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The ICC (Imperialists’ Criminal Court) DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel 09/05/2011

Monday, September 5, 2011

The ICC (Imperialists’ Criminal Court)

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
09/05/2011
The African Union (AU), a body representing 54 nations of that vast continent, called on all its members last July 1 to disregard the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Libya’s Moammar Kadhafi. Jean Ping, Gabonese diplomat and current chairman of the AU’s administrative branch, referred to the ICC as “discriminatory” in that it only goes after alleged crimes committed in Africa while ignoring the many serious ones perpetrated by the West in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Before that, there was already increasing criticism in Africa against the ICC, a court repeatedly denounced as an instrument of neocolonialism. A few years earlier (in 2009), an arrest warrant issued by the ICC against President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan was similarly rejected by the AU. Bashir had even challenged the order by traveling all over Africa, tempting Western powers to coax any of the AU member-states to arrest him — something that the union obviously did not capitulate to.

Elsewhere within the AU, the ICC also managed to perform a similar stunt. In Côte d’Ivoire, a year after its elections were marked with massive fraud by the camp of former IMF executive-turned-presidential candidate Alassane Ouatara, which was used by the West, led by France, as a pretext for storming the presidential palace of then incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo to effect his arrest, the ICC is now threatening to launch investigations into alleged post-election violence there.

Still, the earliest target and victim of the ICC was Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. The late journalist Olley Maruma wrote about this in the Southern Times of South Africa: “Following the defeat of Serbia, Milosevic was abducted by Nato commandos and taken to the Hague… That the United States, which is not a member of the ICC, was the principal organizer of Milosevic’s trial at the Hague, exposed the fraud of the entire enterprise.”

In his article, “ICC — ‘Western kangaroo court,’” Maruma tells us that “In Africa, the International Criminal Court at the Hague is considered by many to be a Western kangaroo court set up to hound, jail and silence African and Third World leaders who refuse to submit to the grip of Western hegemony and domination…

One hundred and eight states are members of the court. Among those that have refused to join are China, Russia, India and the United States… The widely-held negative view of the ICC was neatly summed up by Miguel d’Escoto Brockman, the president of the United Nations General Assembly… (who) dismissed the ICC’s indictment on Al-Bashir as ‘absurd and politically motivated… (noting that) A few people with a very dubious past and with very little credibility pretend to know better than the whole African Union’… (which is why he argued) that for international justice to regain its credibility, ‘it would be important to begin by indicting people from powerful nations, not to pick on the smaller ones.’”

The powerful, and to be precise Western, nations have murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and, now, in Libya (with 30,000 bombs dropped in 8,000 runs). The numbers of innocent lives these Western powers have killed cannot be matched by the military capacity of those tyrants even if they had the desire to.

All told, the ICC is a kangaroo court of the West; as a forum for justice, it is a fraud. The West’s crimes abound with impunity, yet there are a number of Filipino personalities still praising the ICC, such as writer Ceres Doyo or legal “luminaries” Raul Pangalangan and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Could this be motivated by what many believe is a naked ambition (of some) to join the ICC bench to jump in cadence to the march of Western imperialism?

An honest look at the record of the ICC is all that is required to see the truth behind it, as our 18-year-old scholar and regular radio text-discussant Angeline Lim messaged to us: “The ICC is running after Kadhafi, but the likes of Kissinger, Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney, and particularly Cheney who was responsible for the Abu Ghraib prison tortures (one of the most disturbing pictures leaked out was that of a detainee tied to a wooden crate with electric wires attached to his private parts, hands and feet), have clearly violated the Geneva Conventions and human rights, yet they are untouchable; this clearly shows the ICC is only after select enemies.”

And in another text she said: “Gen. Wesley Clark, commander of the Nato air war against Serbia, is liable under the Geneva Convention of ’49 for the illegal bombing of water treatment plants, hospitals, and schools which killed 2,000 while Bosnian Gen. Obrenovic who led the assault on Srebrenica was turned over to the war crimes court in the Hague. This is the same situation for the ICC against Milosevic.” Quite simply, Angeline is able to easily discern the truth from historical facts as she is untainted by a fraudulent mind.
Back here at home, the Philippines also has its own miniscule secessionist minority — the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), along with its rogues such as commander Umbra Kato — that has continued to sow violence and terror to attract international attention and invite foreign intervention.

