Marawi Bombing Catches Marcos Government with Its Pants Down
What happened in Marawi last Sunday cannot be dismissed as simply isolated incident that caught everybody by surprise.
The most intelligent analysis of the tragedy came from AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner himself – the bombing could be a retaliatory attack as it had followed operations against local extremist groups in the southern region of Mindanao.
Brawner disclosed that the military recently said it had killed a senior operative from Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for kidnapping and piracy that has aligned itself with the Islamic State.
The military said it had also conducted two operations in Mindanao during the weekend against Dawlah Islamiya-Maute, a group that joined Hapilon in taking over Marawi in 2017, seeking to turn it into a Southeast Asian “wilayat” – or governorate – for Islamic State.
The obvious question is in the light of such operations, why was there no anticipation whatsoever of a “rido” (or “resbak” in tagalog) if a major leader of the terrorists was indeed slain? Why were there no precautionary measures conducted by the police and the military covering the civilian population, especially the Christians in a predominantly Muslim-populated province, barring any collateral escalation?
This is a 20-20 failure of military, police and civilian intelligence. Obviously, the security sector has been sleeping on the job.
Confused national security priorities
The reasons have already been handwritten on the wall ever since the must-read national security template drawn by former NSA Hermogenes Esperon was lumped up with others as a coffee table book by the new President.
The wholistic universe involving our national interest has been put on freezer by a President who cannot create a long-term strategic and comprehensive plan for Philippines Incorporated, making himself as the gridlock as he compartmentalizes the affairs of government and runs matters reactively on a day-to-day basis.
The September 2023 Pulse Asia survey disclosed that the most urgent national concern of the public points to the economy (inflation, jobs and wages) and public order (law enforcement and safe streets) accounted for 93%.
But instead, this government has reduced national security to the motherhood statement of asserting sovereignty – defending territory against foreigners that the same survey accounted to only 7%
Marcos’ focus has been on the modernization of the armed forces and increasing our five EDCA bases to an additional four – blindsiding our priority to chasing phantom enemies in the South China Seas, following the diktats of a born-again colonial ally.
The false paranoia against foreign invasion is very graphic from the statement of the President himself – that the bombing was executed by foreign terrorists, a perception farthest from its homegrown murderous roots. Marcos even deludes himself calling the inflation that is presently debilitating our lives – as “imported”.
This because our foreign policy today is being run from Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation by a retired US Air Force Colonel Raymond Powell. This center is heavily supported by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR).
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, the President’s top intelligence officer, was busy inaugurating a building at the Pagasa Island in the Spratlys, some 1140 kilometers away from Lanao del Sur. He was preoccupied feeding the frenzy to shame China over conflicts in the South China Seas, to reinforce Raymond Powell’s narrative about yet another buzzword “grayzone tactics”.
Powell’s parrot PCG Jay Tarriela issued this photo in his tweet, showing Año and his loudmouth spokesman Jonathan Malaya with himself at the Pagasa sortie.
The National Security Council finally allowed the civilian-led convoy to allowing them to pass through the general vicinity of Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal but not to reach the BRP Sierra Madre as it said that would not be advisable at this time for safety considerations. From there the convoy will proceed to Pagasa Island.
The organizers pleaded for permission from the NSC because it appears that they have already received an alleged $5 million foreign donation, part of which was for the project.
Atin Ito Coalition said at least 40 boats will be participating in the three-day Christmas caravan departing from Palawan on December 10. According to Akbayan party president Rafaela David, the convoy will include a mother vessel that can accommodate up to 100 people.
Before this project, “Atin Ito” had already launched billboards of Gilbert Teodoro, Risa Hontiveros and Manny Pacquiao in Metro Manila, apparently to announce their run for the Philippine senate in 2025.
According to Edicio dela Torre, “Atin Ito” convenor, the project expects the number of young people who are joining the caravan to double next week because there are many more boats that are being rented.
The NSC should have exercised prudence and stuck to its preliminary stand not to allow any “excursions” passing through the troubled waters. The route from Palawan to Pagasa covers 273 nautical miles, where any ship will travel through five features of the Spratlys occupied by China, four by Vietnam and two by Taiwan. It is impossible to reach Pagasa without encountering patrol boats of these foreign nations.
