YOU FOUNDER DADO VALEROSO QUEST TO THE SENATE

He was just a second lieutenant when he heard the pleas of the Filipino masses against the Dictatorship. And like his predecessors from the Katipunan, the young Diosdado Valeroso did not think twice--he heeded the call and decided to lay down his life for the Filipino People. Fresh from the Philippine Military Academy, Valeroso joined Danilo Lim and Greg Honasan and several others and organised the RAM or the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (which eventually morphed into the Rebolusyunaryong Alyansang Makabansa). It was 1982--four years before the 1986 Revolution.

When Enrile decided to defect from Marcos and went to the Camp Aguinaldo, Valeroso was with other patriots including Lim, Rafael Cardeno, Abe Purungganan, Billy Bibit, Tito Legaspi, Honasan and others. They stood before the Mammoth and with the people's help they won.

However, as what we already know, the one who replaced the ageing Dictator, was herself, just a puppet of the oligarchs who want nothing more than the recovery of what they lost during the dictatorship. Sensing that the very sacrifice they did at EDSA was being wasted, Valeroso and other young officers established the Young Officers Union or YOU, a revolutionary organisation dedicated towards the attainment of Change or true Pagbabago.

Because of his revolutionary work (which really is fit to be depicted in a film), Valeroso was among those arrested and was jailed during the time of Ramos. He got out of detention, and went back to the service, opting for a post at the newly established Philippine National Police (PNP).

At the PNP, Valeroso worked hard and eventually became a Colonel. He represented the country well as our police attache at China. He worked hard to protect the welfare of OFWs based in China.

When he came back, Valeroso enriched the organisation with his expertise and experience. He got his first star and served the PNP for many years until he reached his retirement last July.

Thirty years had past, yet Valeroso still carries the strong desire for change. The dream of a Truly Prosperous Nation is still his mission. He will not tire until he sees this Nation attain true Change during his lifetime.

Calling all Patriots of the New Generation! Calling all those Filipinos who want to see true change happen in their lifetimes---SUPPORT GENERAL DIOSDADO VALEROSO AS HE BRINGS THE FIGHT OF THE MASSES TO THE HALLS OF THE SENATE!

LET US BRING BACK THE GLORY OF THE SENATE AND TRANSFORM THE SENATE INTO THE REAL PLATFORM OF THE PEOPLE IN EFFECTING THEIR WILL AND PROTECTION OF THEIR WELFARE!

HURRAH!

MABUHAY ANG Y.O.U.!

MABUHAY ANG SAMBAYANANG PILIPINO!!

Biazon as Customs chief with General Lim as deputy commissioner for intelligence

A source told me that the President just signed the appointment papers of General Danny Lim as deputy commissioner for the Bureau of Customs. Lim is to head the agency's intelligence division. He is to take his oath on September 15.


Meanwhile, former Muntinlupa Congressman Ruffy Biazon's papers were also signed. He is expected to assume the Bureau of Custom's post by September 16, 2011, in time for the celebration of his wedding with his lovely wife.


Congratulations for both Patriots!


Let this be a warning to grafters in the Bureau of Customs--your time is up!


By the way, is'nt weird? The son of a former general who repulsed the YOU or the Young Officers Union in 1989, is now partnering with the same general who led those patriotic forces against---you know who. 


Ruffy is the son of former AFP chief Rodolfo Biazon who protected Cory Aquino from  Lim's forces during the bloody coups of the late 80's. 


Now, the son of Cory is appointing Lim and Lim is partnering with Ruffy, son of the former general nemesis.


That shows you that this administration can really do miracles. That's reconciliation for you.

My loyalty is to my country, not to Pnoy

I don't know about you, but whenever someone asks me where my loyalties lie as a Patriot, I'll tell them that my loyalty is with the Filipino People. 


I may agree with most of the things President Noynoy Aquino does or I may even declare that my thoughts are often more Socialist than any other, but when loyalties are being asked, I declare that I am loyal to the Filipino People, not to someone or some political or ideological aggrupation. 


