***two (2) stories***
story no. 1
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
August 27, 2002
Investigation in the Senate on the alleged links between slain
kidnap gang leader Marohambsar and PNP officials
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The Senate will dig deeper into the death of kidnap gang leaders
Faisal Morohombsar.
Senator Panfilo Lacson yesterday filed a resolution seeking to
ferret out the truth regarding the alleged links between slain
kidnap gang leader Faisal Marohombsar and several ranking
officials of the Philippine National Police.
"I believe that it is but imperative and fair for these
police officers to say their piece regarding their alleged
involvement with Marohombsar. And if evidence warrant, let the
axe fall on these erring officers, " Senator Lacson
referring to the personalities named in the intelligence brief
prepared by Chief Supt. Eduardo Matillano, former Souther
Mindanao regional director.
Matillano's report which was submitted to Malacanang detailed
Marohombsar's link with officials of an anti-kidnapping task
force based in Mindanao as well as officers based in Camp Crame.
The report gained further credence after Marohombsar bolted the
National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force dettention cell inside Camp
Crame last June 19, shortly before PNP Chief Hermogenes Ebdane
assumed office.
Senator Lacson said "there is a need to clarify these
allegations so as not to bring about demoralization in the ranks
of the police force who are relentlessly pursuing kidnap for
ransom groups in the country.
Senator Lacson, quoting the report, said there are at least three
active police officials with links to Marohombsar. He, however,
did not identify the officers pending the conduct of the
hearings.
Meanwhile, Senator Lacson took exception to misleading reports
alleging that Marombsar was cornered in a compound where the
defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force used to
maintain a safehouse in Magallanes, Cavite.
"As far as I know, those who participated in last Sunday's
successful operation which led to the neutralization of
Marohombsar and his group were former members of the
PAOCTF," Sen. Lacson said.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon on his part said the police and military
authorities should no longer be bothered by an investigation into
the possible rubout allegations and circumstances leading to the
death of the Pentagon gang kidnap for ransom leader.
Senator cited as reason the escaped of Marohombsar from captivity
in camp crame after his arrest for being a suspect responsible
for a series of kidnappings in Central Mindanao.
At the same time, fooling the PNP by continuously negotiating for
his possible surrender through the imposition of unacceptable
demands while still being involved in kidnapping activities such
as the kidnapping of four year old Patricia Lopez Chung last
week.
"Marohombsar's death should not lull the police the military
into being lured into complacency by their achievement,"
Biazon cautioned.
Biazon also urged the police and military to pursue the arrest of
the remaining members of the Pentagon gang who managed to escape
during the encounters.
"The police and military should not relax but instead double
their efforts to show to all that we mean business in chasing
these kidnappers whether the victims are the ordinary Juan dela
Cruz in the street or members of the affluent and powerful
families," Biazon said.///camille p. balagtas
story no. 2
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
August 27, 2002
'Filipinization' of some parts of Sabah triggered Malaysia's
'ethnic cleansing'
Pinoy flying voters helped Mahathir's candidate win in '99
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The deportation of Filipino illegals from Sabah is not a simple
enforcement by Malaysia of its immigration laws but an 'ethnic
cleansing' by a government which has grown fearful over the rise
of immigrant population.
Sen. Ralph Recto made this observation as Navy ships continue to
bring back Filipinos to a homeland still wracked by poverty and
violence they fled years ago.
Recto said economics has nothing to do with the expulsion of
Filipino illegals from Sabah, the Malaysia province on Borneo's
tip.
"Filipinos are not living off welfare in Sabah. They are not
boat people who depend on government dole-outs. They have jobs so
they are productive members of society," he said.
Instead, Recto believes that Malaysia's "version of a
pogrom" in Sabah was triggered by the rise in the number of
guest workers in Malaysia's third largest state.
One-fifth of Sabah's 2.5 million inhabitants come from the
Philippines and Indonesia.
"Some areas of Sabah are dominated by Filipinos. Malaysia is
jittery about the Filipinization of some pockets of the
state," he said.
Malaysians fear that Filipinos are 'sleepers who would one day
represent a potent if not troublesome force in a land which is
still technically being claimed by the Philippines, he said.
With their liberal outlook and exposure to electoral democracy,
Filipinos can be a democratizing force in Sabah, he said.
There are about 180,000 Filipino illegals in Sabah, but both
Manila and Kuala Lumpur believe the real number could be higher.
The belief that Filipinos can have a big say in Sabah politics is
no longer a theory but is a proven fact, Recto said.
Filipinos, registering themselves as Malaysians, helped elect
Yong Teck Lee as Sabah chief minister in 1999, Recto said.
But in a 29-page decision issued on 8 June 2001, the high court
in Kota Kinabalu ordered Yong to vacate his post, ruling that he
won it with the help of "phantom voters."
Yong is a member of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad's ruling
Barisan Nasional, which won control of the state assembly in
polls.
The opposition Sabah United Party (PBS) at the time accused the
coalition of using "dirt tactics" to win.
It complained to police that it had proof 30,000 immigrants,
mostly from the Philippines, were issued Malaysian identity cards
to allow them to vote.
Judge Muhammad Kamil Awang was quoted by Bernama news agency as
saying "that instances of non-citizens and phantom voters in
the electoral roll as disclosed at the trial may well be the tip
of the iceberg."///Camille p. balagtas