The weakest link

Anti-terrorism experts recently called our armed forces the weakest link in the Asian region’s war against this world-wide menace. And, in all candor, when compared with the military organizations in the region, the best we can say today is that although we are among the poorest equipped, we are one of the best in terms of human resources.

Our officer corps is well-educated, reasonably well-trained considering the local and foreign facilities available, and generally savvy about the political environment in which they must operate. But this may be the problem: Good and talented soldiers with superior training try to survive in a flawed system with few career opportunities, where politics rather than ability and performance determine one’s success.

Will there be a coup d’etat attempted by disgruntled elements in the military anytime soon? Probably not, and it’s probably correct that the fact that the whole town is talking about it is the best proof it won’t happen. But is there restiveness within the ranks? Well, even the AFP chief, General Generoso Senga, admitted that in a conference whose main message was that he and the commanders of the major services remained loyal to the Commander-in-Chief.

However, he qualified that by saying that whatever grumbling there is, is limited to a small group of "politicized" and misguided young officers who have been recruited by destabilizers whose only objective is to unseat GMA as the duly constituted President.

The pundits acknowledge that the situation is far from ripe for the kind of military adventurism seen in EDSA I and II. Neither the Oakwood Mutineers nor the Young Officers Union of the New Generation (YOUng) are seen to have credibly raised the flag around which the critical political forces of the nation will want to rally. Nor have they shown us a leader, from among themselves or from the groups that support them openly or covertly, that can be deemed a viable replacement for the incumbent. That, as many of these pundits have decried, is her luck. But no matter how you may curse someone else’s good fortune, there are times in politics when luck is good enough to keep power.

I daresay too that alleged corruption within the military, while being undeniably tempting fodder for media and for congressional investigating committees, is not the sort of issue that can persuade citizens to rush to the barricades or troop en masse to the gates of Malacanang or Camp Aguinaldo.

No alternative programs of government and, more important, workable implementation plans have been laid out that have gripped the nation’s collective imagination or created a consensus that, this time, we really have a vision and a road map of governance towards equitable economic growth and political stability and maturity.

It’s not as simple as taking GMA out of office. The people now demand that the analysis be completed: And then what? More cogently, by whom? If you can’t give clear answers to these questions, see us another time, the people might say.

Is that attitude cynical or defeatist? Not really. We’ve had it up to here with false prophets, some of whom are still in government. If the surveys are showing that "people power" isn’t looked upon as the weapon of choice it was once thought, it’s because of the perfectly sensible insight that White Knights and Avenging Angels are the stuff only of fairy tales.

Good governance is another matter altogether, and by that standard, the allegedly more "conscienticized," principled, and "aware" sectors of civil society not only blew it when given their chance, they outdid their predecessors in corruption and incompetence, their impeccable English and eloquent Filipino notwithstanding.

But while our gung-ho and understandably discontented young friends in the military should retain their idealism, they shouldn’t for one moment think that the people will readily accept them as God’s gift of redemptive good government to the nation.

While we may sympathize with the Oakwood group and YOUng that they have raised valid concerns about corruption and politicization in the military, it’s quite a leap to the notion that, therefore, we should now oust the incumbent authorities, and change our entire system of government as well. To repeat: The analysis is woefully incomplete.

None of this, however, should give Senga and the rest of the top brass any comfort. Our disagreement over means and ends with the disgruntled elements of the military does not diminish one whit our concern that the entire AFP has indeed become the weakest link in the region’s military forces.

I know that to a large extent, this weakness is also a symptom of the corrupt, distracted and apathetic political system we have, a system which has allowed a once widely respected institution to degenerate into – we can’t sugarcoat this, unfortunately – one of the region’s laughing stocks.

How else do you characterize a military force which may have suave officers and smartly marching soldiers, but no fighter jets in the skies, no real coastal patrol or defense to speak of, a navy which makes do with hand-me-down World War II and Vietnam War-era seacraft. We use prop-driven trainer planes on bombing missions. We kiss the ground in gratitude when "re-commissioned" (but, of course, still "usable"), "excess material" Huey helicopters are delivered to our Air Force for ground support and logistical operations.

Our field units are still pitifully under-equipped and under-provisioned. Conversion, the Oakwood guys lament, is back with a vengeance. The same complaints that Trillanes and Co. aired before the Feliciano Commission, and which the Commission agreed with, remain unaddressed. The same privations and humiliations our field units have suffered for so long, ranging from faulty armaments and low ammo supplies to inadequate medical supplies and medi-vac and hospital facilities, still visit them today.

And Senga and his generals tell us not to worry, while GMA and her spinmeisters tell us that they have everything under control? C’mon, if Manny Pacquiao hadn’t demolished Erik Morales, all of you would be singing different tunes now.

The recent history of our AFP seems to show that they have become preoccupied with domestic politics largely because the military leadership hasn’t been able to take good care of their own business. With such a record of achievement, what makes them think they can run a country? Unless they’ve concluded that to run a military like it should be run, you might as well run the country too. Many would find that somewhat presumptuous.