Catering to the foreign powers seeking entry into our areas of natural wealth, particularly oil and gas in Mindanao and the Sulu Sea, the MILF, as did the Kosovo Liberation Army and the al-Qaeda in Libya (both Nato instruments), is sure to carry out civilian massacres to compel the Philippine military to react and bring about collateral damage, which will serve as basis for an ICC indictment. Philippine police and military forces are then going to be stymied or criminalized, both resulting in the debilitation of the authority and sovereignty of the RP government.

As Western powers through the ICC have done this before, they will surely do it again to regain as many lost ground since World War II, all in the advancement of their neocolonial resurgence this century.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Saturday, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8 on “Sci-Tech Innovations: Key to Filipinos’ Economic Emancipation” with DoST NCR Director Tess Fortuna and DoST innovators; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110905com5.html

A sacred cow still EDITORIAL 09/05/2011

A sacred cow still

EDITORIAL
Click to enlarge
09/05/2011
The past seems to catch up with every individual, including--hopefully--former President Fidel V. Ramos, who has remained until now, beyond reach of any form of retribution, despite being suspected of benefiting from several questionable deals during his tenure as president.

A leaked US Embassy dispatch sent in 1995 or three years after he assumed the presidency, the process for which Sen. Miriam Santiago continues to question claiming that she was the true winner of the presidential race in 1992, showed that one of his aides in the peace process then being negotiated with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) from which sprang the current secessionist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), volunteered that the Libyan government donated P5 million to the Ramos presidential campaign.

The amount seems harmless enough, compared to the denominations running in the billions of pesos for most of the corruption allegations during the Arroyo administration but it ran counter to the law, particularly the Omnibus Elections Code that prohibits candidates for elective post to accept foreign contributions..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110905com1.html

Wikileaks: Eye opener for Pinoys FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 09/05/2011

Wikileaks: Eye opener for Pinoys

FRONTLINE
Ninez Cacho-Olivares
09/05/2011
When the Wikileaks cables started going public, via the newspapers, the United States government was properly embarrassed, but along with their allies, took it out on Julian Assange, who was smart enough to upload the contents of the “US secret cables” and spread them through the Internet.

The US government — especially the state department, was red-faced. The leaks showed that even as its ambassadors all over the world were displaying a friendly face and even praising several heads of state and government, privately, they were contemptous of them — and the duplicity of the US’ fight against corrupt governments that it supported also showed the world that the US didn’t really care how corrupt an SOB head of state and government was, he would still be supported as long as he remained their SOB.

But with Wikileaks releasing some 3,000 plus secret cables from US Embassy in the Philippines, Filipinos — and even politicians, especially those in Malacañang, and most especially, the Palace tenant, should neither be too chummy with the US Embassy officials nor take their effusive praises since what they write home office is certainly not a very flattering picture of Philippine officials..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110905com2.html

What are they thinking? C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 09/05/2011

What are they thinking?

C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S
Jonathan De la Cruz
09/05/2011
I am referring to Sen. Ping Lacson, the celebrated “go to” personality for many high profile exposés and his equally celebrated counterweight, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. At the rate they are going with their media blitzes on all kinds of cases sometimes to the point of going against each other, there may come a time when people will start asking what are these people up to. That time may well be now after both dished out baffling statements which to ordinary mortals like us. Betray their seeming contempt for the rule of law and our judicial processes. In fact, some observers have come to regard their issuances as bordering on the unethical or even self-serving.

