Not surprisingly, there was an almost audible collective sigh of relief and even jubilation when the Supreme Court issued the TRO that stopped the signing of the MOA.

***

How can a leader of any country, even one whose legitimacy will forever be held in doubt, go to such lengths as dismembering her own country in the pursuit of her evil design?

I will not go into the details of the MOA. Suffice it to say that everyone seems to be in agreement that the creation of the BJE will not be good for the Republic and will inevitably lead to its dismemberment.

***

"Whom the gods want to destroy, they first make mad

How else to explain such brazen and reckless assault on the national sovereignty and territorial integrity that Ms. Gloria Arroyo and her treasonous cabal tried to pull?

That they even thought they could get away with it boggles the mind. But obviously, they felt they could.

It will be recalled that late the previous week, they said the negotiations between the government and the MILF had broken down. It became obvious it was a ploy to throw off everybody when suddenly, over the weekend, they announced that the MOA was to be signed the following Tuesday.

***

Apparently, Arroyo felt confident that the Supreme Court (SC) would not have enough time to reach a decision on the petition for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) filed by officials of North Cotabato and Zamboanga City on Monday, 4 August. (Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, Peace Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. and US Ambassador Kristie Kenney were already airborne on their way to Kuala Lumpur when the TRO came down.)

It is likely Arroyo was also banking on the SC denying the petition for a TRO because the majority of the members are her appointees. And that's where she badly miscalculated. She underestimated the justices' sense of nationalism and patriotism.

That the SC granted the TRO came as a surprise to many. Not only did it act with unusual dispatch; it also decided unanimously. The general public was expecting the high tribunal to either stall or deny the TRO outright.

I like to think that the decision was unanimous because those who were appointed by Arroyo to the Court felt in their heart of hearts that what was about to happen was truly not good for the country. They must have felt that as Filipinos, it was their duty to stop it. They must have also thought that if they allowed the signing to proceed, they would be indirectly participating in the dismemberment of the country

***

So now the regime says peace negotiations will continue. Good. But I believe the first thing that Arroyo and her cabal should do is to "de-internationalize" the problem. No more interference by foreigners, including in particular, the United States, Malaysia or any member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and, for that matter, the OIC itself. (Incidentally, we should stop sending a delegation to the meetings of the OIC. That has always been a useless exercise.)

I am informed that the MILF will never negotiate without Malaysia as mediator. That alone should tell everyone why Malaysia has to go. As one of my students asked, "What assurance do we have that the BJE will not join the Malaysian Federation in the future?" Good question.

The second thing that Arroyo must do is to form a new team of negotiators headed by a civilian, preferably with a legal background. It must include a professional from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Why a DFA professional is not in the present panel escapes me. Could it be that Arroyo knows a DFA professional would have never agreed to certain provisions in the MOA? Ex-military men must serve only in the capacity of advisers.

The third thing to do is to have the meetings take place only on Philippine territory.

If these proposals are not acceptable to the MILF, that would be too bad because we should not and, hopefully, will not have it any other way. It would also prove the MILF is really not desirous of peace, that all its members want is a separate and independent state, period!

***

Earlier this year, I said Ambassador Kenney should be declared persona non grata for talking and negotiating directly with the MILF. The authorities concerned should have done that when they had the chance.

See? The US almost got away with what they really wanted from the start. Arroyo and her cabal evidently did not see through, or perhaps simply ignored, the US' real intention. The US wants the BJE to come to life because it would be a lot easier to maintain their presence in the area, free from pesky and "interfering" politicians and the mass media.

With the Philippines having been designated by the US as the second front in the war against terror, they want unfettered access to and from their base of operations there. Where else can they go? They'll never be able to set foot on Malaysian or Indonesian soil. Mindanao is the nearest they can ever hope to get to the Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia.

And with the growing power and influence of China, they feel they should have a continued presence in these parts. Sure, but not at the expense of our national sovereignty and territorial integrity, please! Bad 'yun!

How keen is the US in making the BJE a reality? A little bird told me that no less than Deputy Secretary of Sate John Negroponte came to town rather surreptitiously soon after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of the MOA.

Also, although Kenney tried to lighten up the atmosphere by saying there was nothing to worry about and that the TRO was only a temporary setback, her disappointment could be seen written all over her face. All her efforts had been in vain - those trips to the area, the meeting with the MILF leaders.

She also said something like had the signing taken place, the US was ready to give the piddling sum of P25 million. She didn't say to whom. It would be interesting to know if the signing of the BJE was indeed a pre-condition to giving the amount and to whom.

***

What about Australia and Japan? Wherever Uncle Sam goes, there they go. Nothing much to discuss there.

***

In her State of the Nation (SONA) address last month, Arroyo said, "peace is at hand." I guess she spoke too soon.

***

Ambassador Rodolfo Arizala has finally been able to withdraw money from his GSIS eCard Plus account. I suggested to him to withdraw daily the maximum amount allowed by the ATM, until his accrued pension is totally depleted. Otherwise, he takes the risk of his money "disappearing" as experienced by others.

***

ERRATUM: Due to a mix-up in transmission, the following concern of a GSIS member printed in this space last week was attributed to Ms. Violeta S. Corpus. The letter actually came from AHPedro@neda.gov.ph:

"I've been monitoring my loan details from time to time. I noticed that last May 2008, my loanable amount was already P 80,000+. Our agency has been religiously deducting our payments to our various loans from GSIS, PAG-Ibig, etc. But when I once again viewed my loan details, my loanable amount is now down to only P78,000+. Why is this so? Di ho ba dapat ay mas lalong lumaki na ang amount na puwede kong ma-loan dahil wala naman ho akong failure sa pagbabayad?"

***

Ms. Violeta S. Corpus (VSCorpus@neda.gov.ph) of NEDA, with GSIS Policy No. CM 194312, wrote about her problems concerning two GSIS EDU Child Plan Agreement (No. GEA 00027747 and No. GEA 00027747) she and her husband Ronaldo, also a NEDA employee, have fully paid for but could not now draw from. Moreover, GSIS has also not released the title to their residential property which they have likewise paid for completely. All their payments were through salary deductions since 1987.

Ms. Corpus' letter will be published next week.

***

Today is the 106th day of the second year of Jonas Burgos' disappearance.

Last week, Jonas' mother, Edita, appealed the decision of the Court of Appeals denying her petition for a Writ of Amparo to the Supreme Court. Everyone hopes the latter will act expeditiously on Edita's appeal.