Lawmaker defends RP troop withdrawal from Iraq

A Muslim administration lawmaker reminded the United States yesterday that Filipinos are not cowards and that the blood of hundreds of thousands of Filipino soldiers was spilled in defending American interests in the Asia-Pacific during World War II.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Benasing Macarambon, a former Muslim rebel commander, was reacting to the pronouncements made by the US and other countries that the Philippine government’s decision to pull out its humanitarian contingent from Iraq was an act of weakness.

"Some of our well-meaning friends in America today call us cowards for buckling under what they imagine is a simple terrorist threat. But there is nothing simple about having to choose between a Filipino life and the approval of allies and friends," said Macarambon.

"We have never been cowards. We will never be," he said.

The lawmaker pointed out that "a Filipino life hung in the balance and there can be no quibbling."

"The preservation of life is a higher duty that we must discharge — and discharge without hesitation," he said.

Macarambon noted that the Philippines has for many decades carried a "great share" of the defenses of the free world in the Pacific, oblivious to the dangers that it imposed on the country’s fragile security.

Filipino-Muslims support the preservation of De la Cruz’s life, he said, because according to the Holy Quran: "If you save one life, you have saved humankind."

He expressed hopes that the country’s "friends" in the international community will learn to strike the balance between their strategic interests and the right of the free people to life. — Paolo Romero