Take the case of Lacson’s threat to use his veto power as a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) to reject the confirmation of De Lima if and this is really a big IF “she cannot issue warrants of arrest against the spouses Mike and Gloria Arroyo” by the time the lady executive gets to sit before the CA again this month. Going ballistic over what he calls the Department of Justice (DoJ)’s snail-paced action on cases of alleged irregularities involving the Arroyos and other denizens of the previous administration, the Cavite solon has gone overboard himself asking De Lima to do what legal luminaries believe is legally impossible..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110905com4.html

Aranetas’ land claim turned residents’ hopes and dreams into nightmare

Aranetas’ land claim turned residents’ hopes and dreams into nightmare


Literally, Pangarap Village is the fulfillment of the dreams of the residents. The land was awarded to them in 1973 by then president Ferdinand E. Marcos. But the Aranetas came back to once more stake its claim to the land, emboldened by a Supreme Court order in 1988 and the ascension to power of one of their own Mar Roxas.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

SECOND PART: Aquinos and Aranetas conspiring vs ‘land to the landless’ and the urban poor

PANGARAP VILLAGE, Caloocan – (First of two parts) Husband and wife Rommel Fortades, 36, and Teng Sevilla, 30, both grew up in Pangarap Village, which for them had been aptly named because this is where they had first woven their dreams together. As such, when the landlord Araneta family renewed its claim to the land where Pangarap Village sits on, and the Aranetas intensified their efforts to drive away the village residents, Fortades and Sevilla were among the first to barricade and protect their homes.

A skilled, former employee of an ad company, Fortades had started a small silkscreen printing business. Sevilla said Mel, as most people call Fortades, is a responsible partner and father to their two-year-old son Angelo. “He is not really sweet but he has his own ways of expressing his love for us,” she said.

“He is the kind of person who would fight as long as he knows it is only right,” Sevilla said. “Mel has good intentions so I did not bother telling him to stop what he’s doing.”

Fortades engaged actively in online activities to support the residents’ struggle in Pangarap Village. He is the person behind the Facebook Page “Kuto ni Araneta,” (Araneta’s lice). With camera and video at hand, he documented and posted materials online to inform people about what the residents of Pangarap Village were going through.

Sevilla said she became alarmed when she began seeing photos of Araneta’s security guards taking pictures of his husband. “It looks like they were taking pictures of each other,” she said.



Teng Sevilla takes the role of her late husband Rommel Fortades in documenting the struggles of the residents of Pangarap Village.(Photos by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)
“I warned him to be more careful.” At that time, she entertained thoughts of leaving Pangarap Village for somewhere “more peaceful.” She said all she dreamt about is having a complete family.

But Fortades and his family chose to stay and fight for their stake in Pangarap Village.
On July 23, Sevilla woke up around 6:30 a.m. to find out that Fortades had already been out of bed. She said Fortades developed a habit of waking up early to visit the people’s barricade because the Araneta’s demolition team normally arrives at dawn.

And then Sevilla heard gunshots. A neighbor told her that her husband was shot.

The neighbors brought the bleeding Fortades first to North Caloocan Hospital but it refused to service them, citing insufficient medical facility for Fortades’s gunshot wound. They brought him next to Commonwealth Medical Hospital. Following them in this hospital, Sevilla arrived in time to see the doctors trying to revive her husband.

“I could not approach him because I could not believe that I would lose him. I kept asking myself at the time: ‘Is he going to die?’ I wanted to cry out but I was afraid he might hear me,” Sevilla said. When she finally plucked the courage to stand beside him, “I finally held his hand and told him that ‘Love, let us go home for Gelo.’”

The doctors declared Fortades dead at 7:20 a.m.

Sevilla did not want to believe it. She said if the doctors did not want to continue with the CPR, she was willing to do so, all day and all night. But when she took a look at Fortades’ eyes and at the gunshot wound in his temple, the truth finally hit her.

“I admit that I had been selfish and my family is my priority. But it was only when he was already gone that I finally truly learned and appreciated why Pangarap village is worth fighting for,” Sevilla said. “It is just sad that he was already gone before it dawned on me.”

Sol, son of a soldier and land-beneficiary

Teresita Gomez, 69, mother of Soliman Gomez, 44, who was more known to his family and friends as Sol, said she had not appreciated what her son was fighting for until he was killed on July 23. “I had tried to stop him (from joining the fight for our land) but he insisted, saying this was the only thing that his father had left us,” she told Bulatlat.com.

