GMA to AFP: Give peace a chance

BAGUIO CITY – Let’s give peace a chance. Completely dropping her predecessor’s "all-out war" policy, President Arroyo rallied the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and this year’s graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to help her government talk peace with insurgents.

In her speech during the commencement exercises for the PMA’s "Kaakibat" Class 2001 at Fort del Pilar here yesterday, the President said her administration is hell bent in stopping the decades-old rebellion still being waged by communist and Muslim guerrillas.

And she stressed that the only way to quell the insurgents’ rebellious spirit is to, once and for all, make peace with them.

"Peace is our preferred strategy at this point in history because this is the moral, humane, practical thing to do. We shall therefore give peace a chance," she told the group of 196 newly commissioned officers of the AFP, which included 10 women.

The President declared last month a unilateral ceasefire with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao, and followed this up with a month-long truce with the New People’s Army (NPA) until April 17.

Her predecessor, ousted President Joseph Estrada, did the opposite when he launched last year an all-out war against the rebels, in the process overrunning the MILF’s biggest enclave.

The MILF and the NPA combined have more than 24,000 armed guerrillas fighting the government for more than three decades now. The NPA has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969 while the MILF began its armed secession campaign in 1978.

Mrs. Arroyo said the military should now help the police in fighting criminality, particularly kidnapping and smuggling. She stressed that with the ceasefire in place, the government’s main enemy was no longer the guerrillas but kidnappers and smugglers.

She added that since fighting with insurgents had waned, some of this year’s PMA graduates would be used instead for health, housing, education and other basic public services.

"The combat right now is no longer in the hills and the enemy is no longer the rebels but the kidnappers who lurk in the street corner," she said.

A series of widely publicized killings of kidnapping and rape victims in Metro Manila and nearby provinces has sparked public concern in recent weeks.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has admitted having a hard time running after criminals, especially bigtime syndicates involved in kidnap-for-ransom and smuggling activities, due to its limited budget.

"I would like to enlist some of the graduates of the PMA in the campaign against smuggling," Mrs. Arroyo said. "Thus do not be surprised if in your service for internal security, you will be brought not necessarily to the hinterlands and to the mountains, but rather to the concrete jungle and to the waterfront."

Meanwhile, the President also called on the PMA graduates to help her government in uplifting the lives of Filipinos by returning to the "battlefield of poverty."

"More than the rebels in the hills, even more than the criminals of the urban areas, the ultimate enemy is poverty. The fight against poverty is ultimately a security concern because poverty is the root of dissidence and rebellion," she said.

"If we can strengthen our assault on poverty, if we can improve the plight of the poor, we will achieve something toward our search for peace."

Kabayan bats for unity

In other developments, broadcaster Noli "Kabayan" de Castro called on members of the AFP and the PNP to forget their personal differences and rally behind the chain of command as the May 14 national and local elections approach.

"We are in a very crucial period of our political life," said De Castro who is running for senator as an independent candidate. "Now is the time for every Filipino to join hands in solidarity and national unity for a concerted effort toward economic, political and social stability."

He observed that "power play" continues to rattle the entire military and police organizations, two months after Estrada was toppled from power.

And he dared newly installed Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Armed Forces chief Diomedio Villanueva, as well as PNP chief Leandro Mendoza, to crack the whip and restore discipline in their ranks.

"The men and women in uniform who cannot adhere to the code of ethics of the AFP and the PNP should immediately hand in their resignation and go back to civilian life," he said.

"If our policemen and soldiers can no longer respect the chain of command and instead allow factionalism and divisiveness to reign, I can no longer tell where this nation is heading."

De Castro added that communist and Muslim rebels have already agreed to observe a ceasefire declared by the government. He said that if the insurgents could give peace a chance in the name of national welfare, then there is no reason why the PNP and the AFP cannot do the same. – With Aurora Alambra