker, or better still the question should be why will the Ombudsman send a letter in the first place? Well, it appears that no one is clearly in command of the situation as seen in this report quoting Isko Moreno the Vice Mayor of Manila:

Moreno said he has been helping solve the hostage situation as a representative of the Manila City government. "We’re trying to come up with something, kanya-kanyang effort [to each his own effort]. I’m stuck in traffic but I just came from the Office of the Ombudsman. I have a letter for Capt. Mendoza," Moreno explained.

Stupid as stupid gets, dumb and dumber or was it a contest of the dumbest? What does he mean that they are coming up with their own effort? Is this guy a professional hostage negotiator that he acts on his own getting a letter from the ombudsman intended for the hostage taker? How in the world can he even assume what goes on in the minds of the hostage taker is just unbelievable stating that if it was him, said content of the letter will enlighten him. Well, Isko here is a word of advice, don’t assume things because people who assume things are almost always wrong, and with deadly consequence one should not at all cost do so for the sake of the elusive sound bytes. For one, what would compel a hostage taker in reading a letter coming from a bar flunker appointee of Gloria Arroyo ease the tension and convince the hostage taker to surrender?

An ex-cop resorting to drastic criminal measure clearly indicates a system that is broken. Does he have a legitimate grievance? His ordeal started when he was the subject of a viral email dubbed as the revenge of the nerd arising form the illegal arrest and extortion of a Manila Hotel Chef. A case of “Hulidap” a modus operandi of extorting money from innocent civilians by planting illegal drugs as “evidence” of possession forcing the victims to cough up huge amount of hard earned money. There are numerous cases of Hulidap, unfortunately when you are dealing with a corrupt police officer bringing a case against them is a very dangerous and a deadly proposition. In a court system that can’t be trusted and perceived to be corrupt if not inept this hooliganism persist and sadly when caught these dumb asses are so deluded in their thinking that they are being persecuted or singled out. Now why singled out, well if they see their big bosses all the way to the top elected untouchable politicians plundering the nation they will of course feel persecuted.

Why only me, is the common sentiment among crooks nowadays and sadly until these cops and the court system who insist that the crooks are a minority then it is time that they prove it and show us exactly by making the system work. Until corruption is unimpeded in running amok in the police and justice system we have yet to see the worse to come. This is an indication that the justice system as a whole stinks due to endemic corruption. When you have people in position and high places not just contributing but actually instituting the malady the outcome will be tragic as in this case.

The worse criminals are the ones who took the oath to protect us from the dregs of society but of course thieving politicians are not concerned about it because they have their own bodyguards to protect them…. Only mortals like us will have to worry about our safety in the hands of our bantay salakay……….. on the other hand we can't lose hope that change is still possible and how the administration deals with this problem will determine if indeed there is hope. But then again while negotiations are ongoing another news that makes the Philippines a dangerous place for tourist hit the news with the killing of a Korean and kidnapping of 2 others......

Hostage Taker Rolando Mendoza's Live Interview w/ Michae Rogas of RMN

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Citizen feedback for the new administration

Considering that the new government is encouraging the public to generate feedbacks and possibly participate in building a better future for our country and countrymen, may I contribute the following observations that may need looking into:

1. In our recent visit to the homeland, my wife and I were among those who had continuing flight to Cebu's Mactan International Airport and our baggage were not processed by Customs at NAIA. At MIA, however, there were no Customs representative around other than two Customs policemen who by law are not authorized to routinely inspect incoming goods and levy duties/taxes, if any. If such setup is ongoing, it would present a lucrative loophole to those seeking to evade our laws.

2. Going through the Mactan Domestic Airport on our way to Boracay on July 5, the security screeners got a bleep on their monitor that turned out to be a tiny knife that I failed to notice in my luggage. I know it is not allowed and I thanked the guy for detecting it. However, my request for a receipt was refused. I talked later with the guy's superior C. Bermejo, Jr., and Station Chief Inspector Donatila Sotto who assured me that they will follow up on the matter. Still I was not given a receipt. Is this the SOP regarding such matters? If so, how many apprehensions of disallowed items are confiscated daily and how many of them end up in private possessions?

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Dionesio C. Grava - Part-time community journalist based in Los Angeles and editorial writer at Forum Asia.

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Is FaceBook Morphing into a Taliban Moral Police?

The Not So Talented Delfin ‘DJ’ Justiniano Ocampo Montano II wants to F Facebook on the censorship of the image shown below;

What’s the big deal anyway, unless one has a dirty mind then that is their problem, or is it really a problem? I see nothing wrong with it as it was clearly a microphone that was awkwardly and I assume innocently placed at the teddy bear’s crotch at the time it was captured by the camera which is really funny and amusing.

The blogger at The Not So Talented Delfin ‘DJ’ Justiniano Ocampo Montano II surely has a beef (errr no not the kind of beef you’re thinking but a gripe) especially when FaceBook has no problem with gay bashing going on at its social networking site.

Perhaps they have not noticed the gay bashing but what is surprising is when they are able to pinpoint a single image they deem fit for censorship.

No surprise here after almost losing my Political Jaywalker account on suppossedly using a "Fake Name." The argument that they are privately held as espoused by some and therefore not a public forum thus it is not covered by the constitutional guarantee on freedom of expression. Unfortunately while it is a "private property," they are not exactly private but is as public as it gets when the privacy of the members are compromised. Some found that out the hard way, too late to realize that their personal information and what they posted are accessible in the world wide web.

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PNP Insp. Joselito Binayug Cop Identified in Torture Video

It appears that this sadist cop, PNP's "finest" P. Insp. Joselito Binayug has a refutation for cruelty among the poor people in Tondo, Manila where he is assigned. This is definitely a despicable act and requires no description as the video clearly illustrates such unspeakable aberration perpetrated by a suppossedly protector of the people..... with cops like him, it is no wonder there is a breakdown in law and order.