A chance for peace

Due to developments during the weekend I have deferred yesterday’s column on COA to give it a chance to prove itself on what its chairperson Maria Gracia Pulido Tan told the Management Association of the Philippines last July to be COA’s guiding principle – “a culture of integrity”. Now we wait but at least they are conscious of the impact of this delay and I hope COA will be more sensitive to the needs of the countryside.

After the burial of General Ernesto S. Mata at the Libingan nga mga Bayani in Taguig last March 6, we were invited to lunch at the reception hall of the military cemetery, the Bulwangan, I think it was. At the same table with General Mata’s widow, Angelina, were several generals one of whom was Lt. General Emmanuel Bautista who was the 3rd Infantry Division Commander last year and is now the Commanding General of the Philippine Army. The 3rd Division is stationed in Camp Jamindan with jurisdiction covering Western Visayas including Oriental Negros which belongs to Eastern Visayas.

We talked about General Mata’s exploits during the guerrilla days. The subject turned to the need for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to write the histories of its major engagements. I told General Bautista that I was disappointed about the scarcity of documentation and record keeping in the army. When I was writing “Against the Rising Sun” I researched in their library and the Office of Military History of both the army camp in Fort Bonifacio and the General Staff School in Camp Aguinaldo.

I told him and the other generals that the dire need for materials and writers is deplorable and unfortunate because we are losing a national heritage, a national treasure – the history of our men in arms. I asked and every general there said that they had not written their experiences although they all served in historic engagements in Mindanao and elsewhere. The history of the insurgency war, except the propaganda books, is being lost and with that our memories of the past that are needed to understand the present struggle and how to deal with the problem.      

The talk shifted to peace in Negros and I said we must give peace a chance. He said the army is ready to discuss peace with NPA and the National Democratic Front but the insurgents had been reluctant and their demands are difficult to meet. On the other hand the government’s demand for the NPA to lay down their arms first before talks begin makes the possibilities for peace dim. If the NPA give up their weapons then they are helpless and cannot make any deal at all.

Both sides want to negotiate from the position of strength and the only strength the NPA has is their weapons and their ability to strike at any target of opportunity.

Both sides must scale down their demands. Our experience with the RPA-ABB shows that this kind of deal does not bring about real peace but headaches for the populace and the military. The RPA is perceived as group of mercenaries and this public image creates contempt rather than respect that they had fought for an idea and goal higher than themselves.

I told General Bautista of a meeting with Colonel Aying and what the army is doing under a new program of reaching out to the community. I wrote about this earlier but while there are plenty of press releases and news about what the army in Negros is doing, there still remains a sense of popular indifference. There is no enthusiasm as yet that is palpable enough for us to say the program works. Only time can tell if this program will work.

On the other hand, the NPA is castigating the governor for trying to work for peace. What does the NPA want? Should the governor instead raise the white flag at the Capitol and turn over the government to them? Real peace is our hope so we can move faster than what we are doing now. I think though that the criticism is a sign of reaching out and from my view should be a stepping stone to give peace a chance.

I have never doubted the sincerity of the members of the Bacolod clergy and idealistic young men and women who went to the hills to fight the long-standing oppression. But the situation has changed and many of them had abandoned the arm struggle to focus on peaceful initiatives, another struggle to free people from poverty and indignity and though their work is slow they are succeeding. A lone lamb saved is wonderful news indeed.

The situation of the yesteryears has changed radically and so must our approach to the same problem of poverty and injustice. We can no longer use the same approach today that we used before.*

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