U.S. forces to support deterrence efforts at Strait of Hormuz

SAILORS AND Marines with the Navy's Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in the Middle East as part of a pre-announced deployment to support deterrence efforts in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere, said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Assassination of Qassem Soleimani was top secret mission: report

THE MAGAZINE Newsweek has quoted several unnamed sources as saying that only a few people were in the know about the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani by a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in Iraq earlier this year.

Gulo sa Iraq!

‘OFWs sa Iraq, Middle East hindi pipilitin umuwi’

HINDI NA umano pipilitin ng pamahalaang Duterte ang mga Pinoy workers sa Iraq na lumikas at umuwi sa Pilipinas kung ayaw nila.

Ito ang sinabi ni Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo sa kabila ng unang balita na nais ni Pangulong Duterte na pauwiin sa bansa ang mga Pinoy sa Iraq at iba pang bahagi ng Middle East dahil sa iringan at posibleng digmaan sa pagitan ng Amerika at Iran.

“Unang-una, kung meron na talagang open hostilities, repatriation is out of the question kasi shooting war na eh. Now, with respect doon sa mga ayaw, paano natin pipilitin yun kung ayaw. We cannot forcibly drag them to a ship or to whatever to bring them out,” ani Panelo.

Tinatayang nasa 4,000 ang mga Pinoy workers sa Iraq at mahigit sa 1 milyon naman ang nasa Middle East region, ayon sa Department of Foreign Affairs at inilagay na nito sa Alert Level 4 sitwasyon doon dahil sa kaguluhan.  May mandatory repatriation order na rin ang ahensya dahil ito lamang ang tanging paraan upang mailigtas ang mga overseas Filipino workers sa tiyak na kapahamakan.

Sinabi pa ni Panelo na kung talagang ayaw umuwi ng mga Pinoy ay dapat nasa ligtas na lugar sila. “Palagay ko, if you will give them a choice between being placed in a safe place and coming home, eh pipiliin nila doon muna sa safe place. We have to place them in a safe place. Hindi naman sila kailangan umuwi habang nagkakaroon ng giyera doon o digmaan. Syempre hindi mo naman maiuuwi ’yan talaga eh. Hahanapan mo ng lugar na ligtas malapit dun like Saudi Arabia,” wika pa nito.

Sa kabila ng peligro sa Iraq ay patuloy ang pagdagsa ng mga Pinoy doon dahil sa malaking pasahod na kanilang tinatanggap. Umaabot umano sa mahigit P100,000 kada buwan ang tinatanggap ng mga Pinoy doon at mas malaki ito sa mga kampo ng militar at pagamutan.

Ang binansagang “Funeral Ceremony of the Martyrs of Resistance” sa Iraq na pinangunahan ni  Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei para sa libing ni Lt. Gen. Qasem Soleimani na pinaslang ng Amerika kamakailan. (IRNA – Marziyeh Mousavi at Davoud Ghahrdar)

Nagsimula ang tensyon sa Iraq matapos na patayin kamakailan ng Amerika sa isang drone missile attack si Iranian Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani na pinuno ng Quds Force ng Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Inatake naman ng Iran kamakailan rin ang mga kampo sa Iraq na ginagamit ng mga sundalong Kano bilang ganti.

Ipinadala naman ni Duterte si Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Abdullah Mamao upang makipag-usap sa mga lider ng Iraq at Iran upang masigurong walang Pinoy na madadamay sa gulo kung sakaling lumala ito.

“Well, I have sent Secretary Mamao. He is a Maranao. He’s a Cabinet member. He’s my fraternity brother. I trust him. I’ve sent him to both Tehran and in Baghdad, if he can make it, to talk to the leaders about the plight of the Filipino workers. That is all there is to it. Just to get the assurance that my countrymen will have the egress just in case hell breaks loose in the Middle East,” ani Duterte.

Nagbanta si Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, ang Chief of Staff ng Iranian Armed Forces, na gaganti ng husto ang kanyang bansa kung muling aatake ang Amerika. At ito rin ang pahayag ni Iranian President Hassan Rouhani matapos na mapatay si Soleimani at sinabing “Iran reserves the right to take revenge by proportionate military action, and will do it.” (Mindanao Examiner)

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Letters from Davao: Sustaining Manila’s Food Supply by Jun Ledesma

PHILIPPINES, JUST LIKE most countries in the world, are affected by the impact of the spike of oil prices and the decline of productivity on account of immense weather disturbances. We are not immune from these iniquities and there seems to be no adequate and quick solutions for these problems.

