PDEA agent living in style

If the government thinks that the peace agreement, when signed, will lead to lasting peace in Muslim Mindanao, it has another think coming.

Even before the rebellion in the South in the early 1970s spearheaded by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Muslim provinces were troubled areas.

These were places where fighting was almost a way of life.

If they were was no fighting between the Moros and government troops during my father’s time (circa 1950s and 1960s), then the natives would fight among themselves.

MNLF leader Nur Misuari gave his people a reason to expend their excess energy by way of uniting them to fight a common enemy—the government— through a rebellion.

Before Misuari, armed Moros who fought the government or fellow Moros were called outlaws.

The Moro rebellion legitimized acts of banditry and lawlessness.

I should know.

I grew up in military camps in the provinces of Sulu, Cotabato, Lanao and Zamboanga, where Lt. and later Capt. Ramon S. Tulfo was assigned from 1947 to 1956, and then from 1966 to 1970 as a lieutenant colonel.

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My old man was assigned to those troubled places because he was a maverick.

He disobeyed orders from superiors when he thought such orders did not conform to his principles.

A Bataan veteran, my father took to those places like a duck to water, even bringing his family along with him.

He retired from the defunct Philippine Constabulary when he was provincial commander of Zamboanga del Sur.

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Napoleon Morales, one of the agents at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who was linked to an P8-million extortion case by a Chinese drug suspect, is reportedly living it up.

According to one of their friends, Morales and his common-law wife, Annabelle, have been buying expensive Louie Vuitton bags, a Rolex watch and a Cityland condominium unit in Vergara, Mandaluyong City, since July this year.

They also reportedly repainted their house at Parkwoods Executive Village in Pasig City and even had the home improvement posted on Facebook, according to this friend of the Moraleses.

“Before, my friend Annabelle could only afford to pamper herself once a year during her birthday, especially during that time before Morales came into her life,” said this friend whom I won’t identify for obvious reasons.

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A school bus full of elementary school kids was bumped on the rear by a police patrol car in Cabuyao, Laguna province, last Wednesday.

The impact was so violent that nine of the young passengers were thrown off the bus and hospitalized. Some of the victims are still in serious condition at a hospital.

The driver of the police patrol car was PO1 Regor Perolina.

The parents of the victims complained to “Isumbong Mo kay Tulfo” that there was no sign of remorse from the police, especially from the Cabuyao chief of police, Supt. Armel Gongona.

But what can you expect from people who consider themselves masters instead of public servants?

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An ordinary female employee at the Bureau of Customs assigned at the marine division of the Manila International Container Port has a way of increasing her share of “tong,” or bribe.

She screams at people dealing with her, accusing them of submitting forged documents even when they’re genuine.

But they say the woman keeps quiet when money is dropped into her drawer.