It was natural, Teresita said, for Sol to feel so strongly about their right to their home. Sol Gomez, fifth in Teresita’s 10 children, had always tagged along his mother in all her household chores. The two became closer after the death of Gomez’s father, a soldier and a beneficiary of the land in Pangarap Village under the late president Ferdinand Marcos’s program, in 1983..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/09/03/aranetas-claim-to-the-their-land-turn-residents-hopes-and-dreams-into-a-nightmare/

NDFP slams Aquino government for reneging on agreements

NDFP slams Aquino government for reneging on agreements

 “If the GPH does not want [to proceed with the talks], the revolutionary struggle is there. We will not abandon our instrument for national and social liberation.” – Luis Jalandoni, NDFP
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Is the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) heading to collapse?

In an interview, Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the NDFP peace panel, said the “negative actions” of the GPH panel members indicate a lack of political will on the part of the government to pursue the peace talks.

Peace talks between the GPH and NDFP resumed in February. The second round of talks supposedly scheduled in June did not push through due mainly to the GPH’s refusal to release many of the 17 detained NDFP consultants. After the release of four NDFP consultants in July and August, both parties initially agreed to resume talks this month. Alexander Padilla, GPH peace panel chairman, however, wrote to NDFP two weeks ago declaring the postponement of the talks.

“Does the GPH want to scuttle the peace talks? It’s their decision. We want to continue with the talks but they [GPH] need to have a word of honor,” Jalandoni said.

Jalandoni maintained that the release of NDFP consultants is neither a precondition set by the NDFP nor a mere act of goodwill measure on the part of the GPH. “It is a commitment and obligation of the GPH to release NDFP consultants,” Jalandoni said, adding that the demand for release is in accordance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig).

“These are solemn agreements that need to be complied with. If they have no word of honor, how could they be trusted?” Jalandoni said.

Jalandoni related that Fidel Agcaoili, NDFP spokesman, went to Manila in May and stayed until June 1, hoping that there would be releases of NDFP consultants, as promised by Padilla. No one was released at that time.

Jalandoni said Agcaoili went back in July and stayed until August. Jalandoni said Agcaoili had a meeting with Padilla and that Padilla assured Agcaoili that other NDFP consultants would be released once the talks resume. Both agreed to schedule the next round of talks this September.


NDFP peace panel chairman Luis Jalandoni says Aquino should exercise political will on the issue of peace talks. (Photo by Raymund B. Villanuev / bulatlat.com)
“Suddenly, Aquino publicly questioned the sincerity of the NDFP. Lacierda [Presidential spokesman] even said that all we want is the release of NDFP consultants. Then, the military branded the detained NDFP consultants as criminal elements,” Jalandoni said.

In a report, Brig. Gen. Eduardo del Rosario, Armed Forces’ Civil Relations Service chief, said the NDFP’s demand to release consultants “reflects insincerity in the peace talks.”
Jalandoni said the cases filed against NDFP consultants are trumped-up charges. He added that the detained consultants fought the abusive Arroyo regime and must be released like the rebel soldiers.

In a statement, Padilla said the NDFP violated Jasig when it used encrypted photographs for the safety deposit box containing names of Jasig-protected individuals.
Jasig provides immunity and safety guarantees to all participants in the peace process. Both parties issued documents of identification (DI) to their consultants and personnel.

Padilla said the GPH was not able to verify the identity of Jasig-protected individuals, particularly the detained NDFP consultants, because the diskettes are corrupted.

In a statement, Padilla said he did not terminate or suspend the Jasig. He said that due to the failure to verify the identities of the persons using aliases in the NDFP’s list of alleged Jasig-protected persons, Padilla said, there is no way to verify the NDFP’s claim that the 13 personalities it wants to be released under the Jasig are indeed in the Jasig list.

“That’s a flimsy excuse,” Jalandoni said. “Encrypted photos are legitimate photos. They are encrypted for security reasons.”

Jalandoni said both parties agreed to resolve the issue by reconstructing the list. Even so, Jalandoni said, the presentation of documents of identification by Jasig-protected individuals should suffice. “The DI is valid already,” he said, citing the release of Reynaldo Bocal when Jalandoni submitted to the court Bocal’s DI..... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/09/02/ndfp-slams-aquino-government-for-reneging-on-agreements/

Sison lost grip of communist movement — Wikileaks By Michaela P. del Callar and Mario J. Mallari 09/05/2011

Sison lost grip of communist movement — Wikileaks

By Michaela P. del Callar and Mario J. Mallari 09/05/2011

Self-exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison had lost control and influence over his group’s political arm, the Norwegian government’s peace talks facilitator told American officials in a leaked US cable released by online whistle-blower Wikileaks.