That's why many people are somewhat puzzled by the twin announcements of Generals Danny Lim and Senator Antonio Trillianes IV. General Lim and Trillianes were granted freedom by the courts after President Aquino signed an amnesty proclamation for them. A few days later, Lim was quoted as saying (in a RAM reunion) that he will cooperate with the present administration. Trillianes told the same thing yesterday. Trillianes admitted being a partner of the Aquino administration and will stay as not as an outside critic but as an active partner of the new administration. 


I often wonder why I remain as an active revolutionist. Simple: I belong to the masses and am part of the masses. I was not born with a proverbial silver spoon in my mouth. I understand the condition of the Filipino Masses. That's why whatever I write here, crooked, funny, interesting or just plain simple here, I write it as that so that I may be understood not just by the elites or the middle class who reads this blog (thanks!), but moreso by those who belong to my class. 


In fact, I don't need to tell the masses that they are oppressed. They know it already. I am writing stuff so that the middle and the upper classes may clearly understand the condition of the poor folks in the ground. 


And I am under the impression that these two highly esteemed Patriots and gentlemen at that, also took the least taken road for just one cause---the Cause of the poor Filipinos. 


Many people identified themselves with the Cause of the Bagong Katipunan and its predecessors, the RAM and the YOU, because their dream of seeing a New Philippines arise from the old, is a "dream that shall never die". 


Many believe in the cause of the Bagong Katipunan because it reflects the age-old yearning of the Filipino to see this country become great again.


Politically, one links or ascribes himself with this administration because, for one, this administration strives or at least tries to be progressive--something which previous administrations never even thought of being. 


Pnoy, for all his so-called "neophyte blunders", at least blunders or errs on the side of Right, instead of wrong. Others like Arroyo blunders on the side of Wrong and immorality.


However, one thing that I often ask myself is this---where will the struggle go and up to when will we, those who want to regain the glory of this Country, struggle? 


The answer lies as simple as the sun sets in the West and rises in the East--it is when the opportunities present in this society become equal--when the poor and ordinary Person working or non-working would be able to say that he enjoys the same rights as those working and filthy rich. 


When one Filipino can proudly say that his country belongs to the elites, when his country takes care of its people the same way as the People take care of their government, that, I think is the sign, of the setting of the revolutionary Sun. And that scene, I pray, happens during my lifetime. 

Colonel Ariel Querubin will get his justice by tomorrow...hopefully (hurrah!)

Tomorrow, a new day it is for detained Colonel and YOU co-founder Ariel Querubin. Querubin, if you remember, remains incarcerated for alleged mutiny charges filed against him by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He is the only officer still in jail for pursuing his ideals.

Querubin will be given his day in court and I pray that the sun shines brightly for him tomorrow. He has been there for more than four years, accused of a crime he did not commit. While others who stood by him have already been granted their liberty, Querubin decided not to do it the easy way and he remains in jail, a courageous act by one of the country's most bemedalled and highly respected officer.

He did not make it to the Senate, yet, the entire Nation will welcome the Motherland's beloved son once those chains that symbolizes injustice are broken by tomorrow. Justice, under the new administration, will now be fair for the officer who never backed down during his five years of struggle against Arroyo.

The question really is, will Querubin be the last of the Patriots in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)? Will he be the last breed of soldiers who will march from their barracks and show the civilian authority how crooked and how they are misgoverning these lands?

For as long as injustice is there and the last remnants of the old order remain within the government bureaucracy, the cause of the Just Soldier will stay relevant.

For as long as the soldiers on the field of battle die because of lack of effective weaponry and adequate ammo, and for as long as those shoes remain old, dusty and pot-marked with holes from extended use, the Just Soldier will always be there to remind those people who always forget to give honors to those who lay down their lives for the Motherland.

The causes that Querubin and Generals Miranda and Lim fought for are all over. These Patriots fought against an illegal government.

