EDITORIAL - Honoring veterans

When natural disasters strike, among the first to respond are members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In areas where private enterprises dare not go because of security concerns, AFP engineers are the ones who undertake construction and repair of vital public infrastructure, including airstrips, bridges and farm-to-market roads.

Risking one’s life is part of the job description of military personnel, and this call to duty is strongest in times of armed conflict. Filipinos showed love of country in the last world war, and in assisting a friend of the Philippines during the Korean War. The ranks of those who fought in these wars have rapidly dwindled. The few who remain will be honored this week in the annual recognition of the contributions of military veterans.

Perhaps because those wars have receded from national memory, the benefits given to war veterans are so modest they can be considered mere tokens of appreciation. Veterans’ pensions are laughably small. Perhaps a raging maritime territorial dispute will improve the nation’s appreciation of the sacrifices made by those who choose to make it their duty to defend the nation.

Philippine Veterans Week kicked off yesterday as Marines stood guard in one of the most inhospitable outposts, the BRP Sierra Madre. The rusty skeleton of what was once the World War II-era US Navy landing ship Harnett County has been grounded on Ayungin or Saint Thomas Shoal since 1999.

The shoal lies just over 100 nautical miles from Palawan, well within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. But soldiers stationed on the ship must depend for supply replenishment on boats that endure regular harassment by Chinese vessels sailing a long way from their economic zone.

Recent media coverage of life on the Sierra Madre has brought home the challenges faced by AFP personnel in performing their duties. Many others, now retired, faced greater risks in fighting enemies of the state and even in conducting rescue, relief and other civil defense operations. This week the veterans’ service to the nation is recognized, and must be translated into tangible gestures of appreciation.