Are we a Strong Republic with a weak military?

There is no question that the men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are among the best fighting forces in Asia (perhaps with the exception of Vietnam), as they are the most experienced soldiers who have for many decades fought a seemingly endless communist insurgency and various Muslim separatist groups. Now how many ASEAN nations have had a similar problem as we have? So if we haven’t truly licked our insurgency problems, should we blame the AFP? Or should we blame our political leadership for allowing our soldiers to be poorly equipped?

Yes, we have long known about the promised modernization programs, vowing to improve the capabilities of our military. Yet despite all the many attempts, including the sale of land that used to house the AFP in Fort Bonifacio and lately promises to double the AFP budget, the AFP always comes up empty-handed and the usual excuse is… there’s still no money for ships, planes or other very necessary military gear like night-vision goggles or armored vests that would have protected the lives of our soldiers.

Yet the military is always called upon in times of trouble, as they are our first and only line of defense against attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA), which is often protected by local government officials like barangay leaders or the skirmishes by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) or the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Then when the military is on the go despite their meager resources… our political leadership suddenly decides to stop the bombing of rebel camps because it hurts the civilian population. No mention is made that the civilian population becomes a “collateral” damage because the rebels use the civilians as “human shields.”

Today, we are a nation of 90 million people, yet we still do not manufacture our own arms. Although, it is generally known that locally made guns like the “Danao paltik” have gotten a worldwide notoriety because despite their crude construction, they do the job pretty well. Yet instead of tapping this very precious resource, I heard that many gunmakers from Danao have been “pirated” abroad to places like Japan in order to make guns for the underworld. This is one story that I knew happened a long time ago!

If you drop by the shipyards of Balamban, Cebu, you will find the country’s biggest shipyard, the Tsuneishi Cebu Heavy Industries that builds one bulk carrier every three months. Besides it is the FBMA of the Aboitiz Group that has made many high-tech fastcraft vessels for countries like the United Kingdom… a country that once proudly proclaim as “the Empire where the Sun never sets.” The last time I was in England some 10 years ago, they still had a shipyard making fastcraft vessels. That facility has since shut down, that is why the FBMA has become a global player when it comes to making fastcraft vessels… including the Lockheed Martin-designed SLICE boat that was originally designed as a coastal patrol vessel for the US Navy.

I don’t know how many times I have asked this question in this corner, but for the sake of being redundant, allow me to ask again, “Why can’t the Philippine Navy or Coast Guard purchase locally made vessels from the shipyards of Balamban?” Of course there is no logical reason why we cannot buy locally made vessels. Alas, there are just too many illogical things happening in this country… like, “Why do politicians spend a great fortune in seeking public office that pays a mere P30,000 per month in salary?”

I dare say that it is time to call a spade a spade. Israel is a nation of only six million people, yet their Merkava (Chariot) main battle tank is equal or even better than the M-1A Abrams main battle tank of the US, Germany’s Leopard II or England’s Challenger main battle tank. The Israeli-made Uzi or Galil firearms are treasured the world over. Yet they make all these weapons locally in a very small country.

We Filipinos have huge islands and a lot of people to protect. Yet we cannot even protect ourselves from our internal problems. It is a fact that lot of our policemen do not even have sidearms. A few years ago, the national leadership scrapped the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and today, attempts to bring it back seem to be an uphill climb. Yet the Arroyo administration’s slogan is “Strong Republic.” But how can we say that we are a Strong Republic when our military has been weakened?

Worse, the AFP is hard pressed in finding replacements for the many soldiers who have died in many encounters… thanks to the non-existent ROTC.

So the bigger question is, when will we Filipinos be able to create our own arms industry and give our soldiers the equipment they need? More importantly, allow them to complete their mission when they are on the roll unlike today when politicians snatch away their victory at the very last minute.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.