(via The Manila Times) ZAMBOANGA CITY: Abu Sayyaf militants raided a convent in the remote southern Philippine island province of Tawi-Tawi and killed a Catholic missionary during a kidnapping attempt, officials said Wednesday.
Fr. Rey Roda of the congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), was killed outside his convent at the compound of the Notre Dame High School, where he also served as its director, in the village of Likud Tabawan in South Ubian town late Tuesday.
Villagers tried to rescue the priest, but failed. Policemen who rushed to the school clashed with the militants who took one teacher hostage, Omar Taub.
“There was a firefight and Fr. Roda was resisting the kidnappers and he was shot and killed,” Fr. Rito Daquipil, head of the mission in Tawi-Tawi, told The Manila Times.
He said the priest’s hands were tied when his body was recovered slumped outside his convent. “We are all sad. Fr. Roda was a good man and loved by everybody. He was there doing missionary work with our Muslim brothers and sisters for the past 10 years,” Daquipil added.
Roda was praying when the gunmen, about 10 of them, armed with rifles and handguns, seized the priest and dragged him outside the chapel, Daquipil said, quoting a report from the village.
He said the body of the priest would be sent to the mission headquarters in Cotabato City.
The military launched a massive search on Wednesday to capture the attackers and rescue the teacher.
“We condemn the killing of Father Rey Roda. The Abu Sayyaf has no respect to religion and even an innocent priest is killed,” said Army Maj. Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.
He said troops were searching for the hostage. “Gen. Allaga ordered troops to rescue the hostage and neutralize the terrorists,” he said, referring to the chief of the Western Mindanao Command, Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga.
It was not the first time that the Abu Sayyaf killed a priest. In 2002, militants also kidnapped, tortured and killed Claretian priest Roel Gallardo in Basilan province, south of Zamboanga City.
In 1997, the Abu Sayyaf also assassinated a Catholic bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, in Jolo town in Sulu province. He was shot several times outside his church.
The Abu Sayyaf, which means “Bearer of the Sword,” was originally fighting for a separate Islamic state similar to Afghanistan, but resorted to banditry and kidnapping after its Libyan firebrand founder, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, was killed in 1998 in a clash with policemen in Basilan province.
By the way, thanks to Dave in Texas for sending me this great "postcard" of Vanessa Dobos, "the Real Miss America" who has seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan. If my daughter or sister had to go out and defend Women's Rights and Press Freedom in this here World War, I would want her to have equipment like this, too.
Hey Vanessa, wanna come visit the Archipelago? We sure could use your help right about now.
39 comments:
and you would want them to have a lot more body armor than what Bush gave his soldiers in Iraq.
Of course the better alternatie is to let Blacjwater finish the job. That way the authorities escape all accountability for atrocities.
In matters of Philippine National Security, Fil-Ams are suspect because of divided loyalties.
Defending women's rights? Which ones?
Seriously want me to believe that showing up as Ms Terminator is for defence of women's rights?
Let's not push the envelope of ridicule too far...
or the military can ask gracia burnham to tell all what she knows about the people behind this business.
http://www.sikhspectrum.com/082003/hostage.htm
john,
haha. remember,this is an R18 website, not X. We don't DO gorgeous young thangs here, at least not where it would be most undignified to do so.
as for Ms. Burnham, I think she's told'em what she thinks of 'em too. all of 'em.
Anna,
So where would you reckon the envelope is, the line beyond which we would not go to defend women's rights and press freedoms?
Wouldn't the purposes for which a great democracy might actually stoop to violence and killing of human beings, be better served if quickly and mercifully done, rather than wars that never end because no one ever wins or ever really loses?
"Wouldn't the purposes for which a great democracy might actually stoop to violence and killing of human beings, be better served if quickly and mercifully done, rather than wars that never end because no one ever wins or ever really loses." - DJB
Wow, you're really living up to your 'Jihadist' monicker.
As I previously suggested, let's not push the envelope of ridicule too far...
I wonder what Ms Terminator would say of women's rights as practised in a Christian fundamentalist university where you meet a normal-looking 18-year old girl who says she would not vote for Hillary Clinton because "God teaches us that men should rule over women?" or another young woman voter saying "I'm backing Huckabee because he stands for 'No Gays'."
http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/01/postcard-from-s.html
There you are Dean, I suggest you take your "war of attrition" to Bob Jones Christian fundamentalist world...
cvj,
but you didn't bother to address the question, only invoked a label.
anna,
there is hardly a worthwhile comparison between the Taliban and the Christian Right. You and I are far closer in our moral sense and practical ethics to Mike Huckabee than the Beheaders of Basilan.
Maybe, just maybe, this is my way of mourning the passing of Father Roda, who was a personal acquaintance of people I know. And I know they're all in extremis right now.
