WALANG KATAPUSANG PROBLEMA ANG CHINA

HINDI pa tapos ang problema natin sa China. Hindi ito matatapos sa lalong madaling panahon. Malaking problema ang China dahil pilit kilang kinakamkam ang bahagi ng West Philippine Sea, partikular ang nandoon sa ating exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Walang isyu sa West Philippine Sea dahil pag-aari ng Filipinas iyon, batay sa 2016 desisyon ng Permanent Arbitration Commission ng United Nations Conference on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS). Nanalo tayo sa sakdal na isinampa sa UNCLOS na nagsisilbing pandaigdigang hukuman sa mga usapin sa karagatan.

Ang may problema ay ang China dahil hindi nila kinilala ang panalo ng Filipinas sa UNCLOS. Hindi kinikilala ng UNCLOS ang teoryang Nine-Dash Line na iniharap ng Peking bilang batayan sa kanilang pangangamkam. Sa mata ng internal law at world community, pag-aari natin ang mga kinamkam ng China.

Nag-usap kamakailan ang mga kinatawan ng dalawang bansa ngunit walang nangyayari dahil pilit pa rin iginigiit ng China ang kanilang maling pananaw sa isyu. Iginigiit nila na pinayagan nila ang resupply mission sa Philippine Navy contingent sa BRP Sierra Madre sa Ayungin Shoal. Hindi tio totoo dahil hindi natin kailangan ang kanilang pagpayag.

Nililinlang ng Peking ang buong mundo dahil sa kanilang mga fake news. Nag-isyu ng opisyal na pahayag ang DFA na hindi ito totoo. Hindi tayo nakikipagpaligsahan sa China. Atin ang West Philippine Sea. Wala tayong ibinigay sa kanila.

Nagkaroon ng problema dahil naupong pangulo si Gongdi at nagsilbi siyang kanilang aso sa kanilang paghahabol sa West Philippine Sea. Mistulang alipin ng China si Gongdi sa isyu. Nakipagmabutihan si Gongdi at mistulang ibinigay ng taksil ang WPS sa mga Intsik.

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PAGPAPATULOY ito ng pangalawang tsapter ng aking unang aklat. Tinalakay ko ang ilang yugto ng karahasan at kalupitan sa ilang patayan ng giyera kontra droga.

‘NIGHTCRAWLERS’
LITERALLY, they crawled at night. Since most EJKs happened at night, when police targets were supposed to be home with their families, some photojournalists established a new routine in their lives. They slept during the day, but were around to shoot the EJK victims at night. They called themselves “The Nightcrawlers.” They were around 15 or so photojournalists in this informal group of Metro Manila-based photojournalists. Some were employed in different news organizations; the rest were freelancers, who contributed their shots to some photo news agencies and news organizations, local and foreign outfits that include online. They were men and women on a mission, which was to document Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.21

The photojournalists were not automatons, who took shots and left the scenes of crime to complete a day of work. They were living witnesses to this dark episode in history. Their cameras were not limited to shooting the dead and victims, but to the living – the grieving widows, family members, relatives, and friends as well. They saw widows and kids, and parents as well, especially mothers, crying barrels of tears to express their unmitigated grief over the murder and death of their loved ones. On several instances, they had to contribute a part of their earnings to the families of EJKs to defray funeral expenses. These families were too poor to give victims a decent burial. These photojournalists were humans too.

PRESSURES OF WORK. The pressures of work during the height of those EJKs in 2016-2017, were simply overwhelming and exhausting by any stretch of imagination, according to Vincent Go, a member of the Manila Nightcrawlers. They shot a minimum of six or seven EJK victims a night to a high of 26. In some instances, the sun was high and boiling, yet they were still on the go to take shots of victims because they were just too many.

On some occasions, they encountered investigating police officers, who, although gave them unprecedented access to shoot, would give them unsolicited snide remarks to emphasize their power of life and death over the victims. While true, their comments were not necessary because their targets were already lifeless, according to Vincent, but, in most instances, their comments were insults to the remaining intelligence of anybody, who care to listen.

They also had to bear unsolicited remarks from police officers, who viewed the photojournalists as “allies” of some leftwing forces that adhere to human rights and even the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the constitutional body tasked to protect human rights. In these instances, the covering photojournalists refused to answer and dignify their remarks. They offered nothing but stony silence. “Silence was an answer in itself,” Vincent said.

The World Movement for Democracy, an NGO devoted to uphold democratic rights worldwide: said in a fitting tribute to these journalists: “Nightwatchers — a group of photojournalists take the ‘night shift’ to capture and publish images which bring the disturbing reality of Duterte’s war on drugs to light. Since the beginning of the war, Ezra Acayan estimates he has taken photos of at least 500 bodies and attended around 100 funerals. In the absence of publishers willing to print his images, he uses social media to bring awareness to both the dead and those left behind. Ezra, Raffy, and the other Nightwatchers are clear on the message they want to convey: no one should be killed without due process. And as journalists, they believe it is their duty to bring the truth to light.”

Vince Go has chosen to immortalize the “Nightcrawlers” in the following words:

Nightcrawlers of Manila
When Duterte came to power in July of 2016, bodies began to pile up in the streets of [Metro Manila]. The number of those killed or executed was staggering, averaging about more than a thousand a month in the first six months of the Duterte administration.

The killings that [happened] divided the Media in the field. Some were pro, while [others] were against [them]. We were just an informal group of photojournalists from different organizations that saw there was something seriously wrong with the police narratives about the killings and were against extrajudicial killings. We, as a group, did not really call ourselves anything. We were just ordinary journalists doing our jobs. It was in Aug., 2016 when a reporter from the LA Times came to Manila and joined our night coverages. We helped and shared information with him. His story came out late August called “Meet the Nightcrawlers of Manila: A Night on the Frontlines of the Philippines’ War on Drugs.”

We just thought that it was just a way to sensationalize the story and give it a little flare but eventually it was the one that stuck with the foreign media and our local media followed it.” (Itutuloy)

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MGA PILING SALITA: “NANG bumagyo at bumaha, biglang nabuhay sina Grace Poe at Bong Revilla. Pero noong walang baha, walang narinig sa kanila.” – PL, netizen, kritiko

“PAREHONG tanga’t mangmang si Lito Lapid at Robin Padilla. Pero marunong mahiya si Lito kaya hindi madaldal. Kabaligtaran si Robin.” – Georgina Neri, netizen