Tiwala

Balak ko sanang mag komento sa isinulat ni Randy David noong isang araw tungkol sa pagsabog sa Glorietta pero nakita ko na nasagot na ni Micketymoc at ni Dean Jorge Bocobo.

Nagulat ako na gumamit ng post-modernist argument si Randy David. Nalungkot ako na maraming Pilipino ang mas gusto pang paniwalaan ang isang Malaysian expert na nagtrabaho para sa mga Ayala kaysa sa mga Pilipinong pulis.

Ganoon na ba kaliit ang tiwala nating mga Pilipino sa ating mga pulis? Ang masama hindi kabobohan o kakulangan sa modernong kasangkapan ang ugat ng kritisismo. Ang ugat ng kritisismo ay ang pagdududa na , kung hindi man mga pulis ay kilala ng mga pulis kung sino ang nagpasabog sa Glorietta at kanila itong pinagtatakpan. Maski walang katibayan, dumikit na ang pagdududang ito sa maraming Pilipino.

Kaya maski na nagbigay ang pulis ng report, kung saan ang konklusyon na aksidente ang naging pagsabog ay sinusuportahan ng FBI at ng Australian Forensic Police, marami pa rin ang nagdududa.

Nakakalungkot na maski walang katibayan ang eksperto ng mga Ayala, maliban sa nakitang RDX, mas gusto pa ng ilan nating mga kababayan na maniwala sa kanya.

Binay Confused

Mayor Binay of Makati was quoted saying one of the stupidest statements I've read. The PDI quoted him saying

"The police needs to convince a highly skeptical public and the courts that their gas theory is credible,"

why was the PNP's gas theory not credible? Because

"...the investigation team had revised its "initial findings" several times, first claiming the explosion, which killed 11 persons and injured more than 100, might have been caused by a bomb, then later saying it was triggered by either LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), diesel or methane."

As if theories on the cause of the bombing should not be revised based on the evidence. But wait, later, Mayor Binay says

"They stuck to the gas leak theory even in the face of contrary findings from experts from the academe and the industry. But when Malacañang has already made a public statement, we cannot really expect the subordinates to say otherwise,"

So which is it Mayor. The gas explosion theory is not credible because the PNP revised its theories several times or that they stuck to the gas theory even in the face of contrary findings? Either they are wishy washy or they are too stubborn. They cannot be both.

p.s.

It must be noted that the FBI and the Australian Forensic Police came to the same conclusion as that of the PNP.

It's Official

Gas explosion not bomb caused Makati mall blast--PNP: INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

"Chief Superintendent Luizo Ticman , who heads the multi-agency task force that investigated the explosion at Glorietta 2, said there was no evidence which indicated that an improvised explosive device had been used."

I can't wait to see what the Glorietta truthers response will be. I predict it will be more of the same conspiracy theory with no evidence but with more conspiracy.

Witness 2

We already know that Mr. Hermann Tiu Laurel believes that the US and Philippine governments are bloodthirsty enough to kill their own citizens.

Adding to Mr. Laurel's paranoia is Sen. Trillanes' witness Abdul Rahman aka Ronald Ramos who we last heard claiming that he "cased" Glorietta for a special operations group of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales. Which convinced him that "the surveillance job is linked to the Glorietta blast". No matter that no bomb materials were found in the scene.

Now, Mr. Abdul Rahman has expanded on his story. He now claims that along with 7 other people

"He ... had specific orders to case certain places for possible bombing targets even as he said he had reported to his bosses that the House of Representatives has a lax security and that the best place to lodge a bomb in Congress was at the parking lot and at the Speaker’s podium at the plenary hall."

He further claims that they had

"instruction from their superiors was to “case” certain buildings for possible bombing targets to create a scene of unrest and to blame the incident on the RSM."

and that Secretary Gonzales himself told him to “Do your job properly.”

So let me get this straight. Secretary Gonzales, is ruthless enough to kill his own countrymen, including members of Congress. Intelligent and wily enough to blame the Ayala group for the explosion in Glorietta and cover-up the presence of the bomb conspiring with or befuddling the PNP, the Australian Forensic Police and the FBI. Possibly blame political enemies of the Akbars for the Congressional bombing and cover up the truth again with the PNP and possibly other foreign investigators but he will be dumb enough to tell 8 people that he wants them to "case" several buildings so that he may bomb them.

Somehow that doesn't seem realistic to me. And anybody who believes such a story is a moron.

Rise of the Glorietta Truthers

A couple of weeks ago, I surmised that the supporters of Senator Trillanes will be loathe to believe the lack of evidence of a bomb causing the explosion in Glorietta. Yesterday, the Magdalo blog reproduced the column of Mr. Hermann Tiu Laurel doing just that.

Mr. Laurel started by reminding his readers of Mariannet Amper, the child who committed suicide because of her family's poverty juxtaposed with the amount of debt service our country pays out. And the surge in profit of one of the Lopez' companies. I would have sympathized more if he had other arguments aside from an appeal to emotion.

But then again, when he writes sentences like

"...in my own discussions with President Estrada, the still and only legitimate president of this country, who commits to the institution of debt moratorium as soon as the opportunity arises."

or

"While ambitious leaders with Gloria clash and claw at each other to get the lion’s share of the plunder and power. Only President Estrada is going to the people, other opposition “leaders” only brush elbows with the elite’s Black and White."

you lose credibility as someone who thinks of the poor children when you acknowledge a convicted plunderer as your legitimate President. And is the camp of Sen. Trillanes so starved of followers that they need Mr. Laurel in their camp?

