Sabah standoff: PNoy fiddles on the campaign trail as international crisis festers #sabah

What exactly does it mean when a President is reported to be ‘monitoring’ an on-going crisis? Nothing, other than as a statement for the media to blather to the public and bring across a perception that said President ‘cares’.

sabah_standoff_2

“Social news network” site Rappler reports how President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III paused from his priority activity this week of campaigning for his favoured senatorial candidates to “monitor” the situation in Sabah.

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Aquino apologized to the crowd. “Pasensiya na ho kayo kung kanina paakyat-baba ako ng entablado. Alam naman po ninyo na may nangyayari sa Sabah. Mukhang natapos na po yung pangyayari. (Forgive me. You know that there’s something going on in Sabah. It looks like the incident is over),” he started his speech.

Aquino did not have the complete details on the Sabah firefight when he was speaking before the Pampañgenos. He said he wanted to head back to Malacañang immediatelly to address the issue.

“Hindi pa ho kumpleto ang detalye. Medyo nagmamadali ho tayo pabalik dahil inaasahan natin na pagdating natin sa opisina ay handa na po -‘yung kumpleto yung impormasyon. Alam na po nating yung nangyari ng may katiyakan at naasikaso lahat ng dapat maasikaso. (I don’t have the complete details. I expect that once I return to Manila I would be getting the complete details of what happened in Sabah and that we would have fixed things that needed fixing.)

How exactly President BS Aquino plans to “fix” the Sabah situation is anybody’s guess. A succession of Manila governments since 1965 couldn’t have been any clueyer of this “situation” than the current President. After all, this “situation” is today’s most recent in what has been a storied series of international kabuwisitans that has distracted Cory’s Son from his mission to secure Uncle Peping’s family jewels since his ascent to power in 2010. Indeed, the Second Aquino Administration seems to be a magnet for international crises.

What was President BS Aquino doing in Pampanga in the middle of such an appalling crisis to begin with? Apparently Pampanga holds a special place in Aquino’s heart, the province being (1) “vote-rich”, and (2) “the bailiwick of his political nemesis former President now Pampanga Rep Gloria Arroyo”. Now it begins to make sense. Oiling the election winning machine is an activity that trumps everything else.

As if to point out just how insignificant the Philippine south is to the politics of Imperial Manila, the Rappler report crows, “Team PNoy has declared the vote-rich province an ‘Aquino country’ because it delivered for President Aquino in the 2010 elections.”

Too bad.

Had BS Aquino backed Filipino citizen Sultan Jamalul Kiram III instead of sending the Philippine Navy to protect the coast of Sabah from Tausugs (also Filipino citizens) threatening to sail to Sabah to come to the aid of Kiram’s besieged followers there, perhaps he may have gone a bit of a way to healing the deep rift dividing the predominantly Christian Filipinos of the north and their Muslim compatriots in the south that they insist on calling their “brothers”.

This tragic standoff in Sabah and the way Manila has “handled” this situation (no less by a President focused on infesting the Philippine Senate with his henchmen) is a testament to the reality that any rhetoric paid to the idea that Mindanao is important in the overall scheme of Philippine national politics is nothing more than lip service.

32 Replies to “Sabah standoff: PNoy fiddles on the campaign trail as international crisis festers #sabah”

  1. he would like to bury sabah until after the elections just like he is doing with the atimonan massacre report.
    what a charlatan.

      1. Right then why didn’t he do the same thing while the luneta hostage crisis was happening. Why was your president sleeping while the hostage crisis happened?

      2. Truth be told your idol did nothing of note with his life for fifty years. Even the last three too. Eduardo I applaud your work ethic working for the Communications Group on a Saturday. Or did you guys get the 25th off? Are you happy Boss Ricky did not resign?

      3. The myth of “multitasking” is that you are capable of doing several things simultaneously. The truth is that you either accomplish nothing or you finish your “tasks” exceedingly late with a very poor quality of work.

