PMA grads deployed to Mindanao

No sooner had Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 2003 received their diplomas than they got their first assignment from President Arroyo: Deployment to Mindanao to fight terrorists of all stripes.

Mrs. Arroyo issued the marching order yesterday after PMA superintendent Maj. Gen. Adelberto Adan formally presented to her the Magdarangan (Mandirigmang may Karangalan) batch of graduates from the country’s premier military school.

The presidential directives drew loud whispers, especially from the grandstand where the parents, families, relatives and friends were seated — perhaps a muffled protest to the assignment of the new second lieutenants, barely out of their 20s, to do battle with Muslim extremists in Mindanao.

The President, assisted by Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and Armed Forces chief Gen. Dionisio Santiago, handed out diplomas to the new officers of the AFP at the PMA’s 104th commencement exercises at Fort Del Pilar in Baguio City.

As she gave out her first assignment to them, Mrs. Arroyo congratulated the graduates of Class Magdarangal led by Tara Jamie Velasco, the class valedictorian who received the presidential saber.

"And as your lady commander in chief, I especially greet Tara Jamie Velasco who became the second woman to achieve highest honors at PMA" since it began accepting women recruits in 1993, Mrs. Arroyo said.

In her message to the new graduates, the President mentioned that she had just received notice of the actual breakout of military strikes in Baghdad by the United States and its allies to disarm any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

"Lt. Velasco, and all the graduates of Class 2003, from this day on, you are all AFP officers... This is the single biggest honor and also the biggest responsibility, especially at these times," she said.

"We shall not be deploying combat troops (to the Middle East). So in the days ahead, (many in) Class 2003 will... rather be engaged in Mindanao," she announced.

The President however reiterated her administration’s policy to continue the pursuit of the peace process with all groups of rebels who renounce terrorism and violence, including those from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

In a press briefing at the Palace, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye admitted the Philippine participation in the so-called coalition of the willing was less than unanimous after debates within the National Security Council Tuesday night.

"There was no unanimous agreement as far as this matter is concerned but there was substantial support from members of the NSC," Bunye said, referring to the meeting convened by Mrs. Arroyo a few hours after the 48-hour ultimatum was issued by US President George Bush to his Iraqi counterpart Saddam Hussein.

"Actually what was discussed was extent of participation. And at that time, we were not prepared to give details until the actual conflict started," he said, adding that a majority in the NSC supported the move of Mrs. Arroyo to back Bush.

The spokesman said that both pros and cons were weighed in siding with the US use of force, and that in the end "the cost benefits will be in our favor."

Bunye said that those in the pro-US coalition would very likely have first crack at any reconstruction efforts in post-war Iraq. "This is a well thought-out decision," he stressed.