PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao has gained support. But the AFP must do its part. The airstrike that killed nine and wounded seven soldiers is disheartening.
Despite its faults, President Duterte placed his chips on the AFP. The Isis uprising in Marawi is real. Meeting it head on with all-out war has earned increasing support from a frightened citizenry.
This support, nevertheless, is not unconditional. The military must deliver victory asap. Public opinion tends to change as body bags pile up. Against an AFP with its clear superiority in numbers and firepower, Isis only needs to demonstrate its ability to survive and fight another day to claim victory.
Surgical airstrikes that kill even our own jar our confidence in the AFP.
A Maranao friend was particularly cynical. If pilots could bomb friendly forces, it is more difficult to distinguish civilians from terrorists from above. The difficulty multiplies exponentially in Marawi that has a Muslim population of 90 percent.
Aside from being clannish, he said Muslim men have guns. They tend to avenge family members and relatives killed. The AFP risks making enemies of relatives of those considered collateral damage.
Nevertheless, I am hoping for a swift AFP victory in Marawi so there won’t be any reason for the imposition of martial law here in the Visayas.
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I’m glad the National Food Authority Council (NFAC) under Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco has acted fast to avert a rice supply shortage and trigger inflation amid the ongoing crisis in Marawi.
The NFAC extended the deadline for imported rice shipments under the 2016 Minimum Access Volume (MAV) to June 30, 2017. This means the release of rice shipments held by the Bureau of Customs in various ports in the country including Cebu.
This should help lower the price of rice while we await importation through the government-to-public scheme and a new 2017 MAV program.
You see, we are about to consume all the bumper harvest that Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol boasted of last March. Piñol and NFA administrator Jason Aquino wrought havoc on our rice supply situation when they conspired to stop the importation program last February for two different wrong reasons.
Piñol wanted to pasikat at the expense of our food security. Aquino, on the other hand, defied the NFAC for reasons Customs observers familiar with “tara” fully understand.
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It seems Evasco works away from the limelight and delivers strategic results for the Duterte administration. The Kilusang Pagbabago he had organized, in another example, is quietly mobilizing ordinary Duterte supporters in relief operations for Marawi.
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Lebron James and the Cavaliers must go back to the drawing board and strategize how to deal with Kevin Durant. The NBA star dumped the Thunder in favor of the Warriors in his search for a championship. Durant will do everything to make this happen.