EDITORIAL - Lessons learned?

One soldier raised a clenched fist as his group boarded a truck for Camp Aguinaldo for ceremonies yesterday marking their release from nearly two years of detention. Perhaps the soldier wouldn’t have had the guts to make the traditional gesture of defiance if he had not hidden his identity behind a ski mask. And perhaps military commanders would want to know how many more of the 181 mutineers freed yesterday harbored the same defiance. Because with such soldiers, it was a mistake to believe that they merely followed orders when they participated in the mutiny in Makati in July 2003.

Such soldiers must face the full force of the law and do not deserve reinstatement, even if they are demoted. Filipinos are quick to forgive and forget, but it has dawned on many that failure to punish coup plotters has encouraged more of the same attempts to short-circuit constitutional, democratic processes to effect change. Even rumors of coup attempts are enough to turn away visitors and investors from the Philippines.

After the mutiny in Makati, therefore, Filipinos decided enough was enough and it was time to get tough. No more push-ups as punishment this time; instead every soldier who participated in the mutiny was held in detention, stripped of his pay and court-martialed.

With the 181 enlisted personnel, leniency has been easier for the nation. The hope is that they have learned their lesson and will be better soldiers if given a second chance to serve their country. This nation can use healing. Forgiveness, it is hoped, will boost efforts to implement reforms and create a professional military.

These efforts must be carried out in earnest amid continuing military restiveness that certain troublemakers are trying to exploit. One of those tasked to oversee implementation of the reforms pointed out recently that the coup culture has not yet been excised from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. But reforms are being carried out, mostly with little fanfare. Seeing the fate that has befallen the Oakwood mutineers should make the Philippine soldier realize that it is better to pin his hopes on those reforms, no matter how slow the implementation, rather than be used by messianic commanders who want instant change.