Senate Discussion on mercs issue
To The Point - Emil Jurado
Manila Standard Today
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel—whose double-breasted eyebags betray his penchant for complaining against almost anything, got a lecture from Senator Juan Ponce Enrile over the issue of “mercenaries,” an issue Pimentel wants investigated (what, again?).
According to Enrile, there’s no law prohibiting Filipinos from working as security personnel in Iraq, and that if they have been recruited as such, they cannot be called “mercenaries,” adding that it’s different when they are recruited to fight the war of the US as a paramilitary unit. Only then can they be called mercenaries, Enrile told Pimentel.
Obviously, in an attempt to get media mileage, Pimentel wants to make the reported recruitment of Filipinos by Greystone, an affiliate of American Security firm Blackwater, in Subic and Clark, an issue, forgetting that there’s an Enrile who knows better, having been in the defense department for 17 years.
The problem, as Enrile stated, is that we are too sensitive, too allergic and too scared as a people, losing our sense of balance to assess a situation carefully. Enrile could be referring to Pimentel, whom I believe starts seeing ghosts behind every bush. For one thing, Pimentel seems ignorant about the fact that pilots of foreign governments train in the Philippines. Or is he just seeking publicity?
Manila Standard Today
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel—whose double-breasted eyebags betray his penchant for complaining against almost anything, got a lecture from Senator Juan Ponce Enrile over the issue of “mercenaries,” an issue Pimentel wants investigated (what, again?).
According to Enrile, there’s no law prohibiting Filipinos from working as security personnel in Iraq, and that if they have been recruited as such, they cannot be called “mercenaries,” adding that it’s different when they are recruited to fight the war of the US as a paramilitary unit. Only then can they be called mercenaries, Enrile told Pimentel.
Obviously, in an attempt to get media mileage, Pimentel wants to make the reported recruitment of Filipinos by Greystone, an affiliate of American Security firm Blackwater, in Subic and Clark, an issue, forgetting that there’s an Enrile who knows better, having been in the defense department for 17 years.
The problem, as Enrile stated, is that we are too sensitive, too allergic and too scared as a people, losing our sense of balance to assess a situation carefully. Enrile could be referring to Pimentel, whom I believe starts seeing ghosts behind every bush. For one thing, Pimentel seems ignorant about the fact that pilots of foreign governments train in the Philippines. Or is he just seeking publicity?
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:49 AM
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