It's cute turning the tables on me, calling ME a jihadist, cvj.
That's why they're winning. That's why it's a war. We've lost you both!
To claify things: Sgt Dobos has a big RIFLE. There may or may not be a gun in her life. If there is, its size is not a matter for public disclosure.
If the somewhat goofy denizens of Bob Jones University ever steal planes and fly them into tall buildings; or if they saw of journalists heads; or if they sentence rape victims to 200 lashes; or if they plant various and sundry bombs about the landscape to damage mere passerbys;
or if they forcibly repress other sects/religions; or if they threaten to nuke Israel; or if they try to put me and mine into dhimmitude; etc----then I may relay a fire mission to Sgt Dobos requesting that she search and traverse their campus. But unless and until BJU does more than annoy
their critics, they are immune from such measures.
Al Qaeda; Taliban, MILF, MNLF, Abu Sayaf ad nauseum shall enjoy no such immunity.
Hopefully these comments shall clarify the nature of her employment and why I am happy to help pay the tab.
And by the way, under George Dubya,
Uncle Sam has gone from Whitewater to Blackwater. A distinct improvement. Likewise, Haliburton does a much better job than the 1st Log Command (The "Leaning Outhouse") of my VN days.
I daresay that my condonterri and Wild Geese ancestors would approve.
Who's comparing the Taleban with the Christian right?
I understand your frustration Dean but being ridiculous is not gonna solve your problem.
"We've lost you both!" -- Who's "we"?
"We" is you and Hukcabee? the Philippines perhaps? Lost cvj and me to what and to whom and when???
I'm a European conservative Dean but certainly not in your neo-con fashion.
Just so you know the difference: would never want to be caught dead supporting leftist Tony Blair whom you admire (you might as well be espousing the Leninist dogma...), yep, the same leftist barker playing the neo-con gig. How's that for consistency?
DJB, the end does not justify the means, especially when the means negate the end.
You deserve the label 'Jihadist' because of the neat symmetry between your advocacy and methods and that of Bin Laden's.
cvj,
Well okay if you insist.
Amerika Al-Akhbar!
Amerika Al-Akhbar!
Join me won't you?
It will ease your self-loathing.
but i must agree with you even more that means which negate the end are never justified, for being self-defeating.
Ends must be self-justifying, or else they are immoral.
Means, whether moral or immoral, ought to at least achieve the desired end.
I can only conclude that your concept of symmetry is ODD and not EVEN. Therefore, it is neither just nor fair, but merely polemical.
You must choose between his beard and mine. You cannot logically occupy an excluded middle and wish a pox on both mine and Bin Laden's houses.
That's how people like Father Roda fall through the rhetorical cracks!
Maybe you ought to persuade your pals in the NPA front organizations to include him in their list of extrajudicial killings?
anna,
Define "European Conservative" please.
If it isn't "neo con" is it perhaps "paleo lib"?
What does a European Conservative stand for nowadays, and if the Union ever gels, who would you vote for as its Prime Minister if not Tony Blair?
Unlike you, i've never been a communist so i don't have any contacts in the NPA. Maybe you can renew acquaintances and tell them yourself.
cvj,
so evasive...you do agree though, I take it, that the murder of Father Roda OUGHT TO BE on Karapatan's list of extrajudicial killing, no?
Would you join me in a post to that effect?
cvj,
if you were "never a communist" whatever were you that you've evolved out of?
I condemn the murder of Father Roda but doesn't it make sense to keep a separate list of atrocities by the Abu Sayyaf as opposed to the ones by the government/military?
As to where i came from, I started out as a believer in laissez-faire free-market capitalism.
was bill clinton a neo con? Is Hillary a neo con? which candidates of either party are neo cons?
"who would you vote for as its Prime Minister if not Tony Blair?"
Hahaha... you are incorrigible.
Dean, you are simply out of your depth. I once advised you to get out of the pits which is the Philippines -- travel, seek new horizons, talk to real people.
This insular mentality is reflected in your views of the world -- black or white.
anna,
well, WHO?
anna,
seriously, name one "conservative European" politician or philosopher that you admire and that you would recommend I read or study to understand what this phenomenon you speak of with such promise is made of in terms of ideas.
cvj,
oh, i am sure the angels are keeping a thorough list. But I want KARAPATAN to include Father Roda on the list. I mean, if they include victims of BURGLARY who happen to be "activists" because some NPA crypto capo claims them to his superiors, why shouldn't the victims of MURDER and KIDNAPPING be on there too?
Oh, it would break the fallacious spell of the whole Trick wouldn't it? Reveal the fact that precisely by maintaining a list political activists of the Left they make it appear that only the Left is getting killed in the insurgency they are conducting.
