BBM and DDS’ Ardennes Offensive

Not many of us might have read about the last major German military effort during World War II called the Ardennes Offensive. I had to mention that great battle here, in this article today because, coincidentally, it started on December 16, 1944 or 81 years ago the other day. When I checked the internet for my own refresher of history, I found out that it was a surprise German blitzkrieg through the Ardennes Forest aimed to split Allied forces, creating a "bulge" in their lines. For that very military objective, that particular clash was also called the Battle of the Bulge.

Candidly, I was trying to retrieve comparative historical data on the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which gathered information, conducted sabotage, and supported resistance against Axis powers and the German Operation Greif which fielded English-speaking commandos disguised in U.S. uniforms and vehicles to sow chaos and spread disinformation. The latter were considered saboteurs of the worst kind. While their sabotage acts of taking advantage of clandestinity, surprise and ruses were permissible conduct in war, they only indicated the hopelessness of their situation.

True to the off-tangent nature of this column, let me transpose that Battle of the Bulge, particularly the conduct of opposing intelligence departments, to the Philippine political scene. I am impelled to adopt this transposition because the other day I received on my cellphone two warring political propaganda not quite unlike what took place in the Ardennes Offensive.

One such propaganda was a somewhat detailed social media analysis of the reported affidavit of one Ramil Madriaga. The post suggested that the affidavit was apparently done inside prison walls because Madriaga is reportedly still incarcerated for a criminal case. Even then, because he swore to the truth of his revelations, he opened himself to the risk of possible criminal cases. Such sworn statement made his act sound believable. By alleging specific dates, identifying particular vehicles, mentioning amounts of money (fruits of probable corruption) as a self-proclaimed “security aide and bagman” of Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio, he appeared to be telling the truth. Yes, the Madriaga affidavit is akin to an OSS creation of a ponderous weapon assaulting the Dutertes. BBM, plus.

The second propaganda was like Operation Greif itself where its saboteurs changed or reversed any and all directional road signs in Ardennes area. The obvious purpose was to confuse the allies. Here in our political war, DDS projected Undersecretary Clarissa “Claire” Angeles Castro Seechung of the Presidential Communications Office as having treacherously turned her back on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Believe me, the video was done with meticulous care but the accompanying narrative was manifestly false. Whoever availed of AI to produce that wicked video had such a sick mind as to out-Satan Satan himself. How could one ever imagine Castro, a lawyer, confessing to accepting millions in bribe money to peddle falsehoods. It was impossible for a woman of Castro’s stature to lose her dignity by pleading mercy from the Dutertes. I dare say that in propaganda, resorting to fabricated lies dammed even more the hopelessness of their situation. DDS, minus.

I’m not a fan of our president. But I must say that in the theater of propaganda warfare, BBM is leading qualitatively. When his administration reported that the investigation in the flood-control project scandal would proceed and neither political alliances nor family relations could interfere, I took him as bent on trying to pursue accountability. He may not have the number of perceived trolls speculated to be at the forefront of DDS social media machinery but because the perceived agenda of the latter group looked like destabilization, the president is outlining hope. To me, that positivity is a better option.