If there is anything that the country needs like a hole in the head, it is another violent confrontation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who for some unexpected reason is once again saber rattling the Philippine government saying that they are prepared for war. I don’t know what made Ebrahim Murad, MILF chairman boast that his group has amassed an arsenal of more than 60,000 weapons and bragged that they were ready for war. What is even more intriguing is that Mr. Murad said that he was able to amass his arsenal with the help of military gunrunners.
This threat of war by MILF should put the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on a heightened state of preparedness. In fact, the P.Noy administration that seems to be focused on exposing the shenanigans of the former administration should now focus on this report that gunrunners with links to the military have helped, aided or abetted the MILF with new arms. Murad even boasted that they even have a munitions factory that manufactures rocket-propelled grenades (RPG). If this is true, surely AFP intelligence officers should now comb the countryside in search for this weapons factory!
There is no question that weapons cost money. How and where did the MILF amass such a fortune to be able to purchase 60,000 assorted weapons? If what Murad says is true, then you can say that the AFP is facing a 60,000 strong MILF who will fight our military forces. Is the AFP ready to face this new threat? I would like to believe that our military forces are not just ready to fight those separatists, but our soldiers are perhaps the most experienced combat soldiers because they have been fighting the MILF and before them the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) for a long time now. But what about their reserve forces?
Of course, the Aquino administration should seek the path to peace in Mindanao, because once this war of words escalates into a shooting war, we might as well kiss our economic gains goodbye! So far, the Philippines has withstood the debilitating effects of the financial crisis of the year 2009, thanks to the millions of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). They have been remitting billions of pesos into our country and thus, help our economy stay afloat, when many western nations suffered and even up to this time, continue to suffer financially.
However, while the shooting hasn’t yet begun, it is the duty of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the AFP to neutralize all armed elements. On this, you can say that the PNP has failed miserably. How could a group amass 60,000 weapons without the AFP or the PNP knowing about it? Call it a failure of the intelligence establishment. But nonetheless, it is not easy to hide 60,000 weapons. I’m sure that the MILF did not put all their eggs in one basket. But if the Intelligence establishment got their act together, surely they would be able to sniff out some of these hidden weapons.
Now whether the AFP or the PNP has the men under arms to neutralize this new threat remains to be seen. We, ordinary citizens, should help and support our military and police because if their numbers are drastically reduced because of a war, you can bet that we ordinary citizens would have to take up arms to defend ourselves, something none of us wants to do at this point.
In my recent columns, I’ve been driving home my point that it is time to bring back the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) as a compulsory subject in our schools and universities. Our being a 3rd world country already exposes us to internal strife. What would happen if we get ourselves involved in an international conflict? Some people say that an international war is farfetched or far from reality. Well, that’s exactly what a few Filipinos said about the Philippines prior to World War II.
Hence we were not prepared and the Japanese Imperial Army merely stepped into our shores and took over our country. Sure, that war may have produced real heroes in Corregidor or Bataan, but they all ended up as dead heroes. Who were those dead heroes? They were mostly recruits from the ROTC and those who survived the war became guerrillas who made a hellish life for our Japanese occupiers until the Americans returned to the Philippines. Come to think of it, we don’t even have a monument for the guerillas here in Cebu City! These people fought and died so we can have peace!
During the election campaign, former Defense Secretary Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. clearly pointed out that we need more men under arms in order to neutralize the armed rebellion posed by the Muslim separatist and the communist insurgency. He fully concurred with my observations that the quickest and the cheapest way to train our youth is through the ROTC. Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin, who also believes in the ROTC, should now make this a priority in the Aquino administration.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com