Marwan status, Bongbong diploma, Harrison Ford accident | The wRap

Today on Rappler.

• A think tank report says Marwan was never a top-level terrorist and bomb maker. 
• Oxford University alumni confirm Senator Bongbong Marcos did not complete a bachelor’s degree. 
• Harrison Ford survives a plane crash. 

MARWAN NOT ‘WORLD-CLASS TERRORIST,’ SAYS REPORT
Was Marwan the high-level terrorist and bomb expert portrayed by officials and media?
In a report released Thursday, Indonesian think tank Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict or IPAC says it isn’t so.
IPAC director Sidney Jones says inaccurate information about Marwan has been circulating. 
He had close affiliations with bigger terror groups, but was never a top operative.

SIDNEY JONES, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT: So the main findings about Marwan was he was never a member of Jemaah Islamiyah, he was never a senior JI operative, he never took part in the Bali bombs. He was a member, not the head, of the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia… but he wasn’t the master bomb maker, world-class terrorist that some reports have made him out to be, and the nicest quotes of some Indonesians who have worked with him was he was a “little snake who has blown up to be a dragon.”

Jones also says Marwan may have also been mistaken for another Malaysian, Zulkifli Marzuki, who was Jemaah Islamiyah’s secretary and had dealings with al-Qaeda. 
Some intelligence information attributed to Marwan may have been referring to Marzuki. 
Marwan’s ability to evade arrest also contributed to creating an image larger than the man.

SIDNEY JONES, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT: Every strike to target Marwan, and people would think he’s dead, then people find out he’s still alive, that added to his stature and added to the idea that this man was some kind of extraordinary figure who managed to elude death time and time after time when in fact, he was just never a leader.

The hunt for Marwan in Mamasapano, Maguindanao became a carnage…
with 44 Special Action Force members, 18 rebel troops, and 5 civilians killed…
It endangered an ongoing peace process between the government and Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF.
But Jones still hopes the Bangsamoro Basic Law will still pass.

SIDNEY JONES, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT: I just want so much for this peace agreement to succeed. I hope one result of all this inquiry will be a workable way to develop a mechanism that can help coordinate any counter-terrorism policy with any peace agreement moving forward because ultimately it’s the peace that’s most important.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY CONFIRMS BONGBONG MARCOS GOT ONLY ‘SPECIAL DIPLOMA’
Information from Oxford University and a few alumni confirm Senator Bongbong Marcos did not complete a bachelor’s degree.
He says he got a “diploma” in political science when he graduated from Oxford…
But what he got was only a “special diploma in social studies…” not equivalent to a degree in the United Kingdom’s educational system.
Marcos has not corrected his resumé, posted in the Senate website and his own page.

JOLO REVILLA’S CONDITION IMPROVES
Cavite Vice Governor Jolo Revilla continues to show improvement, nearly a week since he supposedly ‘accidentally’ shot himself.
Doctors decreased Jolo’s oxygen support and advised him to move around to help improve his condition.
His mother Cavite Representative Lani Mercado says a tube is still draining blood from his lungs.
On Tuesday Jolo briefly met his father detained Senator Bong Revilla when the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan allowed him a 5-hour visit.

PACQUIAO HAS PUNCHING POWER EDGE VS MAYWEATHER, SAYS GUERRERO
Former world boxing champion Robert Guerrero says Manny Pacquiao’s punching power will give him an edge versus rival Floyd Mayweather.
Guerrero says there is a razor-thin variance between the two fighters in terms of speed, but key is Pacquiao’s power.
Guerrero adds, “They both have quick hands, but the one thing that Manny has is his punching power. That plays a big part in a fight with Floyd.”
Pacquiao and Mayweather will face off on May 2 or May 3 in the Philippines  in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Guerrero is no stranger to both boxers.
He was Pacquiao’s sparring partner on numerous occasions…
and unsuccessfully tried to dethrone Mayweather in May 2013.

HARRISON FORD ‘BATTERED BUT OK’ AFTER LA PLANE CRASH
Actor Harrison Ford survives an accident Thursday when his small plane crashed into a golf course outside Los Angeles in California.
Celebrity website TMZ says Ford suffered multiple gashes to his head and was left bleeding after the crash of his two-seater plane.Ford was initially reported to be “critically injured” but that was later changed to “moderately hurt.”
Ford is known in the US aviation community as an enthusiastic pilot.
He owns several planes, from two-seat bush aircraft to corporate jets.

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