Gen. Catapang: Wiping out the insurgency

It seems that Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang wanted to be true to his name of being “matapang” when he declared that he would wipe out the 45-year-old communist insurgency before he retires from service in the year 2015. Come now, wasn’t this the order of then Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the AFP to end the insurgency before her term ends? Alas, they all failed!

Come now, if Gen. Catapang is dead serious in his call to wipe out the communist insurgency by 2015, surely he should know the reasons why this insurgency has lasted this long? There are just too many stumbling blocks along the way, and one of them is the support of politicians in their respective areas. Then there’s the Justice Department under Sec. Leila de Lima who last Dec. 10, 2012 released the so-called Morong 43 communists, an issue that Gen. Catapang knows too well. Why did Sec. de Lima release those communist rebels who were caught in the act of teaching their recruits the art of making bombs or improvised explosive devices?

Of course everyone knows that right after the EDSA Revolt, then Pres. Cory Aquino caused the release of Jose Maria “Joma” Sison, the chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) for no apparent reason, leading to more rumors and suspicion that indeed, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was a communist…a yarn that I still cannot believe.  Well, if Gen. Catapang can expose those individuals helping the communist insurgency, then you can say that he is halfway with his objective. But we know too well that guns and bullets will not solve the insurgency. The AFP should win the hearts and minds of the Filipino people.

As a final warning to Gen. Catapang…if he succeeds in his mission and objective to wipe out the communist insurgency… he runs the risk of being called another “Butcher” just like his comrade in arms, Gen. Jovito Palparan, whose only crime was he was very efficient in destroying the communist insurgency where they had taken root, like in Samar. But I don’t want to discourage Gen. Catapang, all I’m saying is he should watch his back for the communists have friends in high places like Malacañang Palace!

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With our democracy literally in tatters, and as I’ve been saying all along, the Philippine Bus is literally damaged and needs fixin’. But how sad that the great majority of the Filipino people many of whom are uneducated is focused only on the coming 2016 Presidential elections. Of course we know too damn well that our poor Filipinos wouldn’t care what happens to this country because for them it doesn’t matter who will be the next President…they will always be poor anyway.

But for those coming from the upper strata of society…we expect them to know and realize that the country is in a worse political state since Martial Law was declared. This is why I was totally taken aback that Mr. Washington SyCip, founder of SyCip, Gorres & Velayo (SGV) asked Sen. Grace Poe during the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in a Makati Hotel if she would consider running for president. What’s wrong with Washington SyCip?

It was a good thing that Sen. Grace Poe told Mr. SyCip that she really doesn’t have any plans of running because she is just barely a year as a Senator. Well, at least she was honest about certain things and didn’t jump into the fray, and therefore she has her ears on the ground.

However this is the problem when people especially the educated ones cannot even recognize the serious defects in our political system… and just like the millions of our unwashed masses, they merely ask, “Who’s gonna be the next driver of the old and decrepit Philippine Bus? Mr. SyCip should help the nation fix our bus before we hire another driver! This is what this nation needs today!

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It was an emotional trip for me last Thursday as I was slated to fly to Manila to accept my SKAL International Award last Friday. But since Sept. 4 was the 85th birthday of Sir Max Soliven, I texted his daughter Sara if it was possible for me to join her to visit the grave of her father at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Sara did even better… she sent the driver of Sir Max, Dondon Suizo to fetch us at the PAL Centennial Terminal and proceeded to the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The last time I was here was during his interment.

Sir Max’s final resting place was one of the best-manicured graves in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. On his black granite headstone was inscribed “If I would have my name endure, I’ll write it in the hearts of men.” Indeed Sir Max lives in my heart, which is why I could never forget him.

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