Now that the vestiges of illegality are now things even despicable to remember, it is time for us to heal old wounds and commit ourselves to Nation-building.

Those who benefited from the old dispensation by ass licking their way to power, will never be supported by the Just soldier.

Those who spread malicious lies about the AFP and the new administration and are trying to foster dissent among the ranks just because they are now out of power, should always be reminded of the brutal lessons, traitors of the people always get from History--that an unjust Cause brings malady to the rabble rouser.

The People will never support a coup against this new administration.

Those who have sacrificed their careers for the sake of the common man, are heroes all.

YOU Founder Colonels Diosdado Valeroso and Ariel Querubin, ex Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillianes IV, and former Generals Danny Lim and Miranda and Major Nicanor Faeldon are heroes of the Motherland.

Let their names be enshrined in the hallowed halls of the People's Consciousness and let their names shine like the stars in the night skies, evermore.

Those who will use these people's Cause as a springboard to justify their dastardly plan to seize power from the Legitimate Power, will see themselves at the receiving end of the People's Wrath.

There are signs that elements of the former regime are desirous to return to power. Their plan will fail, and they will fail miserably.

For the New Patriots will seize their arms and frustrate them and will show the People their true natures, traitors and double faced deceivers of the Filipino People.

Alex Lacson---a Patriot who deserves to be in the Senate

I remember the times when Alex Lacson and I spent numerous nights talking about our country. It was 1988 when we first met. We were dorm mates. We lived in the same room, together with two others--Hector Halabaso from La Union and another one whom I forgot the name already.

I was a freshman, he was, I think, third or fourth year. We were both political science students. I was then the elected block president.

I learned a lot from him, how dysfunctional our system is and how to cure it. I was then a very young recruit of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and starting to read Marx. Yep, I admit--I was a very avid reader of anything Marxist (and continues to be).

My colleagues over at LFS, I remember Rommel Banlaoi and Jules Calagui used to tell me to distance myself from Alex, since he belonged to a rival political party (Alex and his friend, Ariel Nepomuceno founded ISA or Independent Student Alliance). We were all SAMASA, the dominant political party at that time. I remember it was then David Celdran who was our Council chairman and being true to my self, I joined Celdran's volunteer group.

Despite our differences in politics, we were friends, Alex and I. We shared food, mostly monggo and rice and tuyo. We sometimes debated over Marxism and the rightist ideology. My curiosity pricked, I started reading non-Marxist tracts and that began my "odyssey" so to speak, on numerous ideologies other than Marxism. I admit though that Socialism remained dominant in my thinking, even now. I enjoyed dialectics so much, that I fused it with my studies on quantum physics.

When the Davide Commission (if my memory serves me right) was formed to investigate on the coups d'etat at that time, Alex was a research staff member. It was then that I was able to read may tracts about what ideology the Young Officers' Union (YOU) and the Revolutionaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) adheres to. Familiar names cropped up--Abe Purungganan, Gringo, Danilo Lim, Ariel Querubin and a young Lieutenant named Diosdado Valeroso. Never in my wildest dreams that I would be able to meet one of these guys in the future and one of them even became my kumpare.

Anyway, I am glad that my "kuya" Alex Lacson is running for the Senate under the Liberal Party. When the Kabataang Liberal was being formed, I was asked to join it. I refused, since I think that I can never work for a traditional political party. Yet, when I met Mar Roxas last year and had supper with him, my thinking changed. And now that "kuya" is running under them, I am thinking of helping them.

Good luck, my friend and make us proud when you're there at the Senate.