        1. Multitasking is raising the bar of performing assigned tasks more effectively. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

          The funny thing is that those who claim that multitasking is a myth focused only on activities such as shifting from one task to another in rapid succession.

          They even came up with a new term – “switchtasking”.

          The old name for multitasking is project management.

          Multitasking is not spontaneous. It’s a planned activities no matter how small or big they are.

          And it requires skill!

  2. He is no better than a headless chicken running from one place to the other with no definite destination. Between Kiram and Noynoy, the former is light years ahead when it comes to leadership and resolve. And who has the “cojones”? I am sure Kiram has.

      1. “Pasensiya na ho kayo kanina kung paakyat baba ako sa entablado. Alam naman po ninyo na may nangyayari sa Sabah. Mukhang tapos na ho ang mga pangyayari.”

        How can you explain that? BTW, he’s still a retard who lacks diplomatic skills or maybe his mind is on the upcoming election.

        Man, you’re DELUSIONAL. 🙂

  3. You always blame the President on things that happen in the country and outside the country. PNOY have no details of the problem in Sabah and so GRP.

    International ‘realpolitik’ goes down to the cliche, “might is right.” If Kiram has the might, he can exercise proprietary control over Sabah, which historically is his ancestors’. RP does not have the might to control Sabah, let alone Mindanano, it is more prudent to parley the Malaysian with peace initiative, rather than tremulously beat the drums of war.

    Things might appear so simple from the viewpoint of non-involved observers, but the realities of international relations is so complex for them to fathom. It is easy for us to appear war-like, because it is not ourselves who go to the front-lines.

    1. “Things might appear so simple from the viewpoint of non-involved observers, but the realities of international relations is so complex for them to fathom. It is easy for us to appear war-like, because it is not ourselves who go to the front-lines.”

      You just gave us an exact description of your idol.

    2. We don’t blame your Supreme Leader, we are just asking why the hell is he busy on campaining his bets rather than handling the situation. What happened in Sabah is a treat of our national security, now the Tausugs are pissed, expect conflict to arise and more bloodshed, the conflict in Mindanao will worsen thanks to the ignorance of the government. I’m expecting chaos and a possible coup de etat.

    3. PNOY have no details of the problem in Sabah and so GRP.

      Are you admitting that the Philippine President does not have better knowledge on the Sabah issue than a blogger with access to Google search?

    4. And from his speech on the campaign of his bets, “mukhang natapos na po ung pangyayari?” what kind of words is that? Is he really have no intention on focusing on the issue? Maybe he doesn’t want his precious yellow ribbon to be stained by blood. Securing the spot for his senatorial bets is his priority because that will help him gubble up funds quicker and make his precious HL permanently theirs.

  4. Sulu is poor not because of not having Sabah. It’s because it has no peace.

    With the existing resources, Sulu is very far under-developed.

    Commoner #Jamalul is a #terrorist, #traitor of the #Sulu people. Putting his greed above the life of the people.

    1. The issues discussed in this blog post were the president’s hostility toward the sultanate, his cowardice and betrayal of Filipino citizens (whose lives and welfare he is charged with protecting) in the face of the Sabah standoff and his inaction with regards to the sovereignty claim which led to the mess in the first place.

      Why have you singled out the state of economic development in Sulu? Isn’t the broader picture, as benign0 points out, the fact that successive administrations have failed to pay little more than lip service with regards to the situation in Mindanao? As long as Malacañang fails to pursue an inclusive policy that addresses the problems of the WHOLE archipelago, we can expect the marginalized and disenfranchised among us to express their grievances in a less than peaceful manner when backed into a corner. And not just in Sabah but in areas closer to home.

    1. If he wasn’t, then this article (plus the comments and the articles that preceded it, not to mention their own comments) wouldn’t exist.