But to the denialism. Mr Laurel decries the obeisance of a radio program to the "FBI’s cover up in Glo II bombing." So rather than arguing the evidence which at least the Ayala's do. Mr. Laurel lists a number inept FBI investigations like the Anthrax letters, the Richard Jewell case, and the

"self-inflicted 9/11 WTC “terror attacks” which was really controlled demolition."

The first two are real cases, the first one is still unsolved, the second one got out of hand due to media coverage not to FBI ineptness. But the third one is a big one, the controlled demolition theory is one of many theories on the 9/11 attacks that has been debunked.

If you believe that a convicted plunderer is still the legitimate President of the Philippines, and that the US government will deliberately kill thousands of their own citizens, then it is not a stretch for you to believe that the Philippine government engineered the explosion in Glorietta even against all the evidence against it.

Witness

The witness of Senator Trillanes has come forward.

"The witness told ABS-CBN News correspondent Jay Ruiz that he surrendered to the government and worked for a special operations group of National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales along with members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-National Capital Region Command (AFP-NCRCom) from 2004-2006.

He claimed that his job was to monitor a number of malls in Metro Manila, including the Glorietta shopping complex.

"Tinitignan ko ang security sa Glorietta, sabi ko sa report pinaka-mahina ang security sa Glorietta (I monitored the security of Glorietta and reported that it had the weakest)," Ramos said.

While admitting he has no solid-proof evidence, Ramos is convinced the surveillance job is linked to the Glorietta blast."

And Senator Trillanes believed this story? This guy, by his own admission only monitored the security of different Malls, and reported his findings to his superiors. And from there, he comes to the conclusion that his superiors ordered the bombing of the Mall with the least security. Yes, that would be my conclusion too, if I were a nut.

Maybe we should be more generous with Ronald Ramos alias Abdul Rackham, after all, he was a member of the Raja Solaiman Movement. The previous times he monitored buildings was probably with the intention of bombing them. He probably does not understand the concept of monitoring various buildings with the idea of protecting them.

But in his statement, Senator Trillanes says that he has

"information obtained from my own network of informants in the AFP and the intelligence community.”

Is this person his network? If not, is he the best proof his network of informants in the AFP intelligence community can produce? After weeks of posturing? This is his proof?

I will make a deal with Senator Trillanes however, I will believe him if he can produce the bomb materials that the PNP, the Australians et al. were unable to find. With his retinue of AFP informants, that should be easy.

Trillanes, liar or just gulllible?

When the Glorietta blast happened, Senator elect Trillanes immediately put out a press release accusing National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon as the people behind the act.

On another press release the next day he writes

“As a person, and now as an elected lawmaker, I do not just make statements out of pique, or without anything to stand on, or to grandstand. I have information obtained from my own network of informants in the AFP and the intelligence community.”

When the Philippine National Police (PNP) presented their findings that the blast was actually an accident and not deliberate he still insisted that his version of the story is the true one

"Insisting that he knows certain information that would point to National Security adviser Norberto Gonzales and AFP chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon as possible authors of the Glorietta 2 blast, and brushing aside criticisms of his accusation as being irresponsible and without basis, opposition senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV today said he will prove his accusations in a Senate investigation."

They even wrote to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) protesting an editorial cartoon

"The Inquirer editorial cartoon showing Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV thinking aloud that he needs to “rework” his “strategy of speaking without thinking” (Inquirer, 10/24/07) may be an expression of opinion, but it is also a presumption of the senator’s frame of mind toward his work. It has completely no basis.

It is flatly false because Trillanes did not whip out of thin air his charge that Norberto Gonzales and Hermogenes Esperon have something to do with the Glorietta 2 explosion. He has received credible and reliable information about this and is prepared to tell all that he knows and is ready to present his witnesses in an investigation to be conducted by an independent, impartial and credible body. He has, in fact, made a step further. He will present his witnesses in a Senate probe and has filed a resolution to this effect."

To be fair, not a lot of Filipinos immediately believed the PNP report that the blast was an accident. Filipinos are a cynical bunch when it comes to their government. The PDI itself urged the PNP not to rush to any conclusion. A corroborating agency was required to support the PNP.

Today, the PDI itself obtained a copy of the report of the Australian Forensic Police (AFP), that concluded that

“there was no evidence to suggest that the explosion had been caused and/or initiated by an improvised explosive device.”

I think, that settles the question. The Australian Forensic Police has backed up the conclusion of the Philippine National Police.

Where then did Senator Trillanes find his witnesses against National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon? Did he make them up to get himself in the front pages of the papers or were they real and he was just a dupe for people who wanted to destabilize the Philippine government and replace the sitting President? Are there other explanations that does not make him look crazy or stupid?

Whatever the truth is, this proves that he should not have been elected Senator of the Philippines. It proves that he's almost as out of control as Senator Santiago.

Update:

I just saw the poll that they are running on the blog asking their readers

"What do you think caused the Glorietta 4 explosion?"

88% believes that "A bomb planted by State Sponsored Operatives" was the cause of the explosion.

I am not sure if any corroborating evidence, even by the FBI will convince these people that the explosion was an accident. I may be witnessing my first ever Philippine conspiracy theory akin to the 9/11 truthers in the United States.