Let’s face it. We have no control on oil commodities, although considering the suspension of excise tax is an option. But tinkering with the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) which is now in full force may impact on many government programs which could just complicate matters. Additional revenues from TRAIN are earmarked for the Build, Build, Build program. This comprehends of big ticket infrastructure projects that would address gargantuan problems and opportunities mostly in Metro Manila and balance Luzon. Increase of salaries in government bureaucracy starting with the military and police forces, free education in state colleges and universities and tax exemptions of nearly 80% of the country’s wage earners to name just a few.

The problem here is that we are a whole basket of “talangka” pulling each other so we stay like wretched and bellyaching nation not to mention the penchant of our students for radicalism. We want to control inflation and bring this to the level of 3% forgetting or stonewalling some hard realities that we are a net-importer of oil and shutting off the hard reality that the price of oil had increased by over $32/barrel in just about one year since Venezuela stop pumping oil and Iran closing the spigots of their oil wells on account of embargo imposed by the Western power. I am sure that the critics know about this but conveniently leave this issue to put all the blame on the present administration.

Add to this equation the lack of rice supply and we have a situation ripe for inflation and the Duterte administration open to an organized assault of salivating opposition that can deal with the devil to oust Duterte. But surprises can from where it is least expected. Before they scooted to Hong Kong for a weekend respite, I had this interesting conversation with SAP Bong Go. Just like many of us “taga bundok”, as Jim Paredes would dub Mindanaoans, Bong saw the abundant harvests of various crops from Davao. “Hindi ko ma-intindihan kung bakit napakamahal ng bilihin sa Metro Manila. I-santabi muna natin yong bigas, pero yong gulay, isda at yong mga karaniwang binibili natin sa araw araw nating kinakain ay napakamahal sa Maynila.

Our conversation led to a more serious exchanges. I didn’t know SAP Bong Go has been internalising so many suggestions that he said was passed on to him. He recalled that once, Sen. Dick Gordon had proposed to send, on regular basis, the military’s C130 not for a combat mission but to ferry marine products and fruits from Jolo. Of late, he said, Agriculture Sec. Manny Pinol did just that - ferrying vegetables from Bukidnon to San Andres market in Malate. Bong said that this should be institutionalised. He said that it is time a permanent food terminal like the one established by Marcos in Taguig before be restored. He said that it is unfortunate that the Cory government virtually disregarded that food terminal. Bong said that the last time he knew of what happened to that food terminal was that some of its real estate assets were sold and its cold storage and processing facilities were just leased.

Secretary Bong is correct. I remembered that Marcos set the Food Terminal Inc. to help vegetable farmers and fruit growers, fishermen and even hog raisers from Mindanao to sell their products at better prices in Metro Manila which is the biggest consumer market in the country. It was also meant to augment supply in the capital region which relied mainly on vegetable producers in Benguet, Batangas and Tagaytay. Bong said, “ngayon maliit na lang ang taniman ng gulay samantalang lumalaki ang population sa Metro Manila. Pagkata-on ito na kumita naman ang mga magbubukid sa Mindanao at Sulu”. Farmers in Mindanao can maximise their production if they are motivated by profits and assurance of markets, he said.

Bong explained that he hopes that some investors can look into this opportunity. In the meantime he said, during calamity situations military cargo planes maybe used. He said that later President Duterte may be able “persuade” Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to allocate in every flight cargo space for perishable products from Mindanao in special freight rates. Bong Go, who is a business graduate, said that possibly the Bureau of Internal Revenue may also exempt from tax agricultural products that are for human consumption that will be airlifted to Manila. “It is about time we help our farmers and at the same flood markets in Metro Manila to bring down the prices of basic consumer’s products which are being manipulated by unscrupulous traders,” Bong said.

Sometimes, solutions to problems need simple and out-of-the-box solutions. SAP Bong Go speaks from where he came from - Davao City and Davao Oriental. And I can attest to this. Your favorite lakatan bananas that sells beyond P150 per hand in Manila supermarkets and in public markets are actually sold in Barangay Tambobong, Davao City to middle men for P10 pesos. Vegetables from the farmers’ bagsakan in Marilog sell from P2/kg but are sold in Manila at astronomical price. Longkong lanzones variety are sold in farmers’ gate at P25/kg and sells in Davao sidewalk for P50/kg. In Rockwell Mall, it is sold at P900/kg! Fish, shellfish are incredibly cheap in Davao Oriental, Davao City and General Santos City. Mangosteen in Jolo, I heard sells at P5-15/kg in Jolo and P160/kg in Manila and 7-yuan a piece in Beijing.

Indeed a one man idea is sometime better than what all the bright boys in congress combined. By the way, there is now a direct Cathay Pacific flight from Davao to HK. I don’t know if Bong and his boss, the President, are there to look for buyers of Davao products. Come to think of it... why not? (Jun Ledesma)

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