“The clearly incompetent PAOCTF in its present composition is under the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission which is directly under the Office of the President.”
by Ducky Paredes
Wow! Even if the story were true, it would be unbelievable.
According to Mariano Villafuerte, director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), they have arrested six former military personnel and a New Zealander while they were training at a private shooting range in Clark Field.
Why? These seven were in training to free Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and former First Scout Ranger Regiment commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim from their cells in a military camp.
How could just these seven do that? They would have to train very hard and following an approved movie script to be able to spring such VIPs from their detention cells in a military installation. The only way would be if this was for a movie; it is not possible in real life.
Sen. Trillanes wonders what weed or drug Villafuerte was on. The one thing that the PAOCTF, at one point a very competent anti-crime force, going for it was that among the six former soldiers who are in training for a job abroad – probably part of the Blackwater force that the Pentagon has been using in Iraq and elsewhere – was among the Magdalo mutineers involved in the Oakwood incident. The man was demoted and opted out of the military some years back.
But, to Villafuerte, who is probably as bereft of police or military competence as the present PAOCTF Chairman Grepor Beligica, having one former Magdalo in the force had to be a conclusive connection to a plot to free the Magdalo leader, Sen. Trillanes. Does the PAOCTF have anything else going for its suspicions? Probably not but does it matter?
Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, chief of the AFP public affairs office, believes that the six former soldiers were, as they say, training for jobs abroad and that their arrest “is not in any way connected to any destabilization attempt.”
The clearly incompetent PAOCTF in its present composition is under the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission which is directly under the Office of the President.
Cabinet secretary Silvestre Bello III, tried very hard not to call Villafuerte and Belgica what he really thought of them. He told the press at the Cabinet meeting in Tacloban that what they had was still only “raw information.” Translated, this means that the PAOCTF and the Office of the President actually had nothing at all.
Bello said: “There is no validation yet. Considering the sensitivity of the report, I think there is a need to validate or verify it.
“We have to be very cautious in acting on this raw information. Otherwise, baka lahat tayo ay makuryente. Masyadong malalim ang akusasyon about a possible destabilization move.”
Lt. Col. Torres, speaking for the military, says: “I would like to re-state our position — we believe that it’s not connected with any destabilization attempt.
“There is a contractor recruiting, training for deployment of security personnel, for VIP security, for deployment elsewhere in the world. That is the information we are getting.”
Does this story end here or is there something more?
Much as I would like to belittle stories about a Martial Law scenario when a Palace favorite takes over the Armed Forces in December when the incoming Chief of Staff retires, stories such as these where Gloria’s buccaneers – untrained amateurs in the anti-crime effort – concoct plots against her, we can only expect more of the same in the coming months to the point that eventually the type of silly events that preceded Martial law in the Marcos years – the bombing of Joe’s Department store and a faked attempt on the life of the Secretary of Defense Secretary – would have become believable from all the events that the military revealed prior to the immediate causes of the declaration of Martial Law.
Remember that, then, there was an alleged American sharpshooter who would have surely killed Ferdinand had he not been apprehended with weapon, drawings and plans intact.
This plot “discovered” by Gloria’s buccaneers will soon seem real after succeeding events will seem to have flowed from this.
Can she succeed at declaring martial law? I thought that this was impossible under someone as straight and competent as the present Chief of Staff but he has opted for early retirement – obviously at the request of Malacanang since Gloria would not be around for the turnover which would have coincided with another one of Gloria’s multifarious travels.
The replacement, however, is of the same breed – competent and apolitical as Alexander Yano. But, Gloria’s handpicked man who used to command the Presidential Security Group (PSG) is expected (one hopes wrongly) to do anything that Gloria wants him to do.
As long as people like Villafuerte and Belgica are running things, we can only expect even more adventurous and fanciful escapades to be launched – the better to prepare our minds for the declaration of Martial Rule once more in our lifetime. Poor Filipinas. Its leaders love themselves more than they love Her.
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Club Marinduqueno, Inc. will hold a golf tournament called “Golf for a Leg and a Smile” at Aguinaldo Golf Club on May 14, 2009. Former Capitol Senior Golfers, Inc. President Bernie Jambalos is selling tickets to raise money for amputees and harelip patients in Marinduque.
Tee-off is from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. and tickets (for lunch, the green fee, a gift and a raffle ticket) is P1,500.
If you have not played Aguinaldo for a while, I can assure you that it is in tip-top shape right now.
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hvp 04.29.09)
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