By the way, Alex---I am still a Socialist and Revolutionist. :-)

Danny Lim at Ariel Querubin--huwag mahulog sa patibong ng mga trapo

May mga haka-haka na tatakbo sa ilalim ng partido Nacionalista si Col. Ariel Querubin na nagpahayag na ng kanyang kahandaang tumakbo bilang senador. Samantalang, iniisip naman ni General Danny Lim kung sa Liberal Party siya tataya o sa Nacionalist People's Coalition (NPC) na sigurado nang pangungunahan ni Chiz Escudero. Ayon sa ilang tagamasid, kailangang sumanib muna sa mga tradisyunal na partido ang dalawang repormistang opisyales upang matiyak ang kanilang panalo sa darating na eleksyon.

Kunsabagay, lohikal nga para sa kanila ang sumailalim sa mga partidong may malalaking makinarya, ngunit kung ako ang tatanungin, mas maganda sanang sumanib na lamang sa isang tunay na repormistang partido ang dalawa, lalo na si Danny Lim at maging adopted o guest candidate na lamang sila ng mga tradisyunal na partido. Mas malakas ang mensahe nun. Ipinapahiwatig na may matatag at nananatili silang matatag sa kanilang prinsipyo.

Hindi ko maubos isiping kasapi ng Liberal ang isang Danny Lim sapagkat mas malawak pa kaysa dagat ang pagitan ng kanilang paniniwala. Hindi ko rin mailagay ng tama sa isip ko ang isang Ariel Querubin na tatakbo sa ilalim ng isang taong batid ng taumbayan na isang land speculator at tagawasak ng mga buhay ng mga magsasaka sa kanayunan.

Maaari sanang tumakbo na lamang sila sa isang partido, gaya siguro ng Partido ng Lakas ng Masa o PLM na isang lehitimong partido pulitikal. Hindi ito gaya ng mga tradisyunal na organisasyon sapagkat ang mga kasanib nito'y mga nagbuwis na ng buhay at kinabukasan para sa pakikibaka. Maganda kung ito ang patatatagin nina Danny Lim at Querubin. Huwag silang matakot na kakaunti ang resources nito o papausbong pa lamang ang network nito sa ating bansa. Magandang simulan na ngayon pa lamang ang pagpapalaki sa isang tunay na Partidong kakatawanin ang kapakanan at adhikain ng masang Pilipino.

Ano na lamang ang sasabihin ng madla sa dalawang ito, na hilig nilang makipaglaro o makipagdaupang palad sa mga trapo? Kapwa mga trapo ang Liberal, NPC at Nacionalista at wala ni isa sa kanila ang may tunay na puso para sa Sambayanang Pilipino.

Kung totoo ang sinasabi nina Danny Lim at Ariel Querubin na para sila sa tunay na pagbabago ng lipunang Pilipino, maging consistent sila at iwasan o talikdan ang pagsanib puwersa sa mga trapo. Huwag nilang bigyan ng legitimacy ang mga partido ng mga trapo sa pamamagitan ng tuluyang pagsanib sa kanila. Yan ay malinaw na patibong na nararapat iwasan.

YOU Serve the People

The problems we face today are the same damned ones that nearly destroyed our Nation twenty one years ago.

Extreme hunger.
Graft and corruption.
Lack of access to world-class education.
No universal health care for the masses.
Lack of affordable and decent houses for the poor.

For those who struggled for a Truly Just and Humane Filipino society, this is quite frustrating, especially to those who sacrificed their lives, and their futures for the Cause of the People.

The struggle definitely continues until the Filipino People achieve its ultimate goal---a better quality of life for all.

Food security by pump priming our agricultural sector.

Extirpate all forms of graft and corruption in all spheres of public and private life.

Universal education for all children, from enrolment to employment.

Universal health care for all, regardless of economic status and station in life.

Affordable and decent housing program.

These can only be achieved through collective action. Unite all forces in Philippine society and unleash the power of the Filipino Masses.

Aspire for the attainment of True Change by launching a Genuine New Philippine Revolution. The burden lies in all of us.

YOU make the Change. YOU must fight for what is Right. YOU serve the People. Happy 21st Anniversary to the Young Officer's Union (YOU)! The New Patriots salute YOU!