    2. If you can refute the validity of the claim the sultanate has over Sabah, then you can certainly articulate your reasoning here. Stating the issue is too complex for the commentators here to understand does not invalidate the points raised here or in the related posts. (Perhaps you are waiting to discuss them with a commentator who possesses a degree in International Relations?)

  5. Filipinos are dying in Sabah…while Aquino is there campaigning for his candidates. He is not even a candidate. Aquino does not care…he is selfish; he cares only for himself….Like the Luneta Chinese Hostage crissis. He hides, or ran away from the crissis. Hoping, it will go away by itself…A retarded peron’s soilution to a crissis…..

  6. Aquino has simply gone from idiotic to moronic.
    In addition to being a traitor ( he sounds like spokesman for malaysia) – just like his criminal grandfather, who is never mentioned, ‘ don’t mention the japanese”! – he shows his interests do not extend beyond tarlac and luzon, and his knowledge does not go beyond gameboys.
    He should wake up and grow up.
    He makes the country an international laughing stock.
    How can a ‘leader’ be so lazy, so ill-informed, and so incompetent. I guess only in 3rd world philippines, where so few have inquiring, independent minds, high standards, and critical thinking.
    Another mistake, no doubt another report, another whitewash, and naturally no-one in govt to blame.
    Keep on campaigning with lies and propaganda for the masses, aided by weak and a$$-licking ‘journalists’.
    The only priority for aquino is to protect the ‘brand’, not the country. No vision except tunnel vision!

  7. Only in the land of the blind, can a one-eyed man with tunnel vision can say he is not bald, and be believed

  8. Clearly the mediocre student and non-achiever p-noy is so out of his depth even a life raft of lies, propaganda, and trolls, is not keeping him afloat.
    The country should not pay the price for his ‘laissez-faire’ attitude and complete indifference to his responsibilities.
    Thats why all politicians should have worked in good companies for a period before politics – to learn and demonstrate discipline, teamwork, ability to succeed, and a work ethic as fundamentals of character, not opt for easy money and unaccountability.
    Those who can do, those who can’t become politicians

    1. Those who can…DO.
      Those who can’t…TEACH.
      Those who can’t get a job as custodian for the university…attend rallies in the street and eventually run for the Senate.

      1. A bit like bam aquino – a drop out of law school
        His father – the big ally of arroyo then gets him a non-job in arroyo government ( where he rarely turns up according to those in the know), and he airbrushes his parents and arroyo out of his real story ( my NGO friends tell me he is lazy and quick to take the credit of others. All talk, no trousers – remind you of anyone).
        Now a myth is being created for voters, and of course the media never even ask about hapinoy.- his big claim to fame!!! Notice how he always avoids numbers if ever asked.
        5 years and 3 employees, ( wow – bill gates would be impressed!!!) overseas grants, hacienda luisita people on the board. No shops to speak off. A convenient vehicle to camoflague a wasted 10 years.

  9. If u r the dumbest guy in the class – sympathy
    If u r the dumbest country in the world – tough
    If u r the dumbest president in history – disaster

    Dumb and dumber was modelled on aquino and roxas.

    Seriously, can anyone take these abject failures seriously.

    It makes you thankful to be a rich westerner.

  10. Ugh! Our commander in chief always taking us for a ride and he thinks that we were born yesterday! But sad to say he cannot hide his mediocre leadership and every time he talk ‘it stinks’

  11. To all Malaysians, to resolve the Sabah crisis, we all must resolve our differences. The only solution is our identity.

    I have only one passport.
    How many passports do you have?
    Which one you are using?
    I am using the Malaysian passport.
    Unified we prevail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    In times of sufferings and crisis, Malaysians’accommodating wisdom prevails against ignorance. We have no enemies within.

    No matter When and Where, What and Who, we must have the same country and identity to survive and overcome crisis as One Malaysia.

    Wherever you are and whenever you can, Let’s pray in silence for 3 minutes. For those who sacrifice their lives for Malaysia.

    Negaraku,
    Tanah tumpahnya darahku,…………

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