Allied fronts blocking military equipment

Whenever we are asked to do more than we should… or as they would say, “walk that extra mile” more often than not, we would get remarks in Cebuano like, “Patay na si Rizal” (Rizal is already dead). This is a way of saying that it is better to be a live coward than a dead hero. These were the thoughts in my mind when Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III made his speech during the National Heroes Day rites, “In times of trials, the cry for each and everyone of us is: wake up the hero in you and heed the call of duty. Big or small, you can contribute something and in the name of the country and fellowmen, you need to do what you can.”

I fully agree with Pres. Aquino on this statement, however what we hear from him are mere words. We must act as a nation otherwise we shall all perish. In Dec. 8, 1941, Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor and the Cavite Naval yard and ushered the Philippines into World War II. This was one war that many Filipinos thought could never happen to the Philippines, after all, there are those who insisted that it was a war between the Americans and the Japanese and thus, it was not our war. But whether we liked it or not, we got embroiled into it.

Yet, World War II produced many Filipino heroes, so numerous I cannot name them all. Even my grandfather, Capt. Valeriano Jamala Segura, died fighting in Bataan. Yes, my mother named me after him. He was a hero in our family even if we never saw him. His son, Col. Manuel F. Segura, a graduate of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), joined Col. James Cushing in the hills of Cebu and survived the war. He wrote the books “Tabunan” and “Koga Papers” to perpetuate the memory of the guerrillas, many of them unsung heroes.

Today, our nation faces a real threat against China, which was prophesied by our Lady of Lipa decades ago. So let’s ask ourselves are we ready to meet this threat? Militarily, we are not prepared at all. Back in 1941, the Philippines, which was still under the American Commonwealth, was also not ready. But at least, we had the ROTC that made life miserable for the occupying Japanese forces.

For many years now, I’ve been batting for the return of the ROTC, but to no avail. Perhaps it is those leftist partylist representatives that are blocking the return of the ROTC and many of them are surrounding PNoy. Just the other day, Bayan Muna Party List Rep. Neri Colmenares questioned the purchase of military equipment during the budget hearing. Don’t our people know that Rep. Colmenares belongs to the other side?

The specter of communism is what we’ve been fighting for the last 25 years as a journalist. Now that the aboveground leftist front organizations linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), many of them like Gabriela or Bayan Muna Party-list, are now helping in the fight against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) right in the halls of Congress.

There is no doubt that stopping or even simply filibustering the purchase of military equipment greatly helps the New People’s Army (NPA). But for as long as the Filipino people remain apathetic about this, what the Bible says, “For evil to flourish, it is enough for good men to do nothing!” will come true. In my book, we must denounce the antics of Rep. Colmenares because if our military does not get new equipment, it would be a boon to the NPA.

Clearly, our fight against communism is being fought by our soldiers in the battlefield where the NPAs operate freely and now it is being fought in the halls of Congress and I dare say that it is time to expose this sinister plan to oppose new military equipment from the friends of the Communists.

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There was that news report from the Star that blared that the PNoy was “thinking hard” as to who should replace DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo. Honestly, this is not a difficult decision to make. Just look at someone who is close in personality to the late DILG Secretary and that’s the person who should replace him. But then, the problem that PNoy is facing is: the replacement he is looking for should come from the Liberal Party and that’s why the President is having difficulty in finding Secretary Robredo’s replacement. How I wish that in seeking for Robredo’s replacement, PNoy would be true to the spirit and concept of his “Daang Matuwid” and chose a person with a good track record who is not necessarily a politician.

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THE BLACKBOX: My heartfelt condolences to the family of Consul Arcadio “Dodong” Alegrado on the passing of his wife, Marle to life eternal. I understand that her burial is scheduled today at Cempark after the 3:00pm mass. We have known Marle who was always with Dodong during many functions and parties. May we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of her soul.

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