In my honest opinion, this propaganda project is nothing but another attempt to fish for a “false flag” to blame on the Chinese Coast Guard, akin to the fake removal of fishing barriers and the improvised collisions that the Philippine Coast Guard has staged but whose lack of authenticity their own videos exposed.
It should be emphasized that “any act of propaganda aimed at affecting the defense or security of the coastal State” is considered prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of another claimantState, and is not covered by the principle of innocent passage under Article 19 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas.
There are also other alarming developments in the general area. In a flash of force, China has already swarmed another portion of the Spratly archipelago, the Whitsun Reef (Juan Pelipe area), with 135 fishing vessels, and the effort of two small Philippine Coast Guard deployed to disperse them came to no avail.
The China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “The Whitsun Reef is part of China’s Nansha Islands, and the relevant waters in the South China Sea, including the Whitsun Reef and its neighboring waters, have always been an important operating area and shelter for Chinese fishing vessels.”
Peace Talks with the Devil
Another proof that the national security priorities of this government is while Marawi was being bombed, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez Jr., has also joined his sparring partner, Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo, in the signing for the resumption of peace talks with Communist Terrorist Groups (CPP-NPA-NDF) all the way in Oslo, Norway.
As to the whereabouts of Secretary of National Defense during the Sunday bombing, I can only assume he was inspecting his billboards for his 2025 senatorial campaign that shames China in order to incite misplaced “nationalism” for votes. This is a wake-up call for Gibo Teodoro, as just as he was caught by surprise by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 causing his dismal performance running for president a year after, this bombing has just exploded the road to his forthcoming next election loss.
BARMM action
Meanwhile, following the deadly blast at the Mindanao State University campus that left four persons dead and scores wounded scores, Ahod B. Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the designated Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), issued on Monday Memorandum Circular No. 189 directing all his Cabinet ministers and heads of offices under the Executive branch, to submit their courtesy resignation not later than Tuesday.
A day after the incident, Ebrahim visited the injured victims at the hospital to provide immediate financial assistance and assess their further needs. Ebrahim said his Ministry of Health (MOH) will shoulder all their medical expenses.
The BARMM Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) also extended P25,000 financial aid to each of the six victims still admitted at the Amai Pakpak Medical Center, while three patients at the MSU Infirmary received P5,000 each for transportation, and 14 patients were granted P2,000 for medical needs.
Earlier, the MSSD also provided P50,000 worth of burial assistance to each of the families of the four deceased victims.
Chief Minister Ebrahim also sat with Lanao del Sur Provincial Governor Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr., MSU-Marawi’s former president and incumbent director of National Intelligence Coordinating Agency of the Philippines Ricardo de Leon, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Romeo Saturnino Brawner Jr., several members of the Bangsamoro Parliament, and members of the Philippine National Police to revisit the incident and assess whatever other support his office can offer.
According to BARMM spokesperson Naguib Sinarimbo text messages about a planned explosion started circulating on Saturday night without specifying the location.
Now very much after the fact, both the military and the police deny failure of intelligence on their part pointing blame at lax campus security for the terror attack.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police each claimed they had issued advisories warning their units of a possible attack in Mindanao. Note the phrase used – “warning their units”.
As to why they were the only ones who knew about possible threats and not the general public, they did not explain.
Well tell that to the Marines!
Adolfo Quizon Paglinawan
is the anchor of Ang Maestro – the Unfinished Revolution at Radyo Pilipinas1, co-host of Opinyon Ngayon at Golden Nation Network Television, a political analyst, and author of books.
His third book, The Poverty of Power will soon be off-the-press. It is a historiography of controversial issues of spanning 36 years leading to the Demise of the Edsa Revolution and the Rise of the Philippine Phoenix. Paglinawan’s past best sellers have been A Problem for Every Solution (2015), a characterization of factors affecting Philippine-China relations, and No Vaccine for a Virus called Racism (2020) a survey of international news attempting to tracing its origins. These important achievements earned for him to be named one of the 2021 international laureates for the Awards for the Promotion of Philippine-China Understanding. Ado, as he called for short, was a former press attaché and spokesman of the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC and the Philippines’ Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Facebook
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