Quoting Norwegian facilitator Vegar Brynildsen, US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Leslie Basset, in a secret Feb. 4, 2010 cable, said “a failed agreement to restart formal talks between the Philippine government and the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) demonstrated the ‘waning influence’ of Sison.”

Brynildsen, Basset said, was unsure who in the NDFP held ultimate policymaking authority.

In a meeting with embassy officials in Manila, Brynildsen disclosed that the NDFP leadership in the Philippines refused to abide by Sison’s commitment to formal talks..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110905hed6.html

Palace rejects Wikileaks report against Noy 09/05/2011

Palace rejects Wikileaks report against Noy

09/05/2011
Malacañang yesterday down-played revela-tions by whistle-blower Web site Wikileaks that former US Am-bassador to Manila Kristie Kenney had criticized Presi-dent Aquino for being “diffident and unassertive.”

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte, during a radio interview, said Kenney’s unflattering assessment of Aquino does not speak the truth.

She added there is no need for diplomatic action or to further issue a rejoinder, noting that the performance of the President will attest to the unsavory remarks against Aquino.

“We don’t see the need to further answer that. As you can see, the assessment is clearly wrong. You can see it in the performance of the President,” she told dzRB radio..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110905hed3.html

MILF brands ARMM as Malacañang’s ‘arm’ 09/05/2011

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Four PNP execs in hot water over motor boats scam By Mario J. Mallari and Gina Peralta-Elorde 09/05/2011

Four PNP execs in hot water over motor boats scam

By Mario J. Mallari and Gina Peralta-Elorde 09/05/2011

Four mid-ranking officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are now in hot water over last year’s procurement of 16 defective police coastal crafts (PCCs) worth P4.8 million intended for the PNP-Maritime Group (MG).

Supts. Job Marasigan, Leodegario Bisaya, Juanito Estrebor, and Chief Insp. Renelfa Saculles, all members of the PNP-Logistics Support service-Inspection and Acceptance Committee (LSS-IAC), are now facing dismissal from the service.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said that the four PNP officers were investigated for accepting 16 defective and unserviceable PCCs from Four Petals Trading on March 10, 2010.

The PNP-MG noted several defects to the delivered PCCs by the private supplier..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110905nat1.html

SEC execs liable for misuse of P83.2 million — CoA report By Gerry Baldo 09/05/2011

SEC execs liable for misuse of P83.2 million — CoA report

By Gerry Baldo 09/05/2011

Officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could be held liable for the misuse of its funds for maintenance and other operating expenses last year.

In a report by the Commission on Audit (CoA), the SEC was found to have wrongly spent P83.2 million for its medical benefits. The amount was part of its P100 million allocation for maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay.

CoA also said the SEC violated CoA resolution 2005-001 which prohibits the procurement of health care insurance from private companies.

The audit report said at least P6.9 million was transferred to the SEC Employees Association Inc. for the purchase of medical insurance from Medicard Philippines Inc., a private medical insurance firm..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110905met1.html

SC to Pasig judge: Explain TRO on DoJ probe By Benjamin B. Pulta 09/05/2011

SC to Pasig judge: Explain TRO on DoJ probe

By Benjamin B. Pulta 09/05/2011

A Pasig judge who issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing prosecutors from proceeding with the indictment of executives and officers of housing developer Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. (GA) has been asked by Supreme Court (SC) officials to explain his move.

“I have received various information regarding the case, and I have required (Pasig RTC Branch 167) Judge (Rolando) Mislang to explain the propriety of issuance of the TRO. I’m expecting a written explanation by next week,” court administrator Jose Midas Marquez told reporters over the weekend.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima earlier had asked the SC to investigate Mislang over the issuance of the TRO and questioned the manner in which Mislang came up with the TRO last Aug. 26 after hearing the case a day before amid the objection from state solicitors who were not given a chance to evaluate the petition of GA president Delfin Lee.

De Lima revealed Mislang had an administrative case in the past after ordering the arrest of some officials of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)..... MORE

SourceThe Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20110905met2.html

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