PGMA names members of commission to dismantle private armies
MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo on Thursday has named members of an independent commission that would oversee the dismantling of private armies throughout the country.
The new commission, formed via Administrative Order No. 275 and reportedly signed last December 8, will investigate and oversee the dismantling of private armies in Maguindanao and other political hotspots in the country.
The commissioners for the newly-formed commission are:
* Butuan Bishop Juan De Dios Pueblos, representing the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
* Mahmod Mala L. Adilao, representing the Bishops Ulama Conference
* Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) President Herman Basbano, representing the media
* Ret. Brig. Gen. Jaime Echevarria of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO).
* Ret. Police Deputy Director General Virtus Gil
* Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC)
"The commission is given broad investigative powers including the tapping of the PNP, AFP, NBI, and other government agencies, including government controlled corporations. It is mandated to finish its work prior to the May 2010 elections," Press Secretary Cerge Remonde told reporters.
Arroyo ordered the dismantling of private armies "to pave the way for peaceful elections next year with the creation of the independent commission to address the alleged existence of private armies in the country under Administrative Order 275," Remonde said.
Under the AO, The President has granted investigative powers to the commission, including the power to summon witnesses and take testimony or evidence relevant to its investigation.
The commission, which is set to be headed by a retired justice, will give guidance to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in dismantling the private armies in Maguindanao and other hot spots, including Basilan, Sulu, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Samar, Masbate, Nueva Ecija and Abra.
"The Department of Justice (DoJ) shall prioritize the prosecution of members and leaders of such private armed groups, with a view to their conviction at the soonest possible time," AO 275 said.
The commission, which will have a Secretariat composed of technical and administrative personnel, is also authorized to deputize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), PNP, DoJ and other law enforcement agencies to assist it in performing its duties.
The creation of the anti-private army commission was prompted by the November 23 massacre of at least 57 people in the municipality of Ampatuan in Maguindanao, described as the worst election-related violent incident in the country's history. With a report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
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SHAME ON YOU...
GLORIA ARROYO SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YOU CLAIMED THAT YOU ARE HIGHLY EDUCATION AND A PRODUCT OF HARVARD SCHOOL AND GRADUATED IN THIS SCHOOL? HOW DARE YOU DRAG THE NAME OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITY ON EARTH. GRADUATE OF ECONOMICS... bs! YOU'VE STUDIED AND GRADUATED "MAJOR IN CORRUPTION" AND MINOR IN KILLING AND SILENCING JOURNALISTS. YOUR ALUMNI MUST BE REALLY DISGUSTED AND SO SO ASHAMED OF HOW YOU TURN OUT TO BE......
ONE STATEMENT I CAN SAY......
THIS PLAN OR FORMING OR ASSIGNING A SPECIAL COMMISSION IS A JOKE, A BIG SLAP TO ALL FILIPINO PEOPLE AND A WASTE OF THE TAXPAYER'S MONEY.
PATHETIC STRATEGY, USELESS EFFORT,AND A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.
Commission will achieve nothing
Every time a controversy of great magnitude erupts a commission is constituted to address the same, yet commission after commission produced nothing and this is largely because findings and recommendations of these commissions were simply ignored. And this commission is going to be no different.
Aw Gloria
Tengang kawali. Mapanlinlang. Gagawa ng isang commission para magsolve ng problema sa bansa para magpa pogi lang sa media at para malaman ng tao may ginagawa sila. Ilang commission na ba gingawa ng mga lintek na pulitikong ito e sa bandang huli wala naman magandang resulta. Meron bang nakulong? meron bang naparusahan?
Haay Gloria, 9 yrs ka na
Haay Gloria, 9 yrs ka na pwesto mo hanggan ngayun inde mo pa masolve yan. Puro nakaw lang ginagawa mo kasi e.
Resistance to EO 275
If the Arroyo Administration means to dismantle private armies in those identified areas of the Country before May 2010, I fear not the possible resistance of members and leaders of Private Armies BUT THE POSSIBLE DECLARATION OF MARTIAL LAW in the entire Country. If the President had declared 9-day Martial Law in Maguindanao Province just to arrest one Political Kingpin together with those involved parties in the Massacre, how much more if the move will be to arrest many (i.e., members and leaders of the private armies)?
PGMA EO 275
"DISMANTLING PRIVATE ARMIES IN MAGUINDANAO AND OTHER POLITICAL HOT SPOTS IN THE COUNTRY": How about the areas/territories of the Country not included in Maguindanao and other political hot spots, are they (i.e., Political kingpins in the areas not identified as hot spots) free to retain their private armies? How about the armed fighters of the CPP/NPA, MNLF, MILF, ABUSAYAF, TONDA (Kawatan/Tolisan) FORCE, are they not a Private Armies? Isn't the EO 275, whose members of the Commission were given an ultimatum to finish their assigned task prior to May 2010 Elections and which reauires the DOJ to prosecute and convict members and leaders of the private armies the soonest possible time, a primordial step to declare WORST MARTIAL LAW IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY immediately before May 2010?