Nineteen years without Change

For those of you who identify with the Patriots of the New Generation, here is something to ponder upon. It's the statement of the Young Officer's Union (YOU) during the height of the 1989 struggle. You can find it at this site. Here's the statement:

"The military institution that we envision is one that is highly professionalized; where promotions are based on merits and not on mere personal loyalties and favors; where its mantle of protection and security are showered to all Filipinos not just to the elite and privileged few; where nationalism, patriotism and service to the Filipino people and nation become the fundamental virtues and ideals; where its role is not limited to a mere security force but an active partner in nation building. In short, what we envision and would want to rebuild is an AFP that is genuinely the Army of the Filipino People…

In the fields, many soldiers go on constant long patrols with empty stomachs and gradually being out-uniformed and out-armed by communist and secessionist rebels. Countless junior officers find themselves placed in a situation where they cannot do anything but cry as they watch their men and comrades die needlessly for lack of medical supplies or suitable transport. One must go through such experience before one can understand how bitterly it feels. All because of corrupt officials entrenched in the higher echelons in their air-conditioned offices. These are not the kind of people whom we are dying for!...

So when we talk of questions like “whose side does YOU identify itself with” - we can only say, we are on the side of those who believe that the Filipino people’s interest must be paramount and should be the basis of our action. We declare that we shall always be on the side of the Filipino people...

We military men are not robots. We too have conscience, and between obedience to a corrupt, vindictive, incompetent, isolated and muppet regime and loyalty to the people, we chose the latter; for after all, we are Filipino first before we are soldiers. The concrete conditions in our society now compel us, soldiers and citizens, to topple this government in accordance with our constitutional duty and right to revolution. Indeed, the fundamental law of the land recognizes the AFP as the protector of the people and state, we soldiers are therefore bound by our sacred duty to protect the Filipino masses against a corrupt, incompetent, vindictive, isolated and muppet government."


Young Officers Union

(YOU)

Quite scary, is'nt it? This statement was made nineteen years ago. Uncanny that the situation of the soldiers remains the same even after three administrations. What is wrong?

Lunch Coup

Human rights lawyer Homobono Adaza and three ex-AFP officers were arrested yesterday afternoon. Sources say they were going to eat lunch together when agents of the CIDG pounced on them. They were immediately hauled to Camp Crame for questioning and later brought to the PNP hospital for the routine medical checkup.

And what was the alleged crime? It's the nebulous crime of concocting a coup in their minds. What a downer!

Is there a crime such as this?

I've been a law student and nowhere do I find such a crime existing under the Revised Penal Code. There must be an overt act emanating from the "desire" to commit a crime, before an act can be considered criminal.

Going to lunch with the intention of discussing a crime is not punishable under our laws. One can discuss committing a crime all day or all year if one wants, but without an overt act, it's nothing.

Reports say lawyer Raymund Fortun was the one who filed a complaint against Adaza. It is not clear why Fortun did that stupid thing. Maybe Fortun wants to gain publicity again?

Authorities should release these men from detention. If they don't do this within 48 hours, they are liable for illegal detention.

Something deeper

Was Adaza's arrest connected with the recent successes in court by the Marine standoff officers? Adaza stands counsel to legendary Col. Ariel Querubin, one of the original founders of the Young Officers Union (YOU). Was this an attempt to deprive Querubin of rightful counsel?

Or, this is part of government efforts to nip a budding destabilization attempt? Remember that the Black and White Movement announced early yesterday that they'll be launching weekly Friday mobilizations prior to the opening of Congress this July. Is this part of it?

Reports also say that former Col. Raffy Cardeno, the alleged brains behind the slaying of former YOU spokesman Baron Cervantes was also caught. However, if this is true, then Raffy should have been arraigned along with the four other men arrested. As this is being written, no word as to the arrest of Cardeno.

One thing is clear--government is cracking down its enemies. And for what? I thought government has already extended the olive branch to the opposition. I thought there's a political truce already? Why all these?