Much ado about city trash, SAF massacre

I don’t know if a final agreement has been reached between the cities of Cebu and Talisay about transporting some of Cebu city’s trash to the dumpsite in Talisay. The proposal  became controversial when Talisay City councilors  objected to the setup. Talisay Mayor Johnny delos Reyes categorically said there was no agreement yet since it would still have to  be approved by the city council.

Mayor JVR only agreed in principle on the arrangement  with Cebu City Mayor Rama about the use of the local dumpsite. The Talisay City Council prematurely jumped to conclusion.

Mayor  Rama said he has  nothing to do with the political intramurals  of Talisay City.  He  committed to talk to Talisay council members about the merits of the proposal to persuade them to consider it.  Talisay City councilors oppose  the idea saying the present dumpsite was already full or near over-capacity but Mayor JVR insists there’s still  space available.

Asked why he agreed to accommodate Cebu city, Mayor JVR said he was just returning a favor.  During the Aug. 16, 2013 collision of a ferry and cargo ship in the waters of Talisay city, killing  at least 116 passengers and crew,  bodies were just sprawled on the shores of  Talisay.

The Talisay city government had only ambulance. Mayor Rama  responded to Mayor JVR’s call for help and immediately sent several  ambulances to help  bring victims to the hospital and  the funeral parlors. The Cebu City mayor also offered to pay Talisay city for use of its dump site, a potential source of income to cover  expenses for operating the dumpsite. But the Talisay council is still against the idea.

I am hopeful the issue will be resolved with reasonable parties sitting down and talking it over in the open. It involves one local government extending help to another. According to Mayor JVR, many Talisay residents go to Cebu city and won’t be happy to see trash piling on the streets.

* * *

I am happy an investigation is underway to get to the truth behind the Jan. 25 secret assault by the PNP  Special Action Force in Mamasapano, Maguindanao where  44 SAF members were wiped out by troops of the  Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The inquiry will determine among others who gave the go signal for the SAF mission without coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the local government unit?

Another question is why the MILF massacred  SAF troops when the MILF has  already signed a  peace agreement with our government? Did the SAF team do their mission with the benefit of advice from the intelligence community about the area they were about to enter?

Why no reinforcements were sent to help the SAF team when the military camp was just a kilometer away from the battleground? Who supervised the mission as a major police operation? Is it true that suspended PNP Director General Allan Purisima supervised the attack by remote control?

President Aquino said he knew of the mission. It it true he was practically monitoring it in real time?

With so many questions in the air, I hope the investigating panel can determine who was accountable for the tragic mission.

SAF troopers killed Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” while his Filipino aide Basit Usman escaped.

Where did the $6 million reward money offered by the US government for Marwan’s capture go?

President Aquino got a lot of criticism from  people  disappointed with the kind of leadership he showed  when it came  to taking responsibility for the failed mission, and his absence when caskets of SAF personnel  arrived at Villamor Airbase because he chose to attend the inauguration of a car manufacturer. Many were saying  we can’t expect much from Aquino because he is a weak president, starting with the 2010 hostage-taking incident of a bus of Chinese tourists at the Quirino grandstand.