It wouldn't do either to put the names of soldiers, policemen, and LGU officers killed or kidnapped by the NPA or ASG would it. Because then "extrajudicial killing" would not have the payload of innuendo against the govt and military that it is intended to have.
When you see this, you will have seen through the sophisticated mental trap that has been set by the inventors of the extrajudicial killings issue.
what do you mean by "Who"? Who would we vote president of EU? Certainly not Blair! You gotta be kidding... geez goes to show how little you know about European politics. Go to hillblogger so you can read on the latest...
Despite the fact that these philosophers helped bring down French monarchy, they were conservative Europeans: Voltaire and Rousseau among the many
Conservative Europeans don't stop at philosophers, we had and have modern day politicians too like Charles de Gaulle... think of Maggie Thatcher and John Major, and before them, Winston Churchill (even Sarkozy is a conservative but not of the America neo-con variety and thank God!) and if you are not convinced they were conservative then you had better refer to the Pilgrim fathers, among them you'll find that if they existed today, some might be neo-cons (of the jihadist variety which cvj rightly points you are today but in the reverse, i.e., a good moslem or commie is a dead moslem sort of thing... btw, they've torn down the wall of berlin you know...) Easy to get info on them Dean.
Dean,
Often you write sensibly but often too, your backside gets the better of you -- WHY do you INSIST that people who don't or won't agree with you, eg, cvj, me, and everyone else who isn't a neo-con extremist like you or doesn't accept your views in the same black or white manner, are NPAs, Leninists, commies, leftists, islamofanatics or Abu Sayyaff members... just doesn't make sense.
Why I'm sure that if Esperon tells you that he refuses to drop a 1-tonne bomb in Sulu indiscriminately, you'd call him an Abu Sayyaff lover!
Is it because of the water and air pollution in Manila?
Anna,
I am puzzled. It's cvj who's been calling me a commie all thread long!
No fair accusing me of it, Mommy!
DJB, if what you want to do is minimize the enormity of the government's crimes by pointing to the enormity of the Abu Sayyaf's, then that would indicate malice on your part. Besides, by doing so, you would be committing the fallacy of tu quoque via framing.
The extrajudicial killings are an issue that the government and military should address on its own right.
The Abu Sayyaf, like the Taliban, came from mujahedeen groups that were supported by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan:
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/0108sayyaf.html
While doing this, the U.S. supported Saddam who oppressed Islamic fundamentalists and fought against Iran. Later, the U.S. tried to sell arms to Iran through the Iran-Contra affair.
Right now, the U.S. remains an ally of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Given all that, how can one still argue that the U.S. fights for women's rights and others?
cvj,
The enormity of the govt's crimes? Surely the government's actions must be judged in the context of the multiple insurgencies it is fighting. What the CPP's front organizations have brilliantly succeeded in doing is to convince you that the government is guilty of enormous crimes. I ask you, do you honestly speaking side with the government against the communist insurgents and Moro rebels. Or do you take a cum see cum sah attitude towards it?
Tiki,
Where have you been living? Under a bourqa? Hehe. just kidding. Look at the women of Afghanistan and all those girls going to school and tell me that isn't a good thing. Quit reading all those demoralizing websites that feed you full of wrong impressions.
The actions of government must be judged in the context of protecting human rights and valuing human life. As to your question, setting aside legitimacy issues for the moment, i would take the side of government. However, that does not mean that the moral high ground is with the government and not the rebels. Only the actions of each of the contending parties can determine that.
cvj,
i think the "insurgency" is an immoral thing because it has not worked in 40 years of invoking the right of the people to withdraw their consent to be governed.
Of cours they are only saying this as a way of using democratic freedoms against itself. That is an example of negating the end with illicit means.
It is is protracted insurgency that provides all the context because the govt, I believe, is not a "conscious movement" like the insurgency is, but an institution. As such, it operates on longer timescales than revolutionaries. Indeed, without the insurgency, then the "normal" processes of people perfecting their govt can proceed without huge swings of aberrant behavior required, such as Edsa Dos!
Without the insurgency, gradualism would be possible.
To DJB, I'm not questioning the oppression committed by the Taliban on women. (While you are at it, why not also look at the way the Northern Alliance has been treating women?) What I'm saying is that the U.S. and allies allow these to happen in exchange for military and economic deals.
"I'm a European conservative Dean but certainly not in your neo-con fashion."
Hi Dean,
Keep track of the use of the word 'neo-con' and how it is used when debating European 'Conservatives'. There is a clue in there somewhere, and 'anna' provides you with all you need to know about what a 'European Conservative' really is. Thank got the US got away from these twits when we did!
Regards
Richard
Indeed:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bush-god-told-me-to-invade